Simultaneous traversal: All Abyss difficulty.

Chapter 488 Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei have reached the city gates.

When the three thousand elite soldiers of Zhuoxian lined up under the Great Zhou City, the midday sun made their armor scorching hot.

Zhang Fei, mounted on his black horse, impatiently slapped his palm with his eighteen-foot spear: "Brother! This demon city doesn't even have a gatekeeper; it must be a trap!"

Guan Yu narrowed his phoenix eyes, his Green Dragon Crescent Blade gleaming coldly in the sunlight: "Third brother, don't be impatient."

The city gates were wide open, but no one was guarding them; only the aroma of porridge wafted out.

Liu Bei gently stroked the mane of his horse, Lu, his brow furrowed: "Second brother, third brother, let me observe this city."

"Liu Bei dares not enter the city?"

A clear voice suddenly came from the city wall.

Fang Yu, dressed in a white robe, stood on the battlement, lightning crackling in his palm.

He looked down at the three men, a smile playing on his lips: "Or is it that Zhang Yide of Yan dares not?"

"Bullshit!" Zhang Feibao's eyes widened, his spear pointing directly at the city wall. "Do you think your grandfather is afraid of a porridge-turning sorcerer like you?"

Fang Yu then looked at Guan Yu, who had a red face and a long beard: "Could it be that even this red-faced, long-bearded man doesn't dare?"

The Green Dragon Crescent Blade was drawn three inches from its sheath with a clang, and Guan Yu said coldly, "A provocation tactic?"

"As long as it's useful," Fang Yu laughed. "If the three of you are truly not afraid, why not come into the city for a chat?"

Just as Liu Bei was about to dissuade him, Zhang Fei spurred his horse and charged into the city gate: "Brothers, wait! I'm going to meet this brat!"

Upon seeing this, Guan Yu hurriedly spurred his horse to follow, and Liu Bei had no choice but to wave his hand to order the army to wait in place, while he chased after them alone.

The sight inside the city astonished the three of them.
The streets were piled high with white porridge, and everyone was rubbing their stomachs, looking like their stomachs would burst if they ate any more.

"Demon Spell!" Zhang Fei swung his spear wildly, knocking over a porridge jar by the roadside.

The thick white porridge overflowed the horseshoes, and the fragrance of osmanthus blossoms wafted out.

Fang Yu suddenly appeared in the middle of the street, flicked his fingertips, and three bowls of hot porridge flew through the air: "General Yide's temper needs to be calmed down."

Zhang Fei swung his spear and shattered the bowl of porridge, but the hot porridge mysteriously floated and reformed, landing steadily in his palm.

The taste surprised him: "This porridge!"

"Drink it, it's not poisoned." Fang Yu stood with his hands behind his back. "If I really wanted to kill you, I could drown three thousand of your soldiers with a wave of my hand!"

Guan Yu narrowed his phoenix eyes slightly, then suddenly tilted his head back and drank it all in one gulp.

The moment the porridge touched his throat, his face turned even redder: "Good porridge."

"General Guan has a good eye for quality," Fang Yu said with a smile. "This is a gift from heaven, extraordinary, and will leave a pleasant aftertaste."

Liu Bei stared at the bowl of porridge, but the porridge in his mind didn't reflect his own image; instead, it showed him his imagined scene of Luoyang burning.
That phrase, "The heavens are dead, the yellow heavens shall rise," was not something his imperial uncle could bear to hear.

His hand trembled, and the bowl of porridge fell to the ground.

"Snapped!"

As the porcelain bowl shattered, Liu Bei's double-edged sword automatically drew from its sheath, its blades coated in blue by Liu Bei's spiritual energy.

Liu Bei's eyes widened in fury, and the blue light of his twin swords surged once more: "Traitorous minister! How could you, a sorcerer, be allowed to deceive the masses with porridge after four hundred years of Han rule! Heaven above, how dare you speak of 'going to your death'? This is a crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations of your family!"

Upon hearing this, Fang Yu suddenly burst out laughing, his laughter full of sarcasm: "Uncle Liu, your 'Heaven' is starving the people to the point of being skeletons, and you're still putting on airs with me?"

He abruptly stopped smiling: "Come on! Today I'm going to teach you, this 'Han imperial relative,' a good lesson!"

"You keep talking about the Han dynasty, but let me ask you, was your Liu family's empire ordained by Heaven? Wasn't it stolen from the Qin family?" Fang Yu kicked over a porridge pot, the white porridge overflowing Liu Bei's boots. "Back then, Liu Bang was just a village head, and now you're talking to me about legitimacy?" Liu Bei's face turned ashen: "You..."

"What do you mean, 'you'?" Fang Yu interrupted directly, pointing to the thousands of acres of fertile land outside the city. "Look at my people! There are no exorbitant taxes, no forced labor, and everyone is well-fed and clothed! And what is your emperor doing?"

"Let me tell you! He's selling official positions! (In case someone doesn't know how to pronounce it, I'll add the pinyin: mai, guan, jue)"

"He's building a nude swimming pavilion! He's making palace maids wear open-crotch pants!"

Guan Yu blushed, unsure of what to say.

Fang Yu sneered, "Your esteemed Emperor, under the influence of the eunuchs, has practically put price tags on all official positions! A prefect costs 20 million coins, a county magistrate costs 4 million coins. Can't afford it? Then he'll just plunder the people's wealth!"

He took a sudden step forward. "Do you know why the refugees are willing to rebel with me? Because your corrupt officials in the Han Dynasty even dared to mix sand into the disaster relief grain! The key is that most of the refugees never even saw the grain mixed with sand!"

Zhang Fei suddenly roared, "That's still not allowed!"

"Can't my foot!" Fang Yu raised his voice. "Where were you when the people were starving and dying? Where were you when they were exchanging children to eat? Now that the people have finally had enough to eat, you're jumping out to defend a cannibalistic imperial power?"

He suddenly lowered his voice, "Liu Xuande, are you truly doing this for the Han Dynasty? Or is it for your own ambition to become emperor?"

Liu Bei was struck as if by lightning, and staggered back three steps.

"Look at this world! You pretend to be blind when eunuchs are in power, you pretend to be mute when relatives of the empress hold sway, my plain porridge can feed millions of refugees, what can your Han dynasty give them? To keep eating dirt?"

Guan Yu's red face suddenly turned deathly pale.

"Imperial power?" Fang Yu stomped on a blue brick, shattering it. "It's nothing but a parasite sucking the blood of the people!" He pointed at Liu Bei's nose and cursed, "Your so-called benevolence and righteousness means letting the people continue to kneel and starve to death? And the way out I offer is considered treason?"

Liu Bei swallowed hard, wanting to retort, but he couldn't answer a single word.

"Go back and tell your damned emperor!" Fang Yu's body erupted with boundless lightning. "Either he abdicates with dignity, or my stale porridge will make him do it with dignity!"

"By the way, I'm going to start flooding Luoyang with porridge tomorrow. Guess how many days it will take me to completely flood the imperial palace!"

"You! You dare!" After being verbally abused for a long time, Liu Bei finally found something to say.

Fang Yu laughed loudly: "Flooded Chen Tang Pass, flooded Jinshan Temple, today I will flood Luoyang City with porridge!"

The blue light on Liu Bei's twin swords flickered. He took a deep breath, his voice low and firm: "I admit that your congee saved countless lives." He suddenly pointed his sword at Fang Yu, "But that is not a reason for you to attempt to overthrow the Han Dynasty!"

Zhang Fei and Guan Yu were of one mind with Liu Bei. Seeing that Liu Bei had spoken like this, the two glared fiercely at Fang Yu, looking as if they were about to strike him down at any moment.

"Hehehehehe!"

"Big-eared scoundrel!" Fang Yu suddenly called out Liu Bei's nickname. "You bastard, talking about being the true dragon emperor of the Han Dynasty, you're just trying to make yourself look good because of some distant, unrelated relationship! You're some kind of imperial uncle, a mere straw sandal seller? You really think you're something special? You think you can challenge me just by bringing along this round-faced, bearded gay guy with a red face and skin disease?!"

The three of them looked at each other.

I'm so rough!
That kid has a really sharp tongue!

But what's even more hurtful than his words is his behavior.

"Report!"

A soldier ran up to the city gate and quickly saluted Liu Bei, "Reporting! Commander Anxi! The porridge is delicious! Paired with the pickled vegetables from the porridge city, the soldiers are eating very well!"

Liu Bei was furious: "Who the hell told you to drink porridge?"

The soldier was bewildered. "No, didn't you say so?"

(End of this chapter)