When Lu Bu was brimming with self-confidence, dominating all opponents, he was strong enough to gallop unchallenged across the world. But once he began to doubt his beliefs, his strength started to wane, and as his might diminished, he doubted his abilities even more, spiraling into a second deadly cycle.
Zhao Yun’s gamble paid off, as his intense confidence brought him great strength. However, once that confidence waned, it would naturally take away every ounce of his power.
Lu Bu fell into the second deadly cycle, and once his perfect, unblemished confidence cracked, it became irreparable.
Wild, furious, and erratic, he swung his Sky Piercer wildly in combat against Zhao Yun and Guan Yu. Unfortunately, the more he fought, the more powerless he felt, while Zhao Yun and Guan Yu’s coordination only grew more seamless. Zhao Yun countered Lu Bu’s assaults, and Guan Yu gathered momentum, slashing perfect arcs with his blade.
"Clang!" With a resounding noise, Lu Bu finally felt his never-before-depleted Inner Qi supply faltering, and similarly, his ever-enduring physical strength neared exhaustion at that moment. For the first time, he felt the heaviness of the Sky Piercer in his hands.
"I am Lu Bu!" With eyes bloodshot, Lu Bu furiously attacked the pair without caring about the huge opening in his upper body!
"Die!" Guan Yu’s Green Dragon Crescent Blade swung in a wide arc, its tip clashing with Lu Bu’s Sky Piercer.
Zhao Yun showed little reaction to Guan Yu’s actions, yet his own movements did not slow in the slightest.
"Chirp chirp chirp chirp~" A string of bird calls sounded, and Zhao Yun became gradually enveloped in firelight, a giant phoenix spreading its wings emerged in a blaze across the battlefield.
"Thump!" The phoenix spread its wings, and a line of fire streaked across, covering all possible escape routes for Lu Bu with a phoenix harboring seventy percent of Zhao Yun’s strength. It was his strongest move, Hundred Birds Facing the Phoenix, a hundred strikes, yet also a single strike.
The power of a hundred attacks, concentrated by a special technique into the final thrust—this was merely legend. Zhao Yun was well aware that although he had mastered the move even better than his teacher, he could only make the final thrust twelve to thirteen times, but not fifteen times as powerful. However, that was enough for him!
Lu Bu was a mess, but he was still alive. His armor was almost completely shattered, not by the beak of the phoenix, but by the graze of its feathers. The Red Hare Horse, truly a treasure among horses, dodged the strongest thrust at the last moment. Otherwise, Lu Bu would have been half dead by now, especially since the city wall behind him now had a transparent hole the size of a sea bowl, with a surface smooth as a mirror.
Zhao Yun, silently gathering his Inner Qi, watched Lu Bu, his eyes flickering but without the slightest hesitation, he unleashed Hundred Birds Facing the Phoenix again. Before the illusory phoenix could even form, Lu Bu turned his horse around without a moment’s hesitation. He figured if the battle continued, he might really end up staying here.
"Kill!" The moment Lu Bu turned to flee, when neither Dong Zhuo nor the Coalition Army had reacted, Liu Bei leapt onto his horse and charged forward. He remembered Chen Xi’s words well—to seize the limelight whenever he could during the campaign against Dong Zhuo, for it was all for future fame!
"Kill!" As Liu Bei leapt onto his horse, others were stunned but quickly realized they couldn’t let Liu Bei overshadow them. After all, he was a Han Imperial Kinsman!
Zhao Yun silently thrust his spear towards Hulao Pass, and similarly, Guan Yu dragged himself along, half-dead—or rather, Zhang Fei was already revived. Though he was drenched in blood and looked ferocious, it was clear he was alive, and he too charged desperately towards Hulao Pass, shouting all the while, "Dong Zhuo is at the pass, kill Dong Zhuo and the world will be at peace!"
Startled, Dong Zhuo twisted around to descend the pass, but was directly blocked by Li Ru.
