Chapter 404

Chapter 404 – Guan Yu's Karma

Cao Cao read Guan Yu's message scroll, which informed him about Liu Bei's stance in Hongnong .

Similar to Liu Bei's promise to Liu Biao, he attempted to surrender to Cao Cao with the condition that he got to retain his position as Hongnong's governor .

He burst into laughter, "Oh, Liu Bei . You've never changed, no matter which world it is . Whoever your lord was, you always betrayed them for your personal gain . Now, are you planning to use me again?"

Cao Cao looked at the combat between infantry at the center . Guan Yu had long retreated from the frontline and regrouped with the charging 20,000 footmen . The infantry wave was so massive that all of Cao Cao's commanders were panicking .

Cheng Yu received the scroll and read it . He frowned, "Isn't this man Yuan Shao's underling? What is he doing here?"

"He's a leech . Without his sworn brothers, he's nothing special . For now, let's survive Li Ru's onslaught . That man is going all-out . "

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20,000 Footmen crashed against Cao Cao's remaining troops . This time, Li Ru's soldiers also had archers, who fired their arrows into Cao Cao's ranks .

Cao Cao's men retaliated with their grapeshots and repeating crossbows while the frontline held their advance .

Unfortunately, Cao Cao's forces were at a disadvantage in numbers and cavalry's strength .

5,000 Cataphracts routed Li Dian's horsemen and destroyed Cao Cao's flank defenders . They proceeded to Cao Cao's main battalion, which consisted of cannon crews and spearmen .

However, Cao Cao was ready .

*BOOM*

*BOOM*

*BOOM*

Grapeshots from cannons and spearwall formation managed to stop their charge .

Three hours into the fight, 15,000 Remaining Xiliang soldiers brokethrough Cao Xiu's rank and captured the general .

Upon the defeat of Cao Cao's relative, the warlord decided to retreat .

His 55,000 soldiers reduced to 25,000 in a day, which disheartened everyone but Cao Cao .

On the other hand, the victor suffered more casualties .

15,000 Xiliang cavalry, 5,000 cataphracts, and 10,000 footmen remained after Cao Cao had fallen back to Hulao Gate . From 70,000 to 30,000, the loss was significant .

Still, Guan Yu's footmen secured something that Cao Cao's men left behind, a wheeled cannon .

Taking advantage of the victor's side, Li Ru had his men looted all corpses . He also took all dead warhorses, converting their meat into provision for his men .

In the temporary camp of Li Ru, the prisoner Cao Xiu was taken to the strategist . Guan Yu, the assisting commander, was at his side, looking at the prisoner in a pity .

He believed that Li Ru would not let this Cao Cao's cousin live .

Li Ru looked at Cao Xiu in solemn, "What's your name, general?"

"… Cao Xiu . "

"You look young . How old are you?"

"… 18 maybe?"

Guan Yu revealed a bitter smile . The first time he killed somebody was when he was in his 20s, but this lad was commanding an army in his teen .

'Come to think of it, Zhang Tong also has many young generals . This land is so rotten that so many people have to take up arms in their youth . '

Guan Yu's memories from the other timeline resurfaced . Comparing this life with this strange memory from a different world, he did not like the current development .

At this rate, Liu Bei would follow the trend of history, becoming the first emperor of the Shu Han Dynasty once he had obtained a territory of his own .

The purpose of their fighting was for the people, not personal gain!

'Can I stop his ambition? What should I do to stop Xuande from continue fighting?'

While Guan Yu was in deep thought, Li Ru was interrogating Cao Xiu .

"What's the total number of your troops?"

Cao Xiu almost swore and cursed at Li Ru . But once he recalled the death of his men, he found it insignificant to reveal the outdated information .

"80,000"

Cao Xiu exaggerated .

"That's odd . I thought he had only 50,000 to 60,000 men . Are you hiding your troops elsewhere?"

"We didn't mobilize all our troops . The rest are protecting Hulao Gate . "

Li Ru frowned, "Oh?"

He fell into silence, staring at the teenage general .

"Take this liar away and kill him . We don't need him anymore . "

Cao Xiu's face paled . He gritted his teeth as he stared into Li Ru's eyes .

Before Li Ru's men could drag Cao Xiu to the execution ground, Guan Yu blocked the men and appealed to the strategist .

"Sir Li Ru, can you reconsider? I believe this youth is Cao Cao's cousin . He's more valuable if we keep him alive . "

Li Ru shook his head, "That's more the reason that I want him dead . Cao Cao and his ally clans are a thorn to our lord and his majesty Yuan . "

"I'm sorry . As his majesty's subject, I have the authority to decide all prisoner's fate . Please don't forget that you're within our territory . "

Li Ru glared at Guan Yu, "Don't step over the line, general . I may look weak, but I'm the grand commander of this army . You may be a general of Yuan Shu, but under the chain of command, you work for me . "

Guan Yu chuckled in sarcasm, "Not anymore . We're not serving the Xiongnu . "

Guan Yu drew a sword from a sheath on his waist . He cut Li Ru's neck in one swing .

