Chapter 60: The Anxieties of Chu, an Old Acquaintance Calls

Ou Wenyi sat on a stone stool, picking up a white Go piece between his index and middle fingers. He dropped it onto the chessboard and said in a deep voice, "According to the letter from my nephew Yue, envoys between Yan and Qi are traveling back and forth frequently, and they are very likely to form an alliance. This time, Lord Man's failed plot against Wu has led to Lord Yuan's rise to power. If Wu, Yue, Yan, and Qi collude—"

Ou Wenyi stood seven feet and four inches tall, with a thin and refined face. Beneath his jaw grew three inches of short, meticulously groomed beard, neat except for a scattering of gray hairs. At fifty-three years old, Ou Wenyi enjoyed an exceptional reputation in the State of Chu. The King of Chu had personally invited him to hold down the fort in Nanhe City precisely to leverage his capabilities to control local nobility while keeping the states of Wu and Yue in check.

"Our lands lie in the south, and we cannot easily meddle in the affairs of the north. If we can simply keep Wu and Yue suppressed and prevent any unexpected changes, that in itself will be a great achievement."

Sitting opposite Ou Wenyi was an old man of similar age, wearing a white feather crown. Named Xu Yang, courtesy name Ziteng, he was a renowned Legalist scholar of Chu. For years, he had taught and nurtured disciples at the Qingquan Academy in Chengdu, Chu. Many of his students and disciples were employed by the nobility of Chu, granting him immense prestige.

He and Ou Wenyi were childhood friends. Now in his twilight years, he had come to the south to enjoy his retirement at his old friend's side.

"Brother Ziteng, you may not know this, but having made a misstep and lost an arm, I fear I am now unequal even to the task of suppressing Wu and Yue," Ou Wenyi said, picking up a Go piece and tapping it against the chessboard.

"How so?" Xu Yang asked.

"A few days ago, Grandmaster Gongsun passed through here. In casual conversation with me, he spoke of Lu Wu from Wu, noting that this man is barely twenty years old yet possesses a purity of true qi unlike anything he has ever seen or heard of. Should he truly ascend to the realm of a combat general, he will undoubtedly be unprecedentedly formidable. Grandmaster Gongsun stated that he is going away to recuperate for three months, and once his injuries are fully healed, he will re-enter Wu to slay this man before he can step into the realm of a combat general."

Ou Wenyi continued, "Hearing that this person was crossing the river, I was moved to action. I gathered four Xiantian experts and asked General Xie Qi of Pacifying the South to assemble an elite force, intending to intercept and kill him upon the river. Yet I never expected the entire force to be annihilated, with only Wang Gong escaping alive."

"Even Wang Poshanshan exhausted his true qi in that battle and was severely wounded, forcing him to leave overnight. That Lu Wu possesses an eccentric temperament and invariably exterminates his foes to the last. For Wang Gong to give up the interception and avoid him by three parasangs is only human nature."

Even for a Xiantian expert, exhausting one's true qi in a single burst was an extremely perilous endeavor. However, seeing three peers of comparable strength slaughtered without the slightest ability to resist, Wang Poshanshan naturally fled as fast as he could, with no regard left for the danger of depleted true qi.

"You say that Lu Wu killed four Xiantian experts on the river? And amidst an elite army? Did Grandmaster Gongsun say he is not a combat general?" Even a knowledgeable Legalist scholar like Xu Yang was left dumbfounded.

If he was not a military combat general, he would lack the baleful aura of warfare to temper and protect his physical body. How could he possibly slay four Xiantian masters within the ranks of an elite Chu army?

"Indeed. For that very reason, Grandmaster Gongsun regards this man as a grave threat to Chu and insists on slaying him before he takes that final step. It is only a pity that my elite forces are utterly lost; knowing full well that this man is staying just outside the city, I can do nothing against him, and must even worry that he might break into the city to take my head," Ou Wenyi said with a bitter smile.

Yet despite speaking of worry, his expression remained calm and unruffled, showing not the slightest trace of fear.

"Ha, Brother Wenyi, have you grown senile in your old age, or have you held supreme authority for so long that you've forgotten how to deal with young people?" Xu Yang sneered.

"Brother Ziteng, enlighten me."

"This Lu Wu achieved great merits at a young age; why did he not enjoy them in Wu? With such vast achievements, surely he should at least hold the rank of a senior grandmaster?" Xu Yang asked.

"This—there must indeed be a reason behind it!" Ou Wenyi's eyes lit up.

"In my view, this man is not necessarily an enemy—at least not for now. As for the future, Grandmaster Gongsun will naturally handle it."

While the states of Wu and Yue worried about a Chu invasion, how could Chu itself lack worries of its own?

