Choose Liu Bei at the start, I am the only one who knows the plot of the Three Kingdoms.

After walking a distance, Zhao Yun came to Gu Rubing's side.

"My lord, what should we do now that Cao Cao and Liu Zhang have attacked us?"

"Let's talk about it when we get back."

Gu Rubing was also considering what to do. Normally, he should have taken direct revenge.

But if we start a war against Cao Cao and Liu Zhang now, wouldn't that mean fighting on two fronts? And Cao Cao alone is already difficult to deal with. If we fight against both of them at the same time, Sun Jian will definitely not behave himself and will definitely cause trouble for me from behind. In that case, wouldn't I have to start a full-scale war again, and after a year of fighting, there would be no result?

Just as Gu Rubing was pondering what to do, the entire team suddenly stopped.

A member of the Ironclad Pagoda came to Gu Rubing's side.

"My lord, someone has blocked the procession ahead and says they want to see you."

"see me?"

"Who is the other party?"

"I don't know. The other party was dressed entirely in black, and we couldn't even see their face."

Upon hearing this, a certain figure immediately came to mind.

Guan Yu and Zhao Yun also thought of someone.

"My lord, could it be the person who stopped us back then?"

Upon hearing this, Gu Rubing nodded, feeling that it was quite possible as well.

"Come on, let's go take a look."

Upon hearing this, Guan Yu immediately stopped Gu Rubing.

"Brother, you mustn't! Back then, even the five of us couldn't stop him in the slightest. Now, it's just the two of us. If something happens to us, your safety will be at risk..."

Hearing this, Gu Rubing smiled and shook his head.

"Second brother, you said it yourself, the five of you couldn't stop them back then. That means if they wanted to kill us, they would have come long ago. Why would they wait for their men to report?"

Guan Yu felt that Gu Rubing's words made sense. After hesitating for a moment, he could only agree to let Gu Rubing meet with the other party.

Before long, the three of them arrived at the front of the line.

The man in black leaned leisurely against a boulder, holding a gourd of wine in one hand and a leg of lamb in the other, eating and drinking as he went, completely ignoring the Ironclad Pagoda soldiers around him.

Upon seeing Gu Rubing arrive, the man hurriedly waved to him.

"King Lie, you've arrived. Come and have a drink with me."

"You scoundrel, who do you take my lord for? How dare you speak to my lord like that?"

One of the Ironclad Pagoda soldiers glared angrily at the man in black.

Upon hearing this, the man in black slowly put down the gourd of wine in his hand and turned to look at the Ironclad Pagoda who had spoken.

How dare you talk to me like that?

As the sound faded, the black spear flickered and flew directly towards the Ironclad Pagoda soldier.

The speed was so fast that even Zhao Yun and Guan Yu didn't have time to react.

Before the Ironclad Pagoda soldier could even react with fear, the spear tip was already right in front of him.

At this moment, the man in black immediately stopped.

Looking at the spear tip that was only an inch away from him, the Ironclad Pagoda soldier instantly felt his whole body go limp, and his entire back was soaked with sweat.

"Alright, I was just teasing you, don't take it too seriously."

The man in black sheathed his spear and turned to look at Gu Rubing in the distance.

"Liu Bei, come with me, someone wants to see you."

"see me?"

Gu Rubing looked at the man in black and frowned slightly.

Following this person is clearly not a good idea. Once this person makes a move, Guan Yu and Zhao Yun are no match for him.

"Of course, otherwise what would I be here for? Dealing with you mortals is such a troublesome thing."

After the man in black finished speaking, he took another bite of the lamb leg.

Gu Rubing hesitated for a moment, then finally instructed the deputy commander of the Ironclad Cavalry standing beside him: "Take the man back and tell the Prime Minister that I can't go back for the time being."

"This... my lord, we..."

"Do as your lord commands. Don't worry, you can't stop me. If I want to take action, you'll all be corpses in less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn. Zhuge Liang should understand this principle as well."

After finishing his sentence, the man in black took a breath and muttered to himself, "Speaking of which, that talent is the closest to us."

Gu Rubing clearly did not hear what the man in black said, but nodded to the Ironclad Pagoda beside him.

Finally, at Gu Rubing's insistence, the Ironclad Cavalry slowly left.

Guan Yu and Zhao Yun stayed by Gu Rubing's side the whole time.

Seeing the two people stay behind, the man in black didn't care at all and continued walking forward leisurely.

