Chapter Thirty-One: Chì Tù

  Li Su pretended to be surprised and said: "Fengxian was just joking, brother has the courage of ten thousand men, how could he be a mere civil official?"

  Although Lü Bu knew that Li Su was asking a rhetorical question, these words really stirred up the discontent in his heart. His face showed dissatisfaction as he said, "Would I deceive you?"

  Li Su secretly laughed in his heart, but on the surface he spoke up for Lü Bu and said: "Brother, I Li Su am also a Tiger Guard General under Dong Gong's command, yet you who have rendered great service to Ding Yuan only hold the position of chief clerk. How ungrateful is Ding Gong towards you!"

  Lü Bu was also somewhat impatient, waving his hand and saying: "Don't speak in riddles before honest men. You and I each have our own masters. If you have something to say, just say it clearly, don't beat around the bush."

  Li Su stood up and cupped his hands in respect towards Lü Bu, saying: "General Fengxian, Lord Dong has seen your extraordinary martial prowess on the battlefield today and is deeply impressed. He has specially ordered me to present you with these two boxes of precious jewels."

  Having said that, he signaled to his attendants outside the account, and Lü Bu nodded after hearing it, and let them carry it in.

  When the two boxes of jewelry were lifted into the camp and opened, they shone with dazzling brilliance. Li Su saw them and his eyes were filled with greed, but unfortunately, he didn't have the guts to do anything about it.

  Lü Bu saw it, and a fierce heat also appeared in his eyes, but it was covered up in an instant. He calmly asked Li Su: "What do you mean?"

  Li Su stood in the camp with a righteous expression and said: "Brother, Dong Gong heard that you are only serving as the chief clerk under Ding Yuan's command, and he is very dissatisfied. However, Ding Yuan has committed a great crime by attacking Luoyang without reason, which is punishable by the extinction of nine clans. Therefore, I was sent here to persuade you, as Dong Gong values your martial arts skills and does not want you to take this path of no return."

  "All right, you don't have to say any more. Ding Yuan has taken me as his adopted son, how can I abandon him for no reason?" Lü Bu suddenly interrupted Li Su's words.

  Li Su looked at Lü Bu, who was getting angry, and his heart trembled with fear. But thinking that if he returned empty-handed and lost these goods, how could he have a way out? Thinking of his future, he gritted his teeth and faced Lü Bu's eyes filled with anger, saying: "Brother Lü, Ding Yuan is surnamed Ding, from what can we talk about father-son relationship? Moreover, Ding Yuan feared you, actually appointed you as the chief clerk. Isn't this because he feared that you would seize military power?"

  Lü Bu heard this, although his anger was burning inside, he still spoke in a cold tone: "I'll let you off because we're from the same place, don't bother me today, just leave."

  Li Su heard Lü Bu's words and was shocked, his back drenched in cold sweat. He composed himself and cupped his hands: "Fengxian, today on the battlefield you must have also seen our army's so-called 'Western Liang Fierce Tiger', **Liang Ji**."

  Lü Bu's heart was set aflame upon hearing Li Su's words. That peerless steed, could the warrior not love it? Forcing himself to remain calm, yet his tone still betrayed the fervor in his heart, he said: "What of it? That peerless stallion is the mount of the Xiliang Tiger, would I begrudge it?" Meanwhile, in his mind, he thought that the Xiliang Tiger was a hero not easily found, and its steed was also a rare gem. As the saying goes, 'a hero matches a precious horse', and the Xiliang Tiger's match was not inferior in any way.

  Li Su saw the fervor in Lü Bu's eyes and let out a sigh of relief, then said: "General, you should know that the precious horse is called Red Hare. As it happens, our army has two of them. One of them I won't mention, but General, you've already seen one today. The other precious horse, however, is in my home, in Dong Gong's stable. Dong Gong admires your martial arts, and today on the battlefield, he deeply felt that General doesn't have a worthy steed to match yours, so he specially ordered me to give it to you."

  Lü Bu's eyes widened and he panted heavily, rushing to Li Su's side and tightly grasping his arm. "Where is it? Where is Red Hare?"

  "Ah! Lord Ping, gently, gently, or it will break." Li Su's face was red with effort, cold sweat dripping down as he grasped at Lü Bu's arm.

  When Lü Bu saw that he had lost his composure, he hastily withdrew his hand and bowed with a hint of apology: "Sorry, I was carried away."

  Li Su did not dare to be dissatisfied with Lü Bu, and whether he could persuade Lü Bu would affect his own future. He hurriedly waved his hand and said: "Su has already brought the fine steed, but for fear that the soldiers in the army will discover it, Su ordered someone to guard the fine steed ten miles outside the military camp."

  Lü Bu heard that the world's best horse was nearby, and his heart, which had been suppressed for a long time, flew out of the camp. He hastily pulled Li Su and rushed out of the military camp.

  When Lü Bu and Li Su hastily left the camp, Zhang Liao and Gao Shun emerged from hiding outside. Zhang Liao looked worriedly in Lü Bu's direction and said: "The general rushed out like this, I'm afraid the Western Liang army has an ambush!"

  Gao Shun remained expressionless, his voice low as he said: "Let's go, you come with me to accompany the General. Even if there is an ambush, the main army is only about ten miles away. As soon as the sounds of battle start, the main army will arrive in no time. Do you really think that anyone in Dong Zhuo's army can pose a threat to the General within this short period of less than one incense stick?"

  Zhang Liao heard Gao Shun's words and also let out a sigh of relief, then felt as if he was chasing after him.

  A small hill ten miles outside Bianzhou City.

  Lü Bu rode a high-quality warhorse from the state of Bing, and rushed over with a cloud of dust, while Li Su, who was traveling with Lü Bu, was left far behind.

  When Lü Bu reined in his horse, Gao Shun and Zhang Liao also came to the front of Lü Bu's body, ready to follow orders at any time. Li Su had long since disappeared from view, after all, Li Su was just an ordinary general, while these three were tigers among men, and their horsemanship was even more exquisite.

  After arriving at the location mentioned by Li Su, Lü Bu and Zhang Liao were searching everywhere for the precious horse that Li Su had spoken of, while Gao Shun was keeping a watchful eye on the surroundings to see if there were any ambushes. It can be seen that Gao Shun is cautious. Although Zhang Liao is also a famous general, unfortunately he is still too young now.

  Wow!

  Behind a silent rock, a sound was heard, it was the sound of horseshoes!

  Lü Bu and Zhang Liao gazed intently at the direction of the sound, and slowly, a red horse with golden armor on its head emerged. However, when the horse had walked out halfway, both men suddenly discovered that the rider was none other than Qiu Shui, known as the Fierce Tiger of the Western Liang army. Zhang Liao and Gao Shun hastily covered their weapons and stared tightly at Qiu Shui, ready to defend against a sudden attack.

  But Lü Bu saw the figure of Autumn Water, and the fervor in his eyes suddenly disappeared without a trace. He calmly clasped his hands and said: "You let Li Su deceive me into coming here, what for?"

  Qiu Shui was shocked by Lü Bu's icy expression and asked: "Didn't Li Su make it clear to you, Lord?"

  Lü Bu silently gazed at Qiu Shui, while Qiu Shui looked somewhat embarrassed, patted the Red Hare's back, and took two steps forward. Then Lü Bu saw something that filled his eyes with fervor.

  Why did you come, another red hare actually followed behind the autumn water horse and walked out slowly, its whole body was a deep crimson color without any miscellaneous hair, its muscles bulging like those of a superior warhorse, the red hare let out a loud snort, scaring the mounts of Lü Bu and others to lower their heads, not daring to look straight at it, this was simply the majestic demeanor of a king among horses.

  When Lü Bu saw the performance of his warhorse, he was even more fond of Chì Tù. Looking at the autumn water, his eyes were filled with surprise and delight, saying: "General, you are indeed a rare talent."

  Qiu Shui saw Lü Bu, whose words were filled with guilt, but his eyes were fixed tightly on the Red Hare behind him. Qiu Shui waved his hand and said, "It's nothing, let's try out this precious horse first."

  Although Qiu Shui's words were a question, Lü Bu was overjoyed when he heard them. He hastily dismounted his horse and ran over with a delighted expression on his face. Meanwhile, Gao Shun and Zhang Liao saw their general walking away without any precautions and were shocked in their hearts. They quickly covered the weapons in their hands and fixed their eyes tightly on Qiu Shui.

  Lü Bu walked up to Red Hare, carefully stretching out his palm to stroke its neck, while Red Hare gazed at Lü Bu with a haughty look in its eyes, as if looking down on him, its head held high.

  When Lü Bu saw Red Hare's humanized expression, he was even more overjoyed in his heart and couldn't help but immediately flipped onto Red Hare's back.

  When Red Hare saw Lü Bu on his back, a flash of anger suddenly appeared in his eyes. He kicked his hooves and jumped high into the air, landing only on his hind legs, trying to throw Lü Bu off. Seeing that he couldn't shake him off, he suddenly galloped away, running while shaking his body, trying to throw Lü Bu off.

  Qiu Shui saw Chi Tu's performance and smiled slightly, laughing: "Feng Xian, Chi Tu is a bit wild, don't be careless and get thrown off by him, haha!"

  Gao Shun and Zhang Liao saw that Qiu Shui did not make a move at the best opportunity, and suddenly knew that he had measured the heart of a gentleman with the heart of a small person. His face was somewhat ashamed, but he still stared tightly at Lü Bu.

  Tap tap tap!

  Red Hare saw that he still hadn't thrown off the person on his back after half a day, and anxiously jumped around all over the place. On Red Hare's back, Lü Bu's eyes were filled with frantic joy, loudly shouting: "Good horse, good horse, haha!"

  Red Hare suddenly sprinted away, and in the blink of an eye, only its back was left to the three men. At this time, when Gao Shun and Zhang Liao were about to rush forward to take a look, Qiu Shui smiled and said: "The two generals should not be anxious, Fengxian is a rare treasure horse, even if you chase after it, you can only eat dust in the back, why not wait for Fengxian to subdue Red Hare and come back by itself."

  Zhang Liao and Gao Shun listened, feeling that it made sense, and also knew that they had been reckless. Moreover, among the three of them, only Qiu Shui's mount could catch up, and now Lü Bu didn't even have a weapon on him. They might as well wait here for Lü Bu to return, and still keep an eye on Qiu Shui.

  Gao Shun and Zhang Liao exchanged a glance, nodded, and cupped their hands in respect towards Qiu Shui: "We are Gao Shun and Zhang Liao. We have met the General."

  Qiu Shui was greatly surprised when he heard the other's name, and didn't expect it to be these two people. In addition to Lü Bu, only these two were famous in the state army. However, Qiu Shui did not show any surprise on his face, but smiled and nodded: "So you are the two generals, I have long heard of you, and today I see that you are indeed the tiger generals of the world."

  Gao Shun and Zhang Liao heard the other's words, and they just respectfully nodded their heads. After all, the two of them were not famous in the Pingzhou army, and they thought it was the other being humble.