Chapter 61: That Year, You Were Like a Mere Henchman at the City Gates

Kill! Kill! Kill!

The two robust men who were the first to charge through the city gate were strangers to Chen Cong.

Generals unknown to him could only be Yan Liang and Wen Chou, fiercely guarded by Yuan Shao. The two cupped their fists in greeting to Chen Cong before spurring their horses and plunging into Sishui Pass.

Xiahou Dun and Yue Jin followed close behind with their troops. When they saw Chen Cong, both were startled.

At this moment, Chen Cong was covered head to toe in sticky clots of blood, impossible to tell if they were his own or his enemies’. More than a dozen arrows were embedded in him, making him look like a hedgehog. In his hand, he gripped a blood-soaked club—or rather, half the hilt of a sword.

“Zining, you—”

“It’s nothing serious,” Chen Cong replied indifferently. “You two go and seize your merits.”

Pan Feng opened his mouth. He wanted to say he had a matter to report! His thigh was still bleeding, and after days of hunger and thirst, he’d grown gaunt, his throat so dry it felt aflame. He needed a military physician, food, water, and above all, a good night’s rest!

Before he could speak, Xiahou Dun left him with a quick “Mind your brother doesn’t come after you” before he and Yue Jin galloped into the pass. Not once did they spare Pan Feng a glance…

Hooves thundered. Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei arrived. At the sight, all three sighed in awe of such martial valor.

Only Guan Yu’s expression was troubled, his eyes fixed on the half-burnt stick in Chen Cong’s hand, eyelids twitching furiously…

Next came Cao Ren, then Huang Zhong, and later, once again, Cao Ren.

Again and again, four or five groups passed through, each commander pausing to show concern for Chen Cong.

Meanwhile, this strapping man—Pan Feng—stood behind Chen Cong like a transparent shadow.

“Chen Zining!”

Chen Cong grinned and cupped his hands toward the newcomer. “Ah, isn’t this the newly appointed General of the Four Garrisons? Congratulations.”

Cao Cao’s face darkened. Snatching the horsewhip from Xu Chu, he looked ready to lash out. But after a quick survey, finding nowhere to strike, he turned and whipped Xu Chu instead.

“What are you standing around for? Find the physician!”

Xu Chu glared, eyes fierce as a tiger’s, then barked at the armored soldiers nearby, “Are you deaf? Didn’t you hear the lord order you to fetch the physician?”

“Yes, sir.”

Xu Chu, arms folded across his chest, rumbled, “The lord is even better at giving orders. He reaps the rewards while lying down—so why blame me?”

Blockhead!

Cao Cao raised the whip again, but it was useless. Not only was Xu Chu thick-skinned and unafraid, but with all that armor, what could a whip accomplish? Worse, Xu Chu didn’t even bother to pretend—he calmly picked his nose, his demeanor saying, “Lord, have you eaten yet?”

Cao Cao ground his teeth in frustration.

At last, the physician arrived. Before lapsing into blood loss and unconsciousness, Pan Feng heard the warmest words of his life: “This general is not in mortal danger. That armored soldier, however, has lost too much blood. If not treated, his life is in peril.”

As for why the blood-soaked, half-naked Chen Cong was called general while he, fully armored and imposing, was deemed a mere soldier…

Pan Feng had no strength left to ponder.

...

The allied army wrapped up quickly.

Before midnight, Chen Cong was bathing in hot water within the pass.

He had his wounds roughly bandaged, changed into clean clothes, and made it in time for Yuan Shao’s victory banquet.

Looking around, he didn’t spot his good comrade Pan Feng. Upon inquiry, he learned the poor fellow had not woken, still rambling deliriously from blood loss, repeating over and over, “I am a general too.”

Others couldn’t make sense of his words and assumed he’d been tortured in the enemy camp, his mind driven to confusion.

Chen Cong sat, about to enjoy a moment of stardom, when suddenly the drums on the city wall thundered.

“Report!”

A scout arrived: “My lord, a man at the gate claims to be Lü Bu and has named General Chen Cong to answer him.”

Yuan Shao raised his cup and toasted Chen Cong. “It seems the main force from Liangzhou has arrived. Were it not for Zining’s courage in seizing the pass, we might never have set foot in this Tiger’s Gate.”

Chen Cong returned the toast with tact. When living off others’ hospitality, a little humility never hurts.

“My lord flatters me. It was but a trifling effort.”

Coughs and choking erupted around the hall. Moments ago, these warriors had been boasting and drinking, but now all bowed their proud heads.

Taking the city by storm, and he calls it a trifling effort! Just a mere gesture!

How are they to boast before their own lords now? Their masters’ standards have been raised—how can they ever bluff again?

And that brute, despite such grave wounds, could attend the banquet as if nothing had happened—truly, it did seem “a mere gesture.” Infuriating!

Yuan Shao waved the scout away. “No need to heed him. Order the archers atop the wall to drive him off.”

“Wait,” Chen Cong said, rising and rolling his neck. “I have old acquaintance with Lü Bu. A meeting would do no harm.”

“Oh?” A flicker of hidden delight passed through Yuan Shao’s eyes. The young are ever prone to pride. Chen Cong had just taken the pass—while wounded!—and with a little prodding, might be goaded into fighting Lü Bu beneath the walls. Perhaps Lü Bu’s might could rid him of this lurking threat.

If Chen Cong were only brave, Yuan Shao would not resort to such measures. But a demon who seized a city gate, unarmored and alone, from fifty thousand men—such a man must be dealt with.

Tapping the table, Yuan Shao laughed heartily. “With Zining here, who could fear a mere Lü Bu? Gentlemen, shall we go watch together?”

