Chapter 146: Liu Bei's Heartbroken Agony

At this moment, Liu Bei fled in panic.

It was not until he reached the commander's standard that Liu Bei finally let out a sigh of relief. He had escaped danger at last, managing to save his life. This Chu Feng was truly formidable, and it took all of Zhang Fei's desperate efforts to barely pull him away from the jaws of death.

"Xuande, are you alright?"

Cao Cao looked at Liu Bei's pale face and asked with concern.

Hearing this, Liu Bei endured the pain radiating from below, feigned composure, and cupped his fists with a resolute voice, "I am ashamed, failing to slay the rebel Chu for Your Excellency."

"Xuande, you are mistaken. I saw your bravery just now, I truly saw it!" Cao Cao sighed, thinking to himself that this fellow certainly knew how to run fast.

Liu Bei's old face flushed red, and he remained silent.

His gaze turned toward the distant, chaotic vanguard. Primarily worried for his second and third sworn brothers, he could feel the excruciating pain pulsating from his lower body as he watched.

The agony made him bare his teeth and grimace.

Reaching down to touch the spot, his hand came away covered in fresh blood.

At the same time, he realized something precious was missing from his hand—or rather, from his person. Liu Bei was filled with a towering rage, his heart bleeding. He harbored a bone-deep hatred for Chu Feng, wishing he could tear him to pieces.

If only he could defeat him, he would surely go back and hack this bastard to death. He had gone too far! Absolutely too far!

Fortunately, there should still be one left.

Thinking of this, he endured the pain and reached down to check again, only for his face to turn ashen white upon the touch.

???

What about the other one?

Why was it gone?

The tactile sensation was all too clear: completely empty. Not a single one remained; truly, not even one was left.

Why? Why had this happened?

No, no, no—!

Liu Bei howled inwardly, his spirit utterly shattered. Why did it have to end like this?

He stood there absent and desolate, with only a single thought racing through his mind: he needed to summon a physician posthaste to examine him and see if anything could be salvaged.

Perhaps, just perhaps, there might still be a chance at having children. Reason told him it was eighty percent impossible, but he simply could not accept it. Crucially, his second and third brothers were still fighting over there, and he could not set his mind at ease.

Guo Jia, catching Liu Bei's pale complexion out of the corner of his eye, noticed he looked as though he had just learned of some catastrophic disaster. He then spotted fresh blood intermittently dripping from beneath Liu Bei's saddle.

Moreover, Liu Bei's posture was exceptionally strange, as if he were in acute discomfort. Following the trajectory of his gaze down to the ground, what did Guo Jia see? He looked at Liu Bei in utter disbelief.

"General Liu, is this... yours?"

Guo Jia stepped forward, pointing at the blood-stained pill on the ground with a look of utter astonishment.

Liu Bei looked over. The other one had been found; he had no idea when it had fallen out and dropped to the earth.

Yet how could he possibly admit to it now?

If his faction were to learn that he had been left without descendants, the pitiful foundation of followers he possessed would surely scatter to the winds. Thinking of this, Liu Bei immediately denied it.

"What is this? It is not mine!" Liu Bei forced out a strained, gentle smile.

Guo Jia shot him a suspicious look. Meanwhile, the warhorse beneath Liu Bei seemed to catch a familiar scent, leaned down to sniff it, let out a snort, and trampled right upon it with its hoof.

Splatter!

It was smashed! Completely crushed!

Liu Bei's heart ached with profound grief. From this day forward, he was no longer... complete!

Of course, that is a story for another time.

At this juncture, Guan Yu came forward to meet the enemy.

Standing side by side, the two men gazed solemnly at Chu Feng.

Chu Feng looked down with arrogant disdain, pulled on his reins, and reared his horse like a god of war descended from the heavens. Surveying his surroundings, Chu Feng frowned slightly. He could not afford to drag this out; Liang Gang's division was already depleted.

Although Xuang Chu was fierce, under Yue Jin's command, there were faint signs of his forces being segmented. In this battle, he had to make a swift and decisive resolution to defeat these two opponents.

"Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, let me witness your true strength!" Chu Feng flickered his halberd's blade and charged forward instantly, determined to seize the initiative.

Guan Yu narrowed his phoenix eyes: "Third brother, this man is formidable. Hold nothing back; join forces to strike him down!"

"Damn thief, go to hell!"

Zhang Fei let out an angry roar and charged forward as well.

Chu Feng took the initiative, swinging his halberd with a force that split the air directly toward Guan Yu. He could not afford to let this man build momentum, for a fully charged strike from Guan Yu still posed a threat to him.

