New Three Kingdoms Tales: Starting as the expressionless Liu Bei

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With this stab, the strange power within Lü Bu's body was instantly drained clean by a powerful golden force, leaving not a single drop.

His eyes widened suddenly, and he turned around in disbelief, staring intently at Zhang Liao, and roared hoarsely:

"Zhang Liao! What are you doing! Without some kind of supernatural power, how can I possibly contend with Cao Cao!"

Zhang Liao smiled faintly, his tone icy: "What? It's obvious I'm helping you end the battle."

Isn't that right? If Lü Bu were dead, wouldn't there be no need for fighting?

Lu Bu's expression changed drastically. He pointed at Zhang Liao and said urgently, "What? Could it be that you...?"

Zhang Liao laughed heartily, twirled the gleaming golden dagger between his fingers, and leisurely recited:

"War is a dirty game, and I am a dirty player!"

Before he finished speaking, Zhang Liao suddenly lunged forward and punched Lü Bu in the chest.

Lu Bu was blasted several meters away until he crashed into a house. The earthen wall of the house provided some relief from the impact, but the house could not withstand the force and collapsed, burying Lu Bu under the rubble.

Upon seeing this, Cao Cao burst into laughter and clapped his hands in praise:

"Zhang Liao, oh Zhang Liao, you are truly my Han Xin, Bai Qi, and Zhou Yafu! You've even copied my motto!"

"I misjudged you yesterday, I misjudged you today, and perhaps I will misjudge you tomorrow. But you are still you, and you have never been afraid of being misjudged!"

Zhang Liao smiled knowingly, feeling immensely pleased, and turned to Cao Cao, solemnly clasping his hands in a salute:

"My lord, please forgive me for being late. I have caused you suffering."

After bowing, he quickly presented the dagger in his hand with both hands.

Cao Cao chuckled, took the dagger, and examined it carefully.

The dagger is 48 centimeters long and 9 centimeters wide. The back of the blade is extremely thin, and seven copper nails are embedded in the blade surface, arranged at equal intervals in the shape of the Big Dipper. A ring is also hanging at the tip of the back of the blade, and the handle is carefully wrapped with copper sheet.

He raised the dagger high, and when the sunlight shone on it, a golden ripple appeared around the blade.

Cao Cao's face lit up with joy, and he asked urgently, "Isn't this the Seven-Star Blade I used when I assassinated Dong Zhuo? It's now a golden weapon?"

Golden weapons are the rarest divine weapons in the world. They are transformed from golden spirits that are attached to the weapon. They have an almost natural advantage against the supernatural, and touching them will surely result in death.

If the blade touches anything strange, it can instantly kill it.

There are only five golden demons in the world, and therefore only five golden weapons, making them incredibly rare. It can be said that whoever obtains a golden weapon holds one-fifth of the world in their grasp.

Zhang Liao nodded, then shook his head: "This is indeed the Seven Star Blade, but calling it a golden weapon isn't entirely accurate."

Cao Cao was somewhat puzzled. Was it so or not?

Zhang Liao quickly explained, "This Golden Seven-Star Blade was temporarily lent to me by Heaven. It only contains 50% of the power of gold, so it is not a complete golden weapon and cannot guarantee certain death upon contact."

"However, it does carry half the power of the Golden Ghost, so its effects are still considerable."

"As long as a backstab hits the enemy, all the strange power in their body can be drained. Without the strange power, Lü Bu is no different from an ordinary warrior, and it's not far from certain death if touched."

Upon hearing this, Cao Cao's eyes flashed with undisguised greed, but he quickly suppressed the glint in them.

His expression remained unchanged. He smiled and nodded, handing the Golden Seven-Star Blade back to Zhang Liao, and chuckled:

"Zhang Liao, this battle was won entirely thanks to your efforts. Therefore, you shall personally kill Lü Bu and avenge him!"

As the creator of Cao Cao's military strategy, namely "victorious armies are bound to be arrogant, and arrogant armies are bound to be defeated," Cao Cao knew better than anyone what the consequences would be if he personally killed Lü Bu.

With 100,000 layers of arrogant soldiers' buff stacked on him, even Liu Bei might not be able to withstand it if he activated his expressionless cricket. If he's not careful, he'll be punished by the heavens.

This state is sometimes called "the black coffin pressing down on one's life," where one's luck is extremely bad, and even drinking cold water could cause one to choke to death, making it difficult to accomplish anything.

The best way to dispel the Black Coffin's death curse is naturally to use a luck-type cricket or a luck-based killing move to stack the Sorrowful Soldier buff on yourself.

The cricket that appeared in the Fine Wine River earlier was just right to suppress the black coffin's death luck.

Unfortunately, there was only one cricket, and the Sorrowful Soldier Cricket became a consumable for refining the Spring and Autumn Period Cricket. From then on, the Sorrowful Soldier Cricket disappeared from the world.

However, there's an even easier way: have Zhang Liao do it. Since Zhang Liao killed Lü Bu, the fate of the black coffin would naturally fall on Zhang Liao's shoulders.

