The Romance of the Three Kingdoms: Lu Bu is good at being filial - Chapter 63



＜ The Three Heroes and the Legend of Lu Bu (4) ＞

Whenever I read martial arts novels, I always thought about this.

“Why do the righteous warriors try to kill the unrighteous ones simply because they are unrighteous?”

There is one reason.

Because they are unrighteous.

Every time an inn was destroyed and a tavern was wrecked, I wondered if it wouldn’t be possible to just let it slide without a fight.

Now, I understand.

Why they wanted to kill the unrighteous warriors without hesitation.

“If Guan Yu is the great hero of the righteous, then Zhang Fei is the leader of the unrighteous.”

There is a nature to people.

If we were to draw an analogy based on that nature, it would fit perfectly.

Guan Yu.

This person will live as a righteous warrior wherever he goes.

Even if he tends to look down on others somewhat arrogantly, he would never engage in unjust deeds.

What about Zhang Fei?

He is the archetypal unrighteous man.

Of course, among the unrighteous, there are those who act with righteousness.

But what does his face reveal?

When drunk, he looks like someone who could hit anyone.

If he loses his way, he would beat up bandits and become their leader through sheer force.

No matter how many times I think about it, it is indeed right to kill.

Since I have already been made a parricide, dying three times would not be enough.

“Kwaaak!!”

Shoulders, sides, abdomen.

As I unleash an attack that is hard to block with a saber, Zhang Fei lets out a roar and steps back.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

I chase after Zhang Fei to prevent him from mounting his horse, stabbing at him with my spear.

“Impossible!”

Ka-ang.

Guan Yu intervenes from the side, blocking my spear with his halberd.

“Are you thinking of blocking it?”

“As I said, we agreed to die together!”

I deliberately twist my halberd into a position to prevent me from swinging it.

“Ikdeok! Get ready!”

“Thank you, Brother Yunzhang!”

In the meantime,

“Is this insane?!”

As Jangbi mounted his horse, he immediately pulled the spear.

“Slow.”

I straightened my tilted body while slicing through the air with the spear.

Thwack!

“Grrk!!”

The sound was dull.

Jangbi raised the spear’s shaft and precisely blocked the thrust vertically.

According to the calculations, I should have pierced the shaft and driven the spearhead into his neck, but the shaft did not break.

“Interesting. So you also have a spear.”

“Grrk…!!”

The texture of the spear seemed to be wrapped in wood, but it was a camouflage technique.

“This won’t work!”

Jangbi pushed my spear away.

The force was considerable, and my attack was rendered ineffective, but I retrieved my spear and regained my stance.

“I won’t let you escape, Leebo!”

Heeheehee!

Jeokto dashed forward, widening the distance between us and Jangbi.

“Ugh, what?!”

Jangbi kicked his horse’s flank, trying to chase after me, but his horse stumbled momentarily, limping.

‘The condition of the warhorse is clearly superior on this side.’

A battle of strength on horseback.

It’s not just the weight of the weapon that bears down on the armed body when trying to suppress an opponent with brute force.

“Well done, Jeokto.”

Jeokto galloped forward with vigor.

“You’ve learned how to shift the weight while carrying Dongtak.”

Whoosh.

Jeokto galloped again, snorting loudly.

“Ikdeok! I’ll go first! Create some distance!”

Guan Yu charges in.

Knowing well what will happen if he leaves me alone, he runs at me with his halberd in hand, determined to obstruct me in any way possible.

The plan is a strike that embodies the mobility, acceleration, and inertia of the red earth.

Zhang Fei might be able to withstand that strong blow, but if the horse can’t hold on, Zhang Fei will inevitably fall again.

I tried to catch Zhang Fei as he fell—

“Hmph!”

Guan Yu swings his halberd, circling in to protect Zhang Fei.

I also counter Guan Yu’s attack with a forceful strike.

Ka-ga-ga-gan!!

