บท 100: The First Battle of Xiapi

Chen Gong could see the hesitation in his Lord's eyes when he joined him on his horse. He knew why Lu Bu was hesitating and that was because Yun has only shown them a part of his army.

"What should I do, Chen Gong?" asks Lu Bu wanting someone to tell him what he should do so he could win this war.

This was something completely new for Chen Gong since Lu Bu normally never asks what he should do. Lu Bu would normally disregard Chen Gong's strategy and follow his gut feeling in the middle of the battle.

"We can't cook an egg without breaking it, my Lord. We need to find out the strategy of our enemy and we will only find it out if we trigger their trap," says Chen Gong seriously but also with confidence in his voice.

Lu Bu looked at Chen Gong before raising his halberd while shouting, "Cavalry, follow me into battle!"

Four hundred men and horses followed Lu Bu into battle they were approaching Yun and his army trying to trigger the traps Yun and his strategists laid out for them.

Yun's men saw the enemy approach and began to feel fear when Yun jumped from Thunder's back holding his shield and spear. He approaches the first line and positions himself in the middle of it.

"Shield Wall!" shouts Yun making everyone hide behind their shield making the enemy believe that they were going to push the horses back.

Lu Bu was slowly feeling secure because nothing was happening on their flanks and the forest seemed to show no suspicious movement. They began to ride faster before they were only twenty meters away from the first line when everyone drops their shield and raised their spear high in Lu Bu's direction.

Only one shield was still up and the man behind the shield slowly began to run in Lu Bu's direction holding his shield up when Lu Bu's horse crushed into the man who was covered in wild blue Qi.

The man lifted the horse from its hows before throwing Lu Bu and his horse to the ground while the cavalry rushed into the spears of the infantry.

Some horses broke through and killed the infantryman standing before them but their rider would most likely find the same fate as the infantryman since they would be surrounded by the infantry standing behind the line which butchered the horse before killing the rider.

Lu Bu was seeing everything happening before he stood up and looked at the man who threw him from his horse seeing his friend covered in wild blue Qi.

"It seems we weren't prepared for you to throw all your men at us just like this," says Lu Bu a bit surprised but now knowing the truth behind why all the other people are missing on the battlefield.

There was nobody else in the forest except for the infantry army, which Yun was leading at the moment. Lu Bu gets into position as does Yun.

"We had to improvise," says Yun at Lu Bu who was beginning to cover his body in wild red Qi.

"I have gotten far stronger than the last time we faced off," says Lu Bu angry to have lost his cavalry this easily to Yun just so he could trigger a nonexistent trap.

"Whose men are you leading at the moment?" asks Lu Bu curious since Yun's real army couldn't be this small.

"Xiahou Dun's army, you have taken him out before he could participate in this war. He would have been the General to lead the Vanguard if your men hadn't injured him heavily," says Yun informing Lu Bu of his first mistake in this war against Cao Cao.

Lu Bu strikes first as he swings his halberd diagonally at Yun who blocks the attack with the handle of the spear before spinning it to the side and using the blunt side at the same time to hit Lu Bu's chest.

Lu Bu removed his left hand from the halberd and catches the blunt end of Yun's spear before it hits his chest making the impact less harmful.

Lu Bu's halberd then begins to get covered in Qi as Yun covers his spear in Qi. Lu Bu pushes the blunt end of the spear back making Yun jump backward before pointing the spear tip at Lu Bu.

"You have become stronger again. This is the third time and it could be your last," says Yun to Lu Bu who only smirked at Yun.

"I would say the same about you but we both know that you are only holding back as you did every time we faced each other," says Lu Bu as he swings his halberd at Yun who evades the attack making Lu Bu hit the air.

"I do that for a good reason," says Yun with a smile on his face because he was having fun as he attacks Lu Bu by going for his head.

Lu Bu evades the attack by a hair's breadth when he noticed that Yun only had one hand on his spear. Yuan formed a palm with his hand and went for Lu Bu's chest trying to take the air out of Lu Bu.

Lu Bu jumped backward to dodge the palm only for Yun to follow him by jumping forward giving Lu Bu no time to think when Yun's alarm bells rang inside his head.

He stopped his attack and jumped backward creating a small area between himself and Lu Bu and in the middle of them was an arrow that was engulfed in Water Qi.

Yun looked in the direction of the city seeing Zhang Liao holding a bow in his hands while Gao Shun was leading the infantry into battle.

"It seems that your men broke the rules of the duel by interfering in our fight," says Yun a bit pissed since he hoped to finish this war as soon as possible by defeating Lu Bu which would crush the enemy's morale.