Guan Yu parried, his entire body sinking under the tremendous weight.

At the same time, Zhang Fei swept his long spear toward Chu Feng's flank. Raising an eyebrow, Chu Feng ducked to evade it. Seeing his force dissipated, Guan Yu immediately thrust his great blade upward, rising with full fury to deliver a savage slash.

Yet Chu Feng swept his massive halberd outward in a wide arc.

Clang!

Blade and halberd met, showering the air with sparks.

Guan Yu felt his tiger's mouth go numb, and his phoenix eyes grew even more cautious. He prided himself on overwhelming opponents with the sheer momentum of his blade, executing grand, sweeping maneuvers before which even Lü Bu had to yield.

Yet against Chu Feng, he simply lacked the qualification to engage in a direct clash of pure strength.

Chu Feng repelled Guan Yu with a single halberd strike, his brows twitching slightly. Guan Yu's physical strength was indeed astonishing. At the same time, Chu Feng naturally pivoted to slash at Zhang Fei, causing the latter to turn pale with shock and hastily shift from offense to defense.

Clang!

The serpent spear was driven directly down onto Zhang Fei's shoulder by the halberd's blow.

Zhang Fei's face flushed crimson, veins bulging on his forehead as he bent forward, barely managing to block the strike. He cursed inwardly in frustration, "This scoundrel—what ungodly strength this scoundrel possesses!"

Zhang Fei could be certain that Chu Feng's physical power surpassed even Lü Bu's. Lü Bu was hailed as the finest warrior in the world, and though he had fought Lü Bu many times and lost, he had never been reduced to such a passive state, still retaining the will and courage to fight.

Yet facing Chu Feng, his burning fighting spirit was almost completely extinguished. If not for Guan Yu, he estimated he would barely have lasted more than a dozen exchanges under Chu Feng's onslaught!

At that moment, Guan Yu wrenched his blade upward to parry.

"Is that all the two of you are capable of?" Chu Feng sneered. He had to quicken his pace; his left and right flanks could not hold out much longer. If he failed to break through the enemy center, his entire army would inevitably be defeated.

Thinking of this, Chu Feng's aura erupted with boundless battle intent, resembling a demon god descended to the mortal realm. Wielding a blood-stained halberd, that overwhelming aura alone was enough to make ordinary soldiers tremble with fear.

Guan and Zhang narrowed their eyes, filled with dread.

The two of them had initially believed that by joining forces, they might not defeat him outright, but at the very least they would not be placed in such a passive position. Yet now, it was clear Chu Feng was entirely capable of taking on two opponents single-handedly—

and pressing the attack against them both.

With a surge of momentum, Chu Feng charged forward once more.

This time, targeting Zhang Fei, he thrust his heavy halberd straight ahead with blinding speed.

Clang!

Zhang Fei raised his spear shaft to intercept.

The colossal impact instantly drove the halberd right past his guard to the side of Zhang Fei's head, simultaneously forcing his warhorse to rear its front hooves into the air.

Then, before the eyes of countless onlookers, the warhorse let out a shrill whinny, stumbled two steps backward, and was literally overturned onto the ground by the sheer force of Chu Feng's halberd strike. While Zhang Fei managed to withstand the blow, his mount could not.

"Chu, take this!" Guan Yu swept in with his weapon dragging behind him. The Green Dragon Crescent Blade had already gathered its full momentum as he brought it down in a furious chop.

Chu Feng pulled back his halberd shaft and thrust it diagonally upward to block.

Clang!

Chu Feng's body also sank slightly.

What a heavy blow! The web between his thumb and forefinger tingled with numbness.

Yet Guan Yu dared not linger in the engagement. He whipped his horse around, grabbed the reins of Zhang Fei's fallen mount, and immediately retreated.

He knew all too well that Chu Feng was simply too strong.

If the two of them continued to fight, the likelihood of being slain by him was far too high. Furthermore, they had already stalled long enough in this battle; there was no need to take unnecessary risks. Thus, they turned and fled in defeat.

The expressions of countless Cao soldiers dimmed somewhat.

Could even Guan and Zhang, the peerless warriors of the age, not defeat Chu Feng?

As for the various generals of Cao's army, looking at the retreating figures of Guan and Zhang, none of them knew what to say. The pressure this Chu Feng exerted upon them was truly overwhelming.

Cao Cao, seated upon his chariot, furrowed his brows even deeper.

He had to kill Chu Feng. He had to win today, or there would be endless trouble in the future!