Chapter 404
Chapter 404 – Guan Yu"s Karma
Cao Cao read Guan Yu"s message scroll, which informed him about Liu Bei"s stance in Hongnong .
Similar to Liu Bei"s promise to Liu Biao, he attempted to surrender to Cao Cao with the condition that he got to retain his position as Hongnong"s governor .
He burst into laughter, "Oh, Liu Bei . You"ve never changed, no matter which world it is . Whoever your lord was, you always betrayed them for your personal gain . Now, are you planning to use me again?"
Cao Cao looked at the combat between infantry at the center . Guan Yu had long retreated from the frontline and regrouped with the charging 20,000 footmen . The infantry wave was so ma.s.sive that all of Cao Cao"s commanders were panicking .
Cheng Yu received the scroll and read it . He frowned, "Isn"t this man Yuan Shao"s underling? What is he doing here?"
"He"s a leech . Without his sworn brothers, he"s nothing special . For now, let"s survive Li Ru"s onslaught . That man is going all-out . "
.
20,000 Footmen crashed against Cao Cao"s remaining troops . This time, Li Ru"s soldiers also had archers, who fired their arrows into Cao Cao"s ranks .
Cao Cao"s men retaliated with their grapeshots and repeating crossbows while the frontline held their advance .
Unfortunately, Cao Cao"s forces were at a disadvantage in numbers and cavalry"s strength .
5,000 Cataphracts routed Li Dian"s hors.e.m.e.n and destroyed Cao Cao"s flank defenders . They proceeded to Cao Cao"s main battalion, which consisted of cannon crews and spearmen .
However, Cao Cao was ready .
*BOOM*
*BOOM*
*BOOM*
Grapeshots from cannons and spearwall formation managed to stop their charge .
Three hours into the fight, 15,000 Remaining Xiliang soldiers brokethrough Cao Xiu"s rank and captured the general .
Upon the defeat of Cao Cao"s relative, the warlord decided to retreat .
His 55,000 soldiers reduced to 25,000 in a day, which disheartened everyone but Cao Cao .
On the other hand, the victor suffered more casualties .
15,000 Xiliang cavalry, 5,000 cataphracts, and 10,000 footmen remained after Cao Cao had fallen back to Hulao Gate . From 70,000 to 30,000, the loss was significant .
Still, Guan Yu"s footmen secured something that Cao Cao"s men left behind, a wheeled cannon .
Taking advantage of the victor"s side, Li Ru had his men looted all corpses . He also took all dead warhorses, converting their meat into provision for his men .
In the temporary camp of Li Ru, the prisoner Cao Xiu was taken to the strategist . Guan Yu, the a.s.sisting commander, was at his side, looking at the prisoner in a pity .
He believed that Li Ru would not let this Cao Cao"s cousin live .
Li Ru looked at Cao Xiu in solemn, "What"s your name, general?"
"… Cao Xiu . "
"You look young . How old are you?"
"… 18 maybe?"
Guan Yu revealed a bitter smile . The first time he killed somebody was when he was in his 20s, but this lad was commanding an army in his teen .
"Come to think of it, Zhang Tong also has many young generals . This land is so rotten that so many people have to take up arms in their youth . "
Guan Yu"s memories from the other timeline resurfaced . Comparing this life with this strange memory from a different world, he did not like the current development .
At this rate, Liu Bei would follow the trend of history, becoming the first emperor of the Shu Han Dynasty once he had obtained a territory of his own .
The purpose of their fighting was for the people, not personal gain!
"Can I stop his ambition? What should I do to stop Xuande from continue fighting?"
While Guan Yu was in deep thought, Li Ru was interrogating Cao Xiu .
"What"s the total number of your troops?"
Cao Xiu almost swore and cursed at Li Ru . But once he recalled the death of his men, he found it insignificant to reveal the outdated information .
"80,000"
Cao Xiu exaggerated .
"That"s odd . I thought he had only 50,000 to 60,000 men . Are you hiding your troops elsewhere?"
"We didn"t mobilize all our troops . The rest are protecting Hulao Gate . "
Li Ru frowned, "Oh?"
He fell into silence, staring at the teenage general .
"Take this liar away and kill him . We don"t need him anymore . "
Cao Xiu"s face paled . He gritted his teeth as he stared into Li Ru"s eyes .
Before Li Ru"s men could drag Cao Xiu to the execution ground, Guan Yu blocked the men and appealed to the strategist .
"Sir Li Ru, can you reconsider? I believe this youth is Cao Cao"s cousin . He"s more valuable if we keep him alive . "
Li Ru shook his head, "That"s more the reason that I want him dead . Cao Cao and his ally clans are a thorn to our lord and his majesty Yuan . "
"I"m sorry . As his majesty"s subject, I have the authority to decide all prisoner"s fate . Please don"t forget that you"re within our territory . "
Li Ru glared at Guan Yu, "Don"t step over the line, general . I may look weak, but I"m the grand commander of this army . You may be a general of Yuan Shu, but under the chain of command, you work for me . "
Guan Yu chuckled in sarcasm, "Not anymore . We"re not serving the Xiongnu . "
Guan Yu drew a sword from a sheath on his waist . He cut Li Ru"s neck in one swing .
