Liu Bei POV

*Tatatata*… The sound of the horse hooves was deafening as we marched on. The noise was made even worse by the luggage of the riders that tended to have things which clanged, clattered and rang.

I followed the sounds and looked at the things that the ones around me brought.

Yun Chang had several bamboo scrolls, Hua Tuo had bags and bags of medicinal herbs on her pygmy horse that seemed to grow as the journey went on, Feng Xian had some vegetables, while Wen Yuan seemed to have some stuff as well but I couldn’t tell what it was. As for Zi Long, her white horse carried almost nothing at all.

As for me, my possessions were few and simple. Part from heavy twinswords, all I had was the feather fan.

All this while, I’ve been diligently taking care of the fan. However, some feathers still fell off. I didn’t dare to fix it up as I was afraid that any action might trigger or break something and make something go wrong in the future.

This was a particularly strong intuition that I was getting, and since it was very cold ever since winter came, I didn’t touch the feather fan much as I waited pa.s.sively for the moment when its secrets would be revealed.

“I’m so bored. We’ve been marching for so many days now.” Wen Yuan complained just as I was thinking it was about time for her to do so.

“Well what fun could there be in marching?” Yun Chang had handed over her glaive to Zhou Cang and was now able to read her scrolls with her freed-up hands, “I have some nice books here with me, won’t you take 1?”

“No thanks.”

An instant rejection.

“How could you be bored during this journey? I’m so busy I don’t have time for anything much.” Hua Tuo said as she wiped the sweat off her brow and bent down from her horse to pluck some weeds from time to time.

No, those should be medicinal herbs.

“Lord Hua Tuo, you’ve really gathered a lot of medicinal herbs huh.” Wen Yuan exclaimed, “Physicians really are different huh.”

“What are you talking about? Who said these were medicinal herbs? Aren’t these just weeds?” Hua Tuo said as a matter of factly.

“Eh?”

Eh?

Looking at that look on Hua Tuo as though what she said was a given, Wen Yuan and I had baffled looks.

“Are you looking down on me?” Wen Yuan muttered.

“Though they may be weeds, they do have their uses~ For example, when you take this and that and mix them together, they can treat blade wounds. But if you use only 1 of them alone, then they are just normal weeds.”

Eh~ So is this some sort of folk medicine then? But I wonder if this era’s folk medicine is more ludicrous than those in the future. I’m a little suspicious but since it’s Hua Tuo, I don’t fully doubt the efficacy of her treatment methods.

“And this plus this can improve one’s eyesight. I’ve been using it all along.”

Un, I can completely doubt it now. Looks like it’s completely useless.

“Umm um, is there any combination that can help Yi De regain her memories?” Yun Chang piped up.

I instinctively looked back at Yi De who was about 2 rows behind. She was sitting calmly on her horse while Zhou Cang on her left and Chen Gong on her right were bickering about something again. Yi De however was utterly unperturbed and continued to look forward with a calm expression.

After the last few conversations, she was now on guard against a few of us and I was beginning to get worried that she might just leave us sooner or later.

“I haven’t discovered a combination with such an effect yet, or perhaps I have yet to find the materials for it.” Hua Tuo shook her head as she searched her bags, “Perhaps she could try this and this, but I can’t promise that it will work.”

“Try that huh? Will there be any side effects?”

“Un, she might die.”

“Isn’t that really serious?!”

“Don’t worry, I can dilute it, and we can try with just 30% of the usual dose.” Hua Tuo said as she extracted a small bottle from her pocket and began the compounding process.

… Is it really going to be alright?

“My lord.” A slow and quiet but powerful voice came from behind me, and I was a.s.saulted by a sudden chill that felt like the sharp killing intent of an a.s.sa.s.sin. I only felt safe once more after I turned back and saw a pair of listless eyes with a scar below one.

“So it’s Liao Hua huh.”

“My lord, I will make sure to remember that expression of yours just now.”

“… What is it?”

“Un, please have a look my lord.” She took out 2 bamboo scrolls from her pocket and handed them to me.

I was a little stunned and only received them after a moment, “This is…”

“This is a new roster for the army that I’ve been working on in this period. Managing 5,000 troops at once might cause some problems so I split the army in 2.”

Split the army in 2? I opened the bamboo scrolls, and saw that they were filled with the names of people and numbers beside them. There was no punctuation so it made it even harder to read.

What’s worth mentioning is that the words are very beautifully written.

“Did you do all this?”

“No, Lord Chen Gong helped me out as well.”

I see.

I closed the scrolls that I couldn’t quite read and handed them back to Liao Hua.

“It looks good, I’ll leave it to you to–”

“Xuan De.” Just as I was about to hand the responsibility of this matter to Liao Hua, Feng Xian who was slightly ahead called out to me.

