Chapter 515 - The Rise of Li Feihong (1)
"Outstanding move, my lord. I didn"t even think of that."
Zhuge Liang and Xu Shu were impressed by Li Feihong"s quick wits as the latter swapped modern bullet heads in the holes with musket sh.e.l.ls. It disguised the scene that someone else used muskets inside the prison.
It was a pity that they couldn"t forge the crime scene that Ma Chao broke out on his own. Still, it was enough to fool Cao Cao.
"You have 8 wings now. Why don"t you just kill Cao Cao and Dian Wei?"
Ma Chao was also watching the monitors in Li Feihong"s world. He was puzzled since Li Feihong had enough strength to kill Cao Cao, Xiahou Dun, or Dian Wei. Yet, he chose to hide.
"Clan system. We can"t kill members of the same clan. That"s why we need you," Zhuge Liang answered in Li Feihong"s stead.
"I see. So, you need me to be your hitman."
"That"s correct."
"Then, let"s get this deal straight. I help you kill Te Langpu, and you"ll set us free."
"That"s also correct."
Ma Chao and Liu Bei"s eyes glinted with hope. However, the former thought of his dead father, which foiled his mood. He recalled that he had to avenge for Ma Teng.
"If I want to kill Zhang He and Cao Cao, what do you want in return?"
This time, Ma Chao offered his service to get their help.
Li Feihong didn"t like Ma Chao"s goal since Zhang He might still be loyal to Tong, so he attempted to negotiate.
"Zhang He might be impossible since he"s on our side. For Cao Cao, we can help you."
Ma Chao was a bit disappointed, but getting rid of one of the targets was good enough. After all, he didn"t have many choices.
"I"m fine with only killing Cao Cao. Then, what do you want in return?"
Li Feihong fell into deep thought for a while before he had an idea.
"Swear allegiance to me by empowering your voice with your immortal force."
"That"s it?" Ma Chao was surprised.
"That"s it."
Ma Chao sneered since the condition was so simple. However, before he could complete the oath, Liu Bei closed his mouth and stopped him.
Liu Bei didn"t have enough power to contain Ma Chao, so the latter shook him off with ease.
"What are you doing?"
"No, it"s you. What do you think you"re doing!?"
"That"s none of your business, Xuande!"
"Hey! I"m still your lord! Why are you swear allegiance to this guy!?"
"Ha! You"re not my liege now. You"re just a "former" employer. You"d better be grateful that I dragged you out of that prison."
"But I"m your emperor!"
*POW*
Ma Chao punched Liu Bei to the face. The latter was knocked unconscious.
Li Feihong had a complicated feeling as he watched his counterpart getting punched. He blinked several times and used his G.o.d eyes on Liu Bei"s unconscious body to inspect his soul.
As usual, it was Liu Ping"s monster soul.
"I"m me, but that guy is just someone else."
Li Feihong reminded himself that he was not this world"s Liu Bei, so he should not hold compa.s.sion toward this stuck-up warlord.
"Tsk! Pathetic!" Ma Chao turned toward Li Feihong, "[I swear that I"ll work for you!]"
*RUMBLE*
Another oath was completed. Li Feihong could feel a sense of connection between him and Ma Chao as if they were sharing five senses.
Li Feihong could now locate Ma Chao"s whereabouts without using his third eye or a spy monitor. Vice Versa, Ma Chao could also sense Li Feihong"s presence and could see his true form.
Ma Chao realized that he might have been tricked into doing something irreversible. He wanted to lash and cuss Li Feihong, but he noticed something odd.
He could Li Feihong"s other appearance beneath his souls.
"Why does your soul look like Xuande?"
"…"
Li Feihong didn"t expect that his first karmic subordinate could see his alternate form. He looked back in astonishment.
Before Li Feihong could answer the question, Zhuge Liang laughed as he revealed the truth.
"That"s because Lord Li Feihong IS Liu Xuande! He"s the real one while that a.s.shole is a fake! Do you think our previous lord is this pathetic as that fool? Our lord is the virtuous saint who sacrifices everything for his people! Look at this world and his farmlands. Look at yourself! Think of the past treatments that he had given you!"
Ma Chao"s jaw dropped.
He didn"t believe Zhuge Liang at first. But when he thought about Li Feihong"s personality, speech, and behavior, it indeed resembled Liu Bei in the other timeline.
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Liu Bei"s character was kind and charismatic to commoners, so was Li Feihong as many civilians and n.o.bles wanted to give their daughters and granddaughters to him in the past.
Liu Bei was a vengeful person who could move because of his anger, so was Li Feihong as he displayed in the battle of Hongnong, killing Zhang Fei and Pang Tong in cold blood.
Liu Bei was a flatterer who always avoided infighting conflicts by sheltering under a stronger powerhouse, so was Li Feihong who had been laying low under Tong and immediately surrendered to Medusa to save his life when he was threatened.
Liu Bei enjoyed socializing with gangsters, rangers, and hoodlums, such as the drunkard Zhang Fei and the narcissist Guan Yu. Li Feihong also ended up hanging out with the arrogant Lu Bu and the scary Zhang Liao in his early days.
