Conqueror Chapter 11

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Dapple usually dominated the Chu camp and few people apart from Xiang Yu, including the stablehands, were brave enough to get close. It was the first time it had been bullied like this.

With its personality, how could it suffer in silence?

The stunned Chu and Han soldiers could only watch with their mouths wide open as rider and mount seemed to blend together like black and white flames and disappear into the wind.

Lü Bu, who was laying on Dapple’s back, was not frightened at all by this divine steed’s revenge; on the contrary, he became happier the more he saw its supernatural power.

At some point, he became unsatisfied with just sticking against the horse.

By tensing his tight but flexible abdomen, he arched his back like a cat and slowly straightened his upper body. He even had the time to casually fiddle with the rein in his hands, making Dapple — who was dizzy with anger — subconsciously follow his commands and go to the hall where the banquet was being held.

When he left, he had walked for almost half the time it took to drink a cup of tea,¹Approximately 15 min but with Dapple enraged and going at full speed, the return journey only took the blink of an eye.

But the steed did not know that its desperate gallop made Lü Bu even happier.

It was indeed a rare mount worthy for the Hegemon-King to consider a treasure, comparable to his own cherished Red Hare!

He very much enjoyed the feeling of riding among wind and clouds which he had not experienced for too long. After seeing the glazed tiles of the main hall not far away, he pulled the reins more forcefully to let Dapple, who was still running furiously, subconsciously circle the palace. At the same time, the guards stationed there went from being on high alert as if facing a big enemy to stunned disbelief after verifying his identity.

In time, Dapple finally became tired from running.

What made the horse fall into despair was that after its almost crazy resistance, the insidious hooligan on its back hardly moved at all!

Dapple, who had fought with the Hegemon-King for many years and was invincible in all that time, never dreamed that it would encounter such a nemesis out of nowhere.

Forceful objections didn’t work, it had no choice but to obey.

The formerly arrogant Dapple gradually lowered its high neck and slowed down. Its dark coat was wet with sweat, its nostrils flared as it desperately took in air, and its angry neighing soon turned into soft chuffs…

Of course Lü Bu, who had the experience of taming Red Hare who had been just as fierce, knew that this meant it had been subdued.

He originally thought that they would need to go a few more laps or use some tricks, but unexpectedly, Dapple was both more spirited in its resistance than Red Hare and more straightforward when accepting defeat.

Lü Bu stroked its sweaty neck with satisfaction — it was smart to know when it was beat.

After once again experiencing riding as fast as lightning, the more he looked at the horse’s undulating solid body underneath its smooth hair, the less he could restrain his love.

For military men, delicious wine and beautiful women weren’t nearly as attractive as a good sword and a divine steed.

Compared with Dapple, who was dejected and resigned to its fate, Lü Bu’s heroic features were almost overflowing with joy.

Looking at things now, although he somehow came to this place three hundred years in the past where even birds didn’t shit, things weren’t too bad.

Not only could he call the god of soldiers his brother, he also saw the Hegemon-King of Western Chu with his own eyes and rode this peerless horse, and he was about to kill his enemy…’s ancestor.

Leaving aside the last point, Lü Bu felt that this trip was very much worth it. Now he only needed to take Liu Bang’s head before he could fly away and live a happy, unrestrained life.

Dapple had suffered a sudden disaster and submitted in humiliation. Despite being comforted and treated to pats on its neck and back by Lü Bu, it was still listless.

It paced forwards in a daze, and before it realised, they came to a side door on the west side of the palace.

The Chu and Han armies were at a sensitive time due to the King of Chu’s ‘mediation’, so they had only completed the handover of Hangu Pass. Xianyang, especially the Qin Palace where the King of Chu was presently located, was still mostly under Han control because the king did not trust Xiang Yu.

Thus, although the two armies ostensibly had no conflict, dark waves surged beneath, and there was a faint implication that they were going tit for tat.

