Chapter 470 - Guan Yu, the Spy?
Guan Yu was taken aback by Liu Bei's ruthlessness and his assassination order. As a man of virtue, he disagreed with his elder brother's method.
"I don't think this is the right plan! We might be contending against Zhang Tong for supremacy, but assassination and killing his father is too much!"
He was also angry that Zhang Fei died, but he did not allow hatred to consume his judgment.
Guan Yu might be a prideful general in the previous life, but he was not a person who never learned from his mistakes. By taking a step back to look at what he had done or what everyone was doing, he could see the bigger picture and a better solution.
It was not the right move to take revenge now. They did not need to strike back instantly after Tong's men had provoked them.
Liu Bei yelled at Guan Yu's face, "THEN, WHAT ABOUT YIDE!? THE LAST LIFE, HE DIED TRYING TO AVENGE YOU, YOU INGRATE BASTARD!! NOW THAT HE DIED, YOU DON'T EVEN ATTEMPT TO AVENGE FOR HIM AND RETURN THE FAVOR!? IS THIS HOW A MAN OF VIRTUE ACT!? IS THIS HOW THE SO-CALLED VIRTUOUS GOD OF LOYALTY BEHAVE!?"
Getting yelled in the face, even the stoic Guan Yu got irritated. He glared back at Liu Bei in the eyes and released his killing intent.
"I also want to do something for Yide, but revenge is not the only solution! This time, Yide was in the wrong since he tried to kill Zhang Tong's messenger and got himself killed instead! If we harm any of Zhang Tong's men now, you can forget about your previous Shu Han Kingdom or reclaiming the throne. We're not in the condition to fight Zhang Tong with only our forces!"
"We're weaker than him because he has too many capable generals and soldiers! Unless we kill some of them, we will get stuck in this situation forever! Are we going to allow them to kill one of us whenever they want, but we cannot retaliate? Are you out of your mind!?"
"…"
Liu Bei was not wrong. They had to retaliate!
Guan Yu agreed to Liu Bei's point that Tong had too many good generals, and they had to weaken him somehow. As Tong had snatched good generals early, he amassed several strategists and generals under his banners. Combined with the angelic and demonic cultivation factor, Tong's forces already toppled everyone in the land.
As long as Tong's arms and legs, his generals and his strategists, were still alive, Liu Bei would not be their opponent, even if he had Zhuge Liang back on his side.
After all, mortals had limited power. They could never content with the absolute forces of high ranking angels or demons.
However, he was afraid of a dire consequence of using this assassination method.
"I understand that, but we should not provoke Zhang Tong to a fight between angels and demons. Right now, Zhang Tong refrains himself from participating in a direct fight, so we shouldn't use our power recklessly for the sake of getting back at him."
The ability to fly threatened everybody, including Tong's subordinates, that any 6-wing angel or demon could easily assassinate anyone in this country, and their raw physical strength could also annihilate an army of 10,000 men with ease.
Guan Yu was aware of his power and potential, but it horrified him to know that Tong and Lu Bu could also do the same!
Presently, Tong demonstrated his respect toward other forces by not using his demon power to suppress them directly, which Guan Yu was grateful for it.
If Guan Yu started using his angel power to assassinate Tong's subordinates, he assumed that Tong and Lu Bu would definitely do the same, and Liu Bei would die.
Yet, Liu Bei failed to understand this point.
"This is my order, Yunchang. Sneak inside Zhang Tong's cities and kill every general and officer you can find. Target all angels and demons in his territory!"
Hearing the entire order, Guan Yu closed his eyes and sighed. He did not want to become an assassin since it violated his principle.
Since he did not have a choice, he spread his wings and flew away toward the north.
Seeing that his sworn brother was obedient, Liu Bei turned around to see Ma Chao, Pang Tong, and Xu Shu.
"We'll resume our march. Once we reach Hongnong, we'll fortify the region and prepare to attack Henei! Pang Tong, contact Cao Cao and tell him to support us when we start our campaign. Xu Shu, you go to Sun Ce and force him to move, too!"