Block, stab, slash, swing.

The speed was not that of a clash between soldiers’ weapons, but rather a duel of swords.

In a single breath, there were seven exchanges.

Guan Yu tries to unleash an offensive, but he is in a defensive position while I am in an offensive one.

“Ugh, I can’t let you go!”

“Let me go? No. I will overtake you.”

I push Guan Yu’s halberd back with all my might, trying to block my path.

“Mm…!!”

The horse that Guan Yu rides rears up on its hind legs, coming to a halt.

Having swung with both hands, the weight was too much for the horse to bear momentarily, causing it to back away.

“Ugh, this…!”

I shook off Guan Yu.

Now, all that remains is Zhang Fei—

“Huuaaah!!”

Zhang Fei charges in on horseback.

“Yikdeok!”

“Uryaahh─!!”

He rushes at me, aiming his spear as if he were a medieval knight, turning to attack as I change direction.

Right at the front.

If I dodge, the momentum will carry past.

‘Do you think I will dodge?’

I also think so—

‘You don’t even plan to avoid the red soil.’

Hee hee hee!

You don’t avoid the red soil either.

After quickly retrieving the Hwaguk, I keep an eye on the end that Zhang Fei’s saber is targeting.

Gugugugu.

The red soil charges forward.

The horse that Zhang Fei is riding is startled by the rush of the red soil, but as Zhang Fei extends his saber forward, the horse shuts its eyes tightly and gallops on.

Surr.

Every time the horse trembles up and down, the blade of the saber shakes.

Like a snake flicking its tongue up and down, the red trajectory aiming for my vital point twists and tangles like a frayed thread.

I (difficult).

In the midst of the chaos, there is only one truth.

Towards the place where the saber thrusting forward is aiming, I unleashed the Hwaguk.

Ka-ang!

The tip of Zhang Fei’s saber, targeting my mouth, is met by the crescent of the Hwaguk, and the red soil and Zhang Fei’s horse collide with each other.

“You b*stard…! This is the horse I received from Dong Zhuo!”

I push the Hwaguk with both hands.

Zhang Fei also grips the saber with both hands, trying to throw me off the horse.

“How is it? Is it good to wipe Dong Zhuo’s backside and receive a fine horse?”

“It’s good.”

“What?!”

“It’s better than your horse, because I can kill you!”

Puh-uk!

The red soil pushes against Zhang Fei’s horse with its neck.

“Ugh, ugh?!”

Before I hurriedly regain my balance and flee—

“Ha!!”

I stab Zhang Fei’s heart with the Hwaguk.

“Kuak?!”

“!”

Even in armor, I intended to pierce through, but Zhang Fei twisted his body dramatically in mid-air.

Whoosh!

A red vein splatters forward.

Zhang Fei’s body also falls downward.

‘Not yet!’

It’s shallow.

The tip of the spear grazes the left side of my heart, but it doesn’t pierce deep enough to reach my heart.

Then I’ll chase after—

“Damn it!”

Before I can strike, I swing my spear back with irritation.

“Enough already!”

Boom—!

It’s rougher than the usual impact sound.

I managed to deflect the crescent blade aiming for my thigh with my spear, but I was stationary while my opponent charged in with full force, swinging a powerful blow.

Thud…!

It was a heavy strike, so much so that I wondered if my legs would give way.

“Zhang Fei, you this…!”

“Brotherhood of the Peach Garden.”

“What?”

“Sworn to be brothers under the peach tree.”

Suddenly, he says something strange—

“We swore to die on the same day, so we shall regard each other’s lives as our own!”

“Ugh, stalling for time…!”

Just when I thought he was saying something odd, Zhang Fei had already abandoned his words and stood up.

“You coward! Get down from your horse!”

Zhang Fei attempts to stab at me from below.

Guan Yu also swings his crescent blade high from the opposite side, aiming to cut me down.

