Vol 9 Chapter 148 (1/2)
Chapter 148
VOLUME 9 CHAPTER 148: DON’T TELL ME THIS IS DEFECTING TO THE CAO FACTION (6)
Yun Chang POV
At this juncture, Shen Pei turned to look at the other 2 and they also turned to look at her. After a moment, Shen Pei turned back and she seemed like she was trying to stifle her laughter as though she were a kid who was waiting for her prank to unfold.
“Yes, well then, how about this?” Shen Pei said as she pointed at the table. Her smile diminished as she looked at me fiercely, “We’ll give you 3 days. Go back and kill Lu Bu, then open the gates for us. How about that?”
“What?! *Pa*!” Wen Yuan exclaimed as she slammed the table and got up once more.
“Why? Can’t do it?” Shen Pei sneered as though she expected that we would react like this.
But helping to kill Lu Bu… It’s definitely not something we could do. I turned to look at Chen Gong, hoping that she had any ideas but saw that she had sank into silence and was frowning.
“That’s enough. Stop acting.” Shen Pei said forcefully.
My heart stopped. In that instant, because of those few words, I began to break out into a cold sweat even though I barely even sweat on the battlefield sometimes.
Have we been found out? Since when? These doubts sprang to mind and I did not dare to look into her eyes for fear that she could see that I was now wavering inside.
But now is not the time to be thinking about whether we made any mistake before this.
“Lord Shen Pei, what do you mean bu that?” I said in one breath, “Does declining to act as per your plans equate to us acting in your eyes?”
“Are you not acting?” Shen Pei said as she put her hands on the table and stared daggers at me, “Your coming here at this time is illogical to begin with. Yet when I ask you to kill Lu Bu and open the gates, you 3 are acting up like this. What else is there to talk about?”
Wu. Indeed, it is the truth that we are unable to accept her request. Though we can accept it first and then go back and discuss things with Xu Shu later, we will not be able to produce Lu Bu’s head when it comes time to do so. And these people have definitely foreseen that. When the time comes, our ploy will be exposed.
I looked at Cao Ren and Li Dian from the side and saw that they were looking over at us with suspicion and seemed to agree with what Shen Pei was saying. Looks like we cannot rely on them to speak up on our behalf.
Wait… If I think about it again, there should be a way to explain ourselves out of this.
“Hu…” I gave a long sigh and steeled myself before looking up and facing Shen Pei as I spoke up, “… I understand where Lord Shen Pei is coming from. And I also know that this is a test of our intentions. Though you said that the test was over, in reality, it wasn’t.”
“…” Shen Pei smiled and remained silent. As expected, she’s a devious one alright.
“No, I have no intention of criticising you. Nor does Wen Yuan and Lord Chen Gong.” I hurriedly shook my head as I casted my gaze over at Wen Yuan and Chen Gong, “Suspecting our intentions is understandable. And besides, it does seem like our display has not been satisfactory.”
“Yes, I am completely unsatisfied with your sincerity. *Pa*!” Shen Pei said as she slammed both of her hands onto the table. Though she still looked calm, she was probably very frustrated inside, frustrated that we still had not given up despite all of her efforts at unmasking us.
But even though she was frustrated, this did not mean that the other 2 were frustrated. Even if they were, I am very sure that this is because of very di
fferent reasons. And so, I decided to try it.
“But even so, even if we have to be viewed with suspicion,” I paused and met Shen Pei’s gaze as I slowly rolled the dice, “We will still not kill Lu Bu for the sale of having our defections be accepted.”
“… Is that so?” Shen Pei said as she tilted the head, “Can you tell me why?”
“I was going to.” I nodded and saw from the side that the other 2 people on my side had no idea what I was going to say but they were in it with me. As Chen Gong said before, misunderstandings are fine, we just need to be able to provide a reasonable explanation.
“I’ll be direct with you, we may not get along with Lu Bu, but I deeply respect her as a warrior.” I said as I saluted to the entrance of the tent.
“Respect huh…” Shen Pei repeated and trailed off as she waited for me to continue.
“Yes, and it’s not just me. If Wen Yuan did not respect her as a warrior, how could she have put up with Lu Bu for this long?” I asked. But I knew that Shen Pei would not be able to answer and gave the answer myself, “The reason is simple. It is because Lu Bu is simply far too gifted and brilliant when it comes to being a warrior.”
I truly mean this. As a warrior, Lu Bu does not speak unnecessarily nor does she act unnecessarily. Even when it comes to emotions, apart from big brother, she does not seem to have very much of those. And most importantly, Lu Bu is strong, so strong that it seems like she can overcome anything, and very decisive even in the most critical moments. The latter is something that many people cannot achieve, including myself.
But these words are unlikely to reach Shen Pei. Only a warrior, one who is continually trying to improve him or herself and advance down the path of a warrior, can truly understand what I just said.
“A warrior huh…” Shen Pei said as she shook her head, “I’m sorry, I’m just an administrative official. If you were to say this to Gao Lan, perhaps these words might work.”
“…”