Li Ru"s subordinates were shocked . They also took out their weapons and screamed, "Traitor!"
Guan Yu snorted . He disappeared from where he was standing .
In the next second, afterimages flashed, and all officers in Li Ru"s tent fell .
The red face general turned to Cao Xiu, who was shaking in fear, "I won"t kill you, child . I only want peace . "
In wary and confusion, Cao Xiu muttered in a cracked voice, "… Are you a friend or foe?"
"Honestly speaking, both . "
"Fair enough . What are you going to do next?"
"Be my messenger, and I"ll let you live . How"s that?"
Cao Xiu did not care what Guan Yu was doing or what his motive was . Since this was a second chance in life, he would not refuse this deal .
"Deal!"
"Good . Wait here for a while . I"ll finish everything shortly . "
Guan Yu walked out of the tent to meet other commanders of his army and Li Ru"s subordinates .
Five hours later, Guan Yu returned with his men, who was bath in blood . He cut Cao Xiu loose and gave him a scroll, containing his message to Cao Cao .
"Tell your foster father that I want peace . I hope he can welcome my brothers and me . "
Cao Xiu had a scare when Guan Yu mentioned about his foster father . Aside from himself and Cao Clan members, n.o.body should have known about his relations.h.i.+p with Cao Cao .
This young general was a distant relative of Cao Cao . Originally, Cao Xiu and his family settled down south of Yangtze River, Wu Commandery .
Upon hearing that Cao Cao was raising a force, he traveled from the southern province to Xuchang, joining with the Cao banners .
Cao Cao treated him as if he was his son . Cao Xiu even lived in the same residence as Cao Ang and Cao Pi .
Like Cao Ang, Cao Xiu was talented in martial arts . He also had the charisma of a commander .
Cao Cao wanted to train this foster son figure into a good commander, so he led this teenager commanding a few of his battalions .
This was a secret relations.h.i.+p between Cao Cao and Cao Xiu that only insiders knew, yet Guan Yu was aware of it .
Cao Xiu looked at Guan Yu in wary, "I will . I hope you won"t trick me . "
"I"m not into killing a defenseless child . Take my token and scroll, then leave . "
Cao Xiu took everything from Guan Yu . Before he left with a horse, he bowed to this red face general .
"I owe you one . "
Guan Yu smiled, "No, we"re even . I owed Cao Cao a favor . "
"Huh?"
Cao Xiu did not understand that Guan Yu mentioned about the time when he served Cao Cao in the other timeline .
.
In 200 AD, Liu Bei and Cao Cao fought against each other in Xu Province after they had killed Lu Bu .
Liu Bei Army was overwhelmed and routed by Cao Cao, and Guan Yu was captured in the process .
Cao Cao had admired Guan Yu"s character, so he recruited this general into his army . Unfortunately, Guan Yu"s loyalty was with Liu Bei, so he refused .
Still, Zhang Liao, as an old friend of Guan Yu, managed to persuade this G.o.d of war to temporary join Cao Cao"s forces .
Cao Cao was so happy that Guan Yu joined his side . As a reward, he gave Lu Bu"s red hare to Guan Yu to win his favor .
Later in the same year, Guan Yu repaid this kindness by slaying Yan Liang in the Battle of Boma during the war between Yuan Shao and Cao Cao . Because of this action, Yuan Shao almost executed Liu Bei and Zhang Fei, who had sought refuge under his banners .
Fortunately, Liu Bei and Yuan Shao had secret deals, which they instigated former Yellow Turban officers, Liu Pi and Gong Du, into raising their army in Runan and attacked Xuchang . Had they not had the deal, both brothers would have died by Yuan Shao"s hands .
Still, Cao Ren defeated Liu Pi, Gong Du, and Liu Bei"s rebel army, forcing Liu Bei into fleeing to Jing Province, refuging under Liu Biao .
Afterward, Guan Yu left Cao Cao"s ranks when he heard about Liu Bei"s whereabouts, which saddened Cao Cao . As an act of friends.h.i.+p, Cao Cao allowed Guan Yu to leave without hindering him .
.
In the 14th-century novel, Guan Yu managed to repay this debt by sparing Cao Cao after he captured the warlord in the Battle of Chibi .
However, history records never had this detail . Cao Cao was never captured by Guan Yu after the former was defeated in Chibi .
In this world, Guan Yu had not repaid for Cao Cao"s favor yet, which plagued his mind after he got the otherworld"s memory . This was a good chance to settle this karma .
Guan Yu laughed, "Don"t worry about it . Just go . "
Cao Xiu bowed, "Thank you, general!"
After Cao Xiu left, Guan Yu felt a change in his body .
Upon checking his virtue status, he found that one of his four unawakened virtues were at 100% . Without hesitation, Guan Yu activated his awakening .
After a slight spasm, a fifth virtue soul appeared behind Guan Yu . It was [Honesty] .
Now, Guan Yu had [Diligence], [Kindness], [Loyalty], [Patience], and [Honesty] .
He turned around to see his fifth spirit of virtue .
"I wonder how many spirits Zhang Tong has? Is he still stronger than me?"