Liu Bei POV

“Eh? What?” Before I could understand what was going on, she bowed to which all I could do was frown and look on in bewilderment, “Umm…”

“Ah, please don’t take what I said to heart.” She said as she nodded, “Umm, what I just said wa, as for thieves and dishonest merchants. I seek your for, forgiveness and understanding for my transgressions.”

She bowed once more when she finished. Wait, why did she stutter now? What’s going on?

“Ah… Ah… I don’t particularly mind.”

Though I was indeed a little mad at what she said before, I cannot hold it to heart if she’s accepted what I said and taken back her words.

The impression I’m getting from her now is completely different from the frosty one before. To put it in another way, her airheadedness which I’d detected before seemed to have manifested itself.

“By the way, may I ask if you came looking for us?” The girl said softly as she got up.

“Ah, un.” I hurriedly nodded, “I haven’t been through these parts and I’m not too familiar with the area. When I saw the smoke from your camp, I thought of coming here to check my bearings.”

“I see, that’s fine then.” She said and then turned around to head back. But this time, she waved to me as she did so, “Come along.”

Eh?

“Come on,” Huang Zu said as she went ahead of me and sent me a smile, “My benefactor has finally found an audience.”

Eh?!

“Just kidding~ Hmhmhm~”

“…”

Huang Zu continued ahead happily after seeing my shocked look. This further confirmed that Huang Zu is a lot more amicable than before. No matter what, this is a good thing.

“Huang Zu.” I softly called out.

“Un?” Huang Zu said as she turned back, her fringe which covered the left side of her face swung out, covering her entire face.

I laughed inside and decided to tell her how I felt, “Huang Zu, it’s great that you didn’t die.” I thought that Huang Zu would merely nod gratefully to these words but my expectations were off.

“Un…” Huang Zu said as she stopped walking and sank into thought. After about 3-4 seconds right when things started to feel awkward, she slowly said, “… Yes.”

When she finished, she did not say anything further and turned back. I was a little surprised by this response but could not tell what she was thinking and did not say anything else as well as I caught up to them. For me, it’s good enough that Huang Zu is still alive.

After several dozen paces, we’d made our way to their camp down the slope. It was a simple set-up: A small tent, a fire and 2 stools. There might be more tools and stuff inside the tent but I will not know before I go in. In any case, I do not even know who the red bandana girl is.

“Come, please sit, scholar.” The red bandana girl said as she came back out of the tent with another stool which she’d set by the fire.

“Ah, alright.” Only now did I realise that she’d been calling me a scholar. Given that she did not call me Teacher or Lord, this person must be quite sharp to recognise my true occupation as a student.

I did not hold back when she handed me the stool and tied Dilu to a rather stout tree nearby before sitting down on the stool. It was not very stable but it was not too uncomfortable.

“Apologies for offending you before. If there is anything you are unhappy about, please tell me.

” She said as she took a smaller leather bag out of a rucksack. It seemed to be packed rather neatly with something. This something turned out to be a stack of bowls. Looks like she’s planning on treating me to some liquor, “Here, for you.”

As she said so, she laid down 3 bowls.

“Thank you, benefactor.”

“Ah, many thanks.”

We both received it while she set hers in her legs while she searched about the rucksack and took out another small leather bag which held a gourd.

Eh… Why does she have to wrap up everything? She must be a clean freak.

Back when we were on the move, everytime it was xiao Yong’s turn to be in charge of supplies, the gourds are never shut tightly enough. It’s fine in the day when we are marching but the moment we start crossing barren land, sand gets into the water and it’s troublesome to drink it carefully enough so that you do not end up drinking the sand. In short, this girl is the complete opposite about this.

Ah… Thinking about this makes me think of everyone again.

“… Scholar?”

“Ah?”

A soft voice pulled me back to reality. When I regained my senses, I saw the bandana girl pointing her gourd at me and I hurriedly held out my bowl, “Ah, ah…”

She did not say anything in response and merely tilted the gourd, letting a clear liquid fill the bowl. Now that I think about it, why does all liquor in this era seem so clear? This must be just water.

“Many thanks.” I said and nodded as I took back the full bowl.

The girl nodded in response with her eyes closed.

“Ah, umm–”

“…” I was about to speak up when she raised her hand, gesturing to me to drink first before speaking.

That’s quite considerate of her, I thought and nodded as I downed the contents of the bowl in one go.

*Gudu*… Un? When I swallowed the liquid, I was a little shocked at what I tasted.

This is indeed water but it’s very sweet. Compared to the overly sweet stuff I drank in Xuchang before, it’s rather different. There’s a fruity taste and when I finished drinking, I feel very comfortable inside…

As I breathed out, I got so comfortable that I began to lean to the side. What exactly is this water…

— Ah!

As I leaned and looked at the remaining liquid in my bowl, I lost my balance and fell over.

“Imperial Uncle!” Huang Zu cried out and hurriedly got up to help me ip.

“Ah, I’m fine, I’m fine.” Good thing that my sense of balance is a lot better nowadays so I was able to stick one foot out in time and did not fall down nor did I injure my foot. When I looked down, I saw that the seat of the stool had become loose. Looks like it’s quite old.

“Ah, that was used by Master Pang De originally,” The bandana girl said as she walked over and gestured to me to get up, “Master Pang De is rather big and fat so the stool became like this after he sat on it a few times. I’ll change it for you.”

“Ah, alright… Eh?”

… Master Pang De? I seem to have heard of this name somewhere before…

“I’m sorry, we were in a bit of a rush when we left.” She continued as she took out another stool and set it before me.

“I don’t know if you came across it but we’ve been residing in a village up ahead. Sensing that it was time, we left after giving our thanks to Teacher Water Mirror.”

“I see.”

…

… Un? Water Mirror?

“Eh?” Only now did I regain my senses and snap out of my daze, “You both know Teacher Sima?”

“Un, I do. I suppose I’m rather familiar with Water Mirror.” Compared to my surprise, the bandana girl seemed calm, “Eh? You know him too?”

“I do, I do. I was staying with him for a few days.” I said as I nodded, still in a state of disbelief at what was happening. The world really is a small place huh? But if she knows Sima Hui then that means she’s no ordinary individual.

“Imperial Uncle was there too?” Huang Zu seemed a little surprised at this. By now, I’d calmed down and nodded in response.

It’s clear that she’d never guessed that I was there. Nor how I managed to make my way there. Then again, neither do I.

“I see, I see. Water Mirror is a good person.” In comparison, the bandana girl looked nostalgic as she said so while continuing to drink her sweet water. Then her eyebrows went up, sending her bandana up along as well as she continued, “But since you were his guest, then you aren’t a normal person either–”

“Haha, what do you mean by normal–”

“Ah, I forgot to introduce him. This is Imperial Uncle Liu Bei of the Great Han.”

I was going to lead the conversation away from my ident.i.ty but Huang Zu’s interrupting skill activated and revealed my ident.i.ty right away.

Of course, I do have to admit that Liu Bei is not a normal person at all.