Blocking both sides at once is—impossible.

If they both thrust from either side, I could precisely insert my spear at that angle, but Guan Yu cleverly swings his blade instead of thrusting.

If I block the sabre, the lunar blade will cut into my waist.

If I counter with the lunar blade, the sabre will burrow beneath and aim for my heart.

Life and death are one.

“Red Earth!”

Gripping the sabre with one hand, I step heavily onto the saddle of the Red Earth with the other, tightening my grip.

“Hold on!”

Heeheehee!

As the Red Earth stretches its four legs to lower its stance, I leap up, pressing down on the saddle with one hand.

Boom!

The Red Earth withstood the weight of me and the sabre.

For a brief moment, I flipped my body upside down.

Head down, legs to the sky.

The view from the saddle sweeps left and right in an instant.

‘Detach!’

The Red Earth bounces, pushing my hand back, and I am launched backward as if fired from the Red Earth.

Swoosh.

The sabre and lunar blade reach my head.

With the momentum to cleave my skull, the lunar blade digs in, while the sabre thrusts forward with the intent to pierce my skull.

However, it is too late.

Boom—!!

The sky appears for a moment.

The sun is obscured by clouds, and a cool blade of wind seeps through my hair.

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But there is no pain.

The blade of death did not touch me, and I gradually distance myself from it.

The rest is about righting this flipped body and landing safely.

Thud!

I force one foot down, stepping on the ground.

Even as I touch the ground, my body tries to turn, but I pivot sideways and walk backward.

My balance wavers, but I stabilize horizontally with the sabre, quickly controlling my inertia as I step back.

An ordinary warrior would be astonished by this acrobatic movement—

“Ikdeok! It’s an opportunity!”

“You don’t have to say it!!”

Both Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, before even speaking to each other, are already trying to stab me with the weapons they’ve retrieved.

Kaga-gaga-gaga-gang!!

I block the halberd and the saber from both sides.

With every step I take back, three attacks come in alternately from the left and right.

I counter with the blade of Huage, continuing to swing the tip of the spear like an iron cage.

Slowly.

“!!”

Huage bends.

Just when I thought Huage had reached its limit, at the worst possible time—

‘No.’

If it bends, then I just fight as it bends.

If it becomes a blunt weapon with a blade, then I just fight accordingly.

If I can’t cut, then I can just hit.

Hihihing!!

Before I knew it, I had dodged Guan Yu and Zhang Fei and circled around, and the red earth came rushing right behind me.

Whoosh.

I grabbed the saddle strap with my hand and entrusted my body to the red earth, extending Huage downward while dodging Zhang Fei’s saber aimed at me.

Buuuk!

“Khuh?!”

I scrape Zhang Fei’s thigh with the halberd.

At the same time, Zhang Fei thrusts the saber toward my face—

The tip of the saber passes right in front of me, barely missing.

“Tch.”

If I had been prepared to have my face cut by the blade of the saber, I could have cut his thigh two knuckles deep, but unfortunately, one knuckle was my limit.

Whoosh.

The red earth turns its body to the side.

Just before my body touches the ground, I push off and jump back onto the red earth.

“Huuh…”

Surely, I almost died.

Yet, even in that life-threatening moment, I did not perish, and here I am, alive.

“You’re quite strong.”

There have been few enemies capable of driving me to the brink of death like this.

A brush could mean death.

But that goes for them as well.

“Cough, huff…!”

“Ikdeok!”

“Tch…! Krahk!!”

Zhang Fei tore at the end of his spear with his hand, wrapping it around his deeply cut thigh to stanch the flowing blood.

“Uaaah…!! Keep it up, just me…!”

“Ikdeok, do not rage! The blood must not rise!”

While the attacks were relatively focused on Zhang Fei, Guan Yu’s condition could not be said to be particularly good either.

“General, perhaps—”

“I have no intention of ending this.”

