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

Chapter 90. Closed-Door Training (1)

A week had passed since Unryong went missing.

Cao Cao’s forces and Sun Jian’s army were in a tense standoff, practically at a standstill.

For a week, both Cao Cao’s army and Unryong’s troops had searched tirelessly for the missing man but had found no trace of him.

Still, knowing that publicly announcing Unryong’s disappearance would cause significant political and military damage, Cao Cao’s forces kept the matter under wraps.

However, as Cao Cao’s army’s conduct became increasingly aggressive, and their movements to seize control of the court grew more intense, the Emperor’s close aides, including the ministers, were left with no means of dealing with the situation.

From their perspective, they couldn’t understand why the woman who once maintained her boundaries had changed so drastically, and it left them deeply troubled.

The atmosphere within Unryong’s army was also unusual.

With Sima Yi at the helm, Unryong’s forces reorganized and were fully absorbed into Cao Cao’s command, joining in the efforts to control the court.

Unryong’s closest aides opposed this, but without their leader, they had nowhere else to go.

They had no choice but to lean on Cao Cao’s mercy.

Furthermore, Sima Yi’s forceful approach played a role.

The girl had said:

“Uncle might still be captured by Sun Jian’s forces. Or worse······ we can’t rule out the possibility that he’s already dead······. And you want to just sit still? Are you all just going to stand by and do nothing? It’s truly pathetic. Those who don’t want to follow me, leave. I won’t stop you. But for those who want to cut down those despicable bastards, follow me. I, Sima Yi, will slaughter them mercilessly.”

As a result, most of Unryong’s forces stayed with Cao Cao’s army, following the girl’s lead.

The once lively and rough group had become somber and filled with murderous intent.

Zhao Yun, in particular, didn’t leave her room for some time.

Despite Sima Yi’s urging, she often appeared lost, sitting silently in meditation without touching her spear.

Haryeong had become a completely different person.

She used to react dramatically whenever she saw Sima Yi, but now, she would just stare blankly into space no matter who approached her.

She even showed disturbing behavior, such as trying to slit her own throat, to the point where Sima Yi had assigned soldiers to keep a close watch on her.

Lastly, Zhang Yang sat pale-faced, her lips trembling madly, as she slowly read the letter brought by a messenger.

“······What did you just say······?”

Zhang Yang, usually faint-hearted, couldn’t withstand the shock and eventually collapsed to the ground.

Her bodyguard, Sugo, hurriedly supported her, startled by the sudden turn of events.

“A-Are you alright?!”

“N-No, that can’t be, it can’t be······.”

Zhang Yang clutched her forehead.

“Haa······, it can’t be······.”

She then exhaled roughly.

That night, Zhang Yang cried until dawn.

She sobbed loudly until no more tears would come.

Her wailing was so intense that many of the people of Shangdang mistook it for a heavenly maiden weeping in fury.

Thus, time passed.

As their emotions slowly shifted from sorrow to anger, and from anger to fury, time continued to flow.

***

My head ached as if it were splitting apart.

My whole body felt like it was about to break, and I struggled to breathe, wondering if I might die just like this.

I endured the pain and slowly opened my eyes.

“······You’re awake?”

What I saw was Lü Bu, her face looking incredibly worn out.

“······Yeo.”

She widened her eyes briefly, then placed her hand on her chest and took a deep breath.

“Hoo······, since you’re up, hurry and eat.”

“······How long has it been?”

“What?”

“······How long have I been lying in this sickbed?”

“It’s already been a week, you idiot. So much time passed I even considered burying you! Because of you, damn it! I had to take care of things I’ve never done before! Ugh! Seriously!”

Was it just my imagination, or did she have a strange smirk on her face as she said that?

In any case, it seemed I had managed to survive.

Though, it felt like I was just barely clinging to life.

I couldn’t move my body.

Even speaking caused sharp pain in my abdomen.

I closed my eyes briefly.

Then, I tried to circulate my qi.

Immediately.

“Kuhhp!”

“What the hell! Are you crazy?!”

