Striking while the iron was still hot, I continued, “General Lu, you exchanged the life of one man for the hundreds of lives. You saved the people living in Xu Province. Isn’t this enough to make you great?”

Lu Bu looked touched. Yet, he had a forlorn expression on his face, smiling sadly. “What did I gain from that? I couldn’t protect the woman I loved the most, and people later insulted me as if I were everybody’s slave…”

Li Mazi and Baldy escorted Gao Erhu from the upper floors, heading toward the kitchen. Gao Erhu was still wearing his raincoat, and when he saw Lu Bu, he immediately got on his knees, tears rolling from his face. “Marquis of Wen, my Lord, I couldn’t save you. I’m so sorry!”

Seeing this, my respect and admiration for the Gao family rose even higher. Even in the modern-day, they were still loyal and dedicated to Lu Bu.

Lu Bu looked at Gao Erhu, his eyes showing a sense of anxiety and pity.

I knew that I couldn’t miss this opportunity. I bowed to Lu Bu once more before addressing Gao Erhu, “Erhu, two thousand years have passed, and history has moved on. The Han Dynasty no longer exists. What grudges still last after all this time? Do you really want to see General Lu kill all the descendants of those disloyal families?”

Gao Erhu held his head low, not daring to look at us. He knew that he was in the wrong. I didn’t want to trouble him any further, so I asked him to advise Lu Bu not to repeat the same mistakes.

Then, we went to the Hou family’s ancestral hall, telling Hou Cheng that Lu Bu had agreed to talk with him.

Hou Cheng was baffled, and in the next moment, he started to sob.

“It’s been more than two thousand years. At last, my Master has agreed to forgive me! Thank you, thank you!”

Hou Cheng pointed at the black iron chest on the ground. “This chest holds the weapon I used when I was alive. The family has kept it for generations. Since you’ve helped me, I’m going to give it to you! It’s of no use to me now anyway.”

Then, he raised his hand and made a gesture. The iron chest opened, and flashes of cold light appeared.

Li Mazi picked up the source of the flashes. It was a silver-gleaming double-edged axe with a tiger descending a mountain carved onto the handle.

I shivered. Hou Cheng was one of the top eight subordinates under Lu Bu, and his weapon was truly awe-inspiring!

Anyway, my impression of Hou Cheng wasn’t very good, and as such, I didn’t try to be polite or anything. I directly asked Li Mazi to bring the axe to the car. The iron chest was most likely valuable, too. However, as it was the Hou family’s antique, they should keep it.

Leaving the ancestral hall, I asked Baldy to hire a gentle-looking, beautiful princess from a pub. Diao Chan used to be a singer, which was the same occupation as the pub princesses in modern times.

When I told her to dress up as Diao Chan to talk to Lu Bu’s ghost, she was stunned. She resolutely rejected our offer. “I don’t want to lose my life just to earn some money!”

“Lu Bu won’t hurt you. Diao Chan was his biggest weakness! Moreover, he knows Diao Chan is dead. If you do this, it will help him rest in peace! Please!”

My words were honest, but she still rejected my request.

Baldy directly produced his pistol, placing it at the pub princess’s temple, thundering, “Are you messing with me? Do you think I won’t dare to kill your entire family?”

She looked at me with fright in her eyes, asking for my help, but I acted as if I didn’t see anything and turned my head aside. Helpless, the girl had to accept our demands.

I searched for Lu Bu’s information and stories from the Internet, saving and sorting them into a file.

After everything was prepared, I suddenly felt empty. As Li Mazi had received that cool weapon, his despicable face returned alongside his greedy nature.

He patted my cheek and asked, “What are you up to?”

“I’ve just noticed that the situation this time seems too simple. We haven’t encountered danger yet…” I said.

“If it weren’t for Baldy and me, Lu Bu would have finished you already! Isn’t this dangerous enough?” Li Mazi scoffed.

I nodded. Li Mazi was right. Perhaps I was just overthinking.

Considering that Lu Bu’s name in history wasn’t good at all, I was afraid that he would change his mind and attack us. To prepare for the worst-case scenario, I drew many spirit talismans to give to the others. I even went to a store, asking them to make me a sword.

I had learned the spell to invite Sword Immortal Lu Dongbin from Chuyi. If Lu Bu went back on his word, in such a hopeless moment, I would try to ask the Sword Immortal to help.

Time flew quickly. The sky was getting dark…

The midnight hour arrived shortly. As the lime had all dried up, it was now hard. Baldy had to invite a group of construction workers to help dig up the hole again.

This was when I was worried the most. I hoped that Lu Bu wouldn’t suddenly turn crazy and begin to slaughter people. Fortunately, he remained hidden while the hole was dug up. Once all the workers had left safely, he showed up with a gust of wind.

“Thank you, General Lu.”

I greeted him, then took a few steps backward. I signaled the pub princess dressed as Diao Chan to show up, motioning at the others to hide in a corner.

The princess acted as I had told her. “General, my Lord, we’ve been apart for two thousand years. In the end, Chan’er meets you again.”

Since she was a singer in the pub, her voice was quite enticing. Moreover, she was wearing beautiful costumes from the Han Dynasty. At this moment, she genuinely looked like Diao Chan.”

“My darling, I’m truly incompetent. You have suffered because of me!”

After talking, Lu Bu got on his knees. I felt the ground shake a little bit as he moved.

