Chapter 90

Listen, listen, listen: Lü Bu, also known as Lü Fengxian, is a man who is bursting with individual heroism and loves to challenge others to single combat. According to the "Heroic Records," when Li Jue, Guo Si, and others attacked Chang'an, Lü Bu went out of the city and said to Guo Si, "Let's withdraw our troops and decide the outcome in a one-on-one battle!" This meant, "Let the soldiers step back, and we will fight one-on-one to see who wins and who loses." Guo Si, momentarily confused and probably unaware of the saying that "the first great warrior of the Three Kingdoms is an unnamed general at Shenting, and the second is Lü Bu," actually agreed. As a result, he almost got skewered by Lü Bu's spear.

However, Lü Bu also needs to choose his opponents for single combat. When he and Guo Si were both under Dong Zhuo, one was from the Bingzhou system and the other from the Liangzhou system. They didn't see eye to eye, but they had heard of each other's bravery. They just never had the chance to compete, so when they became enemies, Lü Bu wanted to test his skills against Guo Si. But now, the general who came out was someone he had never heard of—“Who are you? Do you have the qualifications to challenge me to a single combat?”

I know Cao Cao, and I have heard of most of the generals in his camp. Who is brave and who is cowardly, who can fight and who can defend, Chen Gong has analyzed for me. But I have never heard of anyone surnamed Taishi. I am the newly appointed Inspector of Yanzhou and enfeoffed as the Marquis of Wen County. You, an unknown general, have no right to challenge me.

Of course, there were generals under his command who knew Taishi Ci, and that was Wei Yue. However, Wei Yue had gone out to rob and ended up losing his horse and spear, so he didn't have the face to tell anyone, not even Lü Bu or his brother Wei Xu. Therefore, Lü Bu had no idea how capable Taishi Ci was.

But when Taishi Ci called out for a challenge, if he ignored it, he feared it would damage his own prestige. Lü Bu looked around and wanted to name Wei Yue to go out and fight, but Wei Yue turned his head and deliberately looked elsewhere, refusing to meet his eyes. So he had no choice but to point at Cheng Lian and say, "Go and bring me the head of this madman."

Cheng Lian's robbery had been more successful than Wei Yue's, and although he was scared off by the "thunder," he didn't lose much of his fighting spirit. More importantly, he had never seen Taishi Ci, so he was not afraid and confidently agreed, riding out with his spear.

Lü Bu didn't know Taishi Ci, but Taishi Ci knew Lü Bu, though they had never met. When he saw a general ride out, he thought it was Lü Bu and quickly spurred his horse to meet him. The two armies were about a hundred steps apart, and there was a large open space between them. The two generals circled their horses and immediately engaged in battle.

After one round, Taishi Ci realized something was wrong. Although the opponent was strong and his horse skills were proficient, his moves were very limited. Could the great Lü Bu be at this level? No way. So he pulled back his horse and shouted, "Hold on, you are not my match. Call out Lü Bu!"

He stopped his horse, but Cheng Lian continued to charge forward, thinking, "Why should I listen to you? You have to defeat me first to have a chance to see my Lord Lü Bu." He aimed his spear at Taishi Ci's face. Seeing that the opponent didn't stop and was trying to use the momentum of his horse to give him a hard blow, Taishi Ci couldn't help but laugh inwardly. He didn't use any fancy moves, just held the spear with both hands, used his strength, and struck upward at the incoming weapon. With a "clang," Cheng Lian's hand was shaken off, and his spear pointed upward, the shaft standing straight.

Lü Bu, watching from behind the ranks, knew it was not good and quickly ordered the "retreat signal." But it was too late. Taishi Ci, having knocked away the opponent's weapon, immediately thrust his spear at Cheng Lian's chest. Cheng Lian, remaining calm in the face of danger, quickly dodged the attack. However, he didn't expect that Taishi Ci could change the angle of his attack at will. The spear just grazed his ribs and then, with a sudden push of his foot and a swing of his hands, he shouted, "Down with you!"

The spear struck Cheng Lian's chest, and he felt a surge of force, his vision went black, and he could no longer stay on his saddle. He tumbled off his horse.

Recently, Taishi Ci had become obsessed with stirrups and realized more and more the weaknesses of riding without them. If everyone was unstable, it wouldn't matter, but now that he was stable and the opponent was not, he could focus on the opponent's instability, leaving no chance for a counterattack. Hearing the retreat signal from the enemy ranks, Cheng Lian was already in mid-air and had nowhere to retreat. With the sound of the gong, he fell to the ground, and Taishi Ci finished him off with a spear thrust.

Cheng Lian was one of Lü Bu's favorite generals, who had followed him into battle for many years. He never expected that in just two rounds, he would be killed by an enemy general. Lü Bu was both heartbroken and angry, his hair almost standing on end. He shouted, "Bring me my great halberd and my Red Hare!"

He had just arrived at Juancheng and hadn't set up camp yet, with no immediate plans to attack the city. Even if the enemy had come out of the city, there were only two or three thousand of them, which he didn't take seriously. He was just sitting on a mat, resting his legs and directing the troops to form ranks. If he had already been on his horse and holding his halberd, he could have charged out and fought Taishi Ci, but this delay allowed Taishi Ci to raise his spear to the sky, and his troops cheered.

