Chapter 57: Resigning is Better Anyway

"Xu Huang?"

Both Wang Dayang and Lin Qingzhi, who were in the middle of a dispute, paused in surprise.

They were far too familiar with this name. To say they hated him to the bone might be a slight exaggeration, but to say they loathed him to the utmost was beyond dispute.

This Xu Huang had originally been a minor county official in Hedong Commandery—the very type of bureaucrat they despised the most. Yet at the beginning of the month, he had somehow transformed into a major general under General Yang Feng, even snatching the throne of their top commander.

Wang Dayang and his men believed that their recent ambush was inextricably linked to their competition with Xu Huang for the capture of Jiexiu County, which had made them rushed in their march and lax in their vigilance.

"Transformed?"

Su Yao was curious.

How could anyone playing a Three Kingdoms game not know Xu Huang? He was the man who would later defeat Guan Yu on the direct battlefield, one of the Five Elite Generals of Cao Wei, Xu Gongming, who originated from the White Wave Army of Hedong.

This man was also a major consideration in Su Yao's subsequent southern strategy!

Here was an epic NPC teammate that could be recruited simply by clearing the jungle in the early game. Since he was born in Bingzhou, it would simply be against the laws of heaven not to recruit him.

To his surprise, however, judging by what these people were saying, this man had originally been an imperial soldier? Come to think of it, he really hadn't looked closely into their past backgrounds before.

"Yes, General Yang Feng... bah, that bandit chieftain Yang Feng raided Hedong at the beginning of the month and suffered a covert defeat at the hands of that Xu Huang. So he devised a scheme and invited..."

"Bah, he kidnapped Xu Huang's aged mother in Hongdong County, used his mother as bait to lure him out, captured him, and brought him under his command."

"There's a story like that?" Su Yao blinked.

"Does the General have some past acquaintance with Xu Huang?" Wang Dayang looked carefully at Su Yao.

"Not an acquaintance, exactly, but I've heard that this Xu Huang is no ordinary man. He wields a massive splitting axe, fights with fierce ferocity, and possesses courage second to none—comparable even to Fengxian."

"Who? Fengxian (Xu Huang)?!"

Hearing the crowd's astonished cries of surprise, Su Yao chuckled softly.

"Lord Lü, you're still here."

"You brat, if it weren't for Zhi Shu asking me to keep an eye on you and prevent you from running amok, do you think this lord enjoys listening to your nonsense here?"

Lü Bu strode over with heavy footsteps, thrust his Heavenly Halberd into the ground, and glared at him.

"Do you really think your little provocation could scare me? A mere rat from Hedong, is he even worthy? I can tell you just want to go stirring up trouble again."

Su Yao turned his head away and gave a silent click of his tongue. It seemed Lü Bu's intelligence stat wasn't all that low after all.

"Young Brother, you mustn't forget, Inspector Ding's military order is for us to regroup in Jinyang within a set time limit. Missing the deadline is a punishable offense!"

"When a general is away from home, the sovereign's orders need not be obeyed. We can hardly know that someone is attacking a county town and not go to their rescue, especially since we've already reached this point."

"Then become a general first before you talk about that. As soldiers, our duty is to obey military orders. Besides, county magistrates likewise have the duty to protect their territories and pacify the people."

"Do you truly believe that?" Su Yao asked, a look of surprise crossing his face.

"What?"

"The Lü Fengxian I know wouldn't be such a rigid and naive person."

Rigid and naive?

Lü Bu was left blushing furiously by the retort. He paused for a moment before speaking.

"Of course I know they can't hold out."

Lü Bu tapped his Heavenly Halberd.

"But why can't you understand the painstaking efforts of Zhi Shu and myself? You have performed a brilliant service this time. As long as you simply wait honestly for the Inspector to evaluate your merits and grant you a reward, your path will be smooth and your future boundless! But now you are stubbornly insisting on going to that Jiexiu County town. Leaving aside how we are supposed to deal with these hundreds of captives we are dragging along, or whether you can even win the fight, once our return is delayed and we are judged for missing the deadline, not only will your credit for the rescue be erased, but your superiors will also brand you as unruly and disobedient to military orders. This will negatively impact the assessment of your prior merits! Can't you weigh the light against the heavy, you silly Su brat?"

