"Please!" Han Dang took a fighting stance, waiting for Xiang Yu to attack.
Xiang Yu beckoned with his hand, "If I make one move, you win."
"Hey!" Han Dang thought to himself, what an arrogant guy! He mustered all his strength and threw a punch!
With a gentle nudge from Xiang Yu, Han Dang veered to the side and nearly fell, his face turning bright red.
"Again!" Han Dang kicked Xiang Yu in the back, and Sun Ce tried to stop him, but it was too late.
This kick was powerful and aimed at Xiang Yu's blind spot. If Xiang Yu didn't turn around, he would have a hard time defending himself and might even be knocked down, which would be embarrassing.
In fact, Han Dang regretted it a little after kicking, but he quickly became resolute. Who told Xiang Yu to be so arrogant? He deserved it!
Bang!
This time, Han Dang did kick Xiang Yu in the back, but the expected result of Xiang Yu being kicked away or knocked down did not happen.
The moment they made contact with each other's backs, Xiang Yu released his force and then leaned in hard, actually sending Han Dang flying.
Xiang Yu had just tested Han Dang's strength, and the result was somewhat unexpected.
This Han Dang may not have the strength of a thousand jin, but he must have weighed seven or eight hundred jin, which is already quite outstanding for an ordinary person.
But this Han Dang seems to be just a second or third-rate military general, right?
This plane is great!
Xiang Yu became interested and said, "Why don't we switch to the weapon you're good at? Don't worry, you can't hurt me."
Han Dang stumbled back several steps after landing before regaining his footing, his expression grave.
"Alright! Let's have an archery contest then!"
Xiang Yu, "..."
Chapter 589 Clues
"Alright! Let's have an archery contest then!"
Han Dang now understood why his benefactor dared to call himself Xiang Yu, the Overlord. He truly possessed the strength of an overlord, and hadn't moved an inch.
But martial arts are just a minor skill; on the battlefield, who doesn't use weapons to fight?
If he had a weapon, Han Dang might not have been defeated!
Sun Ce's eyes also lit up, and he even felt a little itchy to fight. Unfortunately, he was injured and had lost too much blood, so he was too weak to fight Xiang Yu at his strongest, which was a bit of a pity.
Xiang Yu looked at Han Dang and said with a wry smile, "Then let me see your archery skills."
There were archery targets in the backyard of General Sun Ce's mansion, and the three of them quickly arrived there.
"This time, you go first!" Han Dang stretched his shoulders. He was very confident in his archery skills. Not to mention shooting arrows from the ground, he could hit the bullseye even when riding.
"Alright." Xiang Yu selected the heaviest bow from the bow rack, drew it lightly, and then shouted, "Black Steed!"
Neigh~~
With a neigh, the black horse broke free from the stable and in the blink of an eye arrived at the backyard, charging straight towards Xiang Yu.
Xiang Yu leaped onto his horse, giving Wuzhui a signal to turn. Wuzhui turned and ran in the opposite direction of the target.
Then Xiang Yu suddenly lay down on the back of his horse, Wuzhui, and drew his bow to fire an arrow with all his might.
With a whoosh, the arrow pierced through everyone's sight and flew straight toward the target.
Bang!
Right in the bullseye!
Whoosh!
Bang!
Whoosh whoosh whoosh...
Bang bang bang...
Each of the ten arrows traveled farther than the last, but all of them hit the bullseye, each a perfect ten.
Sun Ce, Han Dang, and the others all froze, mouths agape. Sun Ce usually used this bow to train his arm strength, never to shoot arrows.
Xiang Yu rode back on his black horse, Wuzhui, and said, "It's your turn."
Han Dang, “…”
We're not going to compare ourselves to anyone anymore!
"My lord, Your Majesty, I just remembered that I still need to investigate the assassin, so I must take my leave now!"
Han Dang fled in disarray, his feet barely touching the ground. To continue the fight would be like showing off one's limited skills before an expert; anyone who dared to use the name of the Overlord was indeed no ordinary person!
Among Sun Ce's generals, the best archer was Taishi Ci, and the second was Han Dang, but even Taishi Ci couldn't achieve this level of skill.
“Uh…” Sun Ce was about to speak when he saw Xiang Yu’s eyes widen.
Whether it was a true overlord restraining a little overlord or not, Sun Ce decisively shut up and, after returning to his room, wrote down the word 'admiration' on paper.
