Chapter 68 Transition

  "It seems now that we can only go down to Lujiang and then to Xiangxia and finally to XinYe!" Chen Gong said thoughtfully.

  Now that Liu Bi has surrendered to Yuan Shao, Cao Cao will certainly send a general to seal off all paths to Ru Nan in order to guard against Liu Bi. Therefore, it is impossible for Ru Nan to escape. Even if there were no blockade by Cao Cao, under Yuan Shao's orders, Liu Bi would not allow Lü Bu to pass through anyway.

  "Lujiang?!" Lü Bu thought for a moment, this used to be Yuan Shu's territory, after Yuan Shu was defeated, the governor of Lujiang, Liu Xun, declared independence, and later Liu Xun lost Lujiang due to his insatiable greed, now he is still being kept by Old Cao.

  "Lujiang is now under the control of Little Overlord Sun Ce!" Chen Gong said.

  "Sun Ce? Sun Jian's son?" Lü Bu suddenly remembered that he had met Sun Jian when the eighteen lords gathered at Tiger Trap Pass. He was the only one who dared to confront the Western Liang Iron Cavalry head-on, and although he was defeated by Dong Zhuo, he also made a name for himself. Sun Jian came back, and at that time, Sun Ce was still a young general!

  He has now become a vassal. Sun Ce is also a character, holding the jade seal passed down from his father's life to exchange for troops and autonomy from Yuan Shu, which laid the foundation for this achievement.

  "Hmm, two young men!" Chen Gong said. The intelligence he received stated that Lujiang was occupied by Sun Ce, and the current governor of Lujiang was a young man named Zhou Yu! Sun Ce was not very old to begin with, and this Zhou Yu was even younger than Sun Ce. Moreover, it was said that the plan to defeat Lujiang was also given by Zhou Yu. He was indeed a young man who had achieved great things!

  "Young man?!" Lü Bu thought of Liu Mang, who was still training in the martial arts arena. Chen Gong's "young man" referred to someone younger than Lü Bu and his generation.

  "The situation between Cao Cao and Yuan Shao at Guandu is already on the verge of eruption! This Sun Ce, the little overlord of Jiangdong, has now descended upon Lujiang. It seems his ambitions are not small!" By passing through Lujiang and Ruyang, he can directly threaten Xuchang. If Cao Cao and Yuan Shao really do clash at Guandu, Sun Ce will be able to reach Xuchang by following the Lujiang River upstream. At that time, Cao Mengde will be in for a treat.

  "We're just borrowing a road, this little overlord should agree!" Zhang Liao said, he knew Sun Jian, that was also a battle between the two armies.

  Logically speaking, Lü Bu's army can still be considered as Sun Ce's enemy. In the past, Sun Jian was killed by Huang Zu not only because of the jade seal but also because Sun Jian's army was defeated by Dong Zhuo and had no ability to protect Sun Jian, which led to Huang Zu successfully shooting and killing Sun Jian.

  "It should be okay!" Chen Deng said uncertainly.

  "Hmph, he won't give it to me? He'll have to!" Lü Bu said calmly. "If his father could fall at my hands, then so can he!" As a warrior general, Lü Bu was naturally very interested in martial prowess, and the news he received that this young lord of Jiangdong was already a top-notch warrior had him eager to try his hand.

  "Yes, he won't give it up even if he doesn't want to!" Chen Gong also put down his worries. Not going to Ru Nan was because he would be attacked from both sides, Yuan Shao and Cao Cao were not good things, once the war started, both sides might become enemies. But Lu Jiang was different, the soldiers of Jiang Dong were skilled in water warfare, they might be invincible in the water, but on land, who could be the opponent of the Bingzhou Iron Cavalry?

  Moreover, Lü Bu's army and Sun Ce's army had no interests intertwined, it was impossible for Sun Ce to gain nothing from going to war with Lü Bu. From the way Sun Ce seized Lujiang, this young man's ambition was not small, those who have great ambitions also have great wisdom.

  "Let's rest for another day and set off at the fifth watch tomorrow morning after having dinner at the third watch! Let's leave early to avoid having too many dreams." Lu Bu gave the order.

  All the generals took their orders and left, with only Chen Gong staying behind.

  "Sir!" Chen Gong wanted to say something but hesitated.

  "Are you referring to the matter of Han Yang, Lord Cao?!" Lu Bu knew what Chen Gong was getting at.

