Chen Xi pondered his strategy while silently unfolding his folding fan, bone by bone. In an era where one could summon wind and rain, catching an opponent off guard was not difficult.
On the other side, the city of Lùjiāng had been under siege for several days. Lù Kàng made it clear he would not surrender. Though his forces lacked great generals, the four members of the Lù family, from old to young, were not to be underestimated. They were fighting on their home turf, and the entire city was united, determined not to surrender. Sun Ce had even threatened to massacre the city if they didn't yield, but Lù Kàng, the old man, stubbornly stood atop the city walls, hurling insults at both Yuan Shu and Sun Ce as traitors.
Enraged, Sun Ce personally led a charge, only to be ambushed by nearly a hundred elite archers under Lù Jun's command, accompanied by ballistae. Sun Ce was met with a hail of arrows and had to retreat. If not for Zhou Yu's foresight in ordering Zhou Tai to stay by Sun Ce's side no matter what, Sun Ce would have been hit by several arrows out of the hundreds aimed at him.
After suffering this setback, Sun Ce refrained from recklessly charging again, though he continued to curse from below the walls. Zhou Tai, unfortunately, had already taken two arrows because of him.
The Lù family, intent on eliminating Sun Ce, showed no regard for the rules of war and poisoned their arrows with a lethal toxin. For ordinary people, a single hit would be fatal. But Zhou Tai, known as the "Immortal Monster," who had already reached the stage of separating internal energy from his body, found the poison merely a minor nuisance. By the next day, he was back to his usual self, bouncing around energetically.
It wasn't that the Lù family underestimated the power of internal energy. It was just that, before this, only Xiang Yu had reached such a stage. The Lù family simply didn't understand what kind of being someone at that level was. Their poison, potent enough to kill someone at the Qi Refining stage, would only cause someone like Sun Ce to feel nauseous, dizzy, and weak for about half a month, even if he ingested the entire dose from a hundred arrows.
When Zhou Tai was first hit, the Lù family cheered. But the next day, seeing him completely unharmed, scaling the city walls to splash water and slay over a dozen of their private soldiers, the Lù family's three generations were left dumbfounded. Even if they didn't fully grasp the power of someone who had separated internal energy, they realized that poison was utterly ineffective against such individuals.
From then on, it was a standard siege. This was the toughest and most frustrating battle Sun Ce had ever fought. In previous battles, either Zhou Yu's clever strategies resolved the conflict, or the opponent would eventually submit to Sun Ce's prowess. But the Lù family, who would rather die than surrender, was something entirely new to him.
"Gongjin, do you have any good ideas? If we keep fighting like this, even if we take Lùjiāng, we'll lose the momentum needed to conquer Jiangdong!" Sun Ce, watching Zhou Tai being forced to retreat under heavy archery fire, turned to Zhou Yu, who had just arrived, in frustration.
"I'm afraid not. Lù Kàng and Lù Jun are both cautious and determined. They are dead set on defending this city. Tricking them into an open battle would be extremely difficult," Zhou Yu replied with a wry smile. This was why he hadn't initially recommended attacking Lùjiāng. Both Lù Kàng and Lù Jun were highly capable, and with the Lù family fighting on home ground, this was bound to be a tough battle. But now that they were committed, there was no choice but to bring it to a swift conclusion.
"What should we do then? Watching our soldiers die each day while the Lù family taunts us from the walls—how can I tolerate this?" Sun Ce, young and hot-headed, had little patience for such prolonged sieges. Since his father's death, his campaigns had been smooth sailing. Being stalled outside Lùjiāng had him fuming.
"Sigh, if that's the case, then we need to take Lùjiāng quickly. But Bofu, don't actually massacre the city. Once that door is opened, we'll be at a disadvantage," Zhou Yu advised. If Sun Ce wanted to win, Zhou Yu would help end things swiftly with the Lù family.
"Massacre the city?" Sun Ce was taken aback. "I was just speaking in anger. I've heard the Lù family only has four people. I'll go kill those four myself—that counts as wiping out the whole family, right? Ugh, they really make me mad. Why won't any of them just die?"
"They'll die soon enough, don't worry," Zhou Yu said, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead.
Zhou Yu's biggest concern was that Sun Ce, frustrated by the prolonged siege, might turn violent and take it out on the civilians. As for wiping out the Lù family, they only had four direct members left. Killing them wasn't a big deal—afterward, they could just install a Lù family branch to replace them. In the end, it would only be four lives lost.
"Good! Gongjin, I'll leave it to you then." Sun Ce was delighted to hear this. He had had enough of the Lù family. Clapping Zhou Yu on the shoulder, he said, "You take command. I'm going to join the siege. If I can't even take down a small place like Lùjiāng, how can I hope to conquer the world?"
Zhou Yu sighed but didn't try to stop Sun Ce from joining the fight. He had tried to dissuade him many times before, but Sun Ce always insisted on fighting. At least if Zhou Yu was in command, he could ensure Sun Ce's safety.
Sun Ce readied his spear and moved to the front lines, with Zhou Tai following closely. Han Dang, Huang Gai, and Cheng Pu, worried for Sun Ce's safety, also moved forward.
"General Han, General Huang, General Cheng, please wait," Zhou Yu called out to the three veteran generals who had served since the days of Sun Jian.
"Is there something you need, Gongjin?" Cheng Pu, the eldest of the three, stopped and respectfully asked, turning to face Zhou Yu.
Unlike the historical friction between Cheng Pu and Zhou Yu at the time of Chibi, this time, Cheng Pu had fought alongside Sun Ce and Zhou Yu in every battle, from defeating Huang Zu to routing Wang Wei. Having witnessed Zhou Yu's capabilities firsthand, Cheng Pu had no doubts about the young strategist. He knew very well that, unlike in history, where he had only heard of Zhou Yu's prowess, here he had seen it in action. As a result, Cheng Pu, loyal to the Sun family, never showed arrogance in front of Zhou Yu.
"It's like this: we can't afford to spend too much time on Lùjiāng. Although the city's defenses are intact, they have too few soldiers, and no reinforcements are coming. I plan to take the city quickly. My brother is already growing impatient," Zhou Yu said, bowing slightly to the three men as he spoke softly. Although they weren't in a formal military setting, Zhou Yu still exercised caution.
"The young lord's temper is a bit fiery, but do you have a strategy, Gongjin?" Cheng Pu, recalling Sun Ce's temperament and his history of smooth victories, knew the young man must be feeling frustrated. But since Zhou Yu had spoken, it meant that Lùjiāng wouldn't be a problem for long.
"I wouldn't call it a strategy. Since they have few soldiers, we should divide our forces into three groups: one to storm the city, one to feign attacks during the day and harass them at night, and the third to rest and rotate with the other two. This way, we'll ensure our troops are well-rested while wearing down Lùjiāng's defenders. If we keep at it day and night, they'll be exhausted within three days," Zhou Yu explained.