“Excellent! I’ve long wished to witness General Chen’s prowess firsthand.”

“To fight by torchlight in the dead of night—this could become a tale for the ages.”

“What tale? Is Lü Bu even worthy to contend with General Chen?”

While the others flattered, Cao Cao walked out first with hands behind his back, secretly ordering his generals to block the city gates.

He was truly afraid.

Yuan Shu merely took Chen Cong’s arm and offered a token word or two of warning before falling silent. He deeply feared Chen Cong’s might, yet with a marriage alliance in place, his feelings were conflicted. To offer even a perfunctory plea was already a sign of close friendship.

As a warlord, he was no different from the rest at heart.

Beneath the formidable city walls, flames leapt skyward, and hundreds of elite horsemen stood ready in the distance.

On the fiery red stallion, Chitu, sat a general nearly ten feet tall, broad-shouldered and imposing, crowned with a triple-pronged gold headdress, clad in a robe of red Sichuan cotton embroidered with a hundred blossoms, armored in beast-faced, chain-linked plates, girdled with a jeweled lion’s belt, bow and quiver at his side, and brandishing a halberd. Who could it be but Lü Bu?

Now Lü Bu, like a slumbering beast, rested his halberd on the ground and closed his eyes in meditation.

His followers lined up behind him, fully armored and mounted, their figures fierce in the firelight.

“Fengxian, it’s been a long time.”

The familiar voice sounded in Lü Bu’s ear.

He drove the halberd into the earth, eyes snapping open. With a swift motion he nocked an arrow and loosed nine shots in succession, all aimed at Chen Cong.

Chen Cong tilted his head and dodged each one, while the assembled lords ducked behind the battlements as if facing a mortal threat.

Grinding his teeth, Lü Bu sheathed his bow and raised his halberd toward the wall.

He bellowed, “Chen Cong, you treacherous cur! How dare you deceive me? If you have the guts, come down and face me!”

Chen Cong turned to Chen Yi at his side. “Armor me.”

The drummers began to beat.

Once fully armed, Chen Cong did nothing more, simply tightened his armor and muttered, “Windy tonight, and cold.”

Both atop the wall and below, all fell silent.

So someone truly dons armor for warmth?

“Where were we? Oh, right. Fengxian, you’ve misunderstood me. I could never betray you; I hold you in esteem.”

Lü Bu laughed in fury. “Scoundrel! Outside the city, I spared you out of respect for talent. Yet in your tales, you alone on horseback defeated me, slaughtered my wolf riders! With such shamelessness, do you even know the meaning of gratitude and honor?”

A revelation of shocking secrets left everyone aghast. For Chen Cong to be so fierce, yet by Lü Bu’s own words, Lü Bu was even greater!

Hmm…

Chen Cong stroked his chin, placing one foot on the battlement as he leaned over to look at Lü Bu.

“So… Fengxian, you’ve come to challenge me for the title of the mightiest warrior under heaven?”

“Arrogant cur! Ah!”

In a fit of rage, Lü Bu drew his bow to shoot again, but in his fury, the bowstring snapped.

He longed to storm the wall, but his men were all cavalry.

If only he could leap atop the battlements and tear out that wretch’s foul tongue!

Once a defeated foe! And now he dares boast before Lü Bu himself?

Had he known, Lü Bu would have torn Chen Cong limb from limb, ground his bones to ash!

“All right, enough. It’s late. If you don’t state your purpose, Fengxian, I’m off to bed.”

Lü Bu’s eyes were bloodshot, jaw clenched. “Fine! Then, let it be said—I have come to challenge you.”

Still leaning forward, Chen Cong grinned. “So you say you have, or you haven’t, or you kind of have, or you kind of haven’t?”

“I have!” Lü Bu shut his eyes in pain and shouted, “I have come to challenge you!”

“Challenge me to what?” Chen Cong pressed.

“To challenge you for the title of the mightiest warrior under heaven!”

Chen Cong threw back his head and laughed uproariously. “Excellent!”

Lü Bu’s eyes shone.

If only Chen Cong would come down and fight, he could finally erase the shame of his defeat, and show all these blind fools who truly is the mightiest, and who is but a glib-tongued braggart!

“Since Fengxian is so confident, it’s only right I guide you a little. Alas, the lords here won’t allow it, using my seventeen arrow wounds and eight spear wounds as an excuse to forbid me from leaving the city. Perhaps you should go back for now? I’ll try to persuade them. There’s really no need to coddle a brute like me so.”

Pfft!

Cao Cao waved his hand with a laugh. “Don’t mind me, just sneezed a bit.”

The other lords cursed inwardly. Sneeze, was it? Those two are as sly as foxes. They’d love for Chen Cong to go out, but none dared say so aloud.

The stage was set with such effort, and now it had come to this…

Even Lü Bu was stunned.

“Cowardly curs! If you dare not fight, just say so. Why make so many excuses?”

Chen Cong nodded. “Didn’t Hu Zhen flee back to you? Next time, make him choose between us. If he picks me, I’ll gladly accept the title of coward and answer your challenge.”

Lü Bu: ……

Though… honestly…

Lü Bu knew full well that Hu Zhen would only dare challenge him.

For just now, after Dong Zhuo gathered the remnants and ordered Hu Zhen to redeem himself, Hu Zhen would rather face death than return to Hulao Pass against Chen Cong…

Fight? He couldn’t win.

Speak? He couldn’t outargue.

That year, Lü Bu, mighty as ever, stood beneath the city walls—yet looked for all the world like a lackey…