This is a scheme to use one tiger to devour another!

Zhang Liao was completely unaware of what was happening and was secretly pleased with himself. He quickly clasped his hands in thanks, then gripped the Golden Seven-Star Blade and walked step by step toward the ruins.

The house had collapsed into a pile of rubble, and Lü Bu slowly crawled out from inside.

He was covered in blood and looked extremely disheveled, but in his eyes, there was still a lion that refused to bow its head.

He slowly raised his halberd, pointed it at Zhang Liao, and roared angrily:

"Zhang Liao! I've treated you well, and you've betrayed me! Didn't you just tell me yesterday that you were my Silver Iron Beast? Didn't you say you'd be loyal to me forever?"

Zhang Liao snorted coldly, raised his Golden Seven-Star Blade, pointed the tip at Lü Bu, and said in a cold voice:

"You've treated me well? Lü Bu, how dare you say those words? You only ever had eyes for Gao Shun, never for me!"

"I've had enough of you, you foolish bastard! Today, this is where you'll die!"

Lu Bu chuckled self-deprecatingly, his tone full of disdain: "Zhang Liao, who do you think you are? Why should I take you seriously?"

"Gao Shun has won many battles and is extremely loyal; of course I must give him an important position!"

When Gao Shun was mentioned, a glimmer of hope appeared in Lü Bu's eyes for a moment, but that light quickly dimmed again.

He stared at Zhang Liao, his voice growing increasingly cold:

"And you, you're nothing but a useless piece of trash! Even if you kill me today, it won't change the fact that you're a piece of trash! I even personally encouraged you to study, what a waste of my time..."

Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly stopped, and then it dawned on him:

"No! I never advised you to study, and you never showed any interest in me! It's all a smokescreen set up by fate!"

Only then did Lü Bu truly realize the truth, but it was too late.

He couldn't help but regret his series of wrong decisions.

This morning, Liu Bei's envoy, Li Ru, came to his door, trying to win him over to fight against Cao Cao.

Li Ru was a fellow townsman and old friend of Lü Bu. His strategic skills were comparable to Chen Gong's. Both were top-notch strategists and possessed a silver tongue.

After some persuasion, Lü Bu was indeed somewhat tempted, but he did not take immediate action.

Not long after, Cao Cao's envoy arrived. Xun Yu was also a top strategist; it was said that he could kill without a trace by simply moving his tongue.

After a few words, Lü Bu was persuaded again.

Furthermore, Zhang Liao had already advised him the previous night that two factors were greater than one, so Lü Bu decided to heed Xun Yu's advice:

He drove Li Ru away, then personally went to Cao Cao's camp to meet Cao Cao. He also ordered Gao Shun to go to Xiaopei to invite Liu Bei. Finally, he shot the halberd at the gate of Xuzhou City and released the enemy with a cup of wine.

As for the departure time, Xun Yu said the sooner the better, and it would be best to set off immediately, and Zhang Liao echoed his opinion.

Lu Bu hesitated, however, because he had already ordered the entire army to rest for a day in the early morning and set off again under the cover of night.

This sudden move to bring it forward seems far too hasty. He objected, and Gao Shun, always loyal, also objected. Two votes to two, and the matter reached a stalemate.

Just as Lü Bu was in a dilemma, his subordinates reported that Chen Gui and his son Chen Deng had returned.

After returning to Xuzhou, Lü Bu sent men to search for the father and son, but to no avail. He had long since accepted that they had met with misfortune. He never expected that they would still be alive.

Lu Bu hurriedly put down his wine bowl, spat out the food in his mouth, and ran out to greet him without even bothering to put on his shoes.

This is called "Lord Wen spitting out his food to welcome guests," which won the hearts of the people!

Upon seeing Chen Gui and Chen Deng, he excitedly grabbed their shoulders and exclaimed repeatedly, "Chen Gui and Chen Deng, Heaven has eyes! You're not dead!"

Afterwards, Chen Gui and Chen Deng recounted their experiences over the past few days.

From the turmoil in Xuzhou to Chen Gong's assassination attempts, he recounted each and every incident, though he omitted many crucial details.

They said that to escape being hunted down, the father and son hid in the deep mountains and survived for many days by eating wild grass and drinking dirty water.

Later, they heard that someone was looking for them, and that Lü Bu was looking for them, but they were afraid that it was a trap set by Chen Gong, so they dared not show themselves.

Only when he could no longer bear it did he muster the courage to go out and look for Lü Bu.

Chen Gui and Chen Deng spoke with great conviction, and with the influence of divine will interfering with Lü Bu's mind, Lü Bu believed them so easily.

Afterwards, Lü Bu told the two men that he was preparing to cease hostilities and make peace, and asked for their opinions.

Unexpectedly, these two men, also seemingly divinely ordained, urged Lü Bu to set off immediately, citing the urgency of war. They even claimed that the sooner the war ended, the sooner Diao Chan could be resurrected, allowing them to live a shameless life together.