Taishi Ci shouted, "I won't take this general's head; you can carry him away and bury him. Such a weakling comes to the battlefield to die, showing that Bingzhou has no one. Lü Bu, I will come back to kill your generals tomorrow!" With that, he turned his horse and left.

Lü Bu, just getting on his horse, was so angry that his three spirits were jumping. He repeatedly ordered his generals, "Pursue, pursue him!" The general Gao Shun quickly reminded him, "The ranks are not fully formed; we cannot approach the city." But Lü Bu didn't listen and glared at Gao Shun, "Are you so timid? You are not my general, Lü Fengxian!"

Gao Shun had no choice but to lead the generals Wei Xu, Song Xian, and Zhang Liao to charge out. However, before they could even reach the moat, Taishi Ci's troops had already entered the city. The moat was lined with sheep and horse walls, and there were many archers. Arrows rained down, and Lü Bu's troops left dozens of bodies behind, retreating in disarray.

This truly dampened the enemy's morale. As soon as Taishi Ci entered the city, he laughed and said, "I knew Lü Bu wouldn't dare to attack the city today!" Xue Ti and Mao Jie praised him, "General, you are the bravest of the three armies, truly a god!" Xu Cong, watching from the city walls, thought, "You all are praising the wrong thing. Taishi Ziyi killing an unknown general (Cheng Lian never reported his name, poor guy) isn't what makes him brave. His ability to control the battle situation and the morale of the troops, and to retreat calmly after winning, is what makes him truly remarkable!"

That day, Lü Bu indeed did not launch an attack, not only because of the loss of morale but also because his troops were only enough to block the city gates. He was busy setting up camp and cutting wood and transporting stones to build siege weapons. At dusk, Chen Gong arrived with over ten thousand newly recruited troops and asked about the day's battle. Lü Bu said, "There is a general in the city named Taishi Ci, who is extremely skilled. Today, he killed my great general Cheng Lian—why didn't you tell me about him, Gongtai?"

Chen Gong was taken aback and replied, "Taishi Ci is from Donglai and is a close friend of Shi Hongfu. I didn't know he had come south, surely he was summoned by Shi Hongfu." He suggested that since Juancheng refused to surrender and was difficult to capture, it would be better to send a small force to monitor the area and the main force to defend Dingtao, building a line of defense south of the Ji River to block Cao Cao's return—

"Let Zhang Mengzhu lead the troops from Dongwuyang to attack Fan County. Once Fan County falls, Juancheng will be isolated. Then, with pressure from both the north and the south, Cao Cao will be forced to stop between Yishi and Danfu, and Xun Wenruo will have no choice but to surrender."

Lü Bu said, "My camp is already set up, and the siege weapons are being built. You are telling me this now?" He said that since they had come to Juancheng, if they didn't attack the city, it would be laughed at by the enemy and would affect the morale of the troops. He decided to try an attack the next day, and if it failed, they could retreat.

The next morning, the entire army left the camp and formed ranks. Just as the ranks were halfway formed, a drum sounded from the city, the drawbridge was lowered, the gates opened, and Taishi Ci led three thousand troops out. Lü Bu, this time well-prepared, mounted his horse and raised his halberd, ready to order the charge. But he heard Taishi Ci call out, "Lü Bu, will you come to challenge me, or will you send another general to die? If you dare not come, why not retreat and save your men's lives?"

Lü Bu thought, "You haven't finished yet? If I don't skewer you with my halberd, you won't know what 'the best man is Lü Bu, the best horse is Red Hare' means! If you go back and spread the word that you challenged me face-to-face and I didn't dare to fight, where will my face be?" He immediately ordered the troops to hold their positions and prepared to challenge Taishi Ci himself.

Chen Gong quickly pulled him back, saying, "In the middle of the battlefield, a one-on-one fight is the act of a brave but foolish man. General, be cautious and don't fall for his provocation." Lü Bu said, "I will go to avenge Cheng Lian and also to dampen the enemy's morale. I think the main general in the city is this Taishi Ci. If I kill him, the remaining officials may have no choice but to open the city and surrender." Chen Gong thought this made sense. If Juancheng could be made to surrender without a fight, the situation in Yanzhou would be stabilized, and even if Cao Cao returned, it would be too late. Should he let Lord Wenhou try?

But this delay allowed Taishi Ci to raise his spear and shout, "Bingzhou has no one, Lü Bu is timid and dares not fight. Let's go back and have breakfast for now." With that, he turned his horse and started to leave. Lü Bu was now really angry, pushed Chen Gong away, and shouted, "Rogue, don't run, I will come to meet you!" He kicked his horse and charged toward the center of the battlefield.

Taishi Ci ignored him and continued to retreat. Lü Bu pursued him relentlessly. As the distance between them shortened to about sixty steps, Taishi Ci suddenly stood up on his horse, dropped his spear, drew his bow, turned around, and fired an arrow!