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

Chapter 89. Qi Deviation (5)

As we go through life, there are times when we feel that we can never truly mix with certain people.

Like water and oil, some relationships exist where mutual understanding is impossible, each side rejecting the other until someone inevitably proves the other wrong.

Lü Bu initially wanted to reject the man.

The so-called honor that he constantly preached had already withered away inside her.

Without firewood, the flame does not burn.

Lü Bu’s firewood had been mercilessly trampled by the hands of bandits.

Thus, she could not understand him.

A person who reaches for what they cannot grasp is often called greedy, isn’t it?

That’s what Unryong was to Lü Bu.

Even now, it was the same.

He burned fiercely.

Blazing so intensely, consumed by his ideals until his very body would turn to ashes.

Lü Bu knew the fate of people like him.

“Hey, where are you running off to before the fight’s even over?”

Lü Bu spoke, clutching her side.

Yes, in the beginning, she wanted to deny him.

Even if she had to take his life.

But she spared him, helped him, and now she was doing something this pointless.

When she looked at his weary shoulders, she couldn’t help but recall the foolish woman she used to be.

“······.”

Unryong looked at her with cold eyes.

They were completely different from the eyes she had seen before.

Somehow, Lü Bu felt a sting in her chest.

She wondered if the foolish man she had known had burned out and turned to ashes.

Lü Bu had once wished for his death more than anyone else and wanted to prove her own worth, but she did not want this outcome.

“Put down the sword. How far are you planning to chase them? Do you plan to dance with your sword all the way to their camp?”

“······.”

“You idiot, who would approve of your foolish actions? At least I can’t accept you dying a dog’s death like this.”

“A dog’s death.”

Unryong slowly turned his body.

“I have already seen countless dog’s deaths.”

“······.”

“The first time I saw someone die, I was just a child. The kid’s head was severed and lay beneath a tree. I wasn’t used to such things back then, and I had nightmares for days.”

Unryong spoke, calmly recounting his past.

“That’s why I saved Haryeong. The kid reminded me of that child. It was the same with the others; I took them in out of self-satisfaction.”

“······What does that have to do with anything?”

“It doesn’t. That child and I were strangers. But when I saw the second death, and then the third, by then, I was already killing people myself. If I hadn’t, that kid’s father would have died, and the boy would’ve lost his sibling.”

“Aren’t such deeds worthy of praise?”

“Well, I don’t deny it. That’s how the world works, so what can you do? But I’ve seen countless people die. I’ve witnessed all those dog’s deaths you mentioned, Lü Bu.”

“Then isn’t there even less reason to act like this? Why go to such lengths when this isn’t a fight worth risking your life over? If you have such a grand cause to change the world, then you, of all people, should act more rationally.”

“I am rational right now.”

“Even a stray dog would laugh at that, you idiot.”

“Think about it. Sun Jian is no longer fit to fight, and Sun Ce’s forces must be terrified of me now. I’ll kill them all, one by one. At the very least, I still have the strength to do that. And I’ll kill as many of those behind Sun Jian as I can. Wouldn’t that weaken their forces?”

Unryong faintly raised the corner of his lips.

“Then what about the rest of my brothers? I trust them. As for Cao Cao, I’m sorry, but the Cao Cao I knew wasn’t a heartless woman. She’ll probably take them in. And eventually, she’ll conquer this land without a master, and with all those exceptional people gathered around her, chaos will be swiftly brought to an end.”

“You’re insane. You’re completely insane.”

Lü Bu pointed her Fangtian Huaji at Unryong, who was smirking.

“Have you been so consumed by your ideals that you’ve now begun to indulge in delusions?”

Lü Bu was clearly furious.

Perhaps even more than during their last battle.

Yet, Unryong just quietly looked at her.

“It’s the world that’s crazy, not me. That’s why I created the Heavenly Extreme Linked Illusion Sword Technique. To cut down this unjust heaven that rejects ordinary people who strive to live their lives every day simply because of their humble origins.”