And most importantly, Liu Bei was an ambitious man, who desired to be a free lord. In the case of Li Feihong, the secret town and his hidden soldiers in this dimension proved that the hidden ambition still lingered in his heart, but it was contained under Li Feihong"s new personality.
His created skill, [Private Dimension], was the embodiment of Li Feihong"s dark side, which desired a world for himself.
.
"Yeah, he"s similar to THAT Liu Bei."
"I know right? His dimension world skill tells everything about his personality!"
Li Feihong"s face twitched, "Alright. Enough. Since Cao Cao"s attention is on Sun Ce, we should capitalize on that. Kongming, Yuanzhi, brainstorm for the next target. Give me the time, place, and procedure of the next plan."
Zhuge Liang bowed to Li Feihong as he was pleased with his hardworking att.i.tude, "Of course, my lord. For now, I"m going to discredit Cao Cao for the lack of security in this prison and demote him from Sima Fang"s former post. And then, I"m going to contact his highness Liu Xie for his cooperation…"
The strategists draw a chart, which displayed several phases of his scheme.
He encircled a few names.
Zhao Yun
Wei Yan
Hu Che-er
And the White Horse Legion
.
.
.
The next day, Cao Cao announced that Ma Chao and Liu Bei were rescued by Sun Ce"s men, and their whereabouts were unknown. This piece of news threw the court into an uproar.
As a part of Zhuge Liang"s plan, many of Tong"s faction opportunists blamed Cao Cao for the lack of security, discrediting his authority. This angered Cao Cao"s minor officials and created useless debates between the two factions, which worsened their relations.h.i.+p.
Cao Cao ended up apologizing to Liu Xie and everyone in the court for his subordinates" failure.
Per suggested by Zhuge Liang in a private chat, Liu Xie replaced Cao Cao"s post with Sima Yi, the new head of Sima Clan. The latter became the next Ministry of Justice"s secretary, which held the authority over all police officers and the security of the entire kingdom.
However, Sima Yi was removed from his adviser of the White Horse Legion as he held too much authority.
Again, following Zhuge Liang"s secret instruction, Liu Xie merged the White Horse Legion with the Monster Legion instead, so Li Feihong"s army could become the strongest force, which could intimidate other minor factions.
Unbeknownst to everyone, Liu Xie"s action brought back all former Liu Bei"s subordinates to the reincarnated Liu Bei. Zhao Yun and Wei Yan were now transferred to work under Li Feihong.
n.o.body knew that everything was under Zhuge Liang"s manipulation!
.
"This has gotten weird, isn"t it?"
Li Feihong came back to his dimension to rest during the lunch break. He was so exhausted that he didn"t want to join the afternoon meeting.
The quarrel between politicians had gotten out of hands lately that his name sometimes got dragged into the fights. Thus, he stepped out and explain things that he didn"t do often.
It was tiring and troublesome.
Still, the transfer order of Zhao Yun and Wei Yan made Li Feihong cringe. He didn"t know what he should do or explain to them about Ma Chao and Liu Bei here.
"I think it"s fate, my lord. They are destined to serve you again, so karma brings them back to you!"
Hearing Zhuge Liang"s comment, Li Feihong got even more mentally exhausted.
"Fate my a.s.s! It"s all your doing! Heck, what am I going to explain about Ma Chao and Liu Bei in my dimension, then?"
"Just tell them the truth. They will understand our objectives. Also, don"t forget to tell them that you"re their former liege, my lord."
"Like h.e.l.l, they"ll believe me! They can"t see my true form like Ma Chao or other 8-wing immortals!"
"Then, just tell them to swear allegiance to you like how Ma Chao did."
"Their cultivation will stop at 10 wings, you know?"
"But you will grow further. Get yourself 12 wings, and you"ll be invincible under the heaven."
"…"
Li Feihong sighed. He stopped talking to Zhuge Liang and concentrated on resting. He prepared for the next appointment, picking up Diaochan and hearing what she was plotting.
.
Afternoon, Li Feihong skipped the a.s.sembly meeting and picked up Diaochan as promised since the latter wanted to meet in private.
As Li Feihong"s karma connected to Medusa, he located the demoness and open the gate for her inside her cultivation chamber under her bedroom.
*WHOOSH*
A stunning beauty stepped into the gate, but another pretty person also followed.
Zhang Min
The moment Zhang Min entered the dimension world, Li Feihong could detect an anomaly.
She was pregnant!
Li Feihong frowned as he was about to remember something but he couldn"t. He felt like he had lost something important.
Diaochan could read Li Feihong"s mind. She walked toward him a pressed her right palm on his forehead. She inserted her power and drove something inside his brain out.
Then, something was ejected from Li Feihong"s body.
*SCREECH!*
A green karmic snake ejected from Li Feihong"s brain and dropped on the ground. It wiggled as if it was in pain before it died.
However, that was not something that Li Feihong paid attention to. He was shocked when the lost memory came back.
Lu Bu
Zhang Min
And that belly
With his flabbergasted expression, he looked at Zhang Min.
"Holy Sweeting Jesus."
Diaochan bitterly smiled, "We"re demons. Don"t call us Jesus."