Volume 3: The Land of Jingchu Chapter 203 The General and the Woodcutter
After Lu Meng finished speaking, Liu Ye saw Zhang Xiu's expression and realized that something was wrong.
And this relationship itself is unsolvable...
Liu Ye had no choice but to say from another angle: "The Prime Minister is willing to take this step. Doesn't General Zhang want to take any risk at all?"
"There will be no risk in accepting the recommendation from the General's Mansion," Zhu Zhi said at this time.
"There will be no internal risks," Liu Ye emphasized.
Indeed, when it comes down to it...geographically speaking, the only ones who could send troops to Wancheng were Cao Cao, Liu Biao and the princes of Guanzhong, and whether Bai Tu wanted to send troops or come to support, he had to cross several counties along the upper reaches of the Huai River where Yuan Shu's former subordinates were stationed.
"Mr. Liu, are you threatening me?" Zhang Xiu asked angrily.
"No, I'm just sorting out the pros and cons for the general." Liu Ye insisted.
Just as Zhang Xiu and Liu Ye were staring at each other, the woodcutter, who had not said anything, suddenly said, "Cao Cao is a man who uses his army to cause trouble. If you want to surrender to him, how can you live in the world with dignity?"
The woodcutter's sudden interruption startled both Lu Meng and Zhu Zhi - he was clearly wearing a woodcutter's suit, so how could he say the words of a corrupt scholar ?
Cao Cao's actions in Xuzhou were criticized by people, and this is not just the opinion of corrupt scholars, but... during the negotiations, would using this point to attack Cao Cao have any other effect other than making Zhang Xiu disgusted?
Can we really expect Zhang Xiu to reject Cao Cao because of this? Not everyone is Bai Gong...
"Who are you? Why are you here?" Zhang Xiu asked angrily before Liu Ye did.
"I am an unknown woodcutter, and I have come here to scold those who deserve to be scolded." The woodcutter said as a matter of course.
Zhang Xiu became even more annoyed - So you came here just to scold me?
Zhu Zhi, who was standing aside, wanted to say "I don't know this person"... Now he couldn't figure out whether his lord sent this woodcutter to make things more difficult for him!
"How dare you! Do you really think I dare not kill the envoy?" Zhang Xiu said angrily.
"I am not a messenger." The woodcutter ignored the look from Lu Mengzheng beside him and said calmly.
"Okay! Since you are not the envoy of the General of Chariots and Cavalry's Mansion, then... someone come here!" Zhang Xiu wanted to fork him out now.
"Someone come here? Have your own hands already degenerated? Then why ?" the woodcutter said disdainfully.
At the same time, the guards from outside were blown away by invisible energy as soon as they approached the woodcutter!
Zhang Xiu looked at the woodcutter with a somewhat frozen look in his eyes. He didn't know whether it was because of what Zhao Yun said or because of the method he used to shake off the guards just now.
"Who...are you?" Zhang Xiu's tone changed slightly.
"Woodcutter." said the woodcutter.
"Oh, the woodcutter in the General of Chariots and Cavalry's mansion also has such superb spear skills?" Zhang Xiu obviously didn't believe it.
Spearmanship? Didn't you see the spear? The invisible energy just now wasn't emitted from the spear. Lu Meng looked at the woodcutter with some doubt, and even looked at his lower body in a vulgar way, until the woodcutter glanced at him, and then he looked away.
"Spearmanship is the method of the mind... the heart. Even the spear king of the north is just a monster in the spear." said the woodcutter.
"Spear King of the North" is Zhang Xiu's nickname. Spear is a very common weapon nowadays. He can be called "Spear King of the North" and has not been killed. This shows his attainments in spear skills.
The woodcutter's ridicule made Zhang Xiu so angry that he laughed and said, "Dirty? My heart... What about you? Is your heart dead? What about your gun? A dead bone in the gun?"
Then, as if to cover up his guilty conscience or to verify something, Zhang Xiu stopped the guards from surrounding him and stared at the woodcutter and said, "In that case, why not see... whether your spear skills are qualified to criticize me!"
"My lord..." Jia Xu called him softly from the side.
Usually Jia Xu would simply call him by his courtesy name "Bo Yi", but in front of outsiders, he would call him lord.
(There is no reliable source for Zhang Xiu's name, so the original name is "Bo Yi".)
This time, Zhang Xiu just turned around and looked at Jia Xu and said, "Wenhe, don't stop me this time."
Upon hearing this, Jia Xu did not show any abnormality or regret on his face, but just nodded.
Zhu Zhi also didn't understand why things turned out like this when he was clearly sent here to persuade the enemy to surrender.
Not only do we have to bring the woodcutter with us to do this, but... now the woodcutter has to fight with the target of his surrender?
However, now that things had come to this, he had no choice but to take things one step at a time. Together with Lu Meng, they came to the martial arts field in the backyard - even Jia Xu couldn't stop Zhang Xiu, so naturally no one else could do it either.
After arriving at the martial arts arena, Zhang Xiu immediately took out his military token and put on full body armor.
Zhang Xiu's armor was mainly dark in color, mainly black, with dark gold patterns. The dark gold helmet looked very simple, making Zhang Xiu's long hair spread out, looking very flamboyant.
The weapon was naturally a spear, which was somewhat similar to Chen Dao's spear, both of which were very slender. Most of the generals' weapons would become larger after being loaded onto the armor...
