The Thunderous Arrival of Guan Yu and Zhang Fei
Screeech. The grating sound tore through the suffocating silence of pitch-black darkness, sending chills racing up my spine. A rear window barely wide enough for one person to squeeze through. From that narrow gap, a thick, crude iron tool forced its way in, gnawing relentlessly at the sturdy bars.
Crack.Snap, snap. The wood screamed as it reached its breaking point. Their hands moved roughly, but without hesitation. This was no amateur job—they'd scaled plenty of fences before.
I huddled in the shadows, gripping the handle of my D+ hammer tightly in my right hand. The leather wrap felt slick against my palm, soaked with cold sweat.
How the hell did this happen? My mind tangled in confusion. I'd thrown a lethal bait at the dumpling shop lady during the day. The workshop was at risk of being ransacked, and if worst came to worst, I'd flee alone. By my calculations, the merchant guild's guards should've been swarming the place by now, slicing those rat bastards to ribbons in an instant. So why was it deathly quiet out there, even as they smashed the window?
Did the lady not report it to the guild? Or did I misread her?
Anxiety coiled around my throat like a venomous serpent. If the guild's forces weren't coming, I'd have to face these thieves head-on in this cramped workshop. Even with my strength of 13 and a top-notch hammer, I had no confidence dodging every blade flying at me from the dark.
Crack!Crunch! Finally, one bar snapped free. Soon, their ugly mugs would shove through the gap. I held my breath and raised the hammer high. The moment a head appeared, I'd charge and deliver the most merciless blow, shattering its skull like a beast's.
It was right then.
"Charge!! Don't let a single one escape!"
A guttural roar exploded from outside, shattering eardrums. At the same moment, torches blazed to life in the inky alley, flooding crimson light through the window cracks.
Clang!Claaang!
"Gaaah!"
The explosive clash of metal on metal, followed by a horrific scream as flesh tore free, filled the air outside the workshop. The presence at the window vanished. I slowly lowered my raised hammer and crept silently toward the window, peering through the broken bars at the chaos beyond.
The guild's guards. Relief washed over me, cold reason returning. The alley was already a slaughterhouse. Amid the flickering red torchlight, two groups tangled in a frenzy of blades.
The situation differed slightly from my expectations. The scouts I'd spotted earlier numbered three, but five were now targeting the back door. If the guild hadn't shown and I'd faced them alone, I might not be breathing right now. Their misfortune? They faced the elite guards of the Mi Merchant Guild, Xu Province's pinnacle of wealth and power.
"Hold formation! Cut off their retreat and sever their limbs!"
From the guards' center, a sharp voice barked orders. It was Kang Bi, the Mi Guild's guard captain. His dozen or so men moved with disciplined precision, clad in matching leather armor, wielding razor-sharp weapons. They had the ragtag bandits perfectly encircled and closing in.
Slash! "Urk!" Kang Bi's curved sword sliced the dark, sending one thief's right arm flying. Blood sprayed across the dirt-packed alley. Overwhelming force disparity. It was a one-sided massacre by the guild.
My hunch was spot on. The guild would never abandon this golden egg of a workshop. I inwardly cheered. They'd eliminated the threat without a drop of my blood spilled. Come morning, I'd open the doors as if nothing happened and rake in the gold. But the faint smile creeping across my lips froze solid in the next instant.
Screeeee! A eerie, piercing flute wail sliced the night sky. Not a mere scream—a chilling signal.
"Captain! Above us!"
With a guard's frantic shout, black shadows poured from the surrounding rooftops and alley ends like a flood. Ten, twenty... easily over thirty. Those five cornered rats had been mere bait.
"It's a trap! Form a circle!"
Kang Bi bellowed without hiding his panic, but numbers this lopsided couldn't be overcome by tactics alone. These new thieves were different from the start—their eyes gleamed with bloodlust, clad in beast hides, wielding rusted axes and spears. A literal horde of demons.
Clang!Kaaang!Thud!
"Aaaargh!"
The tide turned in seconds. The Mi guards swung desperately, but couldn't block the pack-like assaults from all sides. A spear pierced one guard's thigh; an axe buried in another's shoulder, toppling him in a spray of blood.
"Hold! If we break, we're all dead!"
Kang Bi led the charge, his curved sword lopping off two thieves' heads, but wounds multiplied on his arms and legs. The guards' collapse was imminent. Watching the carnage through the window crack, I faced a dilemma.