Several days have passed.

Gu Rubing felt that they had gone a long way, but the man in black was still walking forward. He had no idea what the man in black was aiming for.

"Sir, where exactly are we going?"

"Oh, we're going to Penglai!"

"Penglai?"

Gu Rubing frowned immediately.

I've always heard that Penglai is a sacred mountain, but I've never paid attention to it. Now it seems that this group of people are probably in Penglai.

Donglai County, Qingzhou.

It took the group half a month to finally reach the foot of Mount Penglai.

"Walking with you guys is so slow. Before, I could get back in less than half a day."

Upon hearing this, Gu Rubing smiled awkwardly, clearly aware that the person was referring to him.

When Gu Rubing followed the man in black to the top of the mountain, he finally saw it.

At the top of the mountain, there are the entrances to several caves.

In front of the cave entrance is a pavilion, inside which is a half-finished game of chess.

Two elderly people, who looked quite old, were sitting around a chessboard, deep in thought.

"Masters, I have brought the person back."

Upon hearing this, the two looked up at the man in black who had spoken, and then their gazes fell on Gu Rubing.

The two slowly got up.

However, upon seeing the two make a move, Guan Yu and Zhao Yun immediately shielded Gu Rubing behind them.

Gu Rubing didn't notice anything, but the two of them did notice that the air around them seemed to fluctuate the moment the two old men looked up.

This is not something an ordinary person can do; even Guan Yu and Zhao Yun admitted they couldn't do it.

"Haha, you two don't need to be so agitated. We won't do anything to your lord."

"That's right, that's right, don't get so excited." The voice came from a cave, and then a familiar figure appeared in front of Gu Rubing.

Nanhua Old Immortal!

"Your Highness, it's been such a long time!"

Seeing this, Gu Rubing smiled and patted Guan Yu and Zhao Yun on the shoulder.

He didn't know about others, but he had seen the old immortal Nan Hua in front of him before. The old immortal Nan Hua alone could easily defeat his Five Tiger Generals, not to mention the man in black and two strangers whose strength he didn't know.

Guan Yu and Zhao Yun are now just decorations. Rather than that, it's better to give up the struggle and see what these people really want from us.

"My lord, we..."

"Don't worry, their target isn't me."

Upon hearing this, the two nodded.

"Alright, everyone, let's get started."

Gu Rubing and the others left and went into the pavilion, while Guan Yu and Zhao Yun stood behind Gu Rubing, watching the people around them warily.

As for the man in black, he lay directly on a boulder to the side, clearly not even qualified to sit at the table in front of these three old men.

This also made Gu Rubing secretly a little uneasy.

"Prince Lie, let me introduce these two to you first. This is Zuo Ci, and this is Yu Ji!"

Zuo Ci? Yu Ji? Aren't these people supposedly already immortals?
Upon hearing the names of these two people, Gu Rubing became even more curious.

The legendary immortals, including Nan Hua Lao Xian, Zuo Ci, and Yu Ji, have all appeared before him. What do they want?
"Gentlemen, what brings you here?"

"Actually, it's not a big deal to bring King Lie here, but there are some things I need to show you."

After speaking, Yu Ji took out a map.

Gu Rubing saw that the map showed the entire Han Dynasty.

The map has a series of intersecting lines, which is extremely strange.

"Can Your Highness see the lines above?"

Gu Rubing nodded.

"This is the destiny of the Han Dynasty, and do you see that?"

After Yu Ji finished speaking, he placed his hand on Liangzhou.

Gu Rubing saw that after this fortune reached Liangzhou, it actually exceeded the range of the map.

Beyond Liangzhou lay the outer regions, and then came Sun Jian's Anluo Empire.

Upon realizing this, Gu Rubing immediately understood what the three people meant.

"King Lie, now that Sun Jian has taken away a portion of the Han Dynasty's fortune, and Sun Jian's existence has been constantly consuming the Han Dynasty's fortune, the three of us suggest that you prioritize the fate of the Han Dynasty, eliminate Sun Jian first, and reclaim the Han Dynasty's fortune."

"Deal with Sun Jian?"

Gu Rubing had already guessed what these three were going to say, but Sun Jian's position was rather troublesome, as he was too far removed from his main battlefield. If he were to start with Sun Jian, the manpower and resources required would be enormous.

"That's right, it's about getting rid of Sun Jian."