"We can't always have a fair fight when my very existence is on the table," says Lu Bu a bit disappointed with Zhang Liao interrupting the duel between him and Yun.

"If that is the case I won't hold back any longer," says Yun seriously at Lu Bu as he raises his free hand.

Lu Bu was confused when the aura around Yun became thicker and more violent than before. Pang Tong then turns to Gan Ning who nods and jumps from his horse before taking half of the men and he leads them into battle.

Yun's Qi slowly changed from Lightning to Water Qi while it turned into a person behind him before Yun goes into a stance to attack but it wasn't his normal stance.

Instead of having his spear pointing at his enemy, it was pointing at the ground while being behind his body which confused Lu Bu when Erlang Shen manifests behind Yun who begins to spin his spear twice while taking a step forward.

He puts all his strength into this step while the Qi gathered in his spear. The moment his foot made contact with the earth underneath him he sunk a bit into it before shouting, "Erlang Shen Art, Arthur-Style: Piercing Dragonslayer!"

Yun pierces the air before him as a Dragon made out of Water Qi leaves the tip of the spear Lu Bu wasn't waiting either as he puts every ounce of Qi he had in his halberd before swinging it downwards toward Yun while shouting, "Sky Piercer!"

Both attacks meet each other exactly where the arrow was before as the attacks vaporized it before the Dragon made out of Water Qi came out victorious from the clash of both attacks.

The Dragon passes Lu Bu as he wasn't its target but the infantry that was approaching them. Gao Shun managed to avoid the Dragon but the men behind him were another story.

The Dragon went straight through them before hitting the outer wall of the city before dissolving. Yun killed at least a thousand men with that attack when Gan Ning and his small army passed Yun and Lu Bu.

Lu Bu was looking at Yun feeling happy that Yun finally got serious when he says, "Finally, I have seen your true strength."

Lu Bu looks down at the earth seeing that he split it with his strongest attack while Yun's attack seemed to only have caused some cracks to the ground but their origin came from the step Yun took before the attack.

"I have to disappoint you in that," says Yun seriously as Gan Ning was spinning his sword over his head before attacking the enemy army with his unit.

"I still haven't used all of my strength," says Yun as he takes a step forward towards Lu Bu as his foot sinks into the ground leaving a footstep behind while cracks spread around it.

"You and I are the same," says Lu Bu smiling at Yun who smiled back at him.

"I think so as well, we aren't men that are after power like Liu Bei or Cao Cao. We are men that want to leave our name imprinted in history so we will always be remembered as the strongest warriors that have ever walked on this world," says Yun smiling at Lu Bu before taking another step as the person behind Yun disappears.

"Was that your Godfather?" asks Lu Bu curious as Yun shakes his head.

"He was one of the teachers that taught me under my Godfather's orders. I never studied under my Godfather since he was too busy," says Yun as he stopped once he stood before Lu Bu.

"I can only save you if you surrender now and swear absolute loyalty to me," says Yun seriously as he looked into Lu Bu's eyes.

"I can't surrender to Cao Cao and you know it better than anyone else," says Lu Bu seriously making Yun sigh before he whistles and Lu Bu's horse walked towards them.

"I know that you are a loyal servant to the Emperor but is it worth to throw your life away and putting your wife and daughter in danger by doing so," says Yun sadly knowing how the world would remember Lu Bu if he dies in this war.

"I know that nothing will happen to them since you are around," says Lu Bu hearing the sadness in Yun's voice.

"I will ask you the same question again and when that day comes don't reject it since you are surrendering to me and not to Cao Cao," says Yun as Lu Bu sits up on his horse and Yun hits the arse of the horse making Lu Bu ride back to the city while calling for a retreat.

Xu Shu was surprised that Yun let Lu Bu escape when he was having him already in his palm while Pang Tong was angry with Yun for letting this opportunity slip their hands to conquer Xiapi without much fighting.

Gan Ning was fighting against Gao Shun who was losing to Gan Ning because of his unorthodox fighting style when Gao Shun heard Lu Bu call for a retreat making him command the troop to return to the city.

Gan Ning didn't follow the retreating soldiers since he was having lesser men since he lost some in the clash against Gao Shun. He returned to Yun's side seeing Pang Tong curse at Yun for letting Lu Bu return to Xiapi with his men.

Yun only smiled at Pang Tong since Pang Tong needed to vent his anger at something and it was better for him to vent it on Yun who understood Pang Tong the best.

Yun then ordered to create a camp as they would lay siege on Xiapi from today on while sending a scout up the hill to inform Guan Yu so he and his brothers would come down to help him reinforce the siege around Xiapi.