495 Thwarted Plan (1/2)
= A few months earlier before Zhou Yu raided Julu =
Zhou Yu, Sun Ce, and Sun Fang were hiding in Zhongshan as they bribed Zhen Yi with their treasures and their assets. They had collected everything in Jiangdong and fled to this city, hiding from the eyes of Tong and other immortals.
All of them refused to surrender to Tong even though Wu Guotai had become Tong's consort and Sun Quan had been titled as a prince.
As long as Sun Ce and Sun Fang surrendered, they could become princes as well. Yet, they denied Tong's authority.
Sun Fang was afraid that Tong would kill him to pay back for what he did to Hua Shi and Tong in the previous life.
Sun Ce was also too prideful to give up his reign. He was still mad at Tong because the latter stole his wife.
Zhou Yu was the same as Sun Ce. Tong stole Xiao Qiao from him, so this strategist did not want to bow his head to the emperor.
”How long do we have to hide?” Sun Ce grew impatient, ”Zhang Tong is already trying to break through his 8-wing cultivation.”
”Just a little more. Once our men have at least 4 wings, I'll tell you what to do.”
...
The wait lasted until Wang Yun arrived and asked Zhen Yi if he was willing to rebel against Tong.
That day, all talented generals under Zhou Yu and Sun Ce obtained 4-wing strength, which was enough for them to fly. However, their foundation was still lacking as they had not enough time for the training.
Zhou Yu wanted to wait a bit longer and allow them to reinforce their foundation. However, Lu Zhi found out about their presence and lashed out in Tong's clan chat.
Without a choice, Zhou Yu began his plan.
That day when Lu Zhi wanted Zhen Yi dead, they had a meeting. Sun Ce, Sun Fang, Zhen Yi, Wang Yun, and all their subordinates sat in a circle.
”I have a confession,” Zhou Yu revealed the truth that he had been hiding from Sun Ce and Sun Fang, ”I've been dealing with the goddess.”
Sun Fang stood up as he could not believe his ears, ”You-what!?”
”Pipe it down,” Zhou Yu sighed, ”I swore an allegiance to her that our forces will become her subordinates. Once we have 8 wings or 10 wings, we will become her apostles. In exchange, she gave us enough resources for our men, and she will give us some system perks.”
Zhou Yu gazed at his officers, Huang Zu, Ling Cao, Ling Tong, Lu Meng, Lu Xun, Zhou Tai, and many others, ”Everyone here cultivates and obtains wings faster than usual because of that deal. Had everyone here cultivated normally, you would have had only 2 wings or so.”
Sun Ce frowned, ”Is that really the case? I got to 4 wings easily.”
”That is you. They don't have your talent.”
”Eh, fine. Continue.”
”Okay. Everyone here should have learned the deadliest skill that I taught all of you already…”
It was a suicide skill, which self-explode their souls to harm their opponents. However, upon using it, they would die.
”I've already paid what we've agreed upon. Your family has already received 20,000 gold in advance. As long as you do your job correctly, they will get another 20,000 gold, which is more than enough to live freely for the rest of their lives.”
Zhou Yu glanced at Ling Tong, ”Are you sure you want to follow your father along?”
Ling Tong gritted his teeth. He lost his father in the other timeline, so he did not want to lose him again in this world, ”I'll be with my father.”
Ling Cao sighed, ”We all will surely die if we use that skill. I hope you can leave my son out of this.”
Zhou Yu's face hardened. He shook his head as he refused to lie, even if it might be a white lie, ”He might die. We all might die, including me, if this mission fails.”
Sun Ce grew impatient. He stood up and glared at Zhou Yu, ”Tell me what you're planning. Don't waste our time. They will be coming after us in a few hours. Do you know how fast a six-wing angel can fly?”
”… Alright. Be prepared to be disappointed. This mission will be costly,” Zhou Yu paused, ”We will attack Julu and capture Zhang Jiao, but that's not our aim. We will intentionally leak info that we want to interrupt Zhang Tong's cultivation, but our aim is elsewhere.”
”We will sacrifice our officers to take down Lu Bu.”
.
.
.
The suppressing aura of Lu Bu overwhelmed Sun Ce and Sun Fang. Even though they had a similar cultivation strength, their foundation was on a different level.
Lu Bu had been reinforcing his foundation, mimicking Tong's training and following Zuo Ci's advice. Thus, his current 7 souls' strength could rival any 8-wing angel. Combining with Tong's system skill, Yang Divine Vein, Lu Bu could also sacrifice some of his lifespans to heal his physical wounds instantly.
This ultimate war machine unknowingly worked as one of Tong's trump cards.
Meanwhile, Zhou Yu squinted his eyes. He also swallowed his saliva in nervousness.
Zhou Yu had predicted that Lu Bu would appear here, and he had prepared a countermeasure against this monster. However, facing the real beast was not the same as facing Lu Bu in Zhou Yu's imagination.
'Can it work against this monster? No, it has to work! If it doesn't work, we're doomed.'
He looked around and calculated. Sun Ce was a bit injured from the fight against the 6-wing demon girl. Song Qian, Chen Wu, and Ling Tong could act as sacrificial pawns to cripple Lu Bu here as planned.
However, witnessing Lu Bu's six wings and one additional soul behind his back, Zhou Yu reevaluated his plans.
They were fighting against a 7-wing angel, not 6!
They needed help from Lu Meng and Lu Xun, who were taking control of Julu city. If their aid, they could subdue Lu Bu with more rooms of margin.
Zhou Yu summoned his four wings and flew away. As he was retreating, he yelled at Sun Ce and Sun Fang.
”RETREAT!! REGROUP WITH THE OTHERS!!”
Sun Ce and Sun Fang flinched as they understood what this ”Retreat” implied. Their hardened expression gave away the severity of this situation.