Xiang Yu thought for a moment, "Bo Fu, could you please send someone knowledgeable about the affairs of the world? I would like to ask about the current situation and landscape of the world."
Sun Ce bowed his head and wrote down the four characters "Zi Bu, come quickly" and handed them to the guard beside him. This Zi Bu was Zhang Zhao.
Zhang Zhao was an important minister of Sun Wu during the Three Kingdoms period. He was a man of great talent, whose status was even higher than Zhou Yu's, and was equivalent to Guan Zhong's position under Duke Huan of Qi.
Actually, Zhang Zhao would have come even without Sun Ce looking for him. After all, it was such a big deal for Sun Ce to be assassinated and injured that Zhang Zhao couldn't possibly not care. He would have come as soon as possible, no matter how far away he was.
"My lord! Are you alright?" Zhang Zhao breathed a sigh of relief as soon as he entered the room and saw Sun Ce sitting comfortably in a chair.
Sun Ce moved his lips, picked up a pen and paper, and wrote down a line of words.
"It's alright, it's just that I can't speak easily. This is Xiang Yu, my benefactor who saved me. He wants to hear about the current situation and the state of the world."
Zhang Zhao glanced at Xiang Yu, cupped his hands and said, "Thank you for saving my lord. The current situation in the world is that in the north there are Yuan Shao and Cao Cao, in the south there are Liu Biao and Shi Xie, in the west there are Ma Teng, Zhang Lu and Liu Zhang, and in the east there are Gongsun Du of Liaodong, Yuan Tan of Qingzhou and our Jiangdong."
"Yuan Tan of Qingzhou? Never heard of him. But Qingzhou is in the Qi region, bordering Yuan Shao's territory, and he shares the surname Yuan. Could he be related to Yuan Shao?"
Hao Jiu was a little confused. He was quite familiar with the Three Kingdoms period. The Qingzhou soldiers should be Cao Cao's strongest force, but they probably hadn't been incorporated into Cao Cao's territory at this time.
"Who is the strongest? And who is this Yuan Tan of Qingzhou?" Xiang Yu asked.
Zhang Zhao was slightly taken aback, then smiled and said, "Isn't this Yuan Tan of Qingzhou the governor of Qingzhou and the eldest son of Yuan Shao?"
Hao Jiu suddenly understood, but then realized something was off...
"Why isn't Yuan Shao's eldest son considered part of Yuan Shao's forces?" Xiang Yu also noticed the problem. Had the father and son turned against each other? Had they separated? It would make sense if the brothers each ruled their own territory, but it was indeed rare for a father and son to separate and vie for supremacy.
Zhang Zhao stroked his beard. "This is a long story. Although Yuan Tan was Yuan Shao's eldest son, he was adopted by Yuan Shao's deceased brother Yuan Ji. Therefore, Yuan Tan actually represented Yuan Ji's power."
However, this force was initially very weak; Yuan Tan only controlled the city of Pingyuan. He only managed to seize control of the entire Qingzhou by defeating Tian Kai and Kong Rong single-handedly.
"I see. It seems this Yuan Tan is quite a character," Xiang Yu nodded.
"Now it's even more incredible. Yuan Tan subdued Lü Bu, the Marquis of Wen, two years ago, and recently Liu Bei has also joined him. He's at the height of his power. My lord intends to join forces with Yuan Tan to attack Xuchang and welcome Emperor Xian of Han. Cao Cao is currently engaged in a fierce battle with Yuan Shao at Guandu, which is a perfect opportunity." Zhang Zhao sighed inwardly, but unfortunately, Sun Ce was injured, and once he recovered, this opportunity would probably be lost.
Sun Ce also looked somewhat dejected. Originally, with him leading the army and Yuan Tan cooperating, taking this opportunity to conquer Cao Cao's stronghold would have been no problem, but now...
Huh? Sun Ce couldn't help but turn his gaze to Xiang Yu beside him. If he could persuade Xiang Yu to help him, how could he not succeed?
Xiang Yu was unaware of Sun Ce's current thoughts, because Hao Jiu in his mind's eye had already gone into a frenzy and was unable to speak!
"Holy crap! Yuan Tan recruited Lü Bu and Liu Bei? Holy crap!" Hao Jiu was practically going crazy. "This Yuan Tan is definitely suspicious!"
