It Wasn’t a Martial Arts World, but the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 8: The Mad Dog of Bingzhou, and Unryong (5)

200 against 2000.

An overwhelming difference in numbers. Was there a way to overturn this?

At the moment we decided to engage in full-fledged war, this problem arrived.

Let’s think about this.

A head-on battle would be the worst plan.

No matter how bravely we charged in, if we were surrounded by such a large army, victory would be impossible.

“How about fighting them individually?”

Unsam suggested.

I shook my head.

“We don’t know the geography of this area well enough. Plus, we’re too few in number. It’s better to hold our ground and defend.”

Even if we attempted to fight them individually, we would undoubtedly end up surrounded.

If that happened, I might be able to escape, but my brothers would surely meet a dog’s death.

“The geography, it’s all about the geography.”

As Haryeong pointed out, it was absurd to formulate a strategy without even knowing the geography of this county.

At least, with my thick skull, I couldn’t picture the battlefield at all.

While I was sighing deeply, I heard someone else sigh beside me.

“Pathetic.”

It was Yeo, sitting on the ground, shaking her head.

“See, I told you. There’s no chance of winning. Just give up already. I don’t know what kind of promise you made, but to risk your life for it? You must be crazy.”

She wasn’t wrong.

Without a strategy, it was clear that hurling our small forces against 2000 would yield no results.

“Maybe, I should just do it alone…”

“Ugh, why do you always jump to that conclusion?”

“There’s no way out.”

At my words, Yeo walked over and shoved me.

At that moment, I decided this was the day I would punch her in the face for revenge. But Yeo, unfazed, began drawing something on the ground.

It was a map.

A map of the area around Manbo County.

“The enemy is here, at the frontlines. By midnight, they should have passed through this path. If that’s the case, then before dawn, they’ll definitely…”

Following her moving finger, I saw three narrow alleys branching out.

“They must pass through these narrow paths to get through here.”

“This… this might give us a fighting chance.”

Haryeong, who practically played the role of our strategist, nodded in agreement.

However, there was a major issue, at least from my perspective.

We weren’t an elite force capable of fighting against overwhelming odds.

In fact, aside from me, my brothers couldn’t use martial arts, so expecting too much from them would be foolish.

In other words, we needed three strong people to defend these alleys.

I quickly voiced my thoughts.

“Even if I can hold my position, how are we going to defend the other two alleys? If even one of them falls, we’ll be flanked and surrounded.”

“That’s true. But at this point, no matter what we do, the odds are slim. This simple strategy might actually be the most realistic.”

What should I do?

My head was spinning.

But we couldn’t afford to delay any longer.

The Black Mountain Bandits were advancing even as we spoke.

We needed to come up with a plan, and fast.

As I held my forehead, deep in thought, Yeo suddenly spoke up.

“How strong are you?”

She stared at me intently as she asked.

“Well, that’s a bit out of nowhere.”

I grinned confidently and answered.

“I can easily take on 500.”

Though, I couldn’t say that with certainty.

I hadn’t yet mastered the second “Gate of Opening”, let alone gained enough practical experience with the “Gate of Entry”.

However, I was confident that if I reached the level of opening the Gate of Opening, handling around 500 wouldn’t be an issue.

The gap created by the presence or absence of internal energy was that vast.

Furthermore, as one’s level increased, they gradually transcended the limits of the human body.

The more I opened the gates of the Shura Heart Technique, the further I strayed from being merely human.

Yeo, skeptical, glanced at me before shrugging her shoulders.

“Well, if you’re boasting that much, I guess it must be true. If you’re lying, you’ll just embarrass yourself in front of these lowly idiots, right?”

With that, Yeo stretched and disappeared somewhere… only to reappear by a tree, wielding an unknown object, swinging it to shake off the dust.

It was so tightly wrapped, its identity remained unclear, but it was unmistakably a weapon.

“Perfect. 1500 should be just right to warm up.”

“Huh?”

“You’re a lucky bastard. I was feeling bored anyway.”

Wait a minute.

