Feng Xian POV

The night gradually retreated and the skies brightened up. But because it wasn’t comfortable sleeping on the beach, my body was still plagued with fatigue and it was difficult to keep my eyes open. Currently, I was sitting cross-legged on a round stump beside the bonfires, rocking back and forth to fight my sleepiness.

“Here, my lord.” I opened my eyes when I heard Wen Yuan’s voice come from the side and saw her bending down on my left with a wooden tray in her hands. On the tray was a clay bowl of water and some dried meat strips.

“Ah, thanks Wen Yuan.” I yawned and took the tray with 1 hand and placed it on the ground. I took the clay bowl and drank some of the hot water before dipping my other hand into the bowl and dabbing my eyes.

I then set down the bowl and picked up some dried meat and bit into it. After crossing the Yellow River, the meat became damp and was difficult to bite into. After chewing it for a bit, I found that the taste was also worse off. But whatever the case, having something to eat is better than nothing after all.

“Red Hare…” I called softly and loosened my breastplate, revealing Red Hare’s furry body. I placed the meat at Red Hare’s mouth and Red Hare tried to tear away the piece of meat by moving its head about as he bit down on it like a little wolf.

“Ha~~” I s.h.i.+vered and exhaled as I watched Red Hare’s cuteness and felt healed, “So cold~”

My body temperature has probably dropped because I was drenched.

“I can’t believe my lord has the cheek to say that~ Weren’t you sleeping really well while we were fighting to cross the Yellow River…” Wen Yuan admonished me when she saw my tardy look after she came back from bringing food to the la.s.ses.

“Ah~ My head hurts~ The hangover from 2 days ago isn’t gone yet~ Un, I should go and rest.”

“Don’t try and run my lord (Feng Xian)… I might just report this to our lord (Liu Bei).”

*Shock* Wh, what, how could this sort of reason scare me?

“Our lord (Liu Bei) might be put off by your indolence and refrain from using my lord (Feng Xian) if anything happens~”

— What? Feng Xian didn’t show her valiant and heroic side at a time like this? How disappointing! I thought you were dependable!

Wu… What the heck is appearing in my head…

“… Wen Yuan, how dare you backstab your lord.”

“My lord will definitely understand if she has to endure being engulfed by the Yellow River water for almost 1 whole day.”

Wen Yuan pouted, and seemed very displeased with me. It’s not that I wanted to escape work. I really did drink too much and was completely knocked out after that. I really couldn’t help it.

“Alright, I got it. Take it that I owe you all a favour then.”

Sometimes, you just got to give way. And I did slack off after all.

“Un, that’s my good lord.” Wen Yuan rolled up her sleeves and flashed her pa.s.sionate and refres.h.i.+ng smile when she heard my words.

In any case, now that we’ve crossed the Yellow River, our trip from here on out should be smoother and easier.

“Big sis Lu big sis Lu~” Just then, the little la.s.s came running over to me.

But big sis Lu huh? That doesn’t sound bad at all. If I remember correctly, this la.s.s with braided tails should be Lord Mi Zhu’s little sister right? What was her name again…

“Wh, what is the matter?” I was rather nervous at seeing her come running over to me as I hadn’t really spoken much with her.

Should I be trying to make my gaze softer?

“My lord, that expression of yours right now is truly horrific.”

… I think I’ll return my gaze to normal.

The braided la.s.s came running with a *dadada* until she came before me, and looked about before she asked, “Excuse me, have you seen big sis Guan?”

Un? Guan Yu huh? Come to think of it, I haven’t…

I looked about as well.

“The ones on watch duty late last night were Lord Guan Yu and Liao Hua, could they still be sleeping now?”

“B, but when we went to find big sis Guan this morning, we didn’t see her~”

“Un… That’s strange then. Could they have gone ahead to scout the area?” I said as I calmly drank the water in the clay bowl. It was her after all, so there can’t be any issues.

“Leaving aside the whereabouts of Lord Guan Yu, can I pose a question?”

“Un? What’s the matter my lord?”

“I want to ask,” I stood up before I continued, “Who is this behind me?”

There was a masked woman who was tied up and out cold behind the stump I was sitting on.

“Eeek~~~”

“Who is that fellow!!”

Leaving aside the little la.s.s, why is Wen Yuan freaking out too…

—

Now then–

*Pu*~

“Haa!”

I took a basin filled with ice-cold river water and splashed it on the black-clothed masked woman’s face, and she seemed like she came back to life and breathed heavily as though she just emerged from a dive.

“Wu~”

“Don’t come here little la.s.s, this fellow is dangerous.”

I pushed the braided little la.s.s, who was surprised at the person before her, back to Gan Qing. I then reached out and pulled the mask down from the woman’s face while she was still regaining her senses.

The woman had very good features and big, bright eyes with a small mouth. She looked a little wild but she seemed like she would be a good target to fulfill a desire for conquest.

