New Three Kingdoms Tales: Starting as the expressionless Liu Bei

Meanwhile, inside Chenliu City, Yuan Shao stood on a high platform, delivering a resounding speech.

The gist is: We, the eighteen warlords, have gathered here in righteousness; the head of the traitor Dong Zhuo can be taken with a snap of our fingers.

Subsequently, Sun Jian recommended Yuan Shao as the leader of the alliance. Yuan Shao looked somewhat uneasy, seemingly unwilling to accept the position, yet also appearing to be wary of something, and could only reluctantly agree.

With the leader of the alliance decided, Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei arrived at the gates of Chenliu City at that very moment.

The city gate guards shouted, "Halt!" and were about to step forward to question them.

Zhang Fei flew into a rage and roared at the guard:

"Boy, quickly go and call Yuan Shao to come out and greet the emperor!"

Liu Bei was familiar with the plot and knew this was going to happen. He secretly rejoiced in his heart, but his face remained expressionless.

He thought to himself, "The words 'welcome the emperor' have always been used to greet the emperor. With Zhang Fei shouting this, well, Liu Bei is about to declare himself emperor ahead of schedule today."

But despite the laughter, the plot had to move forward. His expression remained unchanged as he rebuked Zhang Fei:

"Third brother, you mustn't be rude."

Having said that, he dismounted and clasped his hands in a fist salute to the guard, saying:

"Brother, please inform them that Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei from Pingyuan have come to join the alliance."

The guard had a face that resembled Sun Qian's. Upon hearing this, he gave a cold laugh, his words laced with sarcasm.

"Liu what? Guan what? Never heard of them. Did Alliance Leader Yuan invite you?"

Liu Bei cursed inwardly: "You bastard Sun Qian, you're deliberately trying to prevent me from entering the city for the alliance meeting!"

"The rise and fall of the nation is the responsibility of every citizen; why should we ask for anything in return?"

When Liu Bei said this line, he almost lost his composure.

After all, the saying "The rise and fall of the nation is the responsibility of every citizen" comes from Gu Yanwu's "Daily Records of Knowledge: The Beginning of the Ming Dynasty," which was a period in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, a far cry from the late Han dynasty.

However, in the new Three Kingdoms series, such famous quotes from different eras are commonplace. There are countless examples, like Lü Meng's "look at someone with new eyes," too many to list.

The guard waved his hand impatiently, signaling the three of them to get lost.

"Since you haven't been invited, leave quickly. The city is a gathering place for heroes, and there are no seats for the three of you."

Liu Bei remained calm and showed no anger upon hearing this.

He knew the plot. This guard was about to face dire consequences.

Having grasped the plot perfectly, Liu Bei decided not to waste any more words with the guard. He looked around, hoping to find some new rule notices nearby. His gaze swept over the notice board on the city wall, and sure enough, he spotted one.

The note read: Strange Tales of Chenliu City's Rules

[Rule 1: Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu are brothers, among the few normal people in the new Three Kingdoms. Please protect them.]

[Rule 2: The trigger condition for Sun Qian's guards' transformation is: entering a bizarre state after being attacked. At that time, they will fight to the last moment, regardless of friend or foe, and then commit suicide.]

[It cannot be stopped unless a higher-level rule comes into play to suppress it.]

Liu Bei silently memorized the two rules, lost in thought. However, in the next instant, he suddenly realized something.

not good!

If he remembered correctly, the following plot would trigger the conditions for Sun Qian's guards to become strange.

We must stop it!

But it seems it's already too late.

Zhang Fei was already seething with anger, and after hearing the guard's words, he could no longer hold back. He took a step forward and punched the guard in the face.

The guard was knocked backward by the brute force, his face contorted in excruciating pain. What enraged him even more was the humiliation he had suffered in front of everyone.

His anger surged, and his eyes instantly turned bloodshot.

Immediately afterwards, his body began to change drastically. His bones cracked, his body grew taller, his muscles bulged, and in the blink of an eye, he transformed into a tall and burly monster.

Liu Bei's expression changed drastically, and he took several steps back. He cursed Zhang Fei inwardly for being such a reckless man; now, Sun Qian's guards had been triggered and had become strange.

He watched coldly from the sidelines, his anger surging, but he couldn't vent it. He could only suppress his anger and watch how Zhang Fei would handle the situation.

A few seconds later, Liu Bei was astonished to find that the strange appearance of Sun Qian's guard was exactly the same as that of Guan Yu.

