Liu Bei POV

“Say what?” I asked, feeling surprised as she should have said everything that she wanted to.

“What I want to say is, no matter how I may have been acting or how I have changed,” She raised her hand and placed it on her chest as she looked down, “Since the very beginning, I’ve always felt that being able to live on is a very fortunate thing. And so, the grat.i.tude I have towards Lord Xu Shu Xu Yuan Zhi is not something words can easily express. So–”

Eh? In the next instant, I was yanked over and her cool face was right in front of mine. I do not know if it’s thanks to my racing heart but I suddenly felt very tense.

“Huang Zu?” I asked but before I could understand what was going on, she began to shake me.

“I hope that you can continue to place your faith in benefactor after this loss.” Huang Zu continued, “If it’s her, I’m sure she can do something.”

I could see worry in her eyes as she said so. She’s probably worried about Yuan Zhi after learning that we had lost this time and was afraid that I would be disappointed in Yuan Zhi. I am really surprised that the usually silent Huang Zu would express such confidence in someone. It must not have been easy for Yuan Zhi when she saved Huang Zu.

“Alright, I promise.” I nodded. Huang Zu uttered a soft ‘excuse me’ and then released her grip. Of course, I was not terribly disappointed in Yuan Zhi to begin with.

And until now, Yuan Zhi has not returned. I wonder if she’s calmed down already. I looked about, thinking I could see a crestfallen Yuan Zhi as we went along but obviously this was just a foolish notion of mine.

Soon, we reached the city gates. The commander of this gate was the old friend of Huang Zu’s and they exchanged a few words before the gates were open. When they spoke, I could not sense that they had a deep relations.h.i.+p. It felt more like long-time neighbours who would ask casual questions and greet each other whenever they happened to meet. The sort of relations.h.i.+p where you tried to appear friendly and close but did not really want to get close. This seemed more acute in Huang Zu than in her friend.

“Are you really close with her?” I asked after we left gates after holding it back the whole time.

“We used to serve together and spoke quite a lot. It’s been a few years since.”

So you’re old comrades huh?

“But it doesn’t feel like you’re both very close.” I said, giving my honest feelings, “Since you’re old friends, you should smile a little when you speak.”

“I’m used to it already. I don’t smile much to begin with. If I start now, it’ll seem fake instead.” She explained clearly. It did indeed make sense.

Well, it’s not like there’s anything wrong with Huang Zu’s way of life. She’s straightforward and frank at the very least. And she’s beautiful to boot when she lets her hair down. If she could pin her fringe to the side, I am sure she would look even better.

Of course, if she does that, I will no longer be able to steal glances at Huang Zu from the side.

After a little bit of walking and crossing a small stream, we arrived at the encampment. It did not look like much was going on in the distance but as we neared the gates, we could hear the yelling that was going on inside.

“It was a terrible battle huh?”

“Ah… Yes.”

Huang Zu and I gasped at what we saw and heard. I gulped as well. Even at this stage, I still cannot see the wounded a

nd not feel terrible.

“Here.” Huang Zu said as she gave her entrance permit to a guard at the side. He took it and returned it after a quick glance. Looks like Huang Zu is a frequent visitor.

“Open the gates! Keep an eye out, sentries!” A soldier yelled out and there was a commotion at the tower as several archers got into position and aimed their bows outside.

Ah… The troops right now are really different from when they first came here huh? Such basic duties would have needed a good amount of training and regimentation before they could do it so well and professionally. I am no good at such things at all as I lack the kind of ability to command and the domineering aura to make them obey my orders.

Soon, creaking sounds filled the air as the gates opened. Though the encampment seemed calm on the outside, I fully expected chaos inside from the yelling I had heard. Even so, I was still shocked by what I saw.

“There’s more wounded over here! Come and help me carry them!”

“Thousand-man general! Our battalion’s 3rd and 6th platoon are missing some people, should we go onto the battlefield and check?”

“They might have been captured. Report the missing troops’ names in a bit and we’ll speak with the enemy later and discuss swaps.”

“Count our seizures carefully! Don’t get the numbers wrong or the general will have your head!”

“Where is this kid’s mother? Where is his mother!?”

