New Three Kingdoms Tales: Starting as the expressionless Liu Bei

The two men gripped their weapons almost simultaneously, turned around abruptly, and discovered that Liu Bei was standing behind them!

But the Liu Bei before them exuded an indescribable eeriness.

He held a candle in his hand, the pale light shining from his chin upwards, making his usually expressionless, stoic face look like that of a dead man who had just crawled out of his grave.

With two crisp clangs, the eighteen-foot spear and the Green Dragon Crescent Blade fell to the ground together.

Zhang Fei and Guan Yu almost simultaneously took off running into the depths of the corridor, screaming at the top of their lungs, "Ghosts! Ghosts!"

The two brutes stumbled and rushed out for about ten steps, but suddenly stopped in unison.

Wait a minute, aren't they weird themselves? What are they afraid of?

The two slowly turned around and saw that Liu Bei could no longer keep his deadpan expression, and was laughing so hard that he was doubled over, clutching his stomach, and even the candle in his hand was shaking.

"Hahaha, second and third brothers, you two are such cowards! I was just joking with you, look how scared you are!"

Zhang Fei's dark face immediately turned purplish-black, and Guan Yu's old face also flushed with an embarrassed dark red.

Damn it! This new big brother is really a child at heart, staying up all night to dress up as a ghost and scare his own brothers!

Zhang Fei was seething with anger, but then he suddenly remembered that his eldest brother must have overheard his secret plot with his second brother. His anger dissipated, leaving him only with a look of embarrassment and guilt.

He rubbed his large, fan-like hands together, and managed to squeeze out a dry sentence:

"Big brother, my second brother and I were just joking around. We never intended to go in and kill that evil infant, really, let me explain!"

Liu Bei's smile vanished instantly. He snorted coldly, stood with his hands behind his back, and said in a chilling voice, "So you know you should explain? Let me tell you, you almost caused a major disaster just now!"

"Luckily, I anticipated you wouldn't give up and would secretly return to open this sealed gate. Since joining the alliance, how much trouble have you, Zhang Yide, caused me? When have you ever listened to a single order from me?"

Zhang Fei was scolded until his face turned red, wishing he could disappear into the ground on the spot. But he couldn't suppress his stubbornness and resentment, and he muttered angrily, his neck stiff:

"Brother, I'm doing this for your own good. Think about it, if this little brat howls all night, none of the three of us will get any sleep. Who can stand that?"

Liu Bei actually nodded, his tone softening slightly: "That's the truth."

Zhang Fei's face lit up with joy, and he was about to go along with it when Liu Bei immediately changed the subject, saying sternly:

"But that's no excuse for you to make up lies to deceive your second brother! When did I ever say that the strange infant was innocent and forbid you from taking action? I was just saying that we shouldn't act rashly before the matter is cleared up, so as not to cause unnecessary trouble."

Upon hearing this, Guan Yu's already flushed face immediately flushed with annoyance at being fooled. He turned his head, his phoenix eyes glaring fiercely at Zhang Fei, and said in a deep voice:

"Big brother is right! It's all your fault, third brother. You used sweet words to deceive me and almost caused me to get into a big disaster because of you."

He clasped his hands in a fist salute to Liu Bei and said loudly, "Brother, quickly order the punishment of our third brother. Make sure he is severely punished so that he will remember this lesson."

Seeing Guan Yu stirring things up with sarcastic remarks, Zhang Fei immediately lost his previous confidence in arguing.

He slumped his enormous head, his hands hanging limply at his sides, looking like a primary school student being punished to stand outside the school gate, his face full of grievance and helplessness.

Liu Bei snorted coldly, turned his gaze to Guan Yu, and said in a neutral tone:

"Second brother, don't just focus on him. As the eldest brother, you are like a father to your younger brother. You failed to control him and only listened to his side of the story before taking up a knife and following him into this forbidden area. You are also at fault."

Guan Yu's righteous and stern expression froze for a moment, then he lowered his head somewhat embarrassedly, stroking his long beard and remaining silent.

Seeing that the two men were somewhat obedient, Liu Bei suppressed his anger and slowly said, "You, bring your wine and come with me."