  "Lord, is it really good for Han Yang to be like this?!" Chen Gong also spoke out. For twelve hours a day, now ten hours have passed and Liu Mang is still in the martial arts arena. He has set up a large tent in the martial arts arena and hasn't come out yet.

  "It's not that it's good or bad! It's just that both you and I find it hard to intervene!" Lü Bu shook his head. Liu Mang, this man who had no desire to contend with the world, was stimulated to action. A strong-willed heart couldn't be stopped by Lü Bu's obstruction alone. The reason why Lü Bu admired Liu Mang and treated him like his own child, apart from the fact that Liu Mang had saved him and was also his daughter's husband, was that Liu Mang's stubbornness was very similar to his own.

  "Lü Bu said in a voice that only he could hear, 'My adoptive father must have thought of me the same way back then!'"

  "Alas!" Chen Gong was worried about Liu Mang's body.

  It's too much, he also knows that Liu Mang wants to be strong, but he also needs to take care of his body. If he doesn't rest at all and practices martial arts every day, his body will collapse.

  "Don't worry, with Qiling around, that kid will be fine!" The one currently teaching Liu martial arts is none other than Lü Bu's daughter, Lü Qiling. Although she's a girl, she has mastered 70% of Lü Bu's combat skills. Even Zhang Liao and Gao Shun might not be able to defeat her in a one-on-one match.

  "Since nothing's going on here, you can go back!" Lü Bu was also tired and needed a rest.

  "Yes! My lord!" Chen Gong left with worry still on his face.

  In the Shouchun martial arts arena, two figures, a man and a woman, were engaged in a fierce duel. One sword and one shield clashed back and forth, with occasional metallic collisions. It was Lü Qiling and Liu Mang.

  "Alright, let's stop here for today!" Lü Qiling took off the helmet on her head and said with a deep breath.

  "Alright, you go rest first! I'll practice some more!" Liu Mang nodded his head. His sparring with Lü Qiling had benefited him greatly, and now that they had stopped, he needed to think carefully about the moves they had just exchanged.

  "Are you going to practice again?!" Lü Qīlíng's sword-like eyebrows rose up "Liu Hànyáng, don't you know that haste makes waste, if you keep going like this, it'll ruin your body!" The two had been standing in the martial arts training ground since before dawn, and now that the sky was dark, weren't they going to rest yet?!

  "I know!" Liu Mang replied calmly, continuing his usual martial arts practice.

  "Clang!" Lü Qīlíng's sword pressed down on Liú Mǎng's shield, stopping his movement. "You know why, so why are you still doing this?"

  "Let go!" Liu Mang said to Lü Qiling.

  "Don't be reckless!" Lü Qīlíng replied, in her opinion Liu Mǎng had gone mad, practicing martial arts wasn't something that could be accomplished overnight, and exhausting himself like this would only harm his body.

  "Then I'll put it down!" Liu Mang threw down the giant shield in his hand, picked up a new one from the weapon rack and continued to swing.

  "Hey!" Lü Qiling was furious "Liu Hanyang, have you gone mad?!"

  "Mind your own business!" Liu Mang said in a low voice.

  "I am your wife!" Lü Qiling said directly, without caring about being shy.

  "That's also my fiancée!" Liu Mang sneered. "Miss Lü, we're not even married yet, and you think you can be my wife? Get out of here, don't make me repeat myself! Or I'll have the city guards escort you out!" The city guard camp was just next door.

  "You're completely unreasonable!" Lü Xiaojie also got angry, "Go ahead and practice, practice until you die for all I care!" She had finally started to care about someone, but was treated with disdain. Lü Xiaojie stormed off in anger.

  Watching Lv Qiling leave, Liu Meng said in a low voice: "Sorry!" Lv Qiling didn't understand. She didn't know how much pressure was on Liu Meng's shoulders now. He wasn't unwilling to stop, but if he stopped, it seemed as if Xu Han was standing right in front of him, and when he stopped, he could hear the voices of his brothers who had died in battle.

  "General! General!"

  "General, we died so miserably, so miserably!"

  "General, save me! Save me!"

  "Ahhh!" Liu Mang roared, waving his shield again. (PS: I'm so frustrated from searching for materials! Next is Lujiang, Anhui Province's Xiao Qiao! Hahaha!)