In Li Ru’s view, no matter how fierce a single general might be, he posed no threat to soldiers in battle formation. Once the formation was established, their Qi merged into one. A lone general daring to charge in would only meet his death!
Dong Zhuo’s complexion turned dark; the previous battle had left him pale with fright. Since he had raised his army in Xiliang, where had he ever seen such a fierce fight? The two sides had clashed until the sky and earth were blurred. If one managed to break through the pass, it was sure to be a direct charge at him, Dong Zhuo, and there was definitely no stopping it. With this thought, Dong Zhuo went pale, pushed the frail Li Rui to the side without a second glance, and hurriedly descended from Hulao Pass.
Li Ru was shocked as he watched Dong Zhuo’s tremulous departure. A sense of desolation welled up from the bottom of his heart. When had he, Li Ru, ever sunk to this deplorable state?
Huge rocks and timbers were continuously hurled from Hulao Pass, strongly blocking the Coalition Army’s attack. As for top experts like Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, as soon as they made a move, there would be more than a hundred divine archers with Inner Qi aiming and unleashing their full force in sniping at them.
Guan Yu tried to charge, but over a hundred arrows enveloped him, targeting every possible point on his body. Though his Green Dragon Crescent Blade whirled into a fierce blur, not all arrows were blocked. Relying on his Inner Qi for just a moment, he was unexpectedly hit by a concealed arrow on his left arm. Instantly, second brother grew frustrated and gave up on advancing any further.
The slaughter ended just like that. Li Ru was no fool; he never had the habit of staking his safety on his military generals. He much preferred to settle everything with his own capabilities.
The cheers erupted atop Hulao Pass after repelling the Guandong Coalition Army. Truthfully speaking, Li Ru was indeed excellent, treating the soldiers he brought from Xiliang exceedingly well.
That’s why the Xiliang Soldiers were fearless in the face of death; to be a soldier was merely for a full belly, and Li Ru ensured that. Moreover, no one dared to embezzle military pay under his watch. He understood better than anyone that martial force was everything in times of chaos, and all else could be obtained through it.
Li Ru sat dispirited on the stone steps of Hulao Pass, void of the scholarly demeanor he once exhibited. He had never been so indifferent to his status, slumping in a corner , but now he felt exhausted. At the moment Dong Zhuo pushed him away and he fell, he was already weary.
"Strategist!" Gao Shun saluted, "The Coalition Army has retreated."
"Give me a moment of calm, Gongzheng," Li Ru said with a darkened expression while Gao Shun stood quietly behind him, motionless.
After a long while, Li Ru looked up at Gao Shun and asked, "You are the subordinate general I admire most under Lyu Bu. Do you think we can lose?"
"With the impregnable Hulao, the richness of Luoyang, and the elite of our military, the Coalition Army is bound to fail," Gao Shun declared definitively.
"Bound to fail, eh!" A bitter smile surfaced on Li Ru’s face, "Indeed, bound to fail, eh... Gongzheng, guard this place well."
Li Ru rose and staggered down from Hulao Pass. For some reason, as Gao Shun watched his retreating figure, he sensed a forlornness known as the twilight of a hero.
Li Ru walked into the Political Office arranged in Hulao Pass, hearing Dong Zhuo’s roaring voice inside, along with Lyu Bu’s strong defense, claiming that this time was just a case of carelessness. Li Ru couldn’t help but feel extremely tired; it was a weariness of the heart.
Upon entering, he found that, except for one, all the generals who had come to Hulao were sitting in their respective places. Li Ru sat calmly at the foremost seat on the left-hand side. Only, this time behind him sat Li Su, instead of the chubby, prosperous-looking Jia Xu.
["Time to return to Chang’an, I presume. He probably won’t even go back to Luoyang. Indeed, his grasp of human nature is a notch above mine, Dong Zhuo... alas..."] Li Ru sighed to himself internally, having lost much of his hope in Dong Zhuo.
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