Journey to the Three Kingdoms 2: Obsidian Blade vs Xiahou Dun

Sima Yi's Plan Goes Awry

Cao Cao was surprisingly pleased when Xiahou Dun brought the orange haired demon to him in chains. "It seems that your talents are finally being put to good use," he noted.

"I've also captured several of his underlings."

"I have no need for useless peons," Cao Cao replied. "Feed them to Purgatory and Oblivion." Purgatory and Oblivion were the names of his pet tigers. They were named that way because Cao Cao loved to tell his captured enemies that they were being banished to purgatory and oblivion before throwing them alive into the tiger pits. "I'm impressed with your achievements as of late, and if you continue on your current trajectory, you may find yourself remembered in history next to the names of many great warriors and generals of the era."

"You know that I don't care about being remembered in history. As long as I can serve you faithfully, I don't care about my humble rank or lack of reputation." It was a good thing that spending time with the advisers and high generals meant that he had somehow learned which were the right words to say. In truth, Xiahou Dun had always marveled at how strategists like Sima Yi and Xun Yu were capable of leading Cao Cao to correct his mistakes without even telling him that he was ever wrong. 'Redirecting a mind is like redirecting a river,' Xun Yu had once said. 'You can't just grab water from a river and move it somewhere else. You'll have to set something up so that the current travels around it, believing that it was its intended destination all along.' Xiahou Dun himself still had a lot to learn, and hated himself for the fact that if he had the talents of either Xun Yu or Sima Yi, he would have been able to save his friend Lin Fang from his fate.

Currently, he was a Lower General, which meant that his only job was to sit at a tent, listen to the High Generals and then order his troops to do whatever the High Generals told him to do. Sometimes he'd have additional tasks like capturing a few of Cao Cao's enemies and feeding them to his tigers. Or maybe he would have to duel an enemy general or two. He was really happy in this position, since he had a lot of free time and not many responsibilities. The salary wasn't as great as a high general's, but Xiahou Dun did not care. He had no need for a lot of money since the only things he needed to pay for were video games and new outfits for his online MMORPG avatar. He gave his entire salary to his brother, Xiahou Yuan, who would pay his rent, purchase food and other necessities and then hand over a weekly allowance for him to buy video games and other luxuries. The rest of his salary was usually given away to the peasants, who needed it more than he did. Because of this, he did not care too much for money and learned to live frugally. Even if he had a higher salary, it would simply mean more money to give away as there was only a limited amount of video games that one could buy each week.

"Well, you won't need to worry about any problems with rank; I plan on promoting you to the rank of high general soon." This was when Xiahou Dun wished that he had been executed along with Lin Fang last week. From an almost-execution to a potential promotion in one week – Cao Cao was truly fickle when it came to both punishments and rewards. Nevertheless, it was an unwanted promotion. While in video games, high generals were basically super soldiers who had better stats and carried better looking swords to battle so that they could mow down entire arrays of canon fodder while repeating exciting catchphrases about honor, in the real world, high generals had to do a lot of boring work like strategy and tactics. Having spent sufficient time in court with the high generals and the advisers, it was absolutely mind-numbing. While he admired their skills, it wasn't something he could see himself doing for extended periods of time. Xiahou Dun could make better use of his time counting sheep than coming up with battle strategies.

Cao Cao continued. "I am unable to do so today because Lu Bu is also contesting the rank." Well, thank the heavens for Lu Bu. "I personally think you are more suitable for the role. Lu Bu is strong, but he can be reckless and has a tendency to act based on emotion. However, if I promoted you, it will be seen to the world as unfair. Since the Lu family is very influential and Lu Bu's uncle is one of the Eight Immortals, many will be very unhappy with the decision. In order to prevent this from happening, you must prove yourself worthy so that they cannot complain. Right now, there is a priest named Tang Sanzang traveling through the land. He is rather weak on his own, and possesses absolutely zero combat skills, but he is being protected by his three disciples Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing. Of the three, Sun Wukong is the strongest, having defeated a hundred thousand heavenly troops all by himself. If you can defeat Sun Wukong and bring Tang Sanzang to me, then you will have proven yourself worthy to be called a high general. Otherwise, I will have no choice but to promote Lu Bu."