Chapter 468 - Zhang Fei"s Recklessness
Guan Yu flew back to Chang"An and told Liu Bei and others about his finding right away.
At Chang"An government hall, Liu Bei was resting after he had completed daily tasks of approving doc.u.ments for his civil officers. When everyone saw Guan Yu"s arrival with a panicking expression, they stopped what they were doing.
…
5 Minutes later,
"A 4-wing angel at Hongnong? Are you sure?" Liu Bei was panicked.
"Yes. My sense wasn"t wrong. I clearly sensed someone outside of the gates."
"How many angels did you sense? Is there any troop following him?"
"No, just one. I found no soldier in the area, which is odd."
Hearing that an angel came to Hongnong to spy on their affiliate city, Liu Bei was enraged.
"Zhang Fei, Ma Chao!"
Two generals walked out from the crowd and presented themselves at the center of the hall.
"Aye!"
"Ma Chao, present!"
"We take all soldiers to Hongnong! Prepare for the possible invasion from Zhang Tong!"
The generals smiled, "Yes, my lord!"
Guan Yu frowned as he raised his hand to stop Liu Bei, "Wait a second, first brother."
"What?"
"You didn"t ask for your advisers" opinion. Isn"t this a bit rash?"
Liu Bei came to his senses. He turned around and looked at Xu Shu and Pang Tong with an apologetic smile, "I"m sorry. I didn"t ask you for your thoughts on this."
Pang Tong laughed, "There is no need for apology, my lord. I would have suggested that you should gather all your forces there as well. You have ordered the same thing that I would have suggested."
Liu Bei was relieved that his thoughts were the same as Pang Tong.
However, Xu Shu ruined their merry mood.
"I hope that you would not dispatch troops at the moment. I think it"s too risky to move our entire forces to Hongnong."
Pang Tong and Xu Shu"s faces changed. Pang Tong"s face was already black and ugly by nature. Combined with his distorted expression, no one thought that this fat black man could be a human.
"Why?" Asked Pang Tong. He did not like how Xu Shu interrupted his idea as he lost face.
"Please do not forget that the immortal Li Feihong is nearby. From our intel, both Li Feihong and Zhang Liao are 4-wing angels. One of them might be scouting our city by flying here."
After Guan Yu had reached the sixth-wing tier, all officers here learned about the capabilities and the potentials of immortals, angels, and demons. As a senior officer, Guan Yu had taught all Liu Bei"s subordinates about his power and his ability to fly.
It was shocking and vexing to non-cultivators, such as Ma Chao, Xu Shu, and Pang Tong, as they also wanted to get one of those powers.
But they obtained good news. As Guan Yu managed to contact Lilim, the latter offered that they could buy cultivation rights for others for a price.
Now, Ma Chao and Liu Bei obtained the proper cultivation technique, but they were not on a level where they could fight against both Li Feihong and Zhang Liao yet.
From Xu Shu"s perspective, it was too risky fighting the unknown head-on, especially when they knew that Tong was a 6-wing demon. As for Lu Bu, Xu Shu doubted that he had 8 wings since this info came from Zhuge Liang long ago without solid evidence. He estimated that Lu Bu might have 6 wings at best.
Two 6-wing immortals outmatched Guan Yu, so it was a bad idea to wage war against Tong without supports from Cao Cao or the Sun Clan.
Pang Tong ceased his ill thoughts and spoke with a calm voice, "Senior, this is the most excellent opportunity to cripple Zhang Tong Army. If we can kill one or two of Zhang Tong"s generals, his force will be weakened. The so-called "Monster Legion" will become nothing but a joke!"
Xu Shu sighed, "Don"t you think that Zhang Tong and Lu Bu will retaliate? Zhang Liao and Li Feihong were once Lu Bu"s subordinates, so they will definitely seek revenge."
"You"re naïve, senior. In war, anger and hatred are the major reason for great heroes" downfall. Making Zhang Tong and Lu Bu mad is a good strategy since we can force them to make mistakes and ill judgment!"
Liu Bei nodded in agreement. As he experienced this face himself in the other life, he knew how vexing it was when he was overwhelmed with anger when Guan Yu died. Instead of swallowing his pride and grudge and continuing the alliance with Sun Quan, he invaded Jing Province and lost Zhang Fei in the process.
He would not make the same mistake again.
And now, Liu Bei learned that they could kill one or two of Tong"s subordinates to anger him. This former Shu King wanted Tong to suffer the same fate he once had had.
"I agree with strategist Pang. We will bait Zhang Tong by gathering all our forces in Hongnong. If he took the bait, we"d use Guan Yu and Zhang Fei to a.s.sa.s.sinate one of his generals."
Xu Shu still protested, "What if Lu Bu or Zhang Tong shows up instead of sending his generals?"
Pang Tong sneered, "Then, we"ll kill him! Lord Guan, do you think Zhang Tong is good at martial arts?"
"Why do you ask?"
"Just tell me, do you think that someone who is dwelling in l.u.s.t and carnage is good at martial arts?"
Pang Tong had been keeping an eye on Tong"s movements, and he invested into intelligence in Ye, so he could learn what Tong did in the court. Thus, he learned about Tong"s night activities.
From his experience, Tong"s health should be out-of-shape. Even if he was once a fierce fighter, night activities and the emperor"s lifestyle should have ruined his health and combat potential.
Guan Yu"s thought was also similar. As prideful as he was in the previous life, he did not think that Tong was his match even though they had the same number of wings.
"I can kill him if he appears."
Pang Tong laughed, "See? Senior Xu, you"re overly cautious. Sometimes, we have to be bold to get things done!"
Xu Shu sighed and retreated, "Very well. But please, be careful."
.
.
.
Guan Yu and Zhang Fei flew ahead to Hongnong, so they could alert the militias in the city to prepare for war. As for Liu Bei, Ma Chao, Pang Tong, and Xu Shu, they organized all Qiang cavalry units and their elite soldiers. 150,000 men marched from Chang"An to Hongnong.
Meanwhile, Li Feihong decided to get his 5th and 6th wing by awakening the souls of virtue, [Loyalty] and [Abstinence]. Ironically, the soul of Loyalty"s appearance was Li Feihong cosplaying as Guan Yu. As for Abstinence, it was a monk version of Li Feihong.
After getting the sixth wing, Li Feihong felt that his body was on the verge of breaking into pieces as if he was a swollen balloon, which was about to explode.
In a panic, he consulted this matter with the elites in the clan chat.
Li Feihong: "I"ve just awakened my 6th wing, but my body is in pain. Is there something wrong with me?"
The clan never disappointed him. His seniors came out right away.
Tong: "You"ve reached your const.i.tution limit. Stop using your muscles and rest for a week. Afterward, start cultivating your physical body and mind. Don"t try to increase your lifespan at the moment, or your body will explode."
Diaochan: "Souls are like water, but your body is the container. You"ve reached the bottleneck. Stop cultivating souls and concentrate on bodybuilding."
Lu Bu: "Congrats, Feihong! Now, rest and recuperate! Afterward, come and spar with me daily. Junyi is too weak for me, and I need extra hands!"
Everyone: "… RIP, Zhang He."
Zhang He: "Thanks… I"m still alive, BTW."
With the hints, Li Feihong was relieved that he was not sick or was dying.
"I wonder how far they have gone through the bodybuilding progress. Lu Bu and Tong are too energetic! Wait a second, Diaochan is stronger than me!?"
The revelation about Diaochan"s current const.i.tution gave a clue that she was a monster beyond his imagination, who was on par or stronger than Lu Bu. It scared Li Feihong that Tong had been handling this woman for years, and he was still alive.
"Scary family. I will never marry someone stronger than me like you, Tong!"
.
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Because of Li Feihong"s condition, the Monster Legion hid in the alternate dimension, waiting for Ye"s messenger to arrive and tell Hongnong"s governor to move away.
A week later, the chief eunuch, Wei You, arrived here with a hundred bodyguards.
Upon getting detected by Hongnong"s guards, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei came out of the city to confront them.
Guan Yu took the lead, "What are you doing here?"
Wei You smiled and bowed at Guan Yu, "We"ve come here to deliver a decree from the emperor. May I see the current governor of Hongnong?"
"I"m the governor of Hongnong."
"I see. Then, please receive the mandate of heaven…"
Wei You spread a golden scroll in his hand, planning to read it out loud.
Guan Yu frowned and glared at Wei You, refusing the kneel and accept Tong"s edict.
Seeing Guan Yu"s action, Wei You was dissatisfied, "You know that refusing to kneel is an act of treason, right?"
"Zhang Tong is not the true emperor of the Han Dynasty. We don"t serve him."
Wei You was taken aback, "Ah, you"re quite straight forward. I like you. You"re way better than Cao Cao and the Sun Clan. Well, since you"ve refused our proclamation, we shall excuse ourselves."
"…"
Guan Yu nodded and gestured that they should leave.
Wei You bid farewell and bowed to Guan Yu as if they were on good terms.
At that moment, Zhang Fei kicked the ground and dashed toward Wei You.
He thrust his serpent spear!
"YIDE, NO!!"
Guan Yu could not react in time. Zhang Fei"s action was too sudden.
*SOEK*
The spear punctured an arm that appeared out of a portal, which protected Wei You from Zhang Fei"s spear.
Zhang Fei"s spear stuck in the arm"s flesh, unable to pull it back.
Another portal appeared and pulled Wei You into it. Also, a man"s voice that was familiar to Guan Yu could be heard.
"Men, enter the portal."