Tiger Guards

Chapter 433 Disbelief in Ghosts and Gods
It was midnight in Xudu City.

Lu Bu was startled awake from his light sleep. He reached down to touch the area under his left neck and felt a chill run down his spine as he touched a hand. His whole body tensed up.

A moment later, he realized it was his wife Yan's hand. He picked it up and tossed it aside. Lü Bu turned over, closed his eyes, and exhaled a long breath. Much of the pressure disappeared instantly.

Now that his status is different from before, there is a pair of oil lamps that burn forever in Lü Bu's bedroom.

He got up and went to an oil lamp, picked up a stick for kindling, dipped it in a little oil, lit it with the flame, and then lit the other oil lamps.

With his current reserves, Lü Bu still couldn't afford candles.

With such a limited and stable production of candles, they were extremely precious luxuries, reserved only for the emperor.

Like most officials and scholars, Lü Bu used an oil lamp.

As for the common people, whose status was even lower than that of scholars, they did not need lamps at night.

After Lü Bu lit the other oil lamps in the room, the light was only more abundant, but it was not particularly bright.

Madam Yan also sat up, gathered her long hair and tied it up with a rope, letting it hang down her left shoulder: "Husband, what's wrong?"

"Had a nightmare."

Lu Bu spoke slowly: "I dreamt that when I was fighting Yuan Si, Yuan Si invited me to speak with him on the battlefield. I didn't expect that he had hidden an ambush underground. I was caught off guard and was shot to death by a crossbow. After I died, I found that it was just a nightmare. Suddenly, Yuan Si's messenger came to invite me to speak with him on the battlefield, so I woke up in fright."

A dream within a dream left Lü Bu in a very bad mood, extremely heavy-hearted.

Yan fell silent upon hearing this. People at the time revered divination, and dreams were generally considered to be a kind of precognitive clues and warnings about fate.

A dream can often suddenly change one's outlook on life, or lead to making illogical choices at major turning points in life.

At this moment, Lü Bu understood Zhao Ji's difficulties and dangers in rising to power better than any other official in the land. Therefore, he could see the deeper logic behind many of Zhao Ji's actions and choices, and knew Zhao Ji's fundamental motives and purposes.

Therefore, Lü Bu knew very well that when Zhao Ji decided to kill him, he would stop at nothing.

Neither the dignity of a hero nor the majesty of a great general could affect Zhao Ji.

Zhao Ji was very pragmatic. He was willing to give up even the emperor for himself. What empty title could possibly restrain him?

Even regarding the matter of killing Cao Cao, if Cao Cao himself came to visit him and asked him to mediate the dispute, Lü Bu would not have been able to bring himself to do such a ruthless act.

Even if Yang Jun and Chen Gong tried to persuade him, he would most likely still let Cao Cao go.

Unlike Zhao Ji, who was actually... actually killed just like that.

When dealing with the lives of high-ranking figures, Zhao Ji displayed a ruthlessness and decisiveness far exceeding that of others.

Therefore, Lü Bu subconsciously believed that this time he had crossed Zhao Ji's bottom line, and Zhao Ji would definitely use unimaginable means to assassinate him.

Seeing Lü Bu's worried expression, Lady Yan suggested, "Husband, shall we consult the oracle?"

"Very well, thank you for your trouble, Madam."

Lu Bu was at a loss for a moment. Such nightmares could seriously affect morale, so he couldn't consult other people or his subordinates for dream interpretation.

Yan was quite professional; he went out of the dormitory and up to the attic, where he found some clothes.

Before long, Yan's hair was disheveled, with a five-colored cloth ribbon tied around her forehead. Feather ornaments were inserted on both sides of the ribbon. She also wore an exquisite mask decorated with bright, hard feathers of various birds, lacquered in gold, and a long, pointed beak decorated with gold foil.

She was also wearing a cloak woven from the feathers of hundreds of birds, and returned to her room barefoot, carrying a feather fan in one hand and a single-sided drum with silver bells hanging from it in the other.

At this moment, Lü Bu didn't say much. He just watched as Lady Yan lay prostrate on the ground, listening intently, moving around as if searching for some signal.

After finding a suitable spot, Yan lit the brazier and shook a single-sided drum with her left hand in front of the brazier, making the silver bells jingle. She then used the handle of the feather fan held in her right hand to strike the single-sided drum from time to time, producing a sound of the drum and bells vibrating together.