Damn, I nearly died right then!

“It’s n-nothing.”

“Don’t pull that crap, just lie still! Do you have any idea how hard I worked to save your sorry ass? If you die here, it would be so unfair!”

She furrowed her brow as she said this, clearly angry.

I didn’t say anything and nodded very faintly.

Ugh, my neck hurts too. Did something else get messed up?

“By the way, where are we?”

I decided to start by asking the most important question.

“We’ve come to a place where no one is, just as you suggested.”

From what I heard, Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan were in Hebei, Sun Ce in Jiangdong, and Yuan Shu and Cao Cao in the Central Plains, so we had come to Xu Province, the only place currently without conflict.

I think Tao Qian was the governor here.

He had invited me once before, but I never dreamed we’d end up here like this.

We were in a place Lü Bu had set up alone, far from any village.

Since both Lü Bu and I were well-known figures, we couldn’t afford to show ourselves looking this worn out.

“So let me ask you—what the hell were you thinking, doing this?”

Lü Bu sighed and showed me a wanted poster.

It was a wanted poster of Lü Bu.

Even engraved with the imperial dragon emblem.

This was practically an imperial order.

My jaw dropped.

“What kind of bullshit is this?”

“They probably suspect me as well. They think I might be the one who killed you.”

“I told you to at least send a letter.”

“And what? Kill myself while you were on the brink of death?”

“······Yeah, that’s true.”

I couldn’t blame Lü Bu.

Everything was because of my qi deviation.

Now that I had regained my senses, I could send a letter as soon as I recovered.

But when did I start falling into qi deviation?

There were too many possibilities to count.

Considering how I had stuffed martial arts beyond my capacity into my body, it was a miracle that it hadn’t exploded sooner.

A sigh escaped me.

Lü Bu spoke up again.

“Is there a way to fix this qi deviation?”

“······I’m not sure.”

“What the hell?”

“In fact, the fact that I’m alive is nothing short of a miracle.”

“This irresponsible bastard.”

Lü Bu looked at me with a contemptuous expression.

I had nothing to say, so I just cleared my throat.

“Haven’t I told you a lot about martial arts, Yeo?”

“Thanks to you, they even appear in my nightmares now. How are you going to take responsibility for that?”

“Stop complaining and listen.”

As I took a humble tone, Lü Bu crossed her arms and snorted, feigning indifference.

It was almost amusing how she acted so fierce despite having saved my life.

“Anyone who has fallen into qi deviation can fall into it again at any time. And by then, their body will be even weaker, which means they could die instantly.”

“······W-What are you supposed to do?”

Lü Bu looked flustered.

I smirked.

“That’s why I’ve distanced myself from my brothers. If I lose consciousness again, there’s a risk I might strike down anyone in front of me, be they friend or foe.”

“······That doesn’t sound like something you care about at all, does it?”

“Hey, don’t get mad. Even if I fall into qi deviation, I won’t be able to show the same martial prowess as before. My meridians are already a mess. But my brothers would hesitate to cut me down. That’s precisely why I asked this of you, Yeo.”

“What do you mean?”

“If that happens, I want you to kill me without hesitation. If it’s you, Yeo, you could do it easily.”

“······You.”

As I said this, Lü Bu’s expression immediately darkened.

“What did you just say?”

“What’s wrong? It’s not a difficult request, is it? Ah, don’t worry about what happens afterward. I’ll send a letter and let them know about this. In fact, Yeo, you could receive an official position as a reward for helping—”

“Shut up.”

“Yeo?”

Lü Bu suddenly jumped up.

“You fucking idiot······, if that’s all you have to say, keep your damn mouth shut. It’s pissing me off.”

“Why are you so annoyed? I thought you’d be overjoyed and ready to dance, Yeo.”

That’s exactly how I felt.

Honestly, think about everything Lü Bu had done up to now. If this image doesn’t come to mind, that would be more abnormal.

But Lü Bu seemed even angrier at my words, glaring at me with fury in her eyes.

I couldn’t say anything and just kept my mouth shut.

