It Wasn’t a Martial Arts World, but the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 100. Reunion (1)

A month had passed since Green Forest was destroyed by Unryong’s hands, and Zhang Fei, Liu Bei, and Guan Yu, who knew nothing of the details, were gathered together, talking.

“Cao Cao declared war on Yuan Shu?”

Zhang Fei was startled by the sudden news, her eyes widening in surprise.

“That’s right.”

Liu Bei was smiling as usual, but the faint tremble in her eyes suggested that even she was taken aback.

“She hasn’t even finished the civil war within the court, so why is she rushing into war? Was she always this much of a warmonger?”

“…That’s not it. The Cao Mengde I knew was a person whose true intentions were impossible to read, yet she was always calm. This is strange, almost as if she’s lost her mind…”

“…Do you think something happened to her senior advisor? If it were him, he wouldn’t have approved of such a sudden war.”

Liu Bei rested her chin on her hand, furrowing her brows in deep thought.

Indeed, Cao Cao was a woman whose intentions were always inscrutable, but she wasn’t this reckless.

However, this move seemed far too emotional.

When she first heard this news through Tao Qian’s intelligence, even Liu Bei found it difficult to maintain her smile.

A full-scale war between Yuan Shu and Cao Cao.

And Yuan Shao of Hebei was also on the move towards Ji Province.

The situation was rapidly deteriorating.

“Well… since we can’t really know what’s going on, let’s just leave it aside for now. More importantly, about the Green Forest issue.”

Zhang Fei handed a cup of tea to Liu Bei, who was deep in thought.

Liu Bei seemed far more serious than Zhang Fei, who had brought up the subject of Unryong.

Trying to break the heavy atmosphere, Zhang Fei cleared her throat and spoke.

“No matter how much I think about it, something’s not right.”

“…That’s true.”

Even if the Cao Army and the Unryong Army were closely related, they were bound by their duties until the end.

That was the responsibility of those in power and the mark of a true hero.

Thus, the three had no choice but to ponder the Green Forest’s subjugation.

“Who could have dealt with Green Forest?”

When Liu Bei spoke, Guan Yu, arms crossed, interjected.

“The villagers here are desperately trying to hide the one who saved them.”

“Even if an armed act isn’t sanctioned by the law, no matter how righteous, one must take responsibility for it, right?”

Zhang Fei had experienced the same thing as Guan Yu.

“Even so, it’s still strange. That’s how rumors work, right? They swell up like a snowball. But here, the villagers are all acting as if they’re united…”

“Yes, there’s no way this could happen unless they were deliberately hiding something.”

Liu Bei nodded.

“However, it’s also true that our task is complete. We should report back to the Magistrate. How about we leave tomorrow?”

“Well, I don’t mind. How about you, Sister Yunchang?”

“Sure.”

At this point, there was nothing more they could do.

After all, they were all former chivalrous warriors.

They didn’t want to pry into the affairs of someone who had done a righteous deed, nor did they want to forcibly demand explanations from the villagers.

Thus, they decided to withdraw.

In any case, they had no reason to stay here any longer.

Especially Zhang Fei and Liu Bei, who were eager to finish their business quickly and investigate the happenings around Unryong.

They had sensed that something unusual was going on.

With that, the three strolled through the streets, taking in the scenery of the village, knowing it would be their last time here for a while.

The village was as noisy as ever.

Some people were busy farming, while women hung laundry to dry.

Zhang Fei, naturally adventurous, often took the lead even when her elder sister, Liu Bei, was present.

So, she leisurely walked ahead, leaving the other two to follow behind while she took swigs from a bottle of liquor.

Gulp, gulp—the alcohol didn’t taste as sweet as usual, likely because of her unsettled mind.

Normally, she’d be roaring with laughter, heavily intoxicated by now.

Suddenly, thud!

She felt something collide with her knee.

Looking down, Zhang Fei saw a little girl who had fallen on her bottom, crying.

Zhang Fei’s drunkenness quickly faded as she hurriedly helped the girl up.

“Are you alright?”

Zhang Fei, who could be rougher than anyone with a vicious man, couldn’t help but be gentle with children.

Seeing the girl crying because of her, cold sweat trickled down her back.

“Sniff…!”

Although Zhang Fei quickly helped the girl up, she couldn’t stop her from crying.

Before she knew it, Liu Bei had come over to Zhang Fei’s side and bent down.

“Oh my, what a cute child. Are you okay?”

Liu Bei met the child’s eyes with her usual harmless smile.

In response, the girl stopped crying and cautiously approached Liu Bei, bowing her head.

“Yes…”

“…! Yide, look at this! What a polite child!”

“S-Sister… Please calm down a bit…”

For the record, Liu Bei also loved children.

The same went for Guan Yu.

Although she didn’t show it outwardly, Guan Yu was desperately holding back a smile that was trying to creep up her lips.

As the three of them quietly watched the small, precious child.

“Ugh, seriously… Why am I doing this…?”

A woman in tattered clothes approached from behind the child.