Even at the gates, there were still many people about. This was the aftermath of our loss huh? Because of gender equality, and in rare cases whole families joining the army, the anguished cries seemed even more painful.

“I’ll be going this way to see Lord Zhang Liao.” Huang Zu said, ignoring all this. I suppose this was something that she’s seen a lot of, enough to be numb to it. She was an Administrator for years after all.

But I have to say, it’s really impressive that they joined the army at such a tender age. Back when I was about 13-14, I was still preparing for middle school exams.

“Eh? Not Feng Xian?” When she heard me ask this, Huang Zu’s expression darkened.

“Lord Lu Bu doesn’t bother with such things usually. Any military administrative matters are all handled by Lord Zhang Liao.” As she said so, Huang Zu’s expression darkened even further, “However, even though Lord Zhang Liao is always smiling happily without a care, she’s such a stingy person whenever I come to borrow troops. How can she only have 5 to spare…”

“Haha,” I could not hold back my laughter at ‘smiling without a care’.

Ah… But I did not expect that Wen Yuan was so good at dealing with administrative work and being so detailed. But then again, it does make sense as she’s probably been doing it for Feng Xian ever since Wen Yuan started serving her.

“… Forget what I just said.” Huang Zu hurriedly added on, probably because she felt that she was a little rude.

“Un, alright.” I decided to go along with it and not put her in a tough spot.

When I finished, she bowed before turning to leave.

Now that I think about it, she should have been headed to the main tent where Feng Xian and Wen Yuan would be. But since Huang Zu has already left, I will go later then. Until then, I will just kill time by walking about in the encampment. And so, I decided to head in the opposite direction of where Huang Zu went.

Even though no one here knows that I am Liu Bei, everyone knows me as Shamoke so they were respectful when they saw me. But this hat really is weird, and whenever someone calls me Shamoke, I get the urge to strip and do a tribal dance.

I looked about the encampment and saw a number of troops were sleeping about. They had not even bathed and just lay down on their beds.

I wonder how many of them followed me from Xu state or Ji state. If there are any, they would definitely be able to recognise me easily. When I thought of this, I pulled down the leaves of my hat a little more.

*w.a.n.g*~ *w.a.n.g* *w.a.n.g*~

… Un? A dog?

If this were the mansion or along an ordinary street, I would not feel that it would be strange to hear a dog barking. Though keeping dogs as pets is not very common, there are still people who do so here and there. And there are also street dogs as well. Usually when I meet with any, I would simply avoid them. Now that we are in the encampment, there can only be 1 possible reason why there is a dog.

Is Feng Xian here? I thought as I continued walking in the direction from which the dog was.

*w.a.n.g* *w.a.n.g*~

Red Hare’s barks were easily identifiable. It’s still not an adult so it’s barks are a little higher in tone compared to adult dogs.

But why is Feng Xian here? Huang Zu went in the right side of the encampment, the opposite of where I am, and I doubt that she went the wrong way. Usually, Red Hare does not bark this much either so it was really weird that it was barking this much.

While thinking about this, I rounded a corner–

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

“Eh? Really?” I uttered in surprise. After rounding the corner, I came face to face to Red Hare who was chained outside a small tent, “Why is it chained here?”

*w.a.n.g* *w.a.n.g* *w.a.n.g*~ *w.a.n.g* *w.a.n.g* *w.a.n.g*~

It recognised me and stood up, barked, wagged its tail and stuck out its tongue when it saw me come over. I squatted down and rubbed its chin. Red Hare seemed to like it and even turned around on the ground.

“Red Hare~ Why are you here?” I asked even though I knew it would not respond, “Where is your master? And the one who is always beside your master? Where are they?”

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

When I finished, Red Hare suddenly began to bark loudly as if it understood me. Naturally, I do not understood dog barks so I did not know what it was trying to tell me and merely said ‘I see, I see’ as I nodded before standing up.

Well in that case, I should try somewhere else–

Just as I was thinking about going somewhere else, the curtains of the small tent parted.

“Red Hare, please, please stop barking. My head is beginning to feel faint from all this.” Someone complained as she walked out of the tent and frowned at Red Hare while maintaining some distance from it.

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