Liu Bei POV

Whether a mountain slope is steep or not, one can only tell after going up the slip. And I now have a full appreciation of how steep Mount Jiluo’s slopes are from my arduous climb.

This mountain wasn’t very high, and I could see the peak if I just raised my head, but we were climbing somewhere to the side of the narrow pathway and so it was steeper and harder to climb. If one does not continuously climb in a crouched position, one can easily lose balance and keel over.

If I had to put a number to it, the elevation was probably about 50 degrees or so.

“Be careful of the small stones beneath your feet, my lord. Soldiers to the back, don’t fall behind as well, move!” Zi Long, who was walking ahead of me, had very good climbing techniques. It was also thanks to this that all I had to do was to follow where she went.

But this Yan Liang really knows how to order people around huh.

“Lord Liu Bei, I’m going to trouble you with an important mission,” Just before the narrow pathway, Yan Liang waved and a portion of the troops stepped out, “We’ll split into 2. I’ll ascend via this narrow pathway and Lord Liu Bei will climb up the slope to the side swiftly, which will allow you to see the Cao army movements from a good vantage point. Ah, right, don’t bring the horses, they will only slow you down.”

Hai~~ I lightly sighed.

“If I knew that it was this steep, I would have swapped routes with Yan Liang.” I complained as dust flew into my face.

“What are you talking about, my lord? Climbing the mountain this way is much easier.” We were almost at the halfway mark now, when Zi Long spoke to me in a questioning tone, “Yan Liang’s route makes her vulnerable to enemy ambushes. It will be difficult to detect our movements on this route. We will also be at a high ground and can charge down to a.s.sist Yan Liang if she is attacked.”

“Un… So Yan Liang is actually looking our for me?”

“That is the case, yes.”

That playful face floated up in my mind. No matter how I look at it, she doesn’t seem like such a thoughtful person. Could it be that she thinks I’ll get in her way so she got me to go by this way? Un, that sounds a lot more believable.

As we chatted, we had now reached the halfway mark. As we climbed higher, I realised that only the beginning of the slope was steep. The higher we climbed, the gentler it got, and when we reached the peak, we found a s.p.a.cious green plateau.

The moment I reached the peak, I collapsed to the ground and panted to catch my breath. For someone like me who doesn’t have a strong const.i.tution and doesn’t like exercise, intense physical activity is truly abhorrent.

“My lord, come and have look here. Looks like the Cao army encampment is just ahead.”

Un?

I crawled up and walked over to Zi Long’s side and looked in the direction where she was pointing at. In the distance, there were dots that looked like tents with pillars of smoke rising here and there.

“Oh~~” I sighed in amazement, “So that is Guandu.”

So Yun Chang and the rest are over there huh… I’ve always thought that it was veyr far, but it was actually very near.

But from what we’ve seen, it doesn’t seem like Meng De has any plans to retreat as there doesn’t seem to be any big movements in the encampment.

“Oi! My lord!”

“Un? What is the matter?”

Zi Long’s frantic voice made me recover and I could hear the sounds of battle from nearby.

“My lord, below!” Zi Long pounted at the other side of the mountain, the side which the narrow pathway led to, “Yan Liang seems to have engaged with the enemy.”

Un?! Could it be that Meng De has stationed scouts here?

I poked my head out to get a better look, and saw that half of Yan Liang’s forces were engaged in battle with the Cao army while the other half were stuck in the narrow pathway. This situation is very disadvantageous for Yan Liang.

“What do we do, my lord?!”

“Of course we’re heading down to save her!” As I said so, Zi Long nodded even though she was still worried about my safety.

“Soldiers! Follow me down and charge!” Zi Long yelled out and gathered the scattered troops before charging down.

Kill!!!

I was with Zi Long at the front, and wave after wave of shouts resounded in my ears. Even though I’ve been through many battles already, I still can’t get used to these crazed shouts.

When they heard us, the Cao army troops to the back panicked and were unsure where to concentrate their attention on. And just as they were panicking, we had now charged down the slope and were headed straight for them.

As our troops clashed swords with theirs, the surround was complete.

“My lord, be careful of stray arrows. Don’t advance too much.” I and Zi Long had charged into the enemy formation but Zi Long was standing in front of me to protect me.

Zi Long roared and swept out her silver spear, knocking aside several Cao troops that had charged at us like autumn leaves.

It was a simple movement but I could tell that there was much blood, sweat and tears that went into much practice for this move to be perfected.

I’m not sure if I’m used to scenes of slaughter but the fear and terror in my mind has been completely suppressed.

“Zi Long, where did you learn your martial arts?!”

“From my master,” Zi Long said as she swung out her silver spear in a single, slick movement, “My master is Tong Yuan, and is quite renowned for his mastery in martial arts.”

(TL: I don’t know much about Tong Yuan, but he was supposedly also master to Zhang Ren and Zhang Xiu.)

Tong Yuan… That name sounds familiar…

*Dong*!!!

Just as I was somewhat relaxed, a loud bang shook me to the bones.

What was that?

“Be careful, my lord. The one who made that sound cannot be someone ordinary.” Zi Long went on high alert and readied her stance.

*Neigh*~~~~~~~

“What!”

In the next instant, a loud cry from a horse tore through the noises and 50 paces away, a warrior appeared. Before we could catch a good glimpse of the warrior, the scent of danger was headed right for us.

*Dong*!!!

Another sound… Looks like it’s the sound of the warrior landing.

And immediately after that sound, many soldiers from in front were hurled up to the sky while even more retreated,

“Don’t retreat! Don’t turn back!” Zi Long yelled out but they wouldn’t listen, “Kuh, it’s difficult to give orders to troops that aren’t ours to begin with as expected!”

No, even if they were our own troops, I feel that it would be difficult to get them to obey orders when they are this affected by fear.

I myself was unable to do anything at this tumultuous scene before me. All I could do was watch as it unfolded before me. But for some reason, a familiar figure came to mind.

*Neigh*~~~~~

Another neigh…

“Be careful, my lord, that person is coming!” Just as Zi Long finished her words, it felt like the sky above me became dark in an instant. I raised my head to take a look and saw a large, chestnut-red horse cover the sun. In the blink of an eye, that person was now behind me.

“Ya!” Zi Long saw an opening and seized the chance to stab.

The stab was fast as lightning, but with the sound of a clear and crisp ring, it was blocked by that person, who gave a ‘hmph!’ before swatting away Zi Long’s silver spear, forcing Zi Long to step back.

At this moment, that person stood still. What filled my eyes was that person’s weapon which I could see clearly now– It was a double-sided halberd.

“Let me ask you,” Just then, that person began to speak, “Are you the commander for this…”

She stopped mid-sentence and I raised my head to look at the owner of the voice instinctively.

She was wearing a set of glorious coat armour, and had a stern look on her face. She had a domineering aura, but this did not detract her marvellous beauty in the least. Her deep eyes had a razor sharp glance as always, but it was at odds with the look of surprise she had on now.

“Xuan De!?”

“Feng Xian!!”

In the next instant, we both blurted each other’s names.