What now? The Mi Guild's watchers on me. No reason to grieve if they died—hell, it might feel good. But if they fell, the workshop—and me—were next.
Flee? Back door blocked. Front door to the city gates? No guarantee I'd slip past unnoticed. Those bleeding fighters outside, guild spies or not, were shields for the workshop and my life right now.
If I'm taking the profits, I gotta shoulder the risks. Can't let them shatter. Not shallow conscience or heroism—just cold, selfish math. I bolted to the front door, planning to flank the rear blockers from behind. The hammer's hefty weight steadied my nerves. As I carefully slid the bolt—
"Where do you rat bastards think you're slinking through the city?!"
From the front, south main road, a thunderclap roar erupted. So loud and resonant it made my eardrums ring. Even the blood-soaked fighters in the alley froze under its weight. I gripped the bolt, holding my breath.
Thud, thud, thud! Footsteps like a massive beast pounding the earth. Then, a gleaming arc of cold steel tearing the dark.
"Eek! Who the hell are you?!" "Kill him!"
A few thieves cursed and charged. Their voices drowned in gruesome bursts.
Splat!Booom!
"Gaaaaah!"
A body sailed through the air, smashing into the workshop wall. Blood rained down. I peeked through the front door's narrow gap.
There stood two war gods descended to the battlefield. A hulking brute with a bushy beard: Zhang Fei. Each swing of his spear turned thief weapons to paper and hurled their bodies a dozen paces skyward. No mercy in his motions—a storm sweeping away locusts, pure overwhelming violence.
Beside him, a man with a flowing beard, crimson face, and piercing phoenix eyes: Guan Yu. His Green Dragon Crescent Blade danced like a living azure dragon through the shadows.
Shing—slash! Barely a whisper. One sweep, and three thieves' heads hit the dirt simultaneously. Before blood could fountain, the next cleaved a waist in two. A flawless killing machine, devoid of waste.
...Insane. My hammer hand trembled faintly. My status window's strength of 13? Child's play before those monsters. That was the pinnacle force piercing the Romance of the Three Kingdoms chaos. Dozens of thieves couldn't touch a hair on them.
"Hiiik! Demons!" "R-run!"
Witnessing a dozen comrades turn to minced meat, the thieves lost all will to fight. They shrieked like beasts, flinging weapons and scattering.
"Slicing fleeing backs shames my warrior's path, but tonight's an exception!"
Guan Yu snorted, sweeping his blade to block escape routes. Zhang Fei bellowed laughter, impaling runners from behind. Kang Bi and his guards, sensing the reversal, rallied and mopped up the remnants.
In less than a incense stick's time, it ended. Alley streets vibrated with corpses and blood reek; not one of the dozens escaped alive.
"Huuu..."
I finally exhaled, unlocking the door. It creaked open, thick blood stench assaulting me. In the torch remnants' glow at the alley's heart: heaving Kang Bi, poised Guan Yu and Zhang Fei.
Kang Bi clutched his bloodied arm, bowing deeply with clasped fists.
"Without you two heroes, we'd have buried our bones here today. On behalf of the Mi Merchant Guild, my deepest gratitude."
His deference befitted a captain facing superiors. That gaze confirmed it.
Mi Chuk's guild links to Liu Bei's volunteers.
History as written: Xu Province's tycoon Mi Chuk becomes Liu Bei's strongest financier. Guan Yu stroked his beard, speaking measuredly.
"We merely patrolled the city and sensed the thieves' presence. Safeguarding your goods was incidental—no need for such thanks."
"Nay. To save us by chance patrol feels like heaven's will."
Courtesies exchanged, Kang Bi greeted me, gathered his wounded, and withdrew.
"Thanks to you elders, I survived. Nearly crumbled with the workshop."
I bowed politely. Guan Yu smiled with gentle dignity.
"Rise, master smith. How could we ignore Xu Province's treasure?"
Zhang Fei clapped my shoulder with a massive paw, grinning roughly.
"Haha! Don't sweat it, smithy. Xue'er came by your shop today, rantin' about bloody bandits scopin' the place. Big bro here's got no stomach for folks gettin' hurt, so we figured we'd patrol ourselves."
Zhang Fei's words stirred something deep in my chest. Guan Xue. She'd warned me at the workshop, going beyond to mobilize her brother Guan Yu and Zhang Fei.