“Hey, kid, if you keep running around like that, I’ll really beat you next time, how many times do I have to—”

The woman suddenly stopped in her tracks.

“Huh? What’s this…?”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I was just comforting the child after bumping into her. Such a cute little one. She’s so polite that I wanted to meet her parents, and here we are. I’m delighted.”

Liu Bei politely clasped her hands together.

Even though the woman in front of her looked like a beggar, Liu Bei didn’t forget her manners.

For the record, the woman—or rather, Lü Bu—didn’t quite understand what was happening.

She had only come to do some shopping.

Ever since the Green Forest incident, just walking through the marketplace often earned her free meals, essentially begging.

While doing so, she had just happened to look after a lost child.

After all, Unryong had been incessantly nagging her to be kinder to the villagers, so despite feeling utterly annoyed, Lü Bu was begrudgingly playing along.

But to have such a strange encounter.

Lü Bu clearly remembered these three.

Yes, without a doubt…

They were the despicable women who ganged up on her at Hulao Gate…!

Damn bitches!

Lü Bu tried to suppress the rising anger.

She closed her eyes and focused her mind.

In the past few months, Lü Bu had received relentless, truly excruciating training in martial arts from Unryong.

It was so severe that she even had nightmares of him yapping his mouth off.

Among the many lessons, she recalled the one about ‘perception.’

“To perceive someone, visual information is important, but so is qi. If you can hide your qi, you can vanish without a trace like renowned assassins.”

According to Unryong, to conceal one’s presence, one needed to be at least a first-rate martial artist.

After all, to hide one’s qi, one first needed to know how to control it.

And Lü Bu, with her natural talent, had already reached the first-rate level.

As she concentrated, she managed to suppress her overflowing qi.

Then, Lü Bu tried to speak as politely as possible.

“…Not my kid.”

“I see.”

“No, hold on, Sister. Why are you smiling so pleasantly? If we’ve shown courtesy, it’s only right that you reciprocate, isn’t it?”

Zhang Fei bristled at Lü Bu’s rough tone.

The more she did, the more Lü Bu had to desperately suppress her boiling impulse.

Unryong had not yet achieved Rebirth.

He had mentioned that he was on the verge of that state, but in any case, it wasn’t complete.

If Lü Bu’s identity were revealed in this situation, it would undoubtedly cause complications.

So, it was best to apologize here naturally.

Lü Bu, who had become accustomed to acting as Unryong’s lackey, took a deep breath and slowly opened her mouth.

‘I apologize for that.’

“Not my kid, you bitches.”

Oops, Lü Bu had messed up.

“…That crazy woman!”

Zhang Fei’s face turned bright red.

She looked ready to draw the Eight-Foot Snake Spear strapped to her back.

Guan Yu was no different. Lü Bu’s unimaginable rudeness filled the air around her with a menacing aura.

Meanwhile, Liu Bei seemed completely unfazed, smiling dumbly as if none of it concerned her.

Regardless.

Lü Bu wasn’t one to stand by.

She had already held back quite a lot.

Especially after what happened before, her view of these women was already skewed to “despicable.”

Normally, Lü Bu would’ve drawn her halberd and cut down the three of them right then and there.

But not this time.

“…Haa, that was a mistake.”

Lü Bu felt her whole body shiver.

She wanted to bite her tongue and die for using such a tone.

Lü Bu hoisted the child onto her shoulder and turned her back.

“What? She’s like this even when we talk nicely—!”

Infuriated by Lü Bu’s insolent attitude, Zhang Fei lunged forward, reaching for Lü Bu’s shoulder.

“…”

Suddenly, the atmosphere shifted.

It wasn’t that Lü Bu’s demeanor changed.

If anything, it was as if the entire village’s air had altered.

Zhang Fei sensed the discord and turned her head.

And finally, she discovered the source of that strange feeling.

Every villager present was staring at Zhang Fei.

And that wasn’t all.

Even the villagers who had been loudly chattering earlier were now silent, tense, as if they were ready to act at any moment.

“…?”

While Zhang Fei was bewildered by the inexplicable situation, a woman who seemed to be the real mother of the child came rushing over.

“I’m so sorry! I hope my child didn’t cause any trouble!”

“Oh, so she’s yours? Take better care of her, yeah? You know how dangerous things are these days; don’t just leave her like that.”

Lü Bu carefully set the child down from her shoulder.

“T-Thank you…”

As the child bowed her head, Lü Bu clicked her tongue and turned away indifferently.

Soon, tap… tap…

Amidst the oppressive silence, the sound of a cane tapping the ground echoed.

“What’s taking you so long? What are you doing here?”

“Tch…”

A man dressed in rags, just like Lü Bu.

Unryong was slowly approaching Lü Bu.

And the closer he got, the more the atmosphere became tense.

Zhang Fei darted her eyes around once more.

‘…What the hell is this? Those eyes… are they awe… or reverence…?’

It was as if the villagers were witnessing an emperor himself, their eyes filled with ecstatic reverence.

“What could be so fun that you’re doing this without me… Hm?”

Finally, Unryong stopped walking.

He froze on the spot.