I followed her voice and looked ahead only to see that there was a tall mountain range ahead. It was fortunate, however, that the road was not completely blocked off. It was however, split into 2 and both paths seemed to lead to the other side as you could see light coming from the ends of both oaths.

“The mountain slopes don’t seem to be holding together very well so if we go through a single path all together, the sounds might cause an avalance so it will be prudent to pa.s.s through in turns.” Yun Chang said as she rubbed her hands on the slope of the mountain. She applied strength into her hands, and a rock rolled down.

If we’re dividing our troops and pa.s.sing in turn, then–

“Everyone, there just so happens to be a complete roster here…”

—

“… Time to go.”

“Alright Xuan De, we’ll be leaving first then.”

“Un, be careful. Gong You, Hua Tuo.”

They both bowed to me before riding up the tail end of the contingent which slowly snaked into the narrow path.

“Now then, looks like the first division has entered the path completely.”

“Un, yeah.” I glanced at the roster as though I was actually perusing it, and replied Wen Yuan in the affirmative.

The general of the first division was Yun Chang, with Zhou Cang and Yi De as her a.s.sociate generals. Liao Hua led the main body, and Hua Tuo and Gong You led the rear guard.

Un… That should be the gist of it.

“Xuan De will be coming along with us right?” Feng Xian said in a slightly weird tone as she swung her reins. I looked at her and saw that she wasn’t looking in my direction.

“Un, because I want to ensure that both divisions pa.s.s through safely so I can’t be pa.s.sing through first.”

“Got it.” Feng Xian nodded as she tidied her hair and fixed her armour, but she didn’t look this way.

Come to think of it, Feng Xian was with Yun Chang when they crossed the pa.s.ses and slew the generals right? I don’t know everything but it seems like Feng Xian did indeed act together with Yun Chang.

After we reunited, Feng Xian seems to have spoken a lot less than before. If this goes on, she’s going to become like another Gong You.

“Xuan De.” Feng Xian called out to me all of a sudden.

“Un?” I stopped my thoughts and looked at her. Her face seemed calm, but I could tell that there was turmoil beneath the calm exterior.

“Back when we first met, Xuan De told me that I should choose my own path. But after such a long time, and after going through so much, I’m starting to feel more and more lost.”

After hearing this, I was sure now that something did happen to Feng Xian while she was travelling with Yun Chang. Looks like Feng Xian is troubled over her path as well.

“Why do you say that?”

“I don’t have a reason for it. It’s just a feeling I have.” Feng Xian lowered her head as she said so, and began playing with Red Hare, “I always thought that I should meet violence with violence, and if I kept solving problems this way, eventually everything would be resolved and violence would never be used again. But now, I’m starting to feel that if you use violence even once, you can never stop.”

“… That is to say that, Feng Xian is starting to question the problem of using martial force?”

Feng Xian nodded.

“I’ve always felt unwilling to resort to martial force, but whenever I meet with a problem, I only use martial force to resolve them.” Feng Xian said, and paused. She then nodded to herself as though she were steeling herself for something, “To put it simply, I’m starting to hate myself for my talent in martial arts.”

She hates herself because she’s talented in martial arts huh.

She’s surprisingly self-reflective, and it seems like Feng Xian really doesn’t want to use violence.

But I’m unable to give her an answer about this as I myself am facing a similar problem. All I can do now, is give her time to think.

“You may be talented in martial arts, but I won’t force you to fight.”

“Eh?” Feng Xian frowned in puzzlement.

“In any case, if you’re troubled, then feel free to deal with your troubles. You don’t need to force yourself to fight.”

“… Can I? Really?”

“Of course. Feng Xian is most like herself when she’s a little ditzy after all.”

“Ah…” The wind blew and lifted Feng Xian’s hair, and brought dust about, making Feng Xian close her eyes. It was rather strong, and even my horse was roused. Only Feng Xian stood motionless in the wind.

“A, actually–” She closed her eyes, and frowned as she continued, “Does Xuan De think that I have any wo, womanly charm…”

“Un? Feng Xian, did you say something?”

The wind was really strong and noisy, and I was concentrating on controlling my horse so I didn’t hear what Feng Xian said at all.

“No, nothing.” When I finally got things under control and looked up, Feng Xian had her stern look back on and sat up right. Seems like she has no intention of repeating what she just said.

“My lord (Liu Bei), you really are…” Wen Yuan snickered as she said so while riding behind us.

“General Lu, the first division has pa.s.sed through.”

“Ah, un. Advance!” Feng Xian yelled out as she brandished her double-sided halberd and swung it in the air. The troops followed suit and yelled out as they advanced in an orderly fas.h.i.+on.

Perhaps if it’s Feng Xian, she’ll be formidable even if she doesn’t use her martial prowess.