Liu Bei POV

After being stunned for a couple of seconds, I finally realised that a stranger had knocked into me.

This wasn’t the first time I was knocked to the ground so I’d craned my neck instinctively to prevent my head from hitting the ground. As I lay on the ground with my head bent upwards, I could feel a certain weight on me.

“Ah– It hurts–”

And it was this organism that lay on me which moaned in a graceful voice. As she slowly began to move after regaining her senses, she kept rubbing her face against my chest which made my thoughts run wild.

From where I was, her tiger skin hat completely covered her face and all I could see was some reddish hair. Looking further down, I saw that she was wearing a light red fur cape. From her garb, it was clear that she wasn’t an ordinary citizen.

“U, umm… Are you alright?” I asked politely as I gingerly peeled her off my body as I grabbed her slender arms.

“Ah ah ah, I’m fine, I’m fine.” When she realised that she had knocked into someone, she hurriedly withdrew her hands and tried to get up, “Eh? — Ah!”

“Ah ouch!”

Because of her frantic actions, she lost her balance as she stood up and fell back down onto my waist with enough momentum to make me cry out.

“Ah, umm, sorry.”

“You…” I opened my eyes as I endured the pain and was about to scold her but I forgot what I was about to say when I saw her

She had short, red hair and was currently looking at me with eyes that were out-of-focus and looked really pitiful. She wore a red plate skirt with a white center, and because of its short length and her sitting position with both legs spread open, her white and smooth legs were revealed up to her thighs. If I were to look even further, I would probably be able to catch a glimpse of the mysterious wonderland.

Speaking of which, do things like ‘panties’ exist in this era? I’m really curious…

No no no, how can I be thinking about this?!

“Umm, please get up first.” I concentrated and suppressed all my emotions and closed my eyes to give her time to get up.

“Ah, ah, sorry.” She was still rather anxious and I only opened my eyes after I no longer felt her weight on me. Seeing that she had stood up, I too got up.

As I got up, I didn’t forget to look about for those ‘devils’. It’s a good thing our commotion here wasn’t too loud and obvious and didn’t attract any attention so naturally Zi Long and the rest didn’t come.

“Un… Un…”

Just then, I realised that the red haired young girl in front of me was anxiously looking about as well with a worried expression while she clutched both hands in front of her chest.

Seeing that she was running pretty quickly earlier, could she be chased by some people?

“May I ask what happened? You seemed to be in a rush.”

“Ah, no, nothing, it’s nothing.” She hurriedly replied as she waved her hands.

This feels really suspicious, though it’s not too appropriate for me to say this.

Leaving her aside, it looks like I’m completely lost. If I remember correctly, we came in from the west gate, so it’s best that I head north for now.

Ah… Which way was north again? Not good, my sense of direction is gone. Did it go out of whack after that accident just now?

“Ah, they’ve caught up!” All of a sudden, the red haired young girl gave a surprised cry and paced about frantically before resting her her gaze on me, “Umm, sorry about this!”

“Oi, oi!”

She ran behind me and clung on tightly to my clothes before waiting for my reply and trembled as she hid behind me with her head lowered.

What was going on?

“Oi– Xiao Tai, have you seen her?”

“No, speaking of which, sister Jiang, are you seriously looking?”

“Of course I am– Ahen.”

“You’re clearly just eating meat skewers.”

Some distance away, 2 women who stood out very much with their surroundings were speaking to each other loudly. The one who walked in front was tall and had brownish skin that was slightly less dark than Ding Feng’s. She wore clothing that had armour inlays which revealed her shoulders and swaggered about. The shorter girl wore very striking clothing that didn’t match the era at all and was chasing the tall girl with a frown. It was obvious that this girl was more serious and careful than the tall one.

“Could these 2 be looking for you?” I felt a small head nodding profusely behind me as I said so.

Looks like she’s being pursued as expected huh. But looking at how serious those 2 are, she probably won’t be discovered even if she doesn’t hide.

“Are they gone?”

“No.”

“And now?”

“No, can you be a little patient? You actually asked again right after I answered.”

“… Okay.” She paused for a moment.

“Then what about now?”

“It’s only been a second… Ah, they stopped.”

“Eh?!”

“They’re walking over here, seems like they found you out.”

“Eh eh eh!!”

“Sorry, I was just teasing you. They actually went away already.”

“What! You dare tr– Ah! Ouch.”

Looks like she bit her tongue.

“Are you alright?”

“Wu… It hurts…” She moaned.

What an interesting fellow, I thought as I s.h.i.+fted away from my position in front of her. She didn’t let go at first but after she remembered that they had gone, she let go.

“Yar sho evil, how dae yo twick me!” She threw a very comical tantrum, as though she had a carrot in her mouth.

“I’m sorry, I’m the one who was wrong.” I still apologised anyway, and decided I should leave soon as I couldn’t let my guard down now, “In any case, your pursuers are gone so you’d better find a place to hide. I’ll be leaving as well.”

“Ah, wait.” I made to leave after I finished but the red haired young girl grabbed on to me. I looked at her, and saw that she was smiling again.

“No matter what, you saved me, and my big sister said that one should always repay her favours manifold so I’ll repay this favour with anything as long as I’m able to.”

You’re making a big fuss out of nothing, is what I wanted to say but since she offered and I happen to have something troubling me, why not?

“Umm, are you a local?”

“Un… I guess so.” She was a little ambiguous in her reply but seemed rather proud.

“Then do you know which places are a little more crowded?”

“Are you from elsewhere?”

I nodded, “I’m from the north.”

“Oh, a merchant of sorts huh.”

I sank into silence for a moment before nodding, “I guess so.”

“Then you’ve found the right person. Not only can I help you find your way about, if you have any goods from the north to sell, just let me know and I’ll make the necessary arrangements.” She patted her chest as she did so, but it seems like she put a little too much strength as she coughed a few times. She then smiled before she continued, “That said, I don’t know the specifics and I have to hand most of it to Zi Bu.”

Is it really alright? From what she said, it seems like she’s a rich young miss from an ill.u.s.trious family.

“Well then, shall we be off?”

“Un, alright!” She happily began to walk but she then thought of something and turned to me and said, “I’m rather famous in Jiangdong but northerners probably don’t recognise me.”

And so, she reported her name.

Sun Quan, Sun Zhong Mou.

…

I don’t just know you. Anyone who knows a little bit of history in the future should have heard of this name.