Chapter 17 - Got Sold (1/2)
Chapter 17 - Got Sold
Original by Bro Got a Gun, Translated by James
In front of Liu Mang and over the vast plains was the countless Cao troops with their spears sticking out, their bright armor dazzling in the wind and their war horses neighing, ready to engage!
Although Liu Mang have came to this era, he yet to experience the actual a.s.sembly of a large army. And now, with the view in front of him, Liu Mang was totally frightened. Back in Xiapi, the majority of the Cao troops was besieging the gates and only few managed to get in the city and fight against Liu Mang and his troops. Later, although Yu Jin and Xiahou Dun’s armies arrived, Liu Mang managed to convert their targets to Wei Xu and Song Xian! Thus, he have never once seen the a.s.sembly of a large army!
Liu Bu and the rest of them, on the other hand, was acting much more normal. Covered in the golden Poseidon Scale, Lu Bu was glittering under the sun’s ray. Holding the trident in his hand, he appeared even more impressive. Although he wasn’t riding the Red Hare, his mount was still impressive looking horse.
“I suspect there must be at least ten thousand enemies in front of us!” Liu Mang was speechless. In his school, five thousand people could cover the whole sports field. With this many people, they certainly covered more than a single sports field!
“Fifteen thousand or so!” Lu Bu briefly stated the amount of men Chen Deng have.
“Fifteen thousand?!” Liu Mang began to think that this Lu Bu was crazy. He had only some two thousand troops! And now, he was planning to use these two thousand troops to fight against fifteen thousand! Was that not a sign of an idiot?!
Even if all of your subordinates were elites, you can’t fight one against ten! h.e.l.l, did you think that they were all Chen Zhen’s and Ip Man’s?!
[TL; google them if you don't know who they are.]
“Hehe!” Lu Bu did not respond to Liu Mang. He chuckled and rode his horse forward.
“All army! In formation!” Gao Shun raised his hands and waved it down.
”Arrange formation! Arrange formation!” The seven hundred some Formation Breakers quickly arranged themselves into formations. Although Liu Mang knew neither of the arts of war or the arts of formations, he could tell that the Formation Breakers have arranged themselves like a huge turtle! Countless s.h.i.+elds have arranged into a strong defensive line. Within this defensive line, gleaming in the sunlight was blades.
If the fifteen thousand people on the opposite side instill fear into one’s mind, then the current Formation Breaker, the seven hundred people in perfect formation like a single person, was like a giant!
On the other side, the enemies in red too stopped moving. They began to separate into different groups.
From that large army comes a group of men riding horses.
Leading was a scholarly man, on his sides was a couple armored generals.
“Master, in the front is the Lu Bu army!” A general spoke to the scholar in white.
“Oh?!” said the scholar indifferently. He began to run his eyes over the Lu Bu army, Zhang Liao’s Bing Province Soldiers, Gao Shun’s Formation Breaker and that person in the golden armor.
Isn’t that person in the golden armor Lu Bu?!
“Word of mouth had it that within horses, Red Hare, with men, Lu Bu. Now that I saw, he’s nothing extraordinary!” A general on the side spoke up. “The Lu Bu army currently have but a few thousand people! Seeing our large army, instead of taking shelter, he dated to engage us head on. What arrogance! Master, this general asks to be the vanguard! I shall fetch that insignificant Lu Bu’s head!”
Chen Deng too was confused. What exactly was this Lu Bu thinking?! Having once worked for Lu Bu, he knew of the prowess of the Formation Breaker and the Bing Province Soldiers.
The Formation Breaker was said to be the king of infantries! Although the Formation Breaker numbered but eight hundred, they could rival five thousand!
The Bing Province Soldiers were the Bing Province Armored Calvary. Although they no longer have their horses, they were still soldiers who have been through hundreds of battles!
However, even with these, they cannot possibly win against fifteen thousand! Not to mention, from Prime Minister Cao, it was learned that Lu Bu’s army lacked provisions. According to calculations, he should have ran out of food for a day now!
Perhaps there is a trap?! Chen Deng’s overly suspicious personality caused him to be unable to see through the Lu Bu on the other side.
“Let’s go! We shall try the Marquis of Wen!” Being unable to see through Lu Bu’s mindset, Chen Deng could only try him out!
“Heeyah!” Chen Deng and his men began riding toward Lu Bu.
“Lu Bu, Marquis of Wen, show yourself! Chen Deng of Guangling have came to see you!” Shouted Chen Deng personally.
“Haha haha! What sort of thing is this Chen Deng, Chen Yuanlong? He is but a man who turns his back on his master and abandons his loyalty!” With a bold laugher, Lu Bu came forth riding his horse.
“You dared insult my master!” A general was about to rush forward to engage Lu Bu but was stopped by Chen Deng. To fight against Lu Bu alone is a death wis.h.!.+ Although Lu Bu have neither the Red Hare nor his Sky Piercer, he was still someone that a second rated general could not compare to!
“The Marquis of Wen seemed to be in good health!” Said Chen Deng, holding his fist.
“Thanks to your Chen family’s blessing, I’m still alive!” The trident in Lu Bu’s hands started to buzz, showing its master’s killing intent.
“Hehe, it’s good to be alive, good to be alive!” Chen Deng laughed. “Oh Marquis of Wen, a few days back, Xu Province was still yours and you had seventy thousand men. How come are only left with this few men now?!” laughed Chen Deng.
“Humph! Why I’m left with this few men, how would you, Chen Deng, not know?! If you didn’t, then you won’t have appeared in front of me now!” said Lu Bu with a snort.