“Haa······, just eat your damn food. I’m going out for a while.”

With that, Lü Bu pulled on her worn-out cloak.

However, there was a problem.

“······Well, my hands and feet won’t budge.”

“······What?”

Lü Bu froze at my words.

“Y-You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!”

She started tearing at her red hair in frustration, looking like a wild animal shedding fur.

Lü Bu then slumped down on the floor.

“To think I’d end up serving like this······! And for a bastard like you······!”

“Come on, just feed me. Why are you acting like this between us?”

“······W-What!”

“Haven’t we seen the worst of each other? We’ve already tried to kill each other with swords.”

“······Was that what you were talking about?”

“What did you think I meant? Yeo, you really are a shameless woman.”

“Y-You bastard! Open your mouth!”

Oh my, how forceful.

I opened my mouth and bit down on the spoon that was trembling in her hand.

“And what I said before won’t happen if I can help it. I’ll do everything I can to prevent it.”

“H-How?”

Lü Bu seemed distracted, barely paying attention as she ladled soup into the spoon.

I wondered why she was so focused on it.

“Up until now, I’ve been recklessly stuffing internal energy into myself, pushing my body past its limits. It’s like pouring a large basin of water into a small bowl, just like you’re pouring that soup into the bowl now. Repeating this, of course, breaks the bowl.”

“······I don’t fully get it, but okay.”

“In simpler terms, I need to completely change this bowl. People call this ‘Rebirth.’”

“Rebirth? What, are you going to replace your bones one by one?”

I explained the concept of Rebirth to Lü Bu in broad terms.

She listened, responding with a fascinated “Hoo.”

“It’s surprising how readily you believe me. I thought for sure you’d curse me out, telling me not to spout nonsense.”

“After seeing what I’ve seen, you think I wouldn’t believe it?”

“That’s true. Anyway, to achieve Rebirth, I need an environment where I can focus. That’s the second reason I asked you for help, Yeo.”

“Closed-Door Training, you said?”

I nodded.

“That’s right. But given the current situation, simply doing Closed-Door Training is not feasible. So I won’t be hiding in a cave or anything.”

Of course, the chances of successfully achieving Rebirth were slim. But I had no choice.

Otherwise, I’d spend my life confined to a sickbed.

My meridians were damaged all over, and I didn’t even know where to start, but failure meant death.

Lü Bu finally looked as if she understood.

Then, as if realizing something, she put on a serious expression.

“······Wait a second, does this mean I have to stay with you until then?”

“Well said. That’s the third reason. To reach the state of Rebirth, I need intense focus. If bandits or anyone else shows up, I’m as good as dead. Yeo, I’m asking you. Since you’re on the run, you have nothing else to do, right?”

“Hah, you crazy bastard······.”

Lü Bu laughed helplessly.

She looked like a gambler who had just realized her own pitiful situation.

“I don’t want to be a burden on my brothers anymore. Of course, I’ll be inconveniencing you for a while, but I swear I’ll repay this debt someday.”

“So, Lü Bu’s going to be taking care of your sorry ass until then······. Ha ha······, I really must be at my wit’s end.”

I was eating the food that Lü Bu fed me when it happened.

— Kyaaa!

— Stay still, you bitch!

There was a commotion outside.

Lü Bu, looking annoyed, covered her ears and pulled her cloak tighter.

“Ugh, those bastards are at it again.”

“Who are they?”

“Dunno, some mountain bandits. They’ve been camping out around here. They must’ve formed some kind of gang.”

“I see.”

“You stay put. Don’t go messing around again.”

“Got it.”

With that, Lü Bu stepped outside.

Worried about the situation, I managed to lift myself up and, like Lü Bu, pulled on my cloak.

Damn, this really hurts like hell.

My entire body felt like it was trembling.

I could barely walk, practically crawling to get out the door.

What I saw was about five men and a woman whose hair was being grabbed.

But that wasn’t all.

I rubbed my eyes and even slapped myself to be sure.

But it was unmistakable.

“······What the hell is this?”

The qi flowing from them, and their meridians—