Guan Yu and Zhang Fei looked at each other, neither able to guess what their elder brother was up to, but neither daring to ask any more questions. They could only each carry a few jars of wine and obediently follow behind Liu Bei.

The three of them walked through two corridors and finally stopped at the door of the outhouse.

Liu Bei pointed a finger at the stinking latrine and said calmly, "Pour all your wine in there. That will be your punishment tonight."

Zhang Fei and Guan Yu's pupils contracted sharply at the same time, their faces filled with a look of utter terror as if struck by lightning.

Zhang Fei immediately clutched the wine jar in his arms, his voice trembling: "Brother, you absolutely mustn't! This is top-quality wine; spilling it like this would hurt more than cutting off my own flesh!"

Guan Yu, forgetting his earlier scolding of Zhang Fei, nodded repeatedly in agreement: "Yes, yes, Third Brother is right. It would be an outrage to waste such fine wine!"

Liu Bei didn't even flinch, his tone leaving no room for negotiation:

"I told you to pour, and you poured. Today I'll teach you a lesson! If you dare disobey my orders and act recklessly again, the punishment will be far more severe than just pouring out a few jars of wine."

Seeing that the two were still hesitating and unwilling to pour the wine, Liu Bei's face darkened.

"What, you want to fight me? I'm talking to you nicely now. If you're stubborn and unwilling to part with this fine wine, don't force me to use my merciless sword!"

Upon hearing this, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei gritted their teeth and opened the wine jars one by one, pouring the golden wine into the filthy latrine, splashing up waves that smelled foul.

The two of them sighed as they fell, their faces contorted with pain that seemed to spill from their eyes.

Liu Bei stood to the side with his hands behind his back, watching them pour wine with a cold eye, his face showing no emotion whatsoever.

The cries of the strange infant still echoed deep within the old house, one after another, without end.

After the two finished pouring out the last jar of wine, Liu Bei had already planned his next move.

He turned and walked towards the gate of the house. Guan Yu and Zhang Fei took one last painful look at the cesspool that had swallowed their fine wine, gritted their teeth, and followed him with their swords.

Two guards stood on night duty outside the gate. Seeing Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei emerge from the house in the dead of night, looking menacing, one of them quickly put on a smiling face, bowed, and asked:

"Generals, why are you out at this hour? Is there something amiss at home, and you haven't slept well?"

Liu Bei raised an eyebrow, his expression intriguing.

The eerie infant's mournful cries still lingered in the air above the mansion, striking his ears again and again, but the two guards in front of him seemed not to hear them at all, with fawning smiles on their faces, standing motionless in front of them.

Zhang Fei's face darkened, and he stepped forward, grabbing the guard by the collar and lifting him almost off the ground. He roared at the top of his lungs:

"Are you deaf?! How are we supposed to sleep with such loud baby crying?!"

"Go and bring your master, Gongsun Zan, over here! I'm going to tear him apart a thousand times over today. How dare he try to fool us brothers with a haunted house? He's got a death wish!"

After Zhang Fei had vented his anger, Liu Bei finally spoke in a deep voice, not loud, but carrying an undeniable authority:

"How dare you! Third brother, you mustn't be rude. General Gongsun must have his reasons for making these arrangements. We should just ask him for clarification."

Zhang Fei snorted coldly, loosened the guard's collar, and slammed his eighteen-foot spear hard into the ground, causing a spiderweb-like crack to appear on the stone floor.

Guan Yu's face was also terribly gloomy. He stroked his long beard with one hand, while the other hand was already on the hilt of the Green Dragon Crescent Blade, his murderous aura poised to be unleashed.

He had just been forced to pour out those jars of fine wine, and he had nowhere to vent his frustration. This clueless guard just happened to run into the line of fire.

The guard's legs went weak with fear, and he collapsed to his knees on the cold stone slab with a thud. His voice trembled as he stammered an explanation:

"Gentlemen! I... I didn't hear any baby crying anywhere! You gentlemen... must you have misheard?"

Guan Yu's hand, which was stroking his long beard, suddenly stopped in mid-air.

The three brothers all fixed their gazes on the trembling guard and asked in unison, "What did you say?"