“Yeo, are you saying you’re going to help us?”

“Idiot, who said anything about helping? Are your ears blocked? I’m just going to stretch my body.”

“No, thanks for the offer, but there’s no reason for someone with no connection to us to risk their life.”

“Risk my life? Me?”

Isn’t that the case?

What could that fragile body possibly do?

Besides, judging by her delicate face, she didn’t seem like much of a fighter.

Then, at that moment.

Her breathing settled.

Her movements, the way she held her weapon—everything began to change.

Finally, the weapon that had been hidden beneath the veil was revealed.

— Sshhh!

A long polearm cut a clean line through the air, causing fallen leaves to be shredded in an instant from the gust.

The weapon resembled a spear, but the blade on either side formed the shape of a crescent moon.

Even though I wasn’t very knowledgeable about the Three Kingdoms, there was no way I wouldn’t recognize such a distinctive weapon.

“Is that… ‘Fangtian Huaji’?”

The woman grinned brightly and swung the ‘Huaji’ once more.

This time, it traced a graceful arc, its path unpredictable.

The leaves swirled around her without a single one being cut, as if a calm storm emanated from her position.

From curves to straight lines, and straight lines to dots.

Her movements became more intense with every motion, and eventually, the robe that had cloaked her fluttered away in the wind.

Her long, fiery red hair cascaded down. Even though the sun was about to set, her striking hair color stood out, impossible to hide.

At last, the beautiful face I had glimpsed before was fully revealed. Her skin was clear, her irises dark yet not fierce.

“Ah… ah…”

— Thud!

One of my brothers, who had been beside me, collapsed to the ground, pointing at the woman in disbelief.

“Is… is Lü Bu, the peerless warrior of the world, staking her life?”

Tapping her shoulder with the Halberd, the woman nonchalantly remarked.

“If you’re going to spout nonsense like that, at least bring ten thousand men.”

The appearance of an unexpected ally.

***

After that, the war council proceeded smoothly.

First, we divided our 200 soldiers into three groups.

Yeo would guard the narrow path on the right, Haryeong, Baekrang, and Unsam would guard the left path, and I would take the center.

We also recruited some militia to reinforce the left path, which required more manpower.

Now, all that was left was to trust in the plan.

But seriously.

Why is Lü Bu even here?

Shouldn’t she be sitting next to Dong Zhuo, wasting time?

I almost had a heart attack.

It wasn’t because I encountered one of the strongest warriors in this world out of the blue.

The real shock came from the fact that Lü Bu, whom I was more familiar with as a man, had appeared as such a beautiful woman.

And the second shock came from the memory that, from the start, I had carelessly exposed myself in front of Lü Bu.

Although Lü Bu said not to be weirdly formal now and told me to just act naturally like before…

Honestly, how could I not care?

I had dangled my bits in front of Lü Bu!

Haryeong was so shocked, she fainted with foam at her mouth.

Anyway,

We did a final review of our plan.

“Can we trust those guys?”

Yeo pointed to Haryeong, Baekrang, and Unsam all at once.

“At least they won’t back down from a fight.”

I wasn’t one for empty words.

While the other brothers were a bit lacking, those three were different.

Haryeong was our strategist, and Baekrang and Unsam were the strongest in our group aside from me.

“Plus, we’ve got some militia helping us. The left path is narrower, so our forces should be evenly matched.”

“If one path falls, all three of them are dead. Not that I’ll die, of course.”

“I understand.”

Who wouldn’t trust the Peerless Warrior of the World?

There were countless stories of her martial prowess, so there was no need to doubt her.

As my brothers gathered their weapons, they muttered complaints.

“Damn it, if I’d known this would happen, I wouldn’t have followed the boss.”

“Seriously, whose idea was this plan?”

“Thank God we have an unexpected ally. If it were just us, we’d all be dead by now.”

I rose from where I was sitting and said.

“Hey, are you a man or not? Stick to your words.”

Hearing this, they smiled.

With their grim faces, the smiles were not exactly pleasant.

And so, we began marching toward the frontlines.