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

Sun Jian laughed as soon as he saw the three of them return.

"King Lie, how is it? I didn't lie to you, did I? Your people are still alive and well."

"Yes! King Wu is a man of principle. He has indeed allowed our people to live. However, the environment here is far too poor. Is this a place where people are imprisoned?"

As Gu Rubing's voice fell, Guan Yu's face turned terribly gloomy, even the weapons in his hands trembled, and his killing intent reached its peak.

However, Sun Jian seemed completely unconcerned about the two men's reactions.

“King Lie, it’s not that I don’t want to provide him with a good environment. After all, he’s an informant. He was arrested on my territory, and his status isn’t high. If I give him a good place, what will the other lords think? Besides, land in our Anluo Empire is extremely valuable. Where do we find so many good places to give to others?”

After Sun Jian finished speaking, he cleared his throat.

"Furthermore, Prince Lie, you've seen this person yourself. Regardless of the circumstances, he's still alive. I haven't broken my promise. I don't know when you can deliver all the things I asked for. Without these things, I certainly can't give you the person."

"Don't worry, this thing will arrive soon. I've already asked the people in Liangzhou to prepare it, and it should be delivered in three days at most."

After saying that, Gu Rubing turned and left.

Watching Gu Rubing's retreating figure, Sun Jian's lips curled into a smile.

three days later.

Sun Jian, accompanied by Sun Ce and Gan Ning, arrived outside Gu Rubing's room.

“Your Majesty, the three days have passed, and I haven’t seen anything. Your men have been locked up in my cell, which isn’t good for their health, is it? Besides, I have to take care of your men’s food and drink, which is a waste of my own food.”

"You look for……"

Upon hearing this, Guan Yu could no longer contain himself and was about to slash at Sun Jian with his Green Dragon Crescent Blade.

But Sun Jian quickly retreated and dodged.

"Second brother!"

Gu Rubing immediately spoke up to stop Guan Yu.

With Gu Rubing's intervention, Guan Yu finally put his sword away.

"Your Majesty, rest assured, what you requested has been prepared. However, there are too many items, and to prevent any disturbance, I have ordered everyone to stand by outside the city. Please bring your men and come with me to retrieve them."

"Outside the city?"

These past few days, Sun Jian has been keeping an eye on the movements outside the city. It's not that he wants to investigate whether Gu Rubing's things have been delivered, but he's mainly worried that Gu Rubing might resort to desperate measures and send his army to attack.

However, after several days of investigation, there has been no movement outside the city.

Sun Jian knew that what he wanted was no small amount, and that sending it over would require a large number of people, especially a large number of soldiers. If it were really sent over, he would definitely know.

"Is King Lie joking?"

"Huh? What do you say?"

"With so much stuff, it must have made a lot of noise to send it over. Since it was outside the city, why didn't my men notice it at all?"

Upon hearing this, Gu Rubing burst out laughing.

"Sun Jian, what am I supposed to say to you? Do you even have a brain? You want so many things, how could I possibly send them all at once? I'll send them little by little. This time I've sent half of them, and I'll naturally have my own way of sending the rest without anyone noticing. Otherwise, it wouldn't be safe to come here. With so many things, I'm not afraid of thieves stealing them, I'm more afraid of thieves eyeing them!"

Sun Jian simply couldn't believe it. Even if it was only half, there was absolutely no way it would be completely silent.

"In that case, I will have the city gates opened now. King Lie, please let your men into the city."

“That won’t do. King Wu, please bring your men out of the city with me. After all, I feel that you might not feel at ease with so many people entering the city. Besides, the conditions in the prison here are too poor. I’m worried that my men’s bodies won’t be able to withstand it. King Wu, please bring my men along. Once you see what you want in the city, you can release my men and they can return with the supply corps.”

"This……"

Sun Jian hesitated for a moment.

"King Wu, rest assured, although my men have left, a few of us are still here. As long as we haven't left, isn't that enough? Besides, you know exactly how much you asked for. Even if it's only half, it's still a large amount. Even if I don't give you the rest, you won't lose anything, will you?"

Sun Jian felt that Gu Rubing's words made some sense, and in the end he could only nod in agreement.

Soon, Sun Jian, along with Sun Ce and Gan Ning, and an army of 30,000, slowly arrived outside the city.

The centurion, on the other hand, was imprisoned in a prison cart and slowly pulled out of the city.

Sun Jian looked around and saw only a forest outside the city, with no sign of any large army.

Sun Jian immediately felt like he had been tricked.

"King Lie, where are the supplies, provisions, and troops you mentioned?"

"It's right in the woods. Didn't I tell you? I'm hiding in a secluded place, which is why your talents haven't been discovered. Come with me. King Wu has three legendary generals, as well as 30,000 troops and my men as hostages. Do you think I have any ulterior motives? I only have two legendary generals."

Hearing this, Sun Jian felt more confident.

Gu Rubing is right. The advantage is on his side now, and there is absolutely no need to fear Gu Rubing.

"Alright, I'll go with Prince Lie to take a look. I hope Prince Lie isn't playing a trick on me, otherwise, the lives of your men will be in danger."

"Rest assured, King of Wu."

Gu Rubing smiled and nodded.

Before long, the group slowly entered the woods.

However, after walking in the woods for an hour, they still hadn't seen any supplies.

"I say, King Lie, we've been gone for so long, and there's still no sign of supplies. Have these supplies really arrived?"

"We're here. Just walk a little further and we'll arrive."

Gu Rubing quickly nodded with a smile.

Sun Jian, still somewhat doubtful, led his men for another half hour before finally spotting figures ahead. However, there were only three people among them.

Soon, Sun Jian realized that the three were Zhang Fei, Huang Zhong, and Ma Chao.

In the current situation, anyone with a brain knows that Gu Rubing is definitely not here to deliver supplies. No matter what, it is absolutely impossible for him to send three legendary generals to deliver supplies.

"Oh no, we've fallen into a trap! Retreat!"

With Sun Jian issuing the order to retreat.

The 30,000-strong army immediately prepared to turn around.

However, at that moment, a silver dragon suddenly rushed out and cut the entire army in half.

Zhao Yun stood at the gap.

And right next to Zhao Yun was that prison cart.

"None of you are leaving here today."

Zhao Yun's voice resonated in the hearts of every soldier.

Everyone stared at Zhao Yun with terrified eyes, but no one stepped forward. Seeing this, Sun Jian turned to look at Gu Rubing beside him.

"What do you mean by this, Prince Lie?"

"It doesn't mean anything. King Wu wants too much, and I can't afford it. So naturally I'll give it to you in the way I can afford."

After he finished speaking, Gu Rubing clapped his hands.

Three legendary military generals appeared before Gu Rubing.

Guan Yu stood in front of Sun Jian and the other two.

On the Green Dragon Crescent Blade in his hand, wisps of green energy were still swirling, and a small green dragon was faintly visible.

Seeing this, Sun Jian couldn't help but swallow.

"Prince Lie, are you really going to do this? Don't you care about your reputation?"

"For a small empire like Anluo to bully me like this is truly bad for my reputation. Do you think I brought five legendary generals here just to play games with you if I don't take you seriously?"

Upon hearing Gu Rubing's words, Sun Jian burst into laughter.

Seeing Sun Jian's reaction, Gu Rubing subconsciously drew his twin swords.

"Liu Bei, Liu Bei, do you really think I dared to come out with you so casually without any backup plan?"

After saying that, Sun Jian clapped his hands.

Immediately afterwards, Gu Rubing saw three people emerge from behind Sun Jian: Cao Cao's Dian Wei, Liu Zhang's Meng Huo, and Miao Moqing.

The score has now instantly become six to five.

However, Gu Rubing knew that even if they really fought, these six people would definitely not be a match for the Five Tiger Generals.

But it would be extremely difficult for these five people to protect themselves and the centurion during a battle.

Thinking of this, Gu Rubing's expression also darkened.

"I never expected that Cao Cao and Liu Zhang would get involved. That really surprises me!"

Gu Rubing's original plan, besides rescuing people, was also to kill Sun Jian here.

But now that Cao Cao and Liu Zhang have both gotten involved, killing them is impossible, and even rescuing them would be troublesome.

Gu Rubing hesitated for a moment, then walked out.

"Do you gentlemen intend to get involved in my affair with Sun Jian?"

The three of them looked at each other.

Xu Chu eventually came out.

“King Lie, we are only following the orders of our lord. Our orders are not to let you disrupt the current situation, that’s all. Our lord said he still hopes that both sides can talk peacefully.”

Can't disrupt the current situation? What does Cao Cao mean? Does he mean to take action against Sun Jian? Or to break the balance of power among the four warlords?
Thinking of this, Gu Rubing looked at Sun Jian, his eyes filled with an undisguised murderous intent.

"Do it."

Under Gu Rubing's command, the five men did not hesitate. Ma Chao stayed behind to protect Gu Rubing, while Huang Zhong stood in the rear, and Zhang Fei, Guan Yu, and Zhao Yun charged towards the six opponents.

Guan Yu alone held off Gan Ning, Sun Ce, and Xu Chu, while Zhang Fei faced off against Miao Moqing, and Zhao Yun set his sights on Meng Huo and Sun Jian.

With Huang Zhong's long-range support, the three against the six managed to fight to a draw in a short period of time.

Seeing that neither side would gain anything from the stalemate, Sun Jian turned his attention to Gu Rubing.

However, upon seeing Ma Chao beside Gu Rubing, Sun Jian ultimately gave up.

Now, these three are able to fight to a draw with our six. If we bring Ma Chao in now, they are likely to be defeated. Xu Chu and the others are just reinforcements, and if they see that things are not going well, they may turn around and run away.

After abandoning his previous idea, Sun Jian set his sights on the prisoner centurion.

The best key to breaking this deadlock now lies with the centurion.

Thinking of this, Sun Jian charged toward the centurion.

However, just as Sun Jian was about to approach the centurion, a fire phoenix flew directly towards him.

Sensing that something was wrong, Sun Jian's expression changed immediately, and he quickly retreated.

That's how they managed to dodge the fire phoenix.

Looking at the wide ravine in front of him, radiating terrifying heat, Sun Jian's forehead instantly broke out in a cold sweat. He then looked at Huang Zhong in the distance.

At this moment, Huang Zhong was staring at him, a cold smile appearing on his lips, and another fire arrow appeared from the Eight Treasures Qilin Bow in his hand.

Huang Zhong was confident that Sun Jian would not be able to dodge the next attack, but he didn't know if Sun Jian could block his arrow.

Sensing the threat, Sun Jian hesitated for a moment before shouting, "Everyone, stop!"

Upon hearing this, Gan Ning and the others immediately stopped.

Guan Yu and the others immediately returned to Gu Rubing's side and protected him.

Gu Rubing discovered that although Guan Yu was able to hold off three legendary generals, and even had the upper hand against them for a short period of time, he was struggling in the long run.

At this point, Guan Yu was already breathing heavily.

Zhao Yun, on the other hand, was barely able to fight against two legendary generals.

Zhang Fei is alright in one-on-one combat, but if he were to fight two legendary generals, he would undoubtedly lose.

However, this was based on Gu Rubing's judgment of the situation. He remembered that Zhao Yun had said that legendary generals all had some means of self-preservation, but obviously no one used such means this time.

"What, is the King of Wu not planning to fight?"

Upon hearing Gu Rubing's words, Sun Jian's expression turned rather unpleasant.

"King Lie, I didn't expect your preparations this time to be so thorough."

"We're in the same boat, so let's not judge each other. It seems we both have our own agendas, and perhaps we're each other's fate?"

Upon hearing this, Sun Jian smiled and then said, "Since we've both made thorough preparations, let's not make things difficult for each other. How about this: just pay me according to the list you gave me back then, and we'll consider this matter settled. What do you think?"

Sun Jian was referring to the final list given by Gu Rubing. However, Sun Jian had torn it up in front of Gu Rubing back then because he believed he had the ability to kill Gu Rubing. But now it seems that the strongest warlord is still the strongest warlord, and it is quite difficult to kill him.

Now it's not even about whether you can kill someone, it's about whether you can protect yourself.

"I'm sorry, but you tore up that list back then, and I've forgotten what was on it. However, I do remember the initial proposal, and that's all I can offer. As for whether King Wu wants it or not, that's none of my business. If you don't want it, we can continue fighting."

Upon hearing this, Sun Jian's face instantly darkened, and he nodded after a long while.

"Alright, then let's do as King Lie says."

Sun Jian had already given up on maintaining the stalemate with Gu Rubing, because he realized that Xu Chu and the others were already planning to leave. (End of Chapter)