"Why?" Xiang Yu was just marveling at how many outstanding young talents there were in this era, first Sun Ce, then Yuan Tan, and then Zhuge Liang and Zhou Yu, whom Hao Jiu had mentioned before.
I don’t know whether Liu Bei ever sought refuge with Yuan Tan, but historically Lü Bu was definitely not subdued by Yuan Tan. If I remember correctly, Lü Bu should have died at Cao Cao’s hands two years before Sun Ce was assassinated.
The incident likely began when Liu Bei stole Lü Bu's gold, was defeated by Lü Bu, and then sought help from Cao Cao. Lü Bu, in dire straits, was betrayed by his subordinates, and later, following Liu Bei's advice, attempted to surrender but failed and was subsequently killed by Cao Cao.
The biggest problem is that Lü Bu is still alive. Moreover, if Lü Bu had really been subdued by Yuan Tan, Liu Bei would never have gone to serve Yuan Tan, as the two had a deep-seated feud.
This Yuan Tan is incredibly audacious. He dares to take on someone as fickle as Lü Bu, and even a powerful figure like Liu Bei. Who knows, he might seize his territory one day.
Of course, if this Yuan Tan is the target host we are looking for who can ban magic in the dimension, then there is no problem.
Besides, there are two other possibilities for Yuan Tan: one is that Yuan Tan, like us, was a later system that was banned from magic; the other is that Yuan Tan was just an ordinary transmigrator without a system who used his historical knowledge to change this world.
The most urgent matter is to figure out whether Yuan Tan was actually protected from magic, and how he managed to subdue Lü Bu. If he wasn't protected from magic now that he has a powerful general like Lü Bu, this is really going to be a problem!
"Hahaha!" Xiang Yu laughed three times. "Isn't this excellent? If I had arrived, Lü Bu would already be dead. Wouldn't that be a pity? The stronger, the better!"
Chapter 590 Collapse
"So how did Yuan Tan subdue Lü Bu?" Xiang Yu asked.
Zhang Zhao thought for a moment, "It is said that there was a traitor among Lü Bu's men. When the city gates were opened, Yuan Tan, who had previously come to help Liu Bei, led his troops to the city and captured Lü Bu first."
Both Liu Bei and Cao Cao wanted to kill Lü Bu, but Yuan Tan refused. Moreover, Yuan Tan's army had a very powerful general, no less capable than Lü Bu, and the troops he brought were also quite elite.
After careful consideration, Cao Cao and Liu Bei agreed to Yuan Tan's terms in exchange for the lives of Lü Bu and his soldiers. Cao Cao and Liu Bei then divided Lü Bu's territory and wealth.
Yuan Tan, on the other hand, gained Lü Bu and his troops, and the three families formed an alliance to jointly resist Yuan Shao, so it could be considered a win-win situation.
Xiang Yu frowned. "Yuan Tan allied with Cao Cao and Liu Bei against Yuan Shao? Isn't Yuan Tan Yuan Shao's own son?"
Zhang Zhao gave a wry smile. "Many people didn't understand this matter at first, but after hearing a rumor, everyone suddenly realized it."
Yuan Shao's other son, Yuan Shang, died under mysterious circumstances. Yuan Shao suspected that Yuan Tan was responsible, so he changed his successor to his second son, Yuan Xi.
Actually, Yuan Shao never intended to make his eldest son Yuan Tan the heir, otherwise he wouldn't have given him to Yuan Ji as an adopted son.
"Hey, it's fortunate that the Yuan brothers and father and sons were at odds, otherwise the Yuan family would have unified the country long ago."
"By the way, who is this Iron-Faced General you mentioned earlier?" Xiang Yu became interested. Being able to fight against Lü Bu, who should have been dead, was already an unexpected joy. Now there was another guy as powerful as Lü Bu. Wasn't this a double blessing?
Zhang Zhao shook his head and said, "I don't know either. No one has ever seen him take off his iron mask, but this man is tall and strong, wielding a large axe, and has the courage of ten thousand men."
Xiang Yu remembered that Hao Jiu had told him a rhyme ranking the generals of the Three Kingdoms period, the first two lines of which were:
First Lu Bu, second Zhao Yun, third Dian Wei, fourth Guan Yu, fifth Ma Chao, sixth Zhang Fei;
If we're talking about the Three Kingdoms period, the only ones who could rival Lü Bu are probably Zhao Yun and Dian Wei; no one else can compare. But this masked man is definitely not Zhao Yun.