Guan Yu suggested a truce, but I aimed the slightly bent tip of my spear forward.

“I will at least take one arm with me.”

“Enough! Brother, one of us has to die for this fight to end!”

Zhang Fei mounted his horse again.

“If I’m going to die anyway, I’d much rather die fighting like this!”

“Ikdeok!”

“Charge!!”

Zhang Fei kicked his horse’s sides and swung his saber wildly.

“Remember this clearly!”

Even as blood gushed from his entire body.

“I, the man Zhang Ikdeok!! For the sake of my brothers’ cause, I cannot die here!”

He charged at me.

* * *

“What is this.”

Yuan Shao could hardly believe the battle unfolding before him from his vantage point in the watchtower.

“I wonder what I am looking at right now.”

Is this a fight of humans, or a battle of monsters?

Could it be that the heroes of the past, under the names of Lü Bu, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei, have descended to display their might?

Or perhaps, after dying and having their souls soar to the heavens, we are witnessing the human forms of those revered in later generations as ‘war gods’ or ‘military deities’?

“Heroes and champions. What can we call them?”

My heart races.

Every time the three weapons intertwine and scatter chaotically, I feel my heart drop.

As the leader of the anti-Dong Zhuo coalition, I must maintain my composure, yet cold sweat drips down every time Guan Yu and Zhang Fei press Lü Bu.

I narrowly evade.

The attacks do not land.

Though blood and sweat scatter, the fight among the three feels like it is gradually tipping as the battle continues.

“Ugh!”

Zhang Fei screams.

The blade of the Moon Blade passes over the place where his thigh was cut, severing the bandage that had been tied to stop the bleeding and leaving another wound.

“Th-that…! What if he ends up unable to use his leg…!”

The lords, distressed by Zhang Fei’s pain, stomp their feet in anxiety.

Even if he is wounded against Lü Bu, he stands as a worthy opponent.

Despite Guan Yu fighting alongside him, they cannot overwhelm him.

Far from overwhelming, they are gradually being pushed back as time passes.

“Am I dreaming right now?”

One of the lords let out a hollow laugh.

“Those two are fighting together, yet the blood flows only from our side.”

Lü Bu bears no wounds.

There seems to be a scratch on his face, but he does not bleed to the extent that his clothes become soaked like Zhang Fei’s.

As blood flows, one might wonder if he could die from excessive bleeding.

“Ma-Master!”

One lord shouted towards Yuan Shao.

“Send my subordinate! We must help and bring down Lü Bu!”

“…Right now?”

Yuan Shao scanned the surroundings at the lord’s cry.

“Right now, are we sending another warrior over there?”

“Yes! If we don’t…!”

“To that fight?”

Wonsu swallowed hard.

If they sent out all the warriors at once, then Yeop would retreat just like before.

But sending just anyone out would mean that Yeop could easily cut them down in one blow.

Unless it was someone like Guan Yu or Zhang Fei, or someone of equal standing, they couldn’t join that battle.

If they were to join—

“Y-yes! Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, they are sworn brothers!”

One of the lords shouted.

“They are not just two sworn brothers, but three!”

“……!”

Three brothers.

Everyone’s gaze turned to one man.

“…Are you looking at me?”

Gong Sun Chan.

“It can’t be helped. Though I am a lord now, he is my subordinate, my fellow student, my younger brother. Yu Hyun Deok—”

“Where is that Yu Hyun Deok right now?”

“……What?”

Dong, dong, dong.

The sound of drums echoed, and the door of the archery tower opened.

“Who is it! Who opened the door recklessly like this!”

“T-that’s!!”

The soldiers guarding the door were flustered, but the lords had no choice but to turn their gazes forward.

“Lord Yu Hyun Deok of the 19th rank!”

Hee hee hee!!

A man galloped forward on horseback, racing like the wind.

Without a helmet, and wearing only cloth garments instead of proper armor.

He reached out his hands to the left and right, holding a sword in each hand.