However, the spears of Chen Dao, who had fought with Ji Ling before, and Zhang Xiu now, were long and slender. Apart from appearing particularly slender due to their armor, they were not wide in proportion.
However, Zhang Xiu’s spear was not silver-white, but a dark golden spear shaft with a pure black spear head and no tassel, which made it look very simple.
From the overall style of the armor, it can be seen that Zhang Xiu is now a great general, and from Lu Bu's judgment, he should be stronger than Ji Ling now!
Even in the General of Chariots and Cavalry's Mansion, the only ones who could surely defeat Zhang Xiu were Lu Bu and Sun Ce. As for Zhang Liao, Taishi Ci, Gan Ning, Chen Dao... they were at most on par with them, and Gao Shun was probably even weaker.
"Then let me see the spearmanship of 'little junior brother' that Master loves so much!" Zhang Xiu's tone was still full of anger and sarcasm.
"Junior brother?" Lu Meng looked at the woodcutter in surprise.
Zhang Xiu and a woodcutter actually have the same master?
Moreover, when the two men first met, Zhang Xiu obviously did not realize this, which is to say... the two men should not have learned skills at the same time, so Zhang Xiu only knew that there was such a "junior brother" until the woodcutter used the invisible spear power and said something... which made Zhang Xiu realize his identity.
At the same time, Lü Menghan was about to come down - you, why don't you go and get a new military token? Are you dying of laziness?
Just when Lu Meng was considering whether to discuss with Zhang Xiu and let the woodcutter go to Wan Ji to get a new military token, he saw the woodcutter had already walked to the side of the martial arts field and took down a wooden spear from the decorative weapon rack.
No matter how you look at it, it's just the most ordinary spear, not to mention... the woodcutter didn't even have the intention of wearing armor!
What are usually loaded on a Warframe are also "ordinary weapons", but they will show special forms and special abilities due to the influence of the Warframe.
Of course...the armor and weapons of generals with a little status must be rare treasures before they are loaded.
A decorative wooden spear like this one is not even worth using to load armor, but now the woodcutter looks like he wants to use this spear to challenge Zhang Xiu!
"Where is your military token?" Zhang Xiu asked angrily.
"Lost." The woodcutter said as a matter of course.
"Very good... Since he is a piece of trash who can even throw away his military token, it seems that I may have to clean up the mess today!" Zhang Xiu said, his emotions gradually calming down.
Or rather...
From the moment Zhang Xiu raised the gun, his will began to focus on the gun, and external interference was gradually eliminated.
The woodcutter also raised his gun slightly.
Although one is two or three meters tall in armor and the other is a mortal holding a wooden spear, at this moment, even an outsider can see that their starting postures are almost the same!
"Are we from the same school?" Lu Meng muttered.
In the perception of the woodcutter and Zhang Xiu, each other's breathing and even the mysterious changes in qi were gradually adjusting to each other.
The next moment, the two of them rushed towards each other without any particular order...
Judging from size, the unarmored woodcutter is several times smaller than Zhang Xiu, and in terms of strength and speed... the same is true!
After all, Zhang Xiu was a golden and jade general, and he was even promoted earlier and developed his golden and jade armor more solidly than Ji Ling.
Among all the generals in the world, the only one who could compete with him in pure strength and speed without armor was probably Lu Bu. Even Dian Wei, without showing his prowess, could only match him in strength at best.
As for the defensive power, even if Lü Bu was not showing his divine power, it was impossible for him to be stronger than the Golden Jade Armor...
As soon as the two men started fighting, there was a difference in the situation. The woodcutter was at a complete disadvantage in terms of strength and speed. Even his wooden spear could not collide with the opponent's dark gold black beak spear. He could only use his clever strength to guide it from the side.
At first glance, it seemed like a rabbit fighting a lion, and the winner would be decided in the next moment. However... after twenty or thirty rounds, the two were still fighting!
If there were any martial arts masters present, they would have discovered that the woodcutter, who was not wearing armor, was not inferior to Zhang Xiu in terms of momentum. In fact... Zhang Xiu's momentum was completely unable to shake the woodcutter.
Seeing that an unarmored opponent could defeat him after more than forty rounds, Zhang Xiu's face turned black. He feinted a shot, withdrew, and stood firm again, saying : "No wonder Master said that your talent is better than mine and my second junior brother, and that you are the only spearman who can surpass him..."
The woodcutter remained unmoved and continued to hold his spear in front of Zhang Xiu, as if waiting for him to make a move.
"But... I want to see how much of our master's unique skills you have learned!"
As Zhang Xiu spoke, dust rose up around where he stood. Just like when the woodcutter shook off the guards before, Zhang Xiu's whole body burst out with invisible spear power.
Along with the emergence of the spear power, dark golden patterns on Zhang Xiu's armor began to flicker gradually. The frequency of the flickering became faster and faster, and the spear power became more dense and powerful. Gradually, the sound of the spear power rubbing against the air spread like the chirping of hundreds of birds.
When it reaches a certain frequency, it can be vaguely seen that the dark gold pattern on Zhang Xiu's armor looks like a phoenix with its head held high and its wings spread.
Then Zhang Xiu shook the dark gold black beak spear in his hand, and countless invisible spear energies instantly took on a dark gold luster, and at the same time, like moths to a flame, they attacked the woodcutter...
