Three Kingdoms: Rebirth of Liu Bei, the Zhaolie

Zhang Niujiao, who was based in Baishi Mountain in Jizhou, relied on the Baishi Mountain stronghold and became an outlaw.

They offended Zhao Xiang, the owner of Qingxi Manor.

Zhao Xiang will undoubtedly use his connections to incite the imperial court to send troops to suppress the bandits.

The Eastern Han Dynasty had a procedure for suppressing bandits. The entire process took at least ten days to half a month, but usually one or two months.

In ancient times, without cell phones or telephones, the transmission of confidential information such as military intelligence relied on postal relays and fast horses.

Personnel exchanges and military deployments both require time.

In particular, Youzhou was on the border of the Han Empire. From Luoyang to the Youzhou governor's office—Guangyang County, Ji County, it was two or three thousand li away, and even at the fastest speed, it would take five or six days.

Therefore, during this period, Liu Bei decided to stay at Zuo Zi's Cuju field and practice archery, horsemanship, and weaponry with the members of the Baibi Society, while also engaging in recreational activities such as Cuju and Jiju.

Qian Zhao specially gifted all four horses to Liu Bei so that Liu Bei could practice archery and horsemanship on the Cuju field.

Geng Yong quickly learned from the kitchen staff of Qingxi Manor that Zhao Xiang had sent a new steward named Li Kang, who, along with a dozen retainers, had moved into Qingxi Manor and was conducting a thorough investigation and rectification.

Liu Bei instructed Geng Yong to keep a close eye on the movements at Qingxi Manor.

Because Qian Zhao had to travel around with his teacher Yue Yin, he couldn't stay at the Baibi Society in Shiwulipu every day to practice various skills with Liu Bei.

Liu Bei told him to come whenever he had free time.

Zhang Fei couldn't come to Baibi Society every day because he had to attend the clan school.

However, he often skipped class when the teacher wasn't looking, and dragged Wutulu to Shiwulipu to practice martial arts with Liu Bei.

After learning the modern ground grappling technique of diving and grappling from Liu Bei, the blacksmith Zhangba waited for Guan Yu to come and challenge him again so he could give him a good wrestling match.

Later, Guan Yu indeed came to the blacksmith's shop to look for him again.

Following Liu Bei's instructions, Zhang Ba firmly threw Guan Yu to the ground and then used the armbar from Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to subdue Guan Yu.

After Guan Yu was defeated and admitted defeat, he sat on the ground and exclaimed, "Impossible!"

When everyone saw that Zhang Ba had defeated Guan Yu, they all praised his wrestling skills as superb.

The blacksmiths in the blacksmith shop all looked at Zhang Ba with new respect.

Even passersby praised the amazing skill of the eighteen-foot-tall horn-fighting craftsmanship.

After all, none of them had ever seen this kind of fighting style before.

This greatly satisfied Zhangba's vanity.

After defeating Guan Yu, Zhang Ba was overjoyed and ran to the football field to tell Liu Bei the good news:

"Xuande, I defeated Guan Yu!"

Liu Bei was teaching the butcher Dongye Ban and the vegetable vendor Xinyuan Jian how to practice the Horse Stance Fist when he saw Zhang Ba's spirited appearance and couldn't help but say:

"You've been losing all this time, but you've finally won. Congratulations!"

Zhang Ba's confidence soared, further solidifying his resolve to continue learning skills from Liu Bei:

"Xuande, teach me some new moves. I'm afraid that in a few days, Guan Yu will figure out a way to counter them and come to challenge me again, and I will lose to him again."

Liu Bei laughed and said:

"Don't be afraid. There are several variations of this diving takedown, which I haven't taught you yet. I'll teach you one of the variations later. By the way, what did Guan Yu look like after you defeated him?"

Zhangba laughed happily and said:

"Guan Yu is a red-faced man. After I knocked him down, perhaps out of shame, his face gradually turned purple. He kept muttering 'Impossible.' Also, he usually squints when he looks at people, with a hint of disdain. This time, he finally opened his eyes wide and looked at me."

Liu Bei listened and nodded.

In modern folk society, there is a saying that "a dragon tattoo should not be worn on the shoulder, a tiger tattoo should not be worn on the mountain, Guanyin with her eyes closed will not save the world, and Guan Gong with his eyes open will surely kill people."

In these legends, when Guan Yu opens his eyes, it means he is about to kill someone, and the master will suffer a bloody disaster.

Murder signifies danger and misfortune.

Therefore, the Guan Gong tattoos on the bodies of those young people who get dragon and tiger tattoos all have their eyes closed.

A Guan Gong with his eyes closed signifies hidden murderous intent and a state of being poised to strike, and is believed to bring peace and good fortune.

Those who dare to get Guan Gong with open eyes tattooed on their faces all believe that they are tough enough to withstand the damage.

In fact, Guan Yu has long been a symbol of loyalty and righteousness in later generations, and people call him "Lord Guan Sheng".

Confucian scholars refer to him as "Emperor Wenheng".