“Dual swords…?”

Yubi.

His name is Hyun-deok.

“Charge out!”

Won-soo shouted loudly forward.

Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, the two whom he serves as ‘Lord’.

Won-soo clenched his fist tightly.

How strong must he be to directly intervene in the battle of that hero?

Heeheehee-!

Yubi, riding on horseback, closed the distance towards Le Bao.

Le Bao, who was wildly swinging his weapon towards Zhang Fei, turned his gaze towards Yubi and swung his weapon widely.

Ka-ang!

Yubi blocked with his twin swords, crossing them as if to intercept Le Bao’s weapon.

At the same time, Yubi leaned down, extending one hand to swing his sword towards Le Bao’s abdomen.

Kagagagang!!

The sound of the sword grazing against armor.

With that clear ringing tremor, Le Bao halted his movements, and Yubi stepped forward, correcting his stance.

“General Ye.”

Yubi twirled his twin swords as he gripped them.

“How can a hero known to all the people of the world be protecting Dong Zhuo?”

* * *

When I first saw this man charging on horseback, I wondered what was wrong with my eyes.

‘Is it dual swordsmanship on horseback?’

It’s not easy.

When cavalrymen carry spears, the other hand is usually holding the reins.

But dual swords?

In terms of thigh strength, he can be said to be on par with Guan Yu and Zhang Fei over there.

‘But, he’s weak.’

Though he holds twin swords, the blade merely grazed my side and failed to cut through my armor completely.

Knowing it couldn’t cut through my skin, I allowed the attack.

Realizing that the attack had failed, Yubi must be attempting to engage in conversation.

“Are you trying to buy time for Zhang Fei to recover?”

“…….”

It seems I hit a nerve.

Yuan Shao drove his horse forward, blocking Zhang Fei’s path.

“Ugh, big brother!!”

Zhang Fei shouted loudly at Yuan Shao, but his expression immediately soured.

“Yuan Shao. I entrust you with Yi De.”

“Brother!”

“You’re already at your limit, aren’t you?”

Seeing his posture about to collapse, it seems he’s nearing his breaking point.

“Step aside, Yuan Shao.”

“I still haven’t heard your answer.”

“Is an answer necessary?”

“Of course.”

I know this is a ploy to buy time.

“Am I protecting Dong Zhuo? No. I am protecting the capital.”

But with that one ploy, I felt I could understand what kind of person Yuan Shao truly was.

“I am but a mere soldier. I am the one who eradicates the traitors who deny the Emperor and arbitrarily divide the offices.”

The protagonist of the Three Kingdoms?

Such things are not important.

“Yuan Shao, why have you come here?”

What truly matters is that I am now face to face with this Yuan Shao, seeing, hearing, and feeling him.

“Your brothers are indeed outstanding enough to be called heroes. And as the elder brother of those heroes, you must surely have a grand dream that is different from theirs.”

“Indeed. I—”

“Do you wish to become Emperor?”

“……?!”

Yuan Shao’s eyes widened.

“How surprising.”

I spoke softly, so that the feudal lords wouldn’t hear.

“I, Ye Bongsun, am someone who fully recognizes and respects the merits of those who have eradicated bandits.”

However, Liu Bei is undoubtedly a person with military merit in the suppression of the Yellow Turbans.

“Consideration ends here. Whether it’s a vow of death or whatever, I don’t care. I will hold Zhang Fei accountable for dishonoring my father.”

“…Then, even if I die, I cannot retreat. As the eldest brother, how can I let my younger brothers die?”

Liu Bei, with his head bowed, extends his twin swords forward.

“The mistakes of a younger brother are the mistakes of the eldest.”

“…….”

“If you wish to kill my brother, then you must first cut me down.”

“Is that so?”

Then.

“I won’t hold back.”

With all his strength, he swung the sword of Huage.

Swish.

Red blood spurted into the sky.