Su Yao raised an eyebrow in considerable surprise. He hadn't expected that capturing Xu Huang would require a debate with Lü Bu first.

When had Lü Bu acquired such eloquence? And where did he learn to spout such grand principles?

In truth, this wasn't really Lü Bu's own idea. It was specifically instructed by Zhang Yang before their expedition, telling Lü Bu to watch over Su Yao and keep him from running amok, which was why he explained the stakes so clearly.

Su Yao pondered Lü Bu's words. His gaze swept across the soldiers standing at attention around him, and he slowly spoke.

"Why did everyone join the army in the first place?"

This question stunned the crowd for a moment, yet it struck at the core of the matter.

The Later Han dynasty practiced a conscription system, and these professional soldiers of theirs were not temporary peasant levies; they had indeed taken up weapons of their own free will.

But for what?

Was it to get ahead in the world, achieve noble titles, and become generals, or simply to earn a meal?

"My purpose is quite simple, Su Yao. I cannot bear to watch those barbarians run wild—no, not just the barbarians. Every single bastard who attempts to use violence for their own selfish desires, to oppress the innocent and poison the common people, is someone I simply cannot stand to look at."

Su Yao clenched his fists with passion, thoroughly immersed in the persona: "As you can all see, I, Su Yao, possess power. Therefore, I will use this power to correct wrongs, strike at evil, punish the lawless, so that the people may live and work in peace, and return a clear and bright cosmos to this earth!"

These words struck a chord in the hearts of most of them.

Border commandery youths did not enjoy the fortune of those in the interior plains; from childhood, all they ever witnessed was slaughter, violence, plunder, and death.

A friend they drank with the day before might become a corpse beneath a butcher's blade today. And returning from a visit to relatives might mean facing nothing more than a burned-down house.

Talk of noble titles and military pay—in the face of a survival crisis—was utterly hollow.

The eunuchs were ruining the state, and treacherous ministers held power. The Later Han court was fatuous and incompetent, and the situation of the realm was perilous.

The primary reason these border youths took up arms was simply to stay alive, to protect their families and loved ones.

Faced with such words from Su Yao, even Lü Bu had nothing to say.

In that instant, Lü Bu's thoughts drifted back to a certain teenager in a village in Jiuyuan County more than twenty years ago.

In that village, almost completely burned down by Xianbei raiders, he had stood gripping a blade, drenched in blood. That was the first time Lü Bu had ever killed a man. Relying on his innate divine strength and overflowing courage, he had helped the villagers finally drive off the invaders.

Ever since then, Lü Bu had become the hope of the entire village—those unfamiliar elders whose names he couldn't even recall, those kind villagers with whom he shared no blood relation.

It was precisely by pooling the travel funds from every household that Lü Bu had been able to become a disciple of Li Yan and master this peerless halberd technique.

Could it be that what he, Lü Bu, had thought of at that moment was a future of rich silks, fine food, and a general's title?

"Lü boy, let me ask you: if you come here to study under a master and master these skills, what do you wish to do in the future?"

"I want to become a general of the Great Han, to slay the barbarians and ensure they can never come to the village to harm people again!"

That was it. That was the original intention behind Lü Bu's study of martial arts and enlistment in the army.

Lü Bu's eyes grew somewhat hot and red. Yet it was lamentable that he possessed neither a distinguished background nor skill in official maneuvering, nor did he condescend to send gifts and curry favor with superiors; his martial prowess had thus been wasted for over a decade, and to this day he hadn't even touched the hem of a general's robe.

The ideals and original intentions of the past had long since been washed away until scarcely a trace remained.

Heh, a tunzhang (commandant of a屯).

Compared to an annual salary of two hundred dan, it might indeed be a rather generous and high-paying position for an ordinary person.

But he was Lü Bu—the Lü Bu who carried the hopes of an entire village and the teachings of his master.

A general... when on earth would he ever become a true general?

"If becoming a general means I must turn a blind eye to atrocities, bow my head to lawlessness, sit idly by while the people suffer, and become one of those spineless conformists who blend in with the corrupt world—then Su Yao would rather not be this general at all!"