Among the Five Hegemons of the Central Plains, Chu lay furthest to the south. With fertile soil and abundant water sources, it had long enjoyed the reputation of a granary.

The southern waters were lush and verdant, failing to match the cold northern lands that produced fierce warriors. Moreover, with fewer horses in the south, Chu also lagged behind in cavalry warfare, relying solely on constructing more cities, producing more bows and crossbows, and fielding vast numbers of soldiers to contend with Yan, Qi, Lu, and Han.

When it came to field battles, Chu could at best bully a long-declining Wu; compared to the other four states, it was generally at a disadvantage.

Chu archers, Qi swordsmen, Yan iron cavalry, Lu armored troops, and Han spear formations were renowned across the world as elite forces. Yet while the elite troops of other states served as the frontline backbone in warfare to fight hard battles, the elite archers of Chu could not determine the outcome of a field engagement—though they proved useful in city defense and naval combat. Consequently, Chu suffered more defeats than victories in field battles against the other four states.

It was precisely because Chu produced abundant grain, capable of sustaining a massive army, that it could rely on sheer attrition to stalemate the other four states.

If Yan and Qi joined forces, Chu would be in peril. If Wu and Yue were to stab it in the back as well, Chu would likely face the threat of national destruction.

Hoping to exploit the death of King Ke Lü of Wu and Lord Jiu's desperate final gamble to sow chaos in Wu and eliminate future troubles, who could have anticipated that even after inviting Grandmaster Gongsun, they still failed to preserve Lord Jiu's life?

Out of nowhere, Wu had spawned a combat general!

He had even repelled Grandmaster Gongsun amidst the protection of military formations, slain Lord Jiu, and forcefully reversed the entire situation.

Two days later, Lu Wu and his companions still had no gains.

This place was not like Songjing; there were no numerous shops, clerks, stewards, or servants belonging to the Lu family to serve as sources of information. Among the group, only the members of the Li family caravan had visited a few times, but they too had merely passed through in a rush, at most purchasing some supplies. Thus, although Lu Wu and the others harbored intentions of resuming their old trade, they had failed to find a suitable "financial source" for the time being.

However, as this was an important trading port between Wu and Chu, it featured quite a few novel items, and since they were in no hurry to leave, spending a couple of days wandering around felt rather pleasant.

By the third day, before any "financial source" could be found, a visitor actively sought them out.

"Brother Lu, we meet again." Wei Zhaoting walked in with a hearty, beaming smile.

"Why are you here?" Seeing this eccentric young woman, Lu Wu felt a slight headache and glanced at Qiutong.

"Master Yan says he is an old acquaintance of the young master, and has come on behalf of the Nanhe City Governor, Senior Official Ou Wenyi," Qiutong reported.

Although Lu Wu and Chu had fought a bitter battle to the death, since he was lodging within the jurisdiction of Nanhe City, even if he refused to see them, the innkeeper lacked the courage to turn away someone sent by Senior Official Ou.

In the Zhou Dynasty, the rank of Qing (Senior Official) represented the highest echelon of nobility; anything higher—such as Earl, Marquis, or King—fell under the category of enfeoffed rulers. Below the Qing were the Daifu (Grand Masters).

The Daifu constituted the second tier of nobility, occupying an extremely lofty status. Even if they committed proven, capital offenses, judicial punishments could not be applied to them—the dictum "punishments do not extend to the grand master" applied universally across all states.

If the Lu family possessed only the merit of reversing the heavens and the earth this time, without Lu Wu acting as a ceiling of combat power, the Lu family would hardly qualify to be an upstart noble house boasting two Daifu.

"Brother Lu, I haven't come this time to rope you in as my Yan family's son-in-law. Previously, I was ignorant of Brother Lu's mighty reputation and committed an offense; please forgive me, forgive me," Wei Zhaoting said with a laugh.

"No matter, you meant well," Lu Wu waved a hand. As long as she wasn't trying to press-gang him into marriage, he didn't mind exchanging a few words with her; after all, women of such bold and independent stature were rather rare.

"My coming here today is actually thanks to Brother Lu's good fortune," Wei Zhaoting said. "Senior Official Ou wishes to meet with Brother Lu, so he sought me out and asked me to act as an intermediary. I wonder if Brother Lu might bestow the honor of an audience with Senior Official Ou?"

In truth, the Chu soldiers and tax collectors guarding the docks dared not provoke a ruthless figure like Lu Wu, but everyone traveling on the same boat had been interrogated repeatedly to gather information concerning him.

As ill luck would have it, Wei Zhaoting had previously sought to recruit Lu Wu and engaged in intimate conversation with him at the bow of the boat, an interaction witnessed by many, naturally marking her as a target for prime scrutiny—and resulting in her being drafted as a go-between.