Li Ru's subordinates were shocked . They also took out their weapons and screamed, "Traitor!"

Guan Yu snorted . He disappeared from where he was standing .

In the next second, afterimages flashed, and all officers in Li Ru's tent fell .

The red face general turned to Cao Xiu, who was shaking in fear, "I won't kill you, child . I only want peace . "

In wary and confusion, Cao Xiu muttered in a cracked voice, "… Are you a friend or foe?"

"Honestly speaking, both . "

"Fair enough . What are you going to do next?"

"Be my messenger, and I'll let you live . How's that?"

Cao Xiu did not care what Guan Yu was doing or what his motive was . Since this was a second chance in life, he would not refuse this deal .

"Deal!"

"Good . Wait here for a while . I'll finish everything shortly . "

Guan Yu walked out of the tent to meet other commanders of his army and Li Ru's subordinates .

Five hours later, Guan Yu returned with his men, who was bath in blood . He cut Cao Xiu loose and gave him a scroll, containing his message to Cao Cao .

"Tell your foster father that I want peace . I hope he can welcome my brothers and me . "

Cao Xiu had a scare when Guan Yu mentioned about his foster father . Aside from himself and Cao Clan members, nobody should have known about his relationship with Cao Cao .

This young general was a distant relative of Cao Cao . Originally, Cao Xiu and his family settled down south of Yangtze River, Wu Commandery .

Upon hearing that Cao Cao was raising a force, he traveled from the southern province to Xuchang, joining with the Cao banners .

Cao Cao treated him as if he was his son . Cao Xiu even lived in the same residence as Cao Ang and Cao Pi .

Like Cao Ang, Cao Xiu was talented in martial arts . He also had the charisma of a commander .

Cao Cao wanted to train this foster son figure into a good commander, so he led this teenager commanding a few of his battalions .

This was a secret relationship between Cao Cao and Cao Xiu that only insiders knew, yet Guan Yu was aware of it .

Cao Xiu looked at Guan Yu in wary, "I will . I hope you won't trick me . "

"I'm not into killing a defenseless child . Take my token and scroll, then leave . "

Cao Xiu took everything from Guan Yu . Before he left with a horse, he bowed to this red face general .

"I owe you one . "

Guan Yu smiled, "No, we're even . I owed Cao Cao a favor . "

"Huh?"

Cao Xiu did not understand that Guan Yu mentioned about the time when he served Cao Cao in the other timeline .

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In 200 AD, Liu Bei and Cao Cao fought against each other in Xu Province after they had killed Lu Bu .

Liu Bei Army was overwhelmed and routed by Cao Cao, and Guan Yu was captured in the process .

Cao Cao had admired Guan Yu's character, so he recruited this general into his army . Unfortunately, Guan Yu's loyalty was with Liu Bei, so he refused .

Still, Zhang Liao, as an old friend of Guan Yu, managed to persuade this god of war to temporary join Cao Cao's forces .

Cao Cao was so happy that Guan Yu joined his side . As a reward, he gave Lu Bu's red hare to Guan Yu to win his favor .

Later in the same year, Guan Yu repaid this kindness by slaying Yan Liang in the Battle of Boma during the war between Yuan Shao and Cao Cao . Because of this action, Yuan Shao almost executed Liu Bei and Zhang Fei, who had sought refuge under his banners .

Fortunately, Liu Bei and Yuan Shao had secret deals, which they instigated former Yellow Turban officers, Liu Pi and Gong Du, into raising their army in Runan and attacked Xuchang . Had they not had the deal, both brothers would have died by Yuan Shao's hands .

Still, Cao Ren defeated Liu Pi, Gong Du, and Liu Bei's rebel army, forcing Liu Bei into fleeing to Jing Province, refuging under Liu Biao .

Afterward, Guan Yu left Cao Cao's ranks when he heard about Liu Bei's whereabouts, which saddened Cao Cao . As an act of friendship, Cao Cao allowed Guan Yu to leave without hindering him .

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In the 14th-century novel, Guan Yu managed to repay this debt by sparing Cao Cao after he captured the warlord in the Battle of Chibi .

However, history records never had this detail . Cao Cao was never captured by Guan Yu after the former was defeated in Chibi .

In this world, Guan Yu had not repaid for Cao Cao's favor yet, which plagued his mind after he got the otherworld's memory . This was a good chance to settle this karma .

Guan Yu laughed, "Don't worry about it . Just go . "

Cao Xiu bowed, "Thank you, general!"

After Cao Xiu left, Guan Yu felt a change in his body .

Upon checking his virtue status, he found that one of his four unawakened virtues were at 100% . Without hesitation, Guan Yu activated his awakening .

After a slight spasm, a fifth virtue soul appeared behind Guan Yu . It was [Honesty] .

Now, Guan Yu had [Diligence], [Kindness], [Loyalty], [Patience], and [Honesty] .

He turned around to see his fifth spirit of virtue .

'I wonder how many spirits Zhang Tong has? Is he still stronger than me?'

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