VOLUME 8 CHAPTER 99: DONT TELL ME THIS IS LIU BEISDEATH?

Liu Bei POV

*Tatatatata*

Along with a loud bellow, the earth seemed to shake behind me with the sound of many horse hooves. No matter how fast Dilu is, it would never be able to make such a thunderous sound.

Halt, Imperial Uncle! Return to the banquet at once!

Another yell came from behind. I know that things arent going well now.

I nervously turned around and saw a band of men in military uniforms with their swords drawn galloping towards me on horses. Their faces were devoid of smiles and even anger; in their eyes, all I could see was the intent to kill.

Whom do you serve? I asked as my heart continued racing, in the hopes that this might just be a beautiful coincidence and they arent Cai Maos troops.

We are the subordinates of General Cai and we are here to bring Imperial Uncle back!

But reality hardly goes as one hopes and they are, as expected, Cai Maos troops.

I blinked a few times to wake myself up and calm down. If I dont pay attention, Ill get caught and be killed on the spot.

Jia! I just kept swinging the reins and getting Dilu to gallop as fast as he could in the hopes of making it out somehow.

Troops at the tower! Im Liu Bei Liu Xuan De! Please open the gates! I yelled at the troops stationed in the tower when I saw the gates before me who hurriedly signaled to the troops near the gates to open up when they saw me.

You are forbidden to open the gates! The General has orders! Orders for me to bring the Imperial Uncle back to the banquet! The Governor is present at the banquet as well! Are you going to show disregard for the Governor!

Eh! The head of the troops behind me also yelled up at the troops in the tower. I turned back and saw that he was brandishing what looked like a command tally.

I looked at the tower and saw that the 2 troops were completely befuddled. Looks like Liu Qi only instructed them to open the gates and not why. Thats to be expected since our sides knowledge of Cai Maos plan is needed to be kept secret. If it were me, I wouldnt be divulging these things to ordinary soldiers as well.

Close the gates! After a moment, another yell came from the tower. I dont if its because of the command tally or the hearing Liu Biaos name but the guards seemed to have yielded to Cai Maos troops and gave the command to shut the gates.

When I looked back at the gates, I saw that the gate was half open and there were 8 troops in total, 4 on each side, reversing their previous efforts in opening the gates.

Kuh! Ill do it!!

I resolved myself and decided to bet on Dilus prodigious speed. I was already very close to the gates and clenched my teeth as I raised the reins. I then swung them down as hard as I could and bellowed out a Jia!.

*Neigh*~~~

Surprisingly, Dilu actually flew out and further accelerated when I did so.

In my eyes, all I saw apart from Dilus mane, were the 2 red gates that were slowly closing. The white light in between grew closer and closer by the second but it also grew narrower and narrower.

Behind me, Cai Maos troops continued yelling.

Haa I took a deep breath.

In the next instant, I felt difficulty breathing and my heart seemed to stop. My eyes bulged and it seemed as though the world had stopped moving

Then light filled my surroundings!

*Dang*!

The gates slammed shut tight behind me as I continued galloping away on Dilu. Outside the city, a picturesque scene of mountains, clear streams, birds singing and bright flowers greeted me, standing at sharp contrast with the people and civilisation in the city.

Haha, I made it. I said to myself. I wanted to praise myself a little more but my lips were trembling so I gave up.

Yes, Im still very much trembling in fear from what just happened. If possible, I hope that I never have to do that again.

Haa I gave a long sigh and took several deep breaths to calm myself down.

Alright, now that Im out of the city, everything will be a lot easier. Next, all I need to do is to get on the small road to the left as Liu Qi said and Ill be able to make it to my armys encampment.

Once I get there, Ill be safe. And everything is thanks to Dilu. I thought as I looked at Dilu and its white patch gleefully and felt that Dilu was a really special horse. Yi Ji said before that it brings bad luck to its owner but that doesnt seem to be the case.

No, perhaps Im not a normal person. Hahaha, just kidding. Gradually, I grew more relaxed as I rode on and searched for the small road Liu Qi spoke of.

Ah! I see it!

On the left was a forest and there was a small dirt road there. It was narrow but a single man and horse would be able to make it. Now all I have to do is to steer Dilu there.

As I thought so, I began to pull on the reins

Eh? I was pulling hard on the reins but Dilu didnt react at all. Whats going on? Could it be that I made it go too fast earlier?

Dilu! Dilu! Turn left! Turn! I screamed and panicked as the small road grew closer and closer. But no matter what I did, Dilu didnt turn at all and continued galloping straight ahead.