As for this side door, Lü Bu only gave it a glance but soon felt that something was off.

Although the banquet might have been held under false pretences, the attendees were all extremely noble people. Even if it were an inconspicuous side door, how could there be only four Han soldiers guarding it?

…No, wait.

Upon taking a closer look, although the four men were dressed as ordinary Han soldiers, they were all tall, imposing, and had a demeanour more like generals accustomed to giving orders than any foot soldier.

And the longswords at their waists didn’t look like ones an ordinary soldier could afford.

Lü Bu’s eyes were sharp. He couldn’t help but feel suspicious when he saw these flaws, but he didn’t show any emotion on his face; he just gently pulled the reins in his hand, and Dapple understood him.

Not only did it stop moving forward, it also shifted to the side and, relying on its pitch-black coat, hid among the courtyard’s vegetation.

Oh my goodness!

Lü Bu’s eyes lit up.

King Xiang’s little baby was too clever, too lovable!

He became even more fond of the incomparably spiritual horse. If he wasn’t so leery of offending Xiang Yu to death, he would have been tempted to take Dapple with him after his task was done.

Just when Lü Bu was being envious of Xiang Yu and greedy for Dapple, there was a sudden movement at the side door which had previously been stuck closed.

Almost at the same time as the door was gently opened, one of the four Han ‘soldiers’ who were stationed on both sides of the door also moved.

He walked some ten steps away and turned a corner, and after a short while, he led out a big war horse!

Lü Bu’s eyes opened wide.

It had to be said that in the huge Qin Palace, although the Chu and Han soldiers mixed together, there were only two people who dared to bring their mounts into the palace complex.

The first was Xiang Yu, who was domineering, had no scruples, and was powerful enough to get away with it.

The second was none other than his titular lord Xiong Xin, the King of Chu himself.

Even though Liu Bang was named Duke of Pei and later became a grand general, he acted in an extremely low-key manner with everyone stronger than him. He rode to the Qin Palace in a carriage and entered the hall on foot.

Did Liu Bang have someone hide this horse here beforehand, or was it the one that the King of Chu rode?

Lü Bu didn’t have long to think about it. When his gaze followed the Han soldier leading the horse to the man sneaking out from the side door, all his focus narrowed in on him.

Although he had only seen that face three times at most, it was unforgettable when it so easily overlapped with big-eared Liu’s whom he hated the most!

He felt his blood crazily surge up, rushing straight towards his head. Underneath him, Dapple seemed to feel his killing intent and very helpfully took a few steps forward.

The sun glared down behind him, stretching his tall figure until he looked like a god of slaughter descended upon the world.

The Han soldiers, already nervous, were almost frightened out of their wits when they caught sight of Lü Bu’s silent advance.

Not to mention that what he rode was none other than the divine horse Dapple who became famous together with its master after the Battle of Julu!

Previously, after Liu Bang went to the banquet, he hadn’t sat for long before he realised that the banquet was full of murderous intent and the situation was extremely bad.

The King of Chu, after all, lived in safety and had never been to the battlefield in person, so he had no concept of how terrifying Xiang Yu was.

This had been more or less Liu Bang’s intention — if the King of Chu realised exactly how powerful Xiang Yu was, he might lose the courage to fight for control and willingly become a puppet. At that point he might live but Liu Bang would never again have a chance of influencing the world.

He deliberately led the King of Chu to underestimate Xiang Yu’s ability, but now it was his turn to taste the bitter fruit; the King of Chu was as brave as a newborn calf²Full phrase is 初生牛犊不怕虎: lit. newborn calves are not afraid of tigers; meaning young or inexperienced people often have less fear and seemingly did not notice that Xiang Yu’s patience was on the verge of exhaustion as he scolded Xiang Yu in front of all the guests and forced him to reconcile with the Han leadership.

