Chapter 136: Liu Xie's Unease
Cheng Yu was a man of keen insight and great ability. With just a moment of contemplation from Cao Cao, he was able to discern what lay in his lord’s mind.
Cao Cao nodded gently. “Indeed, there’s no doubt the Wolf Shadow Guards will cause us significant trouble.”
“If we do not eliminate them, our battles ahead will only grow more difficult.”
“But the Wolf Shadow Guards come and go like shadows—they leave no trace, making them impossible to find.”
At this thought, Cao Cao's expression fell, weighed down by frustration.
Yet Cheng Yu remained confident.
“My lord, if you truly wish to rid ourselves of them, I have a plan.”
Cao Cao’s interest was piqued by these words.
“Oh? You have a strategy?”
Cheng Yu nodded. “Yes, my lord.”
“Since the Wolf Shadow Guards are here to influence the tides of battle,” he began, “if our warfare loses its balance... then what?”
Cao Cao listened intently and nodded seriously.
“Indeed, you are right. If the war loses its balance—or worse, turns into something they do not wish to see... then they will be compelled to reveal themselves.”
A triumphant smile crossed Cao Cao’s face. He and Cheng Yu were on the same wavelength.
Meanwhile, deep within a mountain range, Liu Xie, who had been resting with his eyes closed, suddenly snapped them open.
A chilling premonition gripped him, filling his heart with unease.
It was as if he had overlooked something crucial—there was an elusive matter he had failed to consider.
This feeling unsettled him deeply.
“Your Majesty, what is the matter?” Zhao Yun inquired cautiously upon seeing Liu Xie’s state.
Liu Xie shook his head lightly.
“Nothing. How is everyone’s recovery?”
“Your Majesty, we have rested here for three consecutive days. The troops have all recuperated,” Zhao Yun reported respectfully.
“What are our next steps?”
Having endured two battles, Zhao Yun had begun to adapt to the Wolf Shadow Guards’ tactics.
“For the time being, we can afford to relax a little,” Liu Xie said softly. “What news from outside?”
“Your Majesty, Yuan Shao’s army has already mobilized, mainly concentrated around Yangwu,” Zhao Yun replied. “They have gained a significant advantage. Cao Cao’s forces have waned and retreated to Guandu.”
Zhao Yun recounted all the developments between Yuan Shao and Cao Cao.
Liu Xie inhaled deeply and sighed. “It seems the Battle of Guandu is about to commence.”
Seeing Liu Xie sigh, Zhao Yun and Gao Shun exchanged a glance.
“Why does Your Majesty sigh? Our recent achievements have been commendable,” Zhao Yun remarked.
Indeed, their two surprise attacks had secured considerable victories. They could not understand Liu Xie’s disquiet.
“To be honest, I do not know myself,” Liu Xie admitted. “I merely feel a deep unease. It seems we have a fatal weakness.”
“But I cannot yet identify what that weakness is.”
“I know it is deadly; if our enemy seizes upon it, we will be doomed.”
Hearing this, Zhao Yun and Gao Shun’s expressions darkened.
Liu Xie’s attitude weighed heavily upon them, an intangible pressure they could not explain.
“Your Majesty, to what do you attribute this weakness?” Zhao Yun ventured.
Liu Xie shook his head again; truthfully, he could not say.
“Forget it. We shall contemplate this matter later,” he resolved. “Inform the soldiers that we remain here for the next few days.”
“Also, dispatch scouts to vigilantly monitor a ten-mile radius around us. At the slightest stir, report immediately.”
After arranging these orders, Liu Xie ascended a mountaintop alone to sit.
Zhao Yun and Gao Shun found this puzzling.
They had come to act, yet now they were ordered to hold fast.
They could not fathom Liu Xie’s thoughts.
In truth, perhaps only Liu Xie himself truly understood.
He was deeply unsettled, sensing a vast flaw within himself—an almost fatal defect.
Yet he could not voice these concerns.
For he did not belong to this world; he had traveled here from the twenty-first century.
Thus, the doubts in his heart could not be shared with others.
“What is this flaw?” Liu Xie muttered to himself atop the peak.
His insistence on the Wolf Shadow Guards holding position stemmed from this unease.
His condition was poor, the realization of his grave defect sinking in.
He feared that if the enemy discovered this weakness, the losses would be catastrophic.
Therefore, to avoid risk and buy time to think, he decided to pause.
When he had unraveled all matters, then he would proceed.
Over the following days, Liu Xie sat there each day.
As time passed, he found himself growing confused, even questioning his very existence.
He could not understand what was happening—a sensation foreign since his arrival in this world.
He reviewed all events since coming here.
Night gradually descended, the world dimming.
He stood and gazed at the sunset from the mountaintop, brow furrowed.
It was as if a veil of fog was lifting, revealing a faint path.
“Could it be that I understand this world too well?” he whispered.
Bathed in the sunset’s glow, clarity blossomed within him.
“I see it now. I understand.”
His uneasy feelings stemmed from one truth: he knew this world too intimately.
Liu Xie realized that, having arrived here, he had wielded twenty-first-century knowledge as a means to control everything.
Every person in this world could be a pawn to be manipulated—friends and foes alike.
He could use those around him as pieces on a board, even his enemies.
Yet he had failed to grasp that every person here was no mere piece.
They were flesh and blood, capable and alive.
Friends could aid him, enemies could destroy him.
As now.
Though he understood the Battle of Guandu well and could influence certain elements, neither Cao Cao nor Yuan Shao were mere pawns—they were men.
If either side sensed their thoughts were being manipulated to direct the war, might they not also set traps for him, exploiting his mindset?
This question lingered in Liu Xie’s heart amidst the fading light.