Chapter 37: The Entire Dream Realm Faction

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The coalition forces and Dong Zhuo's army engaged in routine battles of offense and defense every day. The coalition could not break through, and Dong Zhuo's army had no desire to fight; they simply dragged the conflict out in a state of stagnant attrition. It seemed as though Yuan Shao had completely forgotten his previous declaration of being irreconcilable with Dong Zhuo. He had already gained enough prestige; of course, if he could capture Hulao Pass and march upon Luoyang, his name would truly be legendary throughout the world.

Chen Xi looked at the blood-stained Hulao Pass. Siege warfare was this cruel; people fell every single day.

"Zichuan, how much longer do you think it will take us to reach Luoyang if this continues?" Zhang Fei asked with a dejected expression. The heavy injuries he had sustained last time had now recovered about ninety percent. Furthermore, according to Zhang Fei himself, his strength seemed to have increased by a notch, much like the feeling he got from Guan Yu and Zhao Yun.

"Soon. Dong Zhuo hasn't been seen atop the city walls for several days; I suspect Dong Zhuo's army will soon abandon the pass and flee," Chen Xi said calmly. "By the way, Third Brother, what do you think of Lu Bu?"

"Lu Bu?" A trace of disgust appeared on Zhang Fei's face, but he subsequently scratched his head. "To be fair, he is indeed a top-tier expert, but I am very dissatisfied with his character. Why do you ask, Zichuan?"

"I'm trying to put together an all-Dreamy General lineup, and the basic requirement is someone at your level," Chen Xi said expressionlessly.

"Ha? That sounds quite difficult. Your Third Brother is, after all, a peerless expert—a man who counts heads with his fingers!" Zhang Fei raised his head with the expression of a lonely master.

"You were almost beaten to death by him..." Chen Xi said, rolling his eyes.

"Setting aside Lu Bu's character, his personal influence alone would make him difficult to recruit," Zhao Yun said, appearing silently behind Chen Xi.

"So, you don't mind if we attempt to recruit him." Chen Xi turned his head to find that not only Zhao Yun, but even Guan Yu and Liu Bei were present.

"Lu Bu is indeed a hero of peerless stature. If Zichuan wishes to attempt to recruit him, he may try," Liu Bei spoke, giving a definitive answer. In his view, since such an uncertain endeavor wouldn't have a major negative impact, as long as Chen Xi was willing to do it, he didn't mind wasting some time.

On the other side, Li Ru was processing documents according to Dong Zhuo's requirements. Once this batch was finished, he estimated that the tung oil would be almost entirely deployed. All that remained was to seize all the treasures and wealth, then leak news to lure all the "Guandong rats" in, and burn them all to death in one massive fire.

"Eh?" Li Ru looked at the memorial. After thinking for a moment, he took a blank imperial decree from the side, casually filled in some information, and stamped it with the jade seal. He then tossed the memorial aside and continued reviewing the subsequent documents. Currently, Li Ru truly held great power in his hands.

Under the light, the memorial clearly stated that Kong Rong, the Governor of Beihai, and Tao Qian, the Governor of Xu Province, had jointly recommended Liu Xuande, a relative of the imperial clan, as the Prefect of Taishan Commandery, followed by a long string of flattering words.

Through his intelligence network, Li Ru knew that Guan, Zhang, and Zhao were all subordinates of Liu Bei. Naturally, he had an interest in recruiting such powerful generals. Now that the Chancellor had delegated great power to him, he naturally had to work diligently for the Chancellor's interests. Perhaps this particular line wouldn't be needed now, but in a few years, when the momentum of the world was gathered to march out from Hangu Pass, many of these "idle chess pieces" would become useful—and Liu Bei happened to be a piece he held in high regard.

"Who are you?" Lu Bu asked curiously, looking at the old man sitting in his home sipping small amounts of wine.

"I am merely a messenger. Someone asked me to deliver a letter to you, saying it is to thank General Lu for his actions in Bingzhou, so I am delivering this to you." The old man stood up, took a letter from his robe, and handed it to Lu Bu.

Lu Bu remained expressionless, but the struggle in his eyes was difficult to hide. He took a deep breath, took the letter from the old man, and said to the servant behind him, "Give him some money and see him out of Luoyang."

"Thank you." The old man bowed and walked away quickly.

Opening the envelope, Lu Bu scanned it rapidly. He then closed the letter in shock, the devastation in his heart written plainly on his face. He reached out and crushed the entire envelope into powder, then said to another servant, "Call Wen Yuan here to discuss matters!"

The next day, Li Ru sent someone to notify Lu Bu to excavate the imperial tombs of Luoyang and collect their treasures. Lu Bu claimed his injuries had not yet healed and did not agree.

Upon hearing this, Li Ru frowned slightly but did not press Lu Bu too hard. Instead, he ordered Li Jue to go and excavate the tombs. For Li Jue, this was an undeniably lucrative assignment!

"Li Wenyou, you actually dare to treat me like this!" Lu Bu roared in anger, locking himself in his inner chamber. He remembered what the letter had said: once he excavated the imperial tombs, he would be permanently branded as a traitorous rebel, and it would be impossible to ever clear his name; the entire Han dynasty would never truly accept him!

And thinking about what the letter said regarding Li Ru setting fire to all of Luoyang—even Lu Bu felt a sense of dread. He couldn't imagine how many people would be displaced. Wasn't his fighting against the barbarians in Bingzhou meant to ensure peace in that region? With this one fire, the million people of Luoyang would be finished!

"General!" Zhang Liao shouted loudly from the doorway.

"Wen Yuan, how is the investigation I asked you to conduct going?" Lu Bu asked with a grim expression.

"The entirety of Luoyang has been covered in tung oil. If I hadn't gone to investigate specifically, we might still be in the dark," Zhang Liao said with a face full of indignation. "What does Li Ru want to do!"

"He wants to burn Luoyang and move the capital to Chang'an," Lu Bu said calmly.

"What?" Zhang Liao cried out, and then everything connected like a single thread. "Fengxian, what do we do?"

"There is no good way. I estimate that if we show even a slight overreaction, the sons of Bingzhou will be cut off from Luoyang; even Xu Rong has been recalled," Lu Bu said with a dark face. "For now, we can only take it one step at a time. I just turned down the task of excavating the imperial tombs; Li Ru is constantly suspicious of us."

"Fengxian, let's return to Bingzhou after this. The boys are all waiting for us. Once we return there, we won't deal with these petty, messy affairs anymore. We will fight our barbarians, and they can fight for their Emperor," Zhang Liao said, looking at Lu Bu with hope.

Lu Bu remained silent. Bingzhou... he wanted to go back too, but he didn't dare.

Ever since Ding Yuan had brought him—someone who had no desire to come to Luoyang—to assist the imperial court; ever since Ding Yuan had led most of the Bingzhou soldiers away from their homeland; ever since that time when, due to a lack of sufficient soldiers to guard the Bingzhou borders, the northern barbarians had descended to graze their herds in the south... and back then, he wasn't facing the northern barbarians, but something else. He simply didn't have the courage to go back.

"Fengxian!" Zhang Liao interrupted Lu Bu's thoughts.

"We cannot go back," Lu Bu said coldly. Prepare for the coming battle; we will have another fierce fight. Protecting the sons of our Bingzhou is far more important than worrying about those uncertain things!

(End of Chapter)