He was nine feet tall, with phoenix eyes, silkworm eyebrows, and a two-foot-long beard that hung down to his chest. He wore a green robe and held a Green Dragon Crescent Blade, exuding an air of refined elegance and solemnity.

He's a living embodiment of Guan Yu.

The only difference was the face; it was still Sun Qian's face.

Good heavens, it's Wen Guanyu!

Liu Bei nearly lost his composure on the spot. The nameless anger he had felt earlier vanished instantly, and his lips twitched as he almost burst out laughing, but he managed to hold it in.

Guan Yu was taken aback when he saw someone daring to imitate him, but then flew into a rage. He brandished his Green Dragon Crescent Blade and slashed down at the strangely transformed guard of Sun Qian.

Unexpectedly, the strangely transformed guards were incredibly powerful, and in just three moves, they forced Guan Yu to retreat.

Seeing this, Zhang Fei thrust his spear from behind, aiming straight for Sun Qian's guard in the back, yelling as if he wanted to stab him a hundred times.

Unexpectedly, the guard didn't even turn his head. Instead, he grabbed the spear shaft with his other hand and yanked the guard and spear together.

Immediately afterward, he swung his fist and punched Zhang Fei squarely in the face. Zhang Fei flew more than ten meters away, crashing heavily to the ground, his nose bleeding profusely, and he was seriously injured.

Liu Bei was slightly shocked to see how powerful Sun Qian was after his transformation.

He quickly came to a conclusion: a mere soldier, after being transformed into a monster, was stronger than a general who had not been transformed.

However, the rules of the Oath of the Peach Garden clearly stated that Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, in their strange states, could each be worth 10,000 troops, and the two of them would be worth 20,000.

If Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were to also become supernatural, let alone one Sun Qian, even a thousand of them would be no match for the supernatural Guan Yu and Zhang Fei.

Even though Zhang Fei was beaten black and blue, Liu Bei remained calm and watched everything with a composed expression, completely unmoved, as if he were just standing by and watching.

Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, driven to such a wretched state by a mere soldier, were filled with uncontrollable rage. They exchanged a glance and prepared to join forces to attack Sun Qian's guards, determined to regain their honor.

Unexpectedly, after a fierce attack, the two, working together, not only failed to gain any advantage, but were instead forced into a series of defeats.

Guan Yu's Green Dragon Crescent Blade had clearly struck his right arm, but the guard seemed completely unharmed, showing no sign of pain, and continued to attack the two men like a madman.

Seeing this, Liu Bei's heart sank. Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were currently in a state of arrogance, and arrogance is bound to lead to defeat. If he did not intervene, the two of them would truly perish at the hands of Sun Qian's guards if the fighting continued like this.

He placed his hand on the hilt of his double-edged sword, intending to threaten to kill himself to force Guan Yu and Zhang Fei into a bizarre state to deal with Sun Qian's guards.

However, Liu Bei seemed to remember something in a moment, and then calmly observed the situation.

Having read the script, he naturally knew that a miracle worker would soon appear to save the day.

Just as the two sides were locked in fierce combat, a voice came from behind—

"slow!"

Sun Qian's guards were startled by the sound. When they saw who it was, they immediately looked terrified, hurriedly exited their eerie state, lowered their heads, and dared not breathe.

Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei turned around and saw that the newcomer was seven feet tall, with narrow eyes and a long beard, and was slowly riding his horse towards them.

The man dismounted, walked to Liu Bei's side, and laughed heartily.

"Back when I attended Wang Situ's birthday banquet, I was turned away because my rank was too low."

"Unexpectedly, today, these three brave men have encountered the same fate as me."

Liu Bei knew this man was Cao Cao. He thought to himself: What are the conditions that trigger Cao Cao's strange behavior? If he could figure out this trigger, he could bypass it and find an opportunity to kill Cao Cao.

While his mind was wandering, his hands were still busy.

"My name is Liu Bei. Greetings. May I ask who you are?"

He clasped his hands and bowed, paying his respects to Cao Cao. His face remained expressionless, and his tone was flat as if he were mechanically reciting a line.

Cao Cao smiled slightly and returned the greeting with a cupped hand:

"The valiant cavalry captain, Cao Cao."

Upon hearing this, the surrounding guards were all startled and began to whisper among themselves, their eyes filled with awe as they looked at Cao Cao.

Only Liu Bei remained unfazed, clasping his hands in greeting.

"Are you Cao Mengde, the one who assassinated Dong Zhuo?"