“······.”

Lü Bu could not respond.

She too had once seen the weak as worthless.

Thus, she had given up on life.

She had believed that, as a weakling, she had no value.

“Heaven is just heaven. It’s not something to revere. Your former master Dong Zhuo was the same. He was just a fat pig, a man no different from anyone else. But he killed people. He betrayed, plundered, killed someone’s lover, their family, and their siblings. And it’s not just him. Lü Bu, you know it too. That’s why someone needs to cut down this twisted heaven.”

Qi began to gather on Unryong’s sword. At the same time, his skin started to peel.

Lü Bu’s eyes widened.

“You······!”

Lü Bu was certain.

Unryong had fallen into the very qi deviation he had spoken of.

The rampaging qi was the undeniable proof.

– Boom!

Dust rose around Unryong’s feet.

Lü Bu gritted her teeth and raised her halberd—

– Crack!

Pain surged in her side once more.

A blade had already pierced her.

Her eyes couldn’t keep up.

The man had already reached a distant realm.

It had been only a few months since their bloody battle.

This was all thanks to the internal energy raging inside him, consuming his very body.

Lü Bu furrowed her brow and quickly flung herself away from the side where the blade was lodged.

“Ugh······!”

Blood spewed from her mouth.

The wound was too deep.

If she lost focus for even a moment, she could lose consciousness.

Unryong once again turned his back on her.

Even while clutching the ground and dropping her halberd, Lü Bu spoke in anger.

“······Are you not going to kill me this time either?”

“······.”

Unryong did not answer.

Lü Bu let out a helpless smile.

“You really haven’t changed in that regard. Fool. I guess you’re still hung up on what I said before.”

“Did you say it was for revenge?”

He was a truly foolish man, clinging to such things even in a moment like this.

“······You asked me before, didn’t you? Why I helped you.”

Lü Bu propped herself up on her knee, staggering as she rose, but still gripping her weapon tightly.

“Yes, just like you, I was a fool too. In the end, I couldn’t let it go either.”

Lü Bu squeezed her eyes shut.

Then, with trembling hands, she picked up her Fangtian Huaji.

She remembered the foolish woman who had thrown away her life for her.

What had Lü Bu thought at that time?

Was it a thirst for revenge against the bandits who had killed her?

Hatred for herself, who had caused her death?

If that was the case, she had already achieved it all.

But why did Lü Bu still think of her from time to time?

It was simply a matter of misplaced priorities.

She had regrets.

Not as the Peerless Warrior of the World, but as Lü Fengxian, wanting nothing more than to spend her remaining years with that woman.

Yes, her first thought hadn’t been revenge.

Nor was it self-loathing.

It was just the futile desire to save her.

The desire to save someone was what consumed the young Lü Bu.

However, everyone knows.

The dead cannot be brought back.

Lü Bu saw the man and the woman overlap in her mind.

Their lives seemed so strikingly similar in her eyes.

Thus, her desire to reject him was born from her regrets about life, and her aid to him stemmed from her lingering guilt over not being able to save the woman.

“······That’s why I can’t leave you like this. I can’t let you die like this. If you truly intend to walk that path, then live. Don’t exclude yourself from the world you are striving to create.”

Lü Bu gripped her Fangtian Huaji even tighter.

“I’m sick of this kind of crap.”

“Hoo······.”

Unryong stopped his steps.

At the same time, the intense heat around him gradually subsided.

It was because rain was pouring down.

“Won’t you regret this? This time, I will kill you, Yeo.”

“Ha! That’s what I wanted. Unryong, if you really want to kill me, then draw your sword. Slice my throat, rip out my heart.”

Unryong gripped his sword.

Then, he took a step forward.

An overwhelming killing intent flowed around him.

Lü Bu could sense it.

This battle would be decided in a single exchange.

And the loser would be Lü Bu.

However, Lü Bu had no intention of losing to Unryong as he was now.

