New Three Kingdoms Tales: Starting as the expressionless Liu Bei

Seeing Cao Cao gazing at the distant horizon, Liu Bei couldn't help but raise his head as well.

He wanted to look at the azure sky of this new Three Kingdoms world, but instead he caught a glimpse of a piece of paper slowly drifting down from the sky.

Ok?

Liu Bei was slightly taken aback. When the note floated in front of him, he reached out and caught it steadily in his palm. He unfolded it and read it.

It was clearly written above:

Congratulations! You've discovered Cao Cao's hidden rule.

If Cao Cao asks you a question, you can choose to ask him a question in return. With divine intervention, Cao Cao will surely answer truthfully.

Liu Bei was overjoyed. If that were true, then in the future, if Cao Cao asked him anything, he could simply ask a question in return to get the truth out of him. Wouldn't that make him invincible?

But as his gaze swept over the next line, the joy in his heart vanished, replaced by a sudden sense of despondency.

[Note: You only have three chances to get Cao Cao to reveal the truth through rhetorical questions. Each time you use one, you lose one chance.]

[Special Note: This refers to special rhetorical questions; normal rhetorical questions are not included and do not consume any attempts.]

Damn. So, didn't I already use it once just now?

Liu Bei sighed inwardly. On second thought, it was worth it; he had used this opportunity to resolve Guan Yu's predicament.

Without wine, the battle of slaying Hua Xiong begins.

Now that Cao Cao had revealed the poisoned wine, he had no more excuse to stop him. Liu Bei seized the opportunity to send Guan Yu into battle again, and this time, no one could stop him.

Watching Guan Yu mount his horse and ride away, Liu Bei felt uneasy, but his face remained expressionless, as always.

Before his departure, he had imparted all of Hua Xiong's weaknesses and methods for killing him. As long as Guan Yu followed the plan, slaying Hua Xiong would be as easy as taking candy from a baby.

But a lingering worry remained in his heart, fearing that Guan Yu might become arrogant and disobey orders. If the soul chains were to come true, Zhang Fei would also be buried with him.

Liu Bei sighed inwardly, hoping that Guan Yu would heed his advice and act accordingly.

After his speech, Cao Cao had completely won over the hearts of the various warlords. They became even more respectful, surrounding him and continuing to listen to his strategy for defeating the rebels.

Only the brothers Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu were restless, their attention already far away, each lost in their own thoughts.

Yuan Shu's reaction was not surprising. After all, Liu Bei had just informed him of the earth-shattering changes in the world.

At this moment, he was repeatedly pondering the strange tale of Hua Xiong's rules that Liu Bei had told him, thinking:

This strange power is truly bizarre; it can make a person invulnerable to swords and spears. I wonder what I would look like if I were to become a monster?

While Yuan Shu was still lost in thought, Yuan Shao, sitting in the position of alliance leader, was far from calm. This was because he had just witnessed a truly horrifying scene.

From the hell-eye-like pattern behind Cao Cao, black, sticky tentacles emerged and slowly wriggled.

At the end of each tentacle was a living eyeball. And those eyesballs were all alive.

They were all rotating at that moment, staring intently at him. There were several such terrifying living eyeballs.

One pair of eyes seemed strangely familiar to Yuan Shao. Those eyes were so distinctive that one could immediately tell what it craved.

These are clearly Gongsun Zan's eyes!

Yuan Shao swallowed hard, his throat bobbing.

Because Cao Cao had his back to everyone, no one but him could see this terrifying scene.

Cao Cao had his back to everyone, while Yuan Shao sat in the position of the alliance leader, directly behind him, and had a clear view of the scene.

That's impossible. Wasn't Gongsun Zan sitting right there? I clearly saw him just now, with both eyes perfectly fine, just like usual.

Yuan Shao suppressed his fear and looked at Gongsun Zan. He saw that Gongsun Zan was also staring straight at him, his eyes empty and lifeless, like a dead object.

Holy crap.

Yuan Shao was startled by that look. Just then, the stool beneath him seemed to be pulled violently by something, and he lost his balance and fell to the ground in a disheveled state.

The various lords were listening intently to Cao Cao's grand promises when they were suddenly startled by Yuan Shao's commotion. They all looked displeased and turned to look in the direction of the sound.

But Yuan Shao, clutching his sore backside, grimaced as he got up from the ground.

Han Fu frowned, her tone sarcastic.

"Leader Yuan, what Mengde just said hit the nail on the head!"

"Such important matters of state, yet you are so absent-minded. Perhaps you're thinking about what to eat?"

Han Fu's words seemed to trigger some kind of underlying code. All the feudal lords wore sly smiles, especially Gongsun Zan, who pressed for an answer with a grin.

"What do you want to eat!"

"Yes, what should we eat?"

Ignoring the pain in his buttocks, Yuan Shao looked at Gongsun Zan again, only to find that the man had already returned to normal. Startled, he glanced at Cao Cao, only to see that the terrifying tentacles behind him had vanished without a trace.

What's going on? Am I seeing things?

wrong.

Yuan Shao shook his head resolutely in his heart. He couldn't possibly be mistaken. Everything that had just happened was absolutely true.

What on earth is going on? Everything that has happened today is just too bizarre.

The letter that appeared out of nowhere in the early morning. Hua Xiong's invulnerable body. And the writhing tentacles behind Cao Mengde just now.

Yuan Shao ignored the teasing from the other warlords and instead fell into deeper contemplation, filled with worry.

Suddenly, his peripheral vision caught sight of Liu Bei. From beginning to end, this man had maintained a stoic expression, showing no emotion whatsoever even if Mount Tai collapsed before him.

Yuan Shao's mind was filled with doubt. Was this person simply born with a blank expression, or had he already seen through everything?

Yuan Shao secretly resolved that he would have a private talk with this person after this matter was over.

Meanwhile, outside the city.

Under the blazing sun, the Xiliang army was exhausted and weary. Hua Xiong, however, was unaffected by the heat. He was full of fighting spirit, staring intently at the city gate, hoping for another formidable enemy to come and test his skills.

A soldier, looking distressed, ran up from behind and whispered:

"General, the army is running low on fresh water and needs to resupply at the Chenliu River, ten miles away. The enemy is currently holding the city and refusing to come out, and our army is short of water. Perhaps we should retreat for now?"

"Not much water left?" Hua Xiong seemed to catch only those words, turning his head sharply and urgently ordering, "Fetch a basin of water!"

The soldier thought he was thirsty, so he quickly ordered his men to bring him a small amount of fresh water.

Hua Xiong eagerly took the water basin, but turned around and handed it to his warhorse, letting the beast drink to its heart's content.

The soldier beside him stared in disbelief. The army had set out under cover of darkness, carrying very little water, and their warhorses were drinking dirty, untreated water.

When they arrived at Hua Xiong's place, his warhorse was drinking the scarcest of fresh water. It was truly a case of "the rich feasting while the poor freeze to death on the streets."

The soldier sighed inwardly, but dared not say anything more, after all, Hua Xiong was their supreme general.

However, Hua Xiong's next action surprised him even more. After the warhorse had drunk its fill, Hua Xiong himself did not drink a drop of water. Instead, he poured all the remaining fresh water in the basin onto the horse to cool it down.

A basin of cool water was poured over the horse, which snorted contentedly, and Hua Xiong also closed his eyes in bliss. He and his warhorse were one, so when the horse was comfortable, he felt a deep sense of pleasure as well.

"One more, another one!" Hua Xiong shouted heartily, feeling quite pleased with himself.

"General!" The soldier knelt down with a thud, pleading with a mournful face, "You absolutely mustn't waste any more fresh water! If this continues, the soldiers will complain, and then..."

Before he could finish speaking, Hua Xiong had already pressed the blade against his neck. The soldier trembled in fear, his crotch instantly soaked with sweat.

"What then?" Hua Xiong sneered, his eyes flashing with ferocity. "Trying to cause trouble? I, Hua Xiong, am invincible, victorious in every battle. Who dares to kill me? Who can kill me? Give me another pot! Anyone who objects, I'll tear them apart alive!"

Upon hearing the words "torn alive," the soldier shuddered. He suddenly remembered a rumor circulating in the army:

Every two nights at midnight, agonizing screams of men and women would emanate from General Hua Xiong's tent, as if they were being devoured alive by something...

He swallowed hard, not daring to think any further, and kowtowed repeatedly: "Yes, yes! Your humble servant obeys..."

Before the second basin of water could be brought, the city gate suddenly swung open. A general rode out on horseback, long sword in hand, and charged straight at Hua Xiong.

An invisible sense of oppression swept over them, and even Hua Xiong's battle-hardened warhorse couldn't help but take a few steps back.

Hua Xiong snorted coldly, roaring in his heart: I am invincible! No one can harm me in the slightest!

He suddenly squeezed the horse's belly with both legs, and the warhorse, in pain, neighed and galloped out of the battle formation like an arrow, heading straight for Guan Yu.