*Neigh*~~~

Dilu cried out and then doubled down on its gallop as it further accelerated, rendering the option of jumping off invalid. In this sandy terrain, I would probably lose good chunks of my flesh and break my bones if I were to jump off from this speed. My abilities and guts are limited so this was impossible for me to gamble.

All I could do was to hug Dilu tightly as we passed the small road. I didnt stop trying to steer Dilu to the left but it was all in vain.

As I looked ahead, I saw a rapid flowing river up ahead. In front of the river was a tall, vertical cliff that was impossible to climb.

Dilu! Dilu! I howled at Dilu in a panic in the hopes of Dilu stopping before the river when I realised that we would be swept away by the river if we were to enter it.

But then all my efforts were in vain once again as water splattered with a *Pu* and drenched my clothing. I closed my eyes instinctively and when I opened them a moment later, I found that we were in the water. The river was deep and we hadnt even reached the middle when the water level was at my calves.

What was scary was that Dilu continued to make its way deeper into the river even as the water level rose.

Ahaa Ahaa I was gasping from terror and couldnt think of any solution.

Calm down! Calm down, will you! Calm down! Dont forget, youre Liu Bei! And this is Dilu! If Liu Bei met with this sort of mishap while riding on Dilu, wouldnt that mean that a miracle will happen?!

As I convinced myself, I began to feel hopeful and grabbed the reins as I called out to Dilu, Dilu! Dilu! Come, jump up the cliff! Come!

Halt, Imperial Uncle!

Before I could finish, several shouts came from behind. I anxiously turned around and saw that my pursuers from before had caught up. They found where I was and were currently galloping over!

Ah! Theres no worse predicament than this!

Dilu! Jump! Dilu! Im Liu Bei! Jump! I was practically pleading with Dilu at the top of my voice and pulling on the reins with all my might now that I saw the pursuers were here.

*Neigh*~

But Dilu had no intentions of answering to my expectations and only gave a low neigh as it continued to make its way deeper into the river. Isnt this practically suicide!

Whats going on! History isnt supposed to go like this! Im Liu Bei! How can I die here like this!

Dilu! Give me a hand will you! I tried over and over but nothing changed from the status quo.

When I turned back, I saw that the pursuers were now close and I was practically exhausted by now. All I could do was lament angrily, Dilu! Dilu! Are you going to bring me bad luck today!!

*Neigh*~~~

Just as I finished, Dilu took another step out

Ah! I lost my balance and fell head first into the water. I instinctively grabbed on to the reins and tried to regain my balance but found that Dilu too had lost its balance and fell into the water. Only then did I realise that wed reached the deep end and Dilu lost its footing.

But even so!

I pulled on to the reins, hoping to help Dilu reverse its steps. But even then, even in such a scenario where it is about to drown, it still continued forward.

Dilu! Dilu! I yelled out a few more times before I felt that I lost my balance completely and plunged into the water.

I knew that Id fallen into the deep end of the river and flailed about as I struggled to stay afloat in the hopes of grasping onto a fallen branch. But for some reason, there was only water and Dilu around me and all I could grasp were the currents and bubbles.

Wu! Wu!

Un?!

In the distance, several grunts could be heard. This was definitely not from the currents and so I forced my eyes to open up and saw a man in a long gown swimming towards me. His hair was long and he was rather good looking with a thin stubble on his chin.

Lu Su?! Why is Lu Su here?! Could it be that hes the representative for Jiangdong?!

Wu! Many thought swirled in my mind but now I was most concerned about getting saved. And so I stretched my hand out to grab onto Lu Su who was here to save me. But the distance between us slowly widened thank to the current

Wu! Wu!

Wu

He kept grunting towards me and I too did my best to respond but the distance between us continued to widen.

Wu *Ke* *Ke*

After struggling for god knows how long, Lu Su disappeared from my view and I felt myself being swept by the currents and I began to choke.

My nostrils and lungs were burning and very soon, I found myself sinking to the depths.

I couldnt make any sound and could only force my eyes open just a little. As I looked at the darkness before me, various random thoughts filled my head but they quickly disappeared as I struggled to think.

Just before I closed my eyes, only one thought was left in my mind

The Leap across Tan Stream Is clearly impossible

(TL: Seehttps://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fictitious_stories_in_Romance_of_the_Three_Kingdoms#Liu_Bei.27s_horse_leaps_across_the_Tan_Stream)

Eh! What is this! At the same moment, a young girl in Nanyang frowned as she exclaimed in her home.

Though shes been frowning a lot of late, this is the tightest of frowns. She didnt sigh nor did she get angry this time. She was only shocked.

Liu Bei Died again?