After hearing the three people's affirmative answers, Gu Rubing remained silent and fell into deep thought.

Of course, he wasn't thinking about how to resolve Sun Jian's situation, but rather questioning the motives of the three people in front of him.

With the strength of these three people, or even the man in black, dealing with Sun Jian would be a piece of cake. Since they discovered that Sun Jian was taking away his luck, why didn't they just take action to deal with him instead of dragging them into it?

"The three of you are so worried about this so-called fortune, surely you have some other purpose?"

Upon hearing this, the three immediately looked at Gu Rubing.

After a long while, Yu Ji finally smiled and said, "King Lie, please don't misunderstand. We just want to save the fortune of the Han Dynasty."

"That's what you told Zhang Jiao back then, wasn't it?"

As soon as Gu Rubing finished speaking, a crack appeared on the chessboard in Nanhua Laoxian's hand.

Guan Yu and Zhao Yun immediately pulled Gu Rubing backward.

After reaching a safe distance, the two let go of each other.

"Gentlemen, I, Liu Bei, am not Zhang Jiao. I will not listen to whatever you say. I have my own plans. I will deal with Sun Jian. Cao Cao and Liu Zhang will not escape either. But I have my own intentions. Who to deal with first and who to deal with later is up to me."

After Gu Rubing finished speaking, he clasped his hands in a fist salute to the three of them and then turned and left.

As they watched Gu Rubing's retreating figure, a hint of dissatisfaction flashed in the eyes of all three.

"Gentlemen, this Liu Bei is beyond our control, so what should we do?"

"No rush, let's wait and see. In any case, Liu Bei is the strongest among all the warlords, and we still need his help in many things."

After Gu Rubing led the two away from Penglai, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

Guan Yu glanced behind him to make sure no one was chasing them before whispering, "Brother, that was really dangerous. They were emanating a murderous aura."

"That's right, my lord. We also sensed the evil aura just now, which is why we led you to run away."

"I'm sorry to have troubled you all, but this meeting has indeed confirmed my suspicions. It seems these guys want us to deal with Sun Jian first."

"It's just an assist. If we were to deal with Sun Jian now, it would mean that our main battlefield would be in Liangzhou. This would put a lot of pressure on all sides. Moreover, if we were to attack Sun Jian, Cao Cao and Liu Zhang would definitely cause trouble for us from behind. In comparison, at least Sun Jian doesn't dare to be too presumptuous towards us now."

In military matters, both Guan Yu and Zhao Yun were quite capable.

They quickly analyzed all the drawbacks.

"Of course I know what you're talking about, which is why I refused them. But I don't know if they'll retaliate this time, so you should all be careful in the future."

After receiving news from the Iron Pagoda that Gu Rubing had been taken away, Zhuge Liang immediately performed a divination for Gu Rubing.

Zhuge Liang then determined that although Gu Rubing would encounter some dangers, they could be resolved.

But when Zhuge Liang began to calculate who had taken Gu Rubing away, he felt that his divination had become slightly disordered, clearly due to some kind of interference.

"Could it be those people?"

Zhuge Liang frowned slightly, but quickly put away all the divination slips.

Yizhou, Linjiang City.

Wei Yan stood on the city wall, quietly looking around.

Zhang He walked over.

"Wenchang, what's wrong?"

Wei Yan shook his head and said, "It's alright. Cao Cao's troops have already withdrawn from Ba County and moved to Mianzhu City in Guanghan County. I'm considering when we can attack them."

"Now that our lord has not returned, you still want to take over Mianzhu City. Cao Cao's troops are quite numerous. To take over Mianzhu City, you must first take over Mianzhu Pass, which is a place that is easy to defend and difficult to attack."

Upon hearing this, Wei Yan immediately took out a map.

This is a map showing the entirety of Yizhou.

“Mianzhu City and Mianzhu Pass are connected, and it will be very troublesome for us to deal with them. Moreover, Mianzhu Pass is easy to defend and difficult to attack. It is probably impossible for us to break through it in a short time. So I have an idea.”

"What's the idea?"

Zhang He knew that Wei Yan was always very bold. Although Wei Yan's methods were dangerous, they might be very useful if handled properly.

"Mianzhu Pass in Guanghan Commandery is easy to defend but difficult to attack, and Cao Cao's 100,000 troops are amassed there. Rather than that, we should turn around and attack Jianwei Commandery, forcing them to take action." (End of Chapter)