“Marquis of Wen oh Marquis, my father and I did it for your sake too!” Chen Deng had an expression like he was thinking for your sake. “Prime Minister Cao was sent on imperial orders to rule over the world. Marquis of Wen, as an official of Han, you ought to lay down your military power and enter the imperial court as an official. When the moment comes, your position would thus ascend a couple ranks and bring splendor s.h.i.+nes on your family’s door! To give the Xu Province to Prime Minister Cao is to give the Xu Province to the Emperor!”
“For my sake? Haha. What a great way to do things for my sake! No wonder your Chen family of Guangling could take root in Xu Province for all these years! Fifteen thousand troops! What a large number!” Lu Bu began to held a bit of admiration for the Chen family. They were already here when Tao Qian was still in power. Tao Qian have forgotten about them. Then when Liu Bei and finally he controlled Xu Province, they were still there as the lord of Guangling! Not only were they not harmed at all, they even grew larger!
Fifteen thousand troops was even comparable to a warlord’s!
“What a pity!” Lu Bu continued. “What a pity that your old father, Chen Gui, cannot live till this date!”
Hearing that Lu Bu mentioned his father, Chen Deng frowned. “Marquis of Wen, as the saying goes, one shall not strike the face when beating someone up, one shall not bring forth one’s relative in an argument! Marquis of Wen, wasn’t your speech just now lacking etiquette?!”
“Hahahaha! I understand, I understand!” Lu Bu looked at Chen Deng with a mocking smile. It was exactly as Gongtai said, this Chen Deng still didn’t know of that incident. “I suspect you still didn’t know! No wonder, no wonder!”
“Didn’t know?!” Chen Deng already suspected that Lu Bu had a trap set up. Now, hearing Lu Bu’s words, he grew even more suspicious.
“When did the Marquis of Wen started talking in riddles and rhymes. This isn’t like the Marquis of Wen’s style!” said Chen Deng.
“Sigh! Oh Chen Deng, why bother?! For your Prime Minister Cao to not tell you, he must certainly have his reasons! Say, as an outsider, how could I intrude upon your business?!”
Cao Cao was hiding something from me? Chen Deng glanced at the Formation Breaker and the Bing Province Army. Didn’t Cao Cao said the Lu Bu army ran out of provisions and have staved for a day?! However, no matter how you look at them, they looked to be completely healthy, without any signs of starvation! “Marquis of Wen, if you have something to say then say it!”
If there was something that Chen Deng was unable to let go of then it would be his Chen family’s growth and his father Chen Gui.
“Oh righteous emperor! I, Lu Bu, is inferior! Oh how inferior!” Who says Lu Bu doesn’t know how to scheme? He just never bothered to!
“Stray dog, it goes without saying that you are inferior to my master! What is there to lament about?!” One of Chen Deng’s general already didn’t like Lu Bu for he disdained Lu Bu for being called the number one general under heaven.
“Yuanlong, make sure to close your family’s cage properly so that your dogs won’t randomly bite people!” Had it not been for the fact that Lu Bu wanted to see the Chen Deng’s expression after finding out what happened to his father, he would’ve already killed that man instead of saying this!
“Step down!” Chen Deng was eager to know the information regarding his father. “Sorry to show such a disgraceful scene to the Marquis of Wen! Perhaps the Marquis could inform this Chen Deng of the news of his father?!” Chen Yuanlong wasn’t dumb, the only thing that Cao Cao could try to hide from him would be information regarding his father!
“Well then, seeing Yuanlong’s sincerity, I guess I shall tackle the difficult job of informing you the news! Chen Gui, your father, have already pa.s.sed away!” Seeing Chen Deng’s marvelous expression, Lu Bu wanted to laugh but had to held his laughter back!
“Impossible! Impossible!” Chen Deng eyes were wide open, his expression showing a refusal to accept the news. “Lu Bu, Deng have treated you with courtesy. Why must you deceive Deng?!” asked Chen Deng.
“What, did you, Chen Yuanlong, see this Lu Bu as the kind of person who speaks of false words?!” Lu Bu’s expression also grew colder.
“Not only did your father pa.s.sed away, he died at the hands of your devoted Prime Minister Cao!” declared Lu Bu word by word.
“You’re lying! Lies!” Chen Deng was no longer calm and collected. Although Chen Gui might have died, he can’t possibly die at the hands of Cao Cao! Chen Gui dying will not benefit Cao Cao one bit! Cao Cao cannot be that stupid!
“Believe what you want!” Lu Bu didn’t want to bother explaining. “All you have to do is go ask Cao Aman what your father said before he died and everything will make sense!”
“Humph! Regarding this, I will certainly ask the Prime Minister. However, Marquis of Wen is best to return with me to meet the Prime Minister too!” Chen Deng have made up his mind. He was determined to make Lu Bu stay. Lu Bu was too big of a threat. Just by himself, he have caused Chen Deng to have be unable to sleep properly at night. On top of that, there’s his army! Thus Chen Deng was not going to let Lu Bu walk away alive!
“What, you wanted to make me stay?! Then come!” Lu Bu sneered.
“If that’s the case, then I shall meet you on the battlefield!” CHen Deng also didn’t expect Lu Bu to surrender just like that. He was about to return to his army after saying those words.
“To stand in front of I, Lu Bu, did you think that you can come and go as you please?!” Said Lu Bu coldly. “It’s better for you to remain here!” With a clap of his legs, the large horse Lu Bu was on rushed out like the wind.
“You dare!” The generals by Chen Gong’s side cannot bear it any longer. In their view, they considered Lu Bu to be simply a handsome exterior with a hollow inside. To dare rush forward alone!
“Lu Bu, prepare to leave your head! Remember that the person who killed you is Guangling…” One of Chen Deng’s general, before he was even able to say his name, already had his head launched into the sky.
“I don’t need your name! There’s too many people that died under my hands, I cannot remember all these names!” Blood flowed down along the trident’s tip. The trident have finally tasted blood.