The strategists acknowledged, "Understood, my lord."
"Ma Chao!"
Ma Chao's eyes beamed, "Present!"
"Your time has come! You'll be the grand commander for my army. Once we reach Hongnong, lead your soldiers north and cross the Yellow River. I want you to sneak into Zhang Tong's territory, so you can ambush Henei's forces!"
Ma Chao was surprised that Liu Bei could think of a tactic.
This general managed to obtain his other world's experience not too long ago, so he understood Liu Bei's character somewhat. Unfortunately, his cultivation had not improved because of his grudge toward Zhang He, who killed his father in this life. With this mentality and his brewing hatred, the angelic cultivation did not suit him.
"Is Zhang He there, my lord?"
Liu Bei shook his head, "No."
"I see," Ma Chao was disappointed. Still, he accepted the dispatch order anyway.
Everyone was happy that they would get to fight Tong, but Xu Shu was not so sure. His instinct was screaming at him that they would meet with a disaster.
"My lord, maybe we should…"
Liu Bei glanced at Xu Shu.
Although Liu Bei did not use his killing intent aura, Xu Shu was intimidated. As he was still an inexperienced scholar, Xu Shu's courage was not on par with his other self in the other world.
He lacked the self-confidence of a war strategist!
This was another mistake that Guan Yu and Zhang Fei made as they did not give a cultivation method to Pang Tong or Xu Shu. None of them had the same ability as their counterpart in their prime!
"N-Nothing. I shall go to Jianye and inform the Sun Clan…"
.
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After Guan Yu had left Liu Bei, he did not rush toward any of Tong's cities. Instead, he was absentminded and flew without a destination.
Daydreaming, Guan Yu thought of his comrades in the previous life, Zhou Cang, Huang Zhong, Zhao Yun, and many others.
He missed them. He wanted to see them again and talk about their new life in this world.
Unfortunately, Zhou Cang and Zhao Yun joined forces with Tong, so he could not meet them now.
'Should I head to Cheng Du and meet with Huang Zhong? His fate has changed, so he should still be serving Liu Biao…'
Guan Yu changed his course and headed toward the southwest, planning to visit Chengdu first.
But then, he thought about his children and his wife in the other life. Ten years ago, he should have married his wife in Ji, where he started an army with Liu Bei. Then, two years later, he should have a son, Guan Ping.
His fate changed, and he did not meet his wife nor had a son, which saddened him.
Emotionally chained by his previous life, Guan Yu turned around and flew toward Ji City, which was currently protected by Sima Lang, Sima Fang's son and the elder brother of Sima Yi.
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Upon arriving at Ji City, he went to a cloth shop and disguised himself as a scholar.
Unfortunately, his disguise failed. As someone who was 190cm tall and muscular, scholar robes did not suit him. Moreover, his red face and long beard stood out like a sore thumb.
Secondly, Ji Commandery was the current Sima House's secondary headquarters, which Sima Fang and Sima Yi collaborated with Sima Lang, the governor of Ji, and built a subsidiary force there in the case of emergency.
Not only Ji City housed the basic 10,000 policemen to overseer the commandery and the affiliated cities around the region, they secretly trained an army of 20,000 men, who were serving as intelligence agents for Tong's forces on paper.
Guan Yu infiltrating the Sima Clan's headquarters was like slapping Sima clansmen in the face. It did not take long for Sima Lang's men to discover of Guan Yu's presence and reported their governor.
A squad of ten policemen rushed to Sima Lang's office and reported their findings.
"My lord, we found a suspicious individual inside the city, but we are afraid that we can't apprehend him without a casualty. Please advise."
The policemen described Guan Yu's look, height, statue, and his natural intimidating aura. They even had an artist to sketch a picture of Guan Yu's face and showed it to Sima Lang.
Sima Lang observed and analyzed the description. Since this person could intimidate his elites, Sima Lang decided to spy on this person himself.
By detaching his only awakened virtuous soul, Humility, Sima Fang sent his soul to check this person of the report.
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