The next morning, after their candlelit talk had lasted through the night, Liu Bei personally met with Lu Bu.
More than a year had passed since the two last met.
Back then, in Lu Bu's eyes, Liu Bei had merely been a little brother who had not dared make a sound even after Xuzhou was snatched from him.
Yet now, when they met again, Lu Bu wore a cangue and heavy chains.
Perhaps he had come to terms with things in prison. This time, upon seeing Liu Bei again, Lu Bu did not shamelessly call him worthy brother. Instead, he dropped to his knees and cried out:
"Criminal Lu Fengxian pays his respects to my lord!"
As he spoke, he bowed deeply, his cangue hanging to the ground, looking utterly obedient.
All told, he had spent a month in prison.
The once arrogant and overbearing Flying General now reeked from head to toe.
His long hair hung loose, his unkempt beard a tangled mass.
Dressed in an ill-fitting prisoner's uniform, he looked every inch a condemned man.
Seeing him thus, Liu Bei did not hurry forward to help him up as he once would have, nor did his face show the slightest expression.
He merely looked at Lu Bu. After pondering for a long while, he sighed.
"Why must Fengxian do this? The Flying General of old has fallen to such a state!"
"Though we could not be called friends, I once allowed Fengxian to stay temporarily in Xuzhou. After Fengxian defeated me, you too were willing to take me in."
"You and I were not mortal enemies. I had always wished to form a good alliance with Fengxian."
"Why, when I marched south to punish the rebels, did Fengxian instead strike at my rear?"
In truth, Liu Bei sometimes