The coarse hemp rope bit painfully into his wrists, every movement bringing a searing scrape.
Yang Feng's consciousness struggled free of what felt like a mass of sticky paste, and he forced his heavy eyelids open.
Everything around him was dim. Only a few torches swayed in the cold wind, casting flickering light over faces numb or terrified.
Where was this?!
He jolted in alarm and tried to sit up, only to discover that his hands were securely bound to a long rope, linking him to the people ahead and behind like grasshoppers strung together.
What was going on?!
Were they shooting a movie?!
These props were way too realistic!
A flood of memories that did not belong to him suddenly surged into his mind, the violent headache nearly making him cry out.
Blue Star... a literary scholar... a drunken binge...
And that one line:
"Brother, take it up with my insurance!"
He had transmigrated!
Yang Feng's heart pounded wildly. Forcing down his shock and horror, he raised his head and looked ahead along the torchlight.
Not far away, three figures stood like iron towers, sweeping appraising gazes over this group of "merchandise."
One man had absurdly large ears and arms so long they nearly reached his knees. His face wore an expression of compassion for all living things, as though selling them were some benevolent act forced upon him.
Beside him stood a red-faced man with a long beard, his hand resting on the long saber at his waist. His phoenix eyes were slightly narrowed, their gaze carrying a cold indifference that looked down upon the world, as though their lives were worth less than the saber at his side!
The other had a panther's head, round eyes, a swallow's jaw, and a tiger's whiskers. Holding an eighteen-foot serpent spear, he impatiently kicked at the ground and swore under his breath, looking at them like livestock awaiting slaughter!
Boom!
Yang Feng's mind utterly exploded!
Liu Bei!
Guan Yu!
Zhang Fei!
Weren't these the three brothers of the Peach Garden?
Together with the fragmented memories in his mind, a truth emerged that plunged him into an icy abyss-he, a literary scholar of the twenty-first century, had actually transmigrated to the damned final years of the Eastern Han!
And what was more, the Imperial Uncle Liu of legendary, unparalleled benevolence had sold him to someone else as a slave!
Sold him to whom?
The fragments of memory rapidly pieced themselves together, and the answer nearly made him cough up a mouthful of blood!
Yuan Shu!
That supreme good-for-nothing who had barely gotten his hands on the Heirloom Seal of the Realm before he was itching to proclaim himself emperor!
Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei-even you three fellows with your thick brows and big, honest eyes had turned into villains!
To raise military funds, you had actually taken up human trafficking!
What happened to that army of benevolence and righteousness?!
What happened to restoring the Han imperial house?!
Liars! Every last one of you!
While Yang Feng furiously ranted inwardly, the transaction seemed to have been completed.
Their group of slaves was shoved and herded into a lavish but gaudy command tent.
A fat man in sumptuous robes sat in the seat of honor, his expression haughty as he examined them with a critical eye.
Without question, this was their new master, Yuan Shu.
"Raise your heads, all of you! Let General Gonglu have a good look!" a shrill voice shouted.
The slaves tremblingly raised their heads. Yang Feng could only follow the crowd, but the fear in his eyes had long since given way to composure and calculation.
Yuan Shu's gaze swept over them one by one, mostly filled with contempt and impatience, until it landed on Yang Feng. He paused slightly, seemingly somewhat surprised.
Yang Feng's heart lurched, but he could only steel himself and straighten his back.
This body of his really was quite good. He had inherited his predecessor's imposing bearing, and with his height of over six feet and handsome features, he truly stood like a crane among chickens amid these sallow, emaciated slaves.
"Hmm... this one is good."
Yuan Shu finally deigned to speak, extending a fleshy finger to point at Yang Feng.
"He looks young, but his bearing is rather distinguished, and his face is reasonably handsome.
"You shall stay at my side and attend to my brush and ink!"
The surrounding slaves cast envious or jealous looks at him. To them, remaining at the general's side was a thousand times better than being sent off to hard labor.