Lü Bu gritted her teeth. She also stepped forward.

And at that moment.

— Hwaaaak!

A blue light erupted around him.

“Kugh······!”

Unryong grabbed his head, staggering as memories flooded back.

The day he first exchanged martial arts with Lü Bu.

What had Unryong realized back then?

He desperately suppressed the murderous intent that constantly gnawed at his mind.

‘Remember.’

The reason he picked up the sword.

‘Remember.’

The first time he swung the sword.

‘Remember.’

The reason he created the Heavenly Extreme Linked Illusion Sword Technique.

Yes, the Heavenly Extreme Linked Illusion Sword Technique was not created for slaughter.

But what was he doing now?

“······Unryong!”

Caught off guard by the sudden situation, Lü Bu set down her Fangtian Huaji and ran toward Unryong, who was being consumed by the blue light.

Up close, his condition was even worse than before.

At this rate, it seemed his skin would peel off entirely, with blood streaming down his body.

“Damn it, pull yourself together, you idiot······!”

Lü Bu grabbed Unryong’s shoulders with both arms.

Unryong looked at Lü Bu’s face.

Why was she making such a distressed expression while looking at him?

— Kill them.

The voice whispered in his mind again.

A voice that urged him to kill relentlessly, spoken by none other than himself.

“Unryong!”

This time, Lü Bu, standing right in front of him, shouted.

— Draw your sword.

“Are you really going to die like this······?!”

Lü Bu, bleeding profusely, hugged his body tightly.

“If you die, what will happen to your family······?!”

Her voice was trembling.

Lü Bu knew better than anyone the pain of losing family.

Until now, she had simply been ignoring it.

Remembering it only made her regrets and unresolved feelings surge within her.

“You can’t show such a pathetic, miserable side!”

“······.”

It was something Unryong used to say often.

That he couldn’t show his siblings a disgraceful side.

— Move. You have to do it. Kill them. Kill those in front of you. Kill them, and fulfill the code of Jianghu that you’ve dreamed of—

At that moment, his vision cleared, revealing the scene of Haryeong, Baekrang, Unsam, and Zhao Yun standing in the open field.

‘We will be by Master’s side.’

‘Well, if we do well, you might not even need to step up, Brother.’

‘I, Baekrang, will also fight.’

What had he replied back then?

‘Alright, I trust you.’

“Haaah······!”

Unryong opened his eyes.

His head throbbed incessantly.

Was this what qi deviation felt like?

He had vowed never to lose himself, yet he had been consumed by the enormous internal energy.

Perhaps, his mind had been getting eaten away by his energy long before this.

Indeed, the side effects of holding such overwhelming power in his frail body were immense and difficult to endure.

“Yeo······!”

Unryong gritted his teeth.

To keep himself from being swallowed by his internal energy again.

But if things continued like this, the same thing would repeat.

“Hurry, hurry and take my mind away from me······!”

“······What?”

“There’s no time to explain······! Take me somewhere where no one is······!”

Unryong grabbed Lü Bu’s arm that was resting on his shoulder.

“······Huh, huh?!”

Lü Bu’s face showed clear signs of confusion as Unryong suddenly clutched her arm.

She was so startled that her eyes widened.

“Look, you’re on the run anyway······. So, run away with me······! Write a letter or something to my brothers!”

“You, what are you—”

“There’s no time!”

Lü Bu snapped back to her senses at Unryong’s shout.

“This is the only way to suppress my qi deviation······!”

Of course, she didn’t fully understand his words.

But the man’s expression was so desperate.

“I will definitely repay this favor······! So, let’s run away together—!”

“You, you bastard!”

— Thwack!

Finally, Lü Bu struck the back of Unryong’s neck.

Thanks to that, Unryong passed out cleanly.

“You, you damn idiot······! Crazy bastard······!”

Muttering those words, Lü Bu slung the unconscious man over her back.

The air was cool due to the pouring rain, yet somehow, her body felt hot.