Yun Chang POV

I could not wait for Zi Long to return but at the same time, I did not wish for her to return with bad news. In short, I do not particularly want her to return.

All of our hopes lay with Zi Long now and all we could do was trust her.

“Yun Chang, are you alright?”

Just as I was deep in melancholy, I felt a heavy pat on my shoulder. I was truly tired from the ordeal before so I could not withstand this blow and was forced to support myself with both hands and my legs which were about to give way anytime.

“Ah?” I growled and turned back but when Wen Yuan’s smiling face greeted me, my anger quickly subsided, “What? You’re back so fast huh?”

“Yes, it’s only several dozen paces after al.” Wen Yuan said as she sat down on a stone chair nearby and gave a long sigh, “How are you doing? Are you alright?”

I was just as tired as she was and could not stand anymore so I sat down beside her.

“Un, I’m alright.” I nodded as I stretched my neck, making cricking noises as I did so, “How is Lord Lu Bu?”

Wen Yuan smiled stiffly at this question, “Very good. She’s just exhausted, and a little dizzy from my blow before.”

Haha… I laughed dryly and began to felt terror in my heart when I realised that things could have been much worse if Wen Yuan had not seized the opportunity and knocked her out.

This outcome where Lord Lu Bu remained relatively unharmed while we were all riddled with wounds was truly unexpected. The original plan was to tire her out by having her deal with all of us in turn but in the end, we were tired out before she was.

“Ah, speaking of what happened just now,” I suddenly recalled Wen Yuan’s last attack which aroused my interest, “How did Wen Yuan manage to land a blow on Lord Lu Bu?”

It was truly remarkable. Even though Wen Yuan was just beside Lu Bu, Lu Bu paid no heed to Wen Yuan at all. This was despite Lu Bu having blocked the spear attack from afar without even looking.

“I’ve been with my lord for many years now.” Wen Yuan said as she chuckled and said with a gleam in her eyes, “From your perspective, you might think that my lord can deal with attacks coming from all directions. The reality is that though my lord may be fast with her limbs, her eyes are not as fast. To make up for that, my lord relies on a sort of sense.”

“Eh? Sense?”

“Yes.” Wen Yuan nodded and pointed her index finger at her nose as she continued, “It’s ‘breath’. No matter what kind of attack, ranged or close, anything that moves will have breath. My lord can sense the breath and will react accordingly to corresponding attacks.”

So that’s how she did it…

“So you seized the opportunity when Lord Lu Bu knocked down the spear to get close?”

“That’s it,” Wen Yuan proudly nodded as she placed her hands behind her head relaxedly and smiled stiffly, “Of course, it was a very risky move. If I had breathed at all, I would be in 2 by now.”

“No, Wen Yuan is being too humble.” I shook my head and smiled as I began to feel impressed.

Looks like there’s a lot more for me to learn from Wen Yuan. As expected, the ones who have actually underwent training in martial arts are different from those like myself who rely solely on our talent and bravery.

As I looked at Wen Yuan, I noticed that she was smiling. Her smile did not seem to have ever diminished at all.

“Wen Yuan, you’re really strong inside t

oo huh?”

“Eh? Am I?” She did not understand where I was coming from at first but she soon realised it after thinking about it for a moment, “Ah I see what you mean. I’ve been with my lord for a while now and this has happened a lot of times. I’m numb to this sort of thing already.”

“I see…”

I have never asked them what they went through before joining us. All I know is what happened to them with Ding Yuan. Wen Yuan has never discussed anything else and since she has not, I did not feel like I had the right to ask.

“But really,” Just then, Wen Yuan continued with a warm smile, “The only one who has made my lord this sad is just my lord Liu Bei.”

“Wen Yuan…”

“Alright, I’ll stop here. If even I start feeling sad, who will be in charge of smiling?” Wen Yuan said as she patted her face and took a deep breath before getting up. She gave me a refres.h.i.+ng smile and said she would be going to see Lu Bu before leaving.

As I looked at Wen Yuan’s back, I began to feel that she was probably the strongest among us. If I remember correctly, I seem to have heard that Wen Yuan was a minor official before joining Ding Yuan. She must have been through a lot more than the rest of us as she’s joined officialdom much earlier.

“Ah… L, Lord Guan Yu…”

Un? There really are a lot of people coming to look for me after today’s mess, I thought as I turned back tiredly.

“Eh? Yi– Lord Zhang Fei?” When I turned back and saw that it was Yi De, I hurriedly put on an energetic countenance, “What is it? Shouldn’t you be in the inner residence helping Lord Sun Qian and the rest?”

Because Yi De has lost her memories and become an administrative official, she no longer joins us on the frontlines. That said, her a.s.sistance has been invaluable in administration affairs.

However, if Yi De were like she were before she lost her memories, our battle from before would have been much easier. She has, after all, better techniques than I do.

“Un…” Yi De’s expression became complicated at my question, “The atmosphere in the inner residence is a little too pressurising for me.”

Is that so… Ah, she’s probably right.

I can more or less see what it’s like back there and nodded instinctively. Because I fully understood what she meant, I could not even put on a smile to rea.s.sure her. When I turned to look at her, I saw that her expression had not changed, which meant that she had more to say.

“Lord Zhang Fei, is there anything you wish to discuss with me?” I asked as I patted the stone chair beside me where Wen Yuan was sitting before.

“Ah… Un.” She was hesitant about it but she eventually nodded and sat down beside me. I’m still not used to how calm she looks and how proper her posture is but I’m dealing with it a lot better than before.

“When I heard that you were all engaged in battle before, I felt a little guilty.”

“Un? Guilty?” I was surprised at what she said and it took me a moment before I understood what she was thinking about, “Did you feel a little disappointed and sad that you weren’t able to help?” I hazarded a guess and did my best to seem as calm as possible as I did so.

Yi De’s shoulders shuddered when she heard what I said and she nodded. Looks like she knows what kind of person she originally was.

“I’ve been with everyone for a while now and have been able to piece together what kind of person I originally was.” Yi De said, tightening her grip on her thigh as she said so, “I’ve since began to feel that my transformation has been a great burden to everyone… If I hadn’t lost my memories, perhaps–”

“That’s enough.”

She got more and more agitated as she said so, so I reached out and placed a finger on her lips. She was surprised and stopped talking.

“You don’t need to blame yourself. None of the fault with what has transpired lies with you.” I shook my head, “If anyone is to blame, it’s us who didn’t manage to find you earlier.”

I’m not like big brother. This is all I can say. These few sentences have completely exhausted my vocabulary and I am unable to squeeze out more words to comfort her with.

“Ah… In any case, we will wait for you to regain your memories. It will come when it comes.”

I immediately regretted saying these words when I finished and felt a little shameful and hurriedly removed my hand from her lips and turned away so she would not see my flushed cheeks.

“… I understand, Lord Guan Yu.” She said softly. Seems like she’s convinced as she does not seem to be as troubled as before from her voice.

“But there is something else of which I am more concerned about.”

“Un, un? What is it?”

I got nervous and stuttered. When I looked up at her, I saw that though she looked less troubled, she was still frowning. I can more or less guess what she wants to say. Everyone else has the same expression on in this period after all.

“Yi– Lord Zhang Fei, if what is troubling you related to big brother, then I feel that your worry is misplaced.”

“Eh?” Yi De was surprised at what I said. She probably never expected for me to guess so accurately what she was thinking.

“There’s no need to be so surprised. Whatever you’re thinking about is written all over your face.” I smiled a little stiffly, “From the Yellow Turban Rebellion till now, big brother has been through a mult.i.tude of ordeals, both big and small, and survived them all. He won’t be defeated at the very end by a little river.”

When I finished, I looked into Yi De’s eyes. I noticed that her eyes were a little red and there were dome tear streaks down her cheeks. She must have been crying these past few days.

It might not be very nice to say this but I’m relieved by this. This means that the old Yi De is somewhere inside and crying for big brother. When I thought about this, I smiled, “So Lord Zhang Fei, don’t worry too much.”