"This lowly one is Yang Feng! Thank you for your grace, General! Thank you for your grace!"
Yang Feng immediately dropped to his knees with a thud. Copying those around him, he knocked his forehead against the ground again and again, his posture as humble as could be and his voice as grateful as could be.
Yet beneath his bowed head, the corner of his mouth curled into an almost imperceptible sneer.
Thank you for your kindness?!
I thank eight generations of your ancestors!
This Yuan Shu was the very model of a living, breathing useless lump! A walking EXP pack!
And he wanted to proclaim himself emperor?!
Did he have any idea what time it was, daring to proclaim himself emperor now?!
Cao Cao was eyeing him like a tiger from the north, and which of Lü Bu, Liu Bei, or Sun Ce was an easy mark?!
Everyone else was quietly making a fortune and building up strength, while this idiot got his hands on a lousy stone and thought Heaven had chosen him?!
Was this proclaiming himself emperor?!
He was carving "I really want to die" across his forehead, making himself the target of every warlord's arrows!
What exactly filled his skull?
Was it all water?!
Even as Yang Feng furiously cursed inwardly, he was already rapidly making plans.
No!
He absolutely could not stay aboard this rotten ship!
Stick with Yuan Shu, and sooner or later he would go down with him!
He had to run!
He absolutely had to run!
But not now. Outside, the sky was freezing and the ground was icebound; running out there would mean death too.
Wait! Once this winter passed and spring arrived, when the weather warmed up, that would be his time to make a break for it!
Where would he run?
Was there even any need to ask?!
To join Boss Cao, of course!
Although people nowadays, influenced by that historical novel, all thought Cao Cao was a treacherous villain, a bad guy.
But what did that have to do with actual history?!
That was all a novelist's tale!
He was well-read in history! The real Cao Cao had been a true hero, thirsting for talent, with magnificent ambition and strategic vision!
He was famously good to his subordinates, recruited talent without rigid conventions, and most importantly, he basically never killed his meritorious followers!
Safe!
Good treatment!
And prospects for advancement!
This was simply the best rice bowl a transmigrator could ask for!
With knowledge and insight two thousand years ahead of this era, wouldn't anything he casually said leave Boss Cao dazzled?!
Then becoming a marquis or general, marrying a fair-skinned, wealthy beauty, and reaching the pinnacle of life-wouldn't all that be just around the corner?!
At that thought, Yang Feng's heart burned with excitement, as though he could already see the glorious future in which he fulfilled his grand ambitions under his new lord.
The humiliation and resentment of being sold into slavery were instantly diluted considerably by this magnificent vision.
He had already thought it all through. Here with Yuan Shu, he would treat it as sleeping on brushwood and tasting gall, lying low for now. Once the opportunity came, he would immediately run and head toward his bright future!
Yet just as Yang Feng was immersed in his perfect plan, the corners of his mouth almost unable to resist rising-
Something suddenly changed!
Without the slightest warning, all heaven and earth seemed to freeze in an instant.
An indescribably enormous screen of light suddenly descended from the highest heavens like a divine miracle!
Boundless, it covered the entire sky. Whether inside the command tent, in the military camp outside, or in the cities and fields farther away, everyone stood rooted to the spot in shock at this sudden phenomenon between heaven and earth!
The arrogance froze on Yuan Shu's face. His mouth hung open, and his corpulent body shook like a sieve.
The guards and slaves inside the tent were all struck speechless, their heads tilted upward like mortals witnessing a god descend into the world, their eyes filled with awe and terror.
Yang Feng was stunned too!
He looked up, his heart hammering without pause as towering waves surged through his mind!
Holy shit?!
What the hell was this?!
A system?!
Or some kind of Heavenly Dao livestream?!
On the enormous screen of light, large golden characters in ancient seal script slowly appeared. Each carried supreme majesty and overwhelming grandeur, appearing clearly before every person's eyes!
[Revealed-The Greatest Emperor of All Time in Great Xia's History!]