The King of Chu might not have known that he was repeatedly wandering on the boundary between life and death, but Liu Bang could easily detect Xiang Yu’s strong killing intent even if the man was quietly ignoring the King of Chu.

When Xiang Zhuang entered the hall on Fan Zeng’s summons and frequently pointed at him on the pretext of performing a sword dance, only prevented from harming him by Xiang Bo and the King of Chu’s intense protection, Liu Bang’s unease soon approached his limit.

After a period of feeling as if he were sitting on pins and needles, he could endure it no longer. He met Zhang Liang’s eyes, and quickly made the decision to abandon the King of Chu here and leave without saying goodbye. Zhang Liang would stay to take care of the aftermath.

As long as there was life, there was hope.

Liu Bang thought to himself that Xiang Yu was — in name at least — a subordinate minister, and as long as he didn’t lose his mind, he would not openly kill the king.

But it would be very easy to direct his anger towards Liu Bang instead; if Xiang Yu hadn’t bothered to be polite, he could have found any random excuse to eliminate him then swallow his hundred thousand Han troops. Who would be able to protest otherwise?

The Han army would be just a bunch of loose sand without Liu Bang, and even if the King of Chu continued his support, there would be no value in maintaining it.

It would be better to leave Xiang Yu’s sight first to preserve his life, then fight for more when the King of Chu or Xiang Yu distributed land.

As long as he survived this crisis and his future fief wasn’t too remote, there would be more opportunities in the future.

Now that he was facing the imminent threat of death, Liu Bang had no words to articulate how much he regretted not allowing Xiang Yu through Hangu Pass and handing over the blade of his demise with his own two hands.

However, Liu Bang could never have guessed that his bad luck was just beginning.

Although Lü Bu didn’t know the details of what went on in the banquet, seeing Liu Bang’s sneaky posture, even a fool would be able to tell that he was trying to escape quietly!

Since his enemy… enemy’s ancestor was sent straight to his face, how could he let him slip away!

“Liu! Bang! Stop! There!!!”

With his tiger eyes blazing, a domineering aura that regarded the enemy as worthless chaff suddenly exploded.

Following his shout, Dapple raised its head, neighed, and rushed forward, completely sweeping away its prior exhaustion!

His majesty was obvious even when he stood still. Right now, he and his horse were of the same mind and united in facing enemies, even better showing his bravery and strength amid battle!

They were clearly a single man and horse, but their momentum was a hundredfold, bringing to mind the thundering steps of heavy cavalry, making people feel terrified.

Liu Bang never dreamed that there would be a second person in the world who could control that incomparably fierce black horse, and it would be someone who was clearly a hero.

If it weren’t for Xiang Yu’s pair of double pupils being unique in the world, then looking at that vigorous posture rushing at him, he would have thought that the man himself saw through his intention to escape from the banquet and came to intercept him!

But in the end, Liu Bang was a veteran who dared to oppose Xiang Yu even when their strengths were very different.

Realising that the person who came was not Xiang Yu, his heart quickly fell back into his chest after his initial shock and he forced himself to calm down.

He knew that after this person yelled so loudly, although no one else was here to see it yet, the Chu soldiers around them would definitely have noticed it and should be here to investigate soon.

If he was detained, his previous hard work would all be in vain. Being caught sneaking out would be the best excuse Xiang Yu could ever want.

He didn’t have the time to fight. The most urgent thing now was to escape back to the Han army camp while there were no horses in the palace, half the soldiers here were Han, and the gates weren’t yet completely fallen into Xiang Yu’s hands!

Many thoughts flashed through Liu Bang’s mind, but his hands did not delay for a moment.

He quickly swung onto his horse and urged it to leave, while not forgetting to give his four generals a decisive order: “Chop off his horse’s legs first!”

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• 1
  Approximately 15 min
• 2
  Full phrase is 初生牛犊不怕虎: lit. newborn calves are not afraid of tigers; meaning young or inexperienced people often have less fear