With four votes more than two, Lü Bu was completely persuaded.

He immediately ordered Gao Shun to lead 800 elite troops to Xiaopei to invite Liu Bei to Xuzhou City, while he himself led the main army to Fuyang to invite Cao Cao.

Fu Yang is not far from Xuzhou City. As a warrior capable of defeating 100,000 men, Lü Bu can use strange powers to increase his speed, a fact that was preceded during the campaign against Dong Zhuo.

He arrived at Fuyang City first, but did not rush in. Instead, he waited outside the city for the army to arrive.

When Zhang Liao arrived with his army, Lü Bu ordered Zhang Liao to wait in place, agreeing that if anything happened, he would shoot a cloud-piercing arrow into the sky, and Zhang Liao would lead thousands of troops to meet him.

The idea was good, but reality was extremely cruel.

Zhang Liao, already aided by divine will, gripped the Seven-Star Golden Blade, which possessed only half the power of gold, and delivered a vicious blow to Lü Bu from behind, draining all of Lü Bu's strange power.

At this moment, Lü Bu has become utterly useless.

Zhang Liao walked step by step to Lü Bu and raised the Golden Seven-Star Blade high.

Outside Fuyang City, two of Lü Bu's top generals exchanged bewildered glances upon hearing the terrifying battle tremors emanating from within the city.

The general on the left hesitated before asking, "It seems something's happened inside. Should we go in and lend the Grand Commander a hand?"

"No. The Deputy Commander has issued a death order: without his command, no one is allowed to set foot in Fuyang City. Anyone who disobeys will be executed without exception."

"The Grand Commander is so strong, he'll surely be fine. Let's stay here and hold our ground."

The man on the left thought about it and agreed, so he nodded and remained still, though a hint of worry appeared in his eyes.

On the other side, Zhang Liao had already closed in on Lü Bu.

He raised his golden seven-star sword and said viciously, "Lu Bu, this day next year will be your death anniversary! Gao Shun has already been sent to Xiaopei by your own hand, and now no one can save you!"

Upon hearing this, Lü Bu burst into laughter, his smile filled with helplessness and sorrow.

"It's fate! It's all fate! Is this how it's all going to happen?"

"Very well, let's go! Zhang Liao, I'll kill you first, you traitor!"

He suddenly straightened his back and slammed his halberd to the ground with a thunderous sound:

"I, Lü Bu, today abandon this broken body to achieve a bizarre resurrection! I will fight to the last moment, then commit suicide to return to heaven!"

Zhang Liao's expression changed drastically. He swung his sword to stab, wanting to finish off Lü Bu before he could complete his bizarre resurrection, but unfortunately, he was too late.

A terrifying, suffocating aura erupted from Lü Bu's body, engulfing the entire city of Fuyang.

The eerie resurgence has begun. The strange entity within Lü Bu has awakened.

Previously, Sun Qian was only capable of defeating 20,000 men, but once the Wood Demon Ape revived, it overwhelmed the entire arena, making it difficult for them to breathe.

Lu Bu, on the other hand, is a true warrior capable of taking on 100,000 men! Once the strange power within him is fully awakened, the scene will be unimaginable.

Everyone present paled in shock, but Cao Cao remained calm and composed, as if he had read the script beforehand and knew exactly what was going to happen next.

Curious Cao Ren looked worried and asked repeatedly, "Big brother! Can we still win?"

Cao Cao slowly closed his eyes, a slight smile playing on his lips, and put a finger to his lips: "Shh, don't speak. Everyone, enjoy the music."

Cao Ren looked completely bewildered. What did that mean?

Before he could figure it out, a melodious song suddenly resounded throughout the world.

It is the song of Guan Yu!

Strange, didn't Heaven just play the Song of Guan Yu once? How can it play it again?

Little did they know that this song of Guan Yu was played only after Liu Bei killed Guan Yu, when Heaven itself intervened.

In other words, we are currently in a time rewind, before Guan Yu had already died.

Liu Bei was not in Fuyang at the moment. If he knew about this, he would probably feel a bit emotional, realizing that he had inadvertently saved Lü Bu, as well as Cao Cao and others.

After all, if Lü Bu, who was capable of defeating 100,000 men, were to be completely and mysteriously resurrected, probably no one present would survive. Perhaps only Liu Bei, who was also capable of defeating 100,000 men, could barely survive.

Was this a lucky accident, or was it a move that fate had already foreseen?

After all, he was the Venerable Zhidao, a master of wisdom who could defeat millions of people, and whose calculation power was unparalleled.

The truth is now lost to time, as it dates back to a time long ago.

The song of Guan Yu has already begun, and Liu Bei remains unaffected. So, can he seize this opportunity and change the future?

The will of Heaven was too powerful, but Liu Bei possessed countless trump cards left behind by powerful figures. It was even as if Heaven itself knew there were tigers in the mountains, yet still chose to venture into the tiger's den, all to help Liu Bei destroy his destiny.

Will he succeed?

Will Lü Bu become a Venerable One in this battle?

Let's wait and see.