Li Mazi and Baldy dropped their jaws in surprise. We all knew that Lu Bu loved Diao Chan, but no one would expect that Lu Bu would get on his knees. In the Han Dynasty, women had no social position. There was an old saying that stated, ‘brothers are like limbs; wives are like clothes.’

The singer was touched, and she began to cry, dashing toward him. She wanted to throw herself into Lu Bu’s embrace. However, she could only hug the void. Lu Bu wanted to reciprocate her actions, but they couldn’t touch each other. He was just a spirit. Strictly speaking, he wasn’t even an intact soul.

Lu Bu kept his arms spread open for a while. Then, he calmly told the woman, “I know you’re not my Chan’er. Chan’er is dead. You can go now. Thank you for fulfilling my last wish.”

My heart ached. It turned out Lu Bu had always wanted to apologize to Diao Chan. That was why he had knelt in front of her; it was to show his remorse.

When the women left, I went over and gave Gao Erhu the file I had prepared, asking him to read it out loud.

“Lu Bu, courtesy name Fengxian, is the First Peerless General of the Eastern Han! He eradicated Dong Zhuo. The imperial court ordained him as the Marquis of Wen thanks to his meritorious service to the nation. With his halberd, he saved the people from damnation. With their actions, Lu Bu and Diao Chan have embodied the story of the hero and the beauty that people still praise to this day…”

Gao Erhu’s voice was full of emotion.

As Lu Bu continued to listen, his bewildered expression turned into one full of emotion. While listening, he began to tear up.

In the end, he resumed his heroic posture and appearance, laughing whole-heartedly. “Gao Erhu, is this true?”

“Marquis of Wen, my Lord, everything is true. Although some people complain, nobody is perfect. It’s good that you don’t have any guilt weighing on your conscience.”

Gao Erhu answered calmly. However, my heart sank when he said that. I just asked him to tell the other party what I had prepared. Gao Erhu had improvised!

With Lu Bu’s nature, it was possible that he would become enraged at this. Instinctively, I grabbed my Yin and Yang Umbrella, ready to strike.

Unexpectedly, Lu Bu wasn’t mad. He looked heavenward, laughing to his heart’s content.

“I have no guilt weighing on my conscience! You’re truly a son of my Bing Province!”

I heaved a sigh of relief. Lu Bu wasn’t like what he was described as in the books. He sincerely cared about his relationships and humanity. However, we still hadn’t solved his issues with Hou Cheng yet. “My Lord, do you want to see Hou Cheng?”

“I’m his master. Why would I have to wait for him?” Lu Bu snorted then waved his hands, returning to his hole.

I knew he wanted Hou Cheng to come here to apologize to him. I motioned for Li Mazi to release Hou Cheng’s spirit.

Li Mazi nodded. He went to the car to pick up the big axe where Hou Cheng’s spirit dwelled.

Before I could open my mouth, Hou Cheng flew up from the axe as we entered the lobby and looked around. Eventually, his eyes settled on the deep hole. He hurriedly moved toward the hole and got on his knees. Then, he began to cry his lungs out, “Sinner Hou Cheng greets my Lord!”

“We should leave,” I told Li Mazi and Baldy.

No matter what, they were old acquaintances.

Yet, at the moment I walked out of the kitchen, a dazzling golden light flashed! Before I could get a hold of myself, I heard Hou Cheng shrieking in agony.

I understood the situation wasn’t going as expected. I ran back inside and looked for Hou Cheng, seeing a great halberd with a golden halo piercing his body. The powerful weapon had directly pinned Hou Cheng to the wall.

I was bewildered, mesmerized by the golden halo of the Sky Piercer.

The Sky Piercer began to spin, and Hou Cheng screamed louder and louder. In the end, he shivered and became a few wisps of black smoke, vanishing into the void.

Then, the Sky Piercer landed on the ground with a clatter.

“Weren’t they supposed to talk it out? Why did they fight?” Li Mazi couldn’t believe his eyes.

“No matter how well Hou Cheng could explain his point of view, he still betrayed Lu Bu. Lu Bu agreed to let us help him ascend, but that doesn’t mean that he would forgive Hou Cheng.”

Li Mazi was puzzled. Then, he gawked, asking me, “Did you predict everything that happened?”

“Yeah.” I admitted with a cold smile.

Lu Bu made an agreement with me because I had a secret deal with him.

To fulfill that deal, I would trick Hou Cheng to come and see Lu Bu. As long as Lu Bu could destroy Hou Cheng, he was willing to leave.

“Little Brother Zhang, you…”

Li Mazi held his fist as if he was about to hit me. However, he couldn’t bring himself to do it. “You’ve changed. You’re not the genuinely kind Zhang Jiulin I used to know,” Li Mazi sighed.

“I don’t want Ru Xue’s kid to be fatherless, and I don’t want Yin Xinyue to wash her face with her tears. Do you think the two of us can deal with the God of War Lu Bu?” I shouted at Li Mazi.

He was baffled, looking at me. Then, we burst out laughing.

Lu Bu had left, leaving the Sky Piercer to us. With the double-edged axe Hou Cheng had gifted us, we obtained two otherworldly items this time.

Not long afterward, an ancient weapon collector came to our door. In the end, I sold Hou Cheng’s double-edged axe for the price of three million renminbi.

However, I had no plans to sell the Sky Piercer for the time being. Not because of its invincible nature, but because whenever I admired the halberd, I remembered the grudge that had lasted for two thousand years.

Whether it was grace or grudge, as time passed by, all would be forgotten.

However, the story of Lu Bu and Diao Chan would live forever!