Buddhists refer to him as the "Ancient Buddha Who Covers the Heavens".

Taoism refers to him as "Xie Tian Da Di".

The emperor bestowed upon him the title of "Loyal, Righteous, Divine, Martial, Spiritually Powerful, Benevolent, Courageous, Majestic, Protector of the Nation and People, Sincere, Pacifying, Assisting, and Promoting Virtue, Great Emperor Guan Sheng".

He has long been synonymous with loyalty and righteousness.

Upon hearing Guan Yu's words "open your eyes" from Zhang Ba's mouth, Liu Bei couldn't help but let his imagination run wild.

So he asked Zhangba:

"If Guan Yu opens his eyes, are you afraid?"

"What am I afraid of? What do I have to be afraid of?"

Zhang Ba puffed out his chest. "I want him to open his eyes wide and look at me properly, instead of always looking at me with that contemptuous gaze and squinting."

Liu Bei silently said:

"I think Guan Yu opening his eyes means he's decided to kill you..."

"It can't be that bad."

Zhang Ba was puzzled: "It's just a game of sumo wrestling, does being unable to accept defeat lead to murder?"

Liu Bei said:

"That's not what I meant by murderous intent. You've provoked his fighting spirit, and now he'll definitely try every means to defeat you."

Zhang Ba nodded and said:

"I know his temper. Xuande, hurry up and teach me those variations of the dive takedown. My fighting spirit is also very high right now."

Upon hearing this, Liu Bei smiled:

"Okay. As long as you're willing to learn, I'm willing to teach."

Therefore, Liu Bei taught Zhangba some new moves in detail.

Because he had a rival named Guan Yu in mind, Zhang Ba studied very diligently and practiced very hard.

Two more days later.

Liu Bei was playing football with Qian Zhao, Geng Yong, and others.

Zhangba strode excitedly into the football field again, shouting loudly:

"Xuande, I won again. This time, I used the German back throw you taught me to slam Guan Yu to the ground again."

"A German-style back throw!?"

Liu Bei paused for a moment, then said, "That's a rather ruthless move. Brutal and dangerous. Did you fall on the sand?"

Zhang Ba shouted loudly:

"Don't worry. We're both tough. We just fell on the grass. We're fine now."

"Hmm."

Liu Bei nodded, then asked, "What was Guan Yu's expression this time?"

Zhang Ba laughed:

"This time, Guan Yu calmly accepted yet another defeat. However, he started squinting at me again. I felt that he still despised me."

"That's right, I'm indeed looking down on you!"

A deep, resonant voice suddenly rang out from beside the thatched hut with the left mustache.

Liu Bei quickly opened his eyes and saw a wiry young man, nine feet tall, wearing a blue turban, a gray cloth short jacket, a moon-white cloth trousers, and cloth shoes.

The young man had a ruddy complexion, no beard, but an extremely dignified appearance. His eyes were long and narrow, with two sharp glints shooting out from his squinted eyes.

He thought to himself: "With a face like a date, phoenix eyes, and silkworm eyebrows, but lacking a beautiful beard, he looks exactly like a mini Guan Yu."

Zhangba was stunned:

"Guan Yu, what brings you here?"

That lean young man was none other than Guan Yu.

"Zhangba, I was wondering why your skills have improved so much lately. It turns out you've been carefully taught by a master. No wonder I lost to you twice in a row."

As Guan Yu spoke, he gave a soft hum.

Zhang Babo said angrily:

"You're following me?"

Guan Yu said coldly:

"How else would I know your secrets if I didn't follow you?"

Zhang Ba said in a deep voice:

"So what if you know my secret? Didn't you learn your martial arts from your master? Once you've mastered it, it's yours to use whenever you want."

Guan Yu said coldly:

"I didn't say you couldn't use it. I just wanted to see the teacher who taught you."

Upon hearing this, Liu Bei shouted:

"That's the Zhangba I taught you."

"you--"

Guan Yu looked at Liu Bei and sized him up.

Liu Bei deliberately said:

"Are you squinting because you can't see me clearly? Why don't you come closer and take a look?"

Guan Yu still squinted as he looked at Liu Bei:

"I thought it was some old guy teaching me. Turns out it's a kid. Dare to challenge me?"

Liu Bei asked:

"What do you want to compete with me in?"

Guan Yu said coldly:

"Looks like you're quite confident, and you seem to know a lot. So, what do you want to compete in?"

Liu Bei said calmly:

"I can compete with you in wrestling, sumo, swords, spears, halberds, archery, horsemanship, and archery."

Guan Yu said firmly:

"Alright. Let's go through them one by one. I'll start with wrestling."

As he spoke, he strode toward Liu Bei.

As Guan Yu drew closer, Liu Bei felt an invisible pressure bearing down on him.

……

When Yu saw Liang's banner, he spurred his horse and charged into the midst of the crowd, beheading Liang and returning. None of Yuan Shao's generals could withstand him.

—From the Records of the Three Kingdoms, Book of Shu, Biography of Guan Yu