Soon Yan entered a state of deep concentration, sensing something that might exist in the unseen realm, uttering low, muffled sounds as if she were communicating.

Immediately afterwards, Yan began to dance around the brazier, holding a drum fan in each hand, either waving it or striking it, her steps keeping time with the rhythm of the drumming.

When she was tired, Madam Yan solemnly knelt on the ground and remained silent for a moment, as if she were seeing someone off.

After completing all this, Lady Yan removed her bird feather-decorated mask, her face covered in sweat, and cautiously said, "Husband, this battle is ominous." Upon hearing this, Lü Bu glared angrily and rebuked her, "How can a true man retreat because of ghosts and gods?"

As he spoke, he stepped forward, grabbed the sword from the wall, put on his clogs, turned around, and walked out of the house. There were no servants or guards in the courtyard.

At the entrance to the courtyard, the officer on duty led twelve guards on duty. These guards, with their hands on their hips and halberds in hand, were in good spirits and had obviously just changed shifts.

Lu Bu strode out wearing only a dark red undergarment, his clogs making a crisp sound on the ground.

He stood on the steps at the entrance and looked around. He saw a patrol of guards carrying two torches slowly approaching. This patrol of guards also consisted of twelve men. The soldiers were temporarily selected from the five battalions, and the chief and deputy officers in charge were selected from Lü Bu's personal guards.

The duties of the sentry and the patrol guards are different. When they saw Lü Bu, the patrol guards slowed down and waited until the team was in order before approaching Lü Bu.

Lu Bu looked at the two guards leading the group and said, "Prepare the horses. After I change my armor, we will head to the main camp in the east of the city."

"Here!"

One personal guard led five guards away quickly, while another personal guard led the remaining guards to escort Lü Bu to the front courtyard. In the front courtyard, there were also staff members of the headquarters on night duty, as well as guards in armor on duty.

With the help of these people, Lü Bu completed his armament. He first sent more than a hundred men to the east gate to control the city gate, and then led the main force away from the shogunate.

The streets were quiet. The head of the nearby Duting Pavilion led his soldiers, who stood on both sides of the street with torches, watching Lü Bu's more than 500 infantry and cavalry pass by.

Lu Bu looked at the streets of Xuchang under the night sky and felt extremely disappointed.

Neither the emperor nor the high officials sent anyone to mediate; he had no way to back down.

Everyone seemed to be waiting for the outcome of his clash with Zhao Ji. Perhaps Zhao Ji had been too ruthless before, which made the ministers particularly hate him, so they persuaded the emperor to remain neutral.

It's also possible that the emperor wanted to fight Zhao Ji himself so that he could step in and balance the situation.

In short, Lü Bu dislikes the passive feeling of being held hostage.

He desires a situation where he can advance or retreat as needed, and is flexible and adaptable.

It wasn't that I was afraid of Zhao Ji, but I was worried that if a fight broke out, Zhao Ji, being young and impetuous, would recklessly fight me.

As Lü Bu rode his horse, he saw a grapevine growing along the trellis outside the wall of a house on the side of the street.

Lu Bu reined in his horse, pointed to the grapevine, and said to the people around him, "Go and pick a branch to give to the Grand Marshal."

"Here."

One of the guards immediately agreed and rode off, while another guard followed with a torch to provide light.

With a swift slash, the grapevines and some ripe grapes that were reluctant to be picked fell to the ground.

Several guards picked up the grapes and ate them, then presented the seven- or eight-foot-long grapevines to Lü Bu.

Lü Bu then asked, "Whose house is this?"

"Reporting to the General, he was born in the residence of Imperial Censor Wei Duan."

"It turned out to be him."

After thinking for a moment, Lü Bu said, "Make sure to deliver this vine to the Grand Marshal and ask him for a return gift."

"Here."

The guards agreed, and immediately someone unwrapped the cloth they carried and wrapped the grapevines in it. Another group of knights also came over, and they were responsible for the escort work along the way.

As Lu Bu watched the troop disappear into the distance with the sound of hooves, he looked up at the brilliant starry sky, then lightly spurred his horse's flank and shouted, "Giddy up!"

His steed, Red Hare, trotted lightly, leading the other knights toward the east gate.

The east gate opened wide, and the knights who had arrived earlier joined the group, rushing out of the city and heading straight for the eastern camp.

(End of this chapter)