(TL: Yes, it means what you think it means, no ambiguity in the raws. Lu Bu, WTF???! But if you think about it, Lu Bu in this story being bi makes sense as the story with Diao Chan would probably have played out if our MC didn’t run into her.)

Though she looked beautiful, I don’t know her nor do I know why she was tied up behind the round stump. So as a precautionary measure, I left her bindings alone.

“Oi, oi, quit being in a daze.” Seeing that she was more or less awake, I took the bowl of water that Wen Yuan held, and brought it to her face, “Have some water. When you’re done, tell us who you are and why you’re here.”

“My lord, you’re being too quick with your questions.” Wen Yuan said helplessly as she patted my shoulders.

“So now you’re calm huh? You were still freaking out just now eh?”

“What do you mean freaking out? Isn’t my lord’s obtuse and slow reaction worde?” Wen Yuan frowned. It’s just 1 person, what’s the big deal?

“Wu..” Just then, the girl painfully opened her eyes and shook her head before her eyes began to focus, “This is… Wait, why am I being tied– Ow!”

Just as she was trying to get a hold of what was going on, she stopped thinking from pain. Looking at her movements, she probably hurt her back. If need be, we can get Lord Hua Tuo to have a look at her later.

“This is our encampment, and we found you tied up outside our tent.” I gave a brief explanation, and brought the water to her again, “Are you alright? Have some water first.”

“Ah, I should thank you first for this. By the way, could you untie me?”

“We’ll leave the ropes on first since we don’t know where you came from.” Wen Yuan hurriedly said in a guarded tone.

“Hmph, if you know my origins, you will probably be shocked. But whatever, if it weren’t for some weirdo who did me in, I wouldn’t be…”

The woman clicked her tongue with a look of disgust that was at odds with her image but she seemed to be really thirsty as she bent down to drink from the water I held.

“*s.h.i.+ku*… Pu!” In the exact instant when she raised her head and looked at me, her eyes bulged and she spat out the water she just drank.

“Aiyo! Good thing I dodged in time.” I was unscathed as I was able to move to the side in time.

“Yes, it got onto my skirt… And it only just got dry.” Wen Yuan, who was behind me, was not able to react in time and the water landed on her skirt.

But did she choke? If so, why did she spit everything out?

“You! It’s you!” Just then, the woman began to look at me with fury.

Me?

“Umm, are you talking about me?” I said as I pointed at myself, oblivious to what I have done.

“You’re the one who suddenly charged over while I was on my horse! And now you’re still humiliating me like this!”

“Eh?” What’s going on?

“My lord, did you do all that?” Wen Yuan said as she shook her head with her hands on her hips.

“I was having a good sleep, how could I possibly have gone to so much trouble?”

“Could you have been sleepwalking, my lord?” Wen Yuan pointed at me as she looked at me with distrustful eyes, “My lord is even more unbridled in her acts when she is asleep.”

Could there be such a thing… But I did indeed find dirt all over my leggings this morning…

If I did indeed sleepwalk and captured someone while I was doing so, I wonder what sort of dream I was seeing then.

(TL: Fun fact – Sleepwalkers aren’t actually dreaming. This is a common misconception. The Chinese term for it is even 夢遊 where the first character is that of ‘dream’.)

“I’m really sorry for my lord’s uncouthness. Please do forgive her.” Wen Yuan apologised as she lowered her head. I felt pretty bad about it as well, and nodded.

“If you’re sorry then let me go at once! I still have a lot of important things to do! My people are still waiting for me behind the mountains~”

Her people? Looks like she’s not some small fry huh. Could she be 1 of Cao Cao’s generals? But then her attire wouldn’t be seen in any official army.

“Un, umm…” Just then, Gan Qing suddenly spoke up as she took a step forward, “Excuse me, did something happen nearby yesterday?”

“… Why do you ask?” At this question, the woman appeared guarded.

“2 people on our side have gone missing so if something did happen then they are likely to have gotten themselves caught up in that.” Wen Yuan explained.

“… Come to think of it, Chen Gong’s side seemed to have been stopped by some people.”

“Explain yourself! We don’t have so much time!”

*w.a.n.g*! *w.a.n.g*! *w.a.n.g*!

I lost my cool when I heard her unclear speech and grabbed the woman’s collar.

“Calm down, my lord.” Wen Yuan said as she clapped my shoulders. I swallowed my emotions and pushed the woman away.

“We were wrong to have captured you but our companions are now lost and if something did happen, we have to go and save them immediately. I believe you should be able to understand how we feel.” Wen Yuan bowed when she finished.

“We too seek your a.s.sistance.” Gan Qing bowed as well, and so did the braided la.s.s.

Hai! This really is…

“I’m not too willing, but please a.s.sist us.”

“… Alright.”

I don’t know what happened but it seems like we’ve gotten ourselves involved in some troublesome matters again.