"Well, it looks like we'd better hurry back and sort out our military affairs," Chen Xi said helplessly, seeing that the future lord of Hebei ignored him. He motioned for Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun to follow him.
"By the way, let me introduce you. This is Zhao Zilong from Changshan, our cavalry commander. You guys should exchange some pointers," Chen Xi said as he walked.
"Greetings, Generals Guan and Zhang," Zhao Yun cupped his fists in salute.
Guan Yu squinted his eyes and returned the salute, while Zhang Fei, in his usual loud voice, greeted Zhao Yun enthusiastically.
[It seems Zhao Yun is much stronger than Guan Yu and Zhang Fei realize. These two don't even notice he's a top-tier warrior.] Chen Xi thought, tilting his head, but he had no intention of revealing this to Guan Yu and Zhang Fei just yet.
"Uh..." Chen Xi scratched his head as he saw Hua Xiong in charge of the White Horse Volunteers upon his return. "Why didn't you run? Such a good opportunity. If it were me, I'd have definitely left," Chen Xi asked curiously. According to the White Horse Volunteers, Hua Xiong even repelled an attack from Dong Zhuo's army. "Are you planning to join us?"
"No, it's just that I can't stand Zhang Liao," Hua Xiong glanced at Chen Xi.
"Oh, I see. I notice your standards have dropped. You used to target Lü Bu, but now you're just annoyed by his lieutenant. You've lowered your bar, my friend," Chen Xi's words nearly choked Hua Xiong. "But seriously, when I left, I set up patrols. Our camp shouldn't have been breached so easily."
"It's because General Zhang Liao noticed General Liu was gathering troops and stabilizing the army, so he personally led an attack," a cavalry officer explained, seeing Hua Xiong's reluctance to speak.
"Oh, I see. But he recognized General Liu and knew our camp's location. I don't even know what to say," Chen Xi sighed, lamenting the coalition's terrible security measures.
"Forget it, forget it. Hua Xiong, come with us to discuss Lü Bu. Since you're an unofficial member now, just don't cause trouble," Chen Xi sighed, seeing the coalition camp still in disarray and estimating that Liu Bei would take a while to return.
Sitting in the tent, listening to Guan Yu's account of the battle, even Zhao Yun showed a serious expression.
"Haha, Big Beard, do you believe me now?" Hua Xiong laughed upon hearing how Guan Yu was countered in one move.
Guan Yu, half-closing his eyes, released a bit of killing intent toward Hua Xiong. Usually, this led to a round of physical brawling until Hua Xiong was knocked out.
"Haha, I won't say anything more," Hua Xiong wisely shut his mouth, not wanting to provoke Guan Yu any further.
"Hey, Zijian, based on your understanding of Lü Bu, got any ideas?" Seeing the silence after Guan Yu's description, Chen Xi had to prompt Hua Xiong.
"If I had any ideas, would I still be annoyed by Zhang Liao?" Hua Xiong said helplessly. "You felt the terror of Lü Bu with that move today, right? Actually, you don't even know; Lü Bu in motion is even more terrifying. I've always suspected that Red Hare might be stronger than me!"
"..." "..." "..." Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun all stared at Hua Xiong. A horse stronger than an internal energy expert? That was absurd.
"I'm not joking," Hua Xiong said under the pressure of their stares. "Prime Minister saved that Red Hare, so it allowed him to ride it. But when he gave it to Lü Bu, he never expected Lü Bu could actually tame Red Hare."
"You mean that horse might have the level of an internal energy expert?" Zhao Yun felt his face twitch. Was that still a horse? When he first saw his master Tong Yuan's inner energy horse, Night Shining White, he had been ecstatic.
After all, it took Tong Yuan a year on the grasslands to catch Night Shining White. And even when Zhao Yun first broke through to the internal energy level, it took him a long time to tame the horse. If it were a horse at the internal energy expert level, Zhao Yun estimated it would take him at least half a month to tame it even now.
Remembering how the inner energy Night Shining White was almost as strong as him when he first reached the inner energy level, Zhao Yun couldn't fathom how terrifying Red Hare must be.
"Probably. Prime Minister never thought Lü Bu could tame Red Hare," Hua Xiong recounted his own humiliating experience. "I tried to ride it once secretly, but the horse played me."
"Alright, assuming Lü Bu's strength is at that level, can we handle him?" Chen Xi poured wine for the group. He figured Liu Bei was probably still enjoying himself in the camps of the allied lords he had saved.
"A hundred moves, maybe..." Zhang Fei's face darkened as he spoke first.
"I'm about the same," Guan Yu sighed.
"How about you, Zilong?" Chen Xi looked at Zhao Yun, who hesitated before speaking.
Zhao Yun shook his head, a wry smile on his face. "If his horse was weaker, there might be a slight chance. But with Red Hare at that level, there's no point. It's like facing Xiang Yu riding Wuzhui."
Guan Yu and Zhang Fei frowned at the pale-faced young man. With such arrogance, didn't he fear pulling a muscle? If Chen Xi weren't there, they would have challenged him to a duel.
"Show them, Zilong," Chen Xi said, noticing Guan Yu and Zhang Fei's frustration. Knowing Zhao Yun's strength, he felt confident.
Zhao Yun scratched his head. "Zichuan, why are you so certain of my strength? I don't recall demonstrating it." Despite his words, Zhao Yun made a motion as if drawing a bow. A silver-blue arrow materialized in his hand.
Guan Yu and Zhang Fei immediately recognized the move as similar to Lü Bu's earlier technique. They had tried it themselves and only managed to create a small pancake shape, nothing like a proper arrow.
"Haha, I used divination techniques to assess the top talents in the world. Though I couldn't determine all their names, I can recognize them when they appear before me. The four of you are on that list," Chen Xi said nonchalantly, creating an excuse. Whether they believed it or not was up to them.
"Oh?" The four looked at Chen Xi with interest. Unable to resolve the Lü Bu issue, they shifted their focus to this new topic.