Super Cultivation System of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 919 Liu Bei Intercepts
Zhuge Xuan suppressed his anger and said, "I am willing to offer more platinum and fifty stone of grain. Please show some mercy."

"Lift your grandma's eggs!"

The bearded thief leader started to curse directly: "If you know what's best for you, do it right now. Otherwise, our brothers will rob your women right here and kill them in front of you. Let's see what you can do to me."

At this point, Zhuge Xuan could no longer bear it: "This is too much bullying. This is intolerable. What can't be tolerated?"

The bearded thief used the back of his sword to shave his beard: "Oh, you want to use force against me? Fine, I like it. Brothers, go ahead, rob the money, rob the food, rob the women!"

"Robbing a woman..."

"Girls from wealthy families must be delicate and tender, hehe..."

Thousands of bandits rushed over, howling.

"Go, kill the bandits!" Before the bandits could reach Zhuge Xuan and others, a group of soldiers suddenly rushed out from behind.

The two sides started fighting in a blink of an eye. The bandits did not react for a while. They just thought that these people were the guards of Zhuge's convoy. Seeing that there were only a few hundred of them, they did not take them seriously at all.

The two bandit leaders roared, raised their weapons and slashed at them, but as soon as they fought, they were shocked.

"How...how can these guards be so skilled?"

There were more than a thousand of them, but they attacked and killed only three or four hundred of the enemy, but they could not gain any advantage at all, and they even seemed to be at a disadvantage.

Zhuge Xuan was filled with suspicion and turned to ask Zhuge Jin: "Zi Yu, do you know these people?"

Zhuge Jin looked carefully and then shook his head: "I don't recognize them. They all look unfamiliar. Looking at their appearance, they are clearly the caravans that fell behind us just now. They were trembling just now, but now they suddenly turned into fierce and ferocious men. It's really unbelievable."

"Strange... It's really strange..."

When the two sides were fighting fiercely, a loud shout was heard: "Zhang Yide from Yan is here, you traitor, die."

Zhang Fei came riding at full speed, and before the bandits could react, several of them were pierced through by the Zhangba Snake Spear.

Zhuge Xuan was even more surprised: "Isn't this General Zhang Fei? How come he is here?"

Zhuge Liang, who was in the carriage, smiled and said to Zhuge Dan beside him: "What do you think? Am I right?"

Zhuge Dan looked at him in surprise and admiration: "Oh, my cousin, you are so good at predicting things. How did you know that those caravans were soldiers from Xuzhou in disguise?"

Zhuge Liang smiled and said, "It's very simple. All the caravans we met on the road kept changing. Some of them arrived at their destination halfway, and some left in a hurry when we were resting. But these four caravans have been following us since our caravan left Langya. When we move, they move too. When we stop, they stop too. It's clear that they are following us."

Zhuge Dan thought for a moment and asked, "But it's also possible that they came here to rob us. Why must they come to protect us?"

Zhuge Liang patted his head gently with his feather fan. "You, you only know how to wield swords and guns, but never use your brain. They have more people than us, and they all look like veterans. If they really want to rob us, it would be easy. Why do we have to wait until now? Besides, I walked around their caravan for a while on the way under the pretext of relieving myself. I heard that most of them spoke with Xuzhou accents, and occasionally mentioned words like general and lord, so I naturally understood their intentions."

"Ah... I know. It must be the Lord Liu of Xuzhou who sent people to protect us secretly. Lord Liu is really a benevolent ruler. And General Zhang Fei, wow... He is so good at wielding the Zhangba Snake Spear. If I could be his apprentice, my life would be worthwhile."

Zhuge Dan was a young man who admired the strong. Moreover, he was in the family and was fond of martial arts. When he saw Zhang Fei, a martial arts master, he could not take his eyes off him and kept staring at him with envy in his eyes.

As for Zhuge Liang, although he was also looking at Zhang Fei, there was a deep meaning in his eyes.

The two bandit leaders seemed quite confident. They brought a few bandits with them to besiege Zhang Fei, thinking that they could win the battle by killing Zhang Fei.

However, after Zhang Fei roared, the white-bearded bandit leader was the first to be knocked out. With one of the two bandits killed, the morale of the bandits was immediately thrown into chaos.

"The Third Master is dead, the Third Master is dead..."

"Zhang Fei is simply like a devil, run away..."

The bearded bandit leader was so frightened that he turned his horse around and tried to escape.

"Hehe, you want to run away from your Grandpa Zhang? Don't you know your own weight?"

Zhang Fei rode forward with a smile on his face, and thrust his Zhangba Snake Spear forward suddenly, piercing through the back of the bearded thief. Then Zhang Fei threw it far away.

"Haha, you can't take a beating, you can't take a beating..."

"Third brother..." A voice sounded from behind, making Zhang Fei, Zhuge Xuan and others look back at the same time, only to see Liu Bei rushing over with a group of soldiers.

Zhang Fei shouted: "Brother, these bandits have been frightened by my killing. Let me take advantage of the situation to chase them and destroy their stronghold."

Liu Bei nodded and said, "This Black Lian Village is causing trouble for Yan, Xu, and Qing states, with four to five thousand people. Now that two of the three leaders have gone, it is a good opportunity to wipe them out in one fell swoop. Go ahead, third brother. But remember, do not kill innocent people indiscriminately. If the bandits reform, you can still spare their lives and take them back to Donghai County for further punishment."

"Don't worry, big brother. I'll go too."

Zhang Fei patted Wang Zhui's horse and chased him to the north.

Liu Bei came to Zhuge Xuan, clasped his fists and bowed, saying, "I am sorry for being late in coming to your rescue and causing you so much trouble."

Zhuge Xuan hurriedly said, "Lord Xuande, there is no need to do this. If it weren't for Lord Xuande and General Yide coming to rescue us, I'm afraid the entire Zhuge family would have been slaughtered. I will never be able to repay this life-saving grace even if I die."

"Haha, it's just a small favor, you're welcome, sir."

Zhuge Jin looked at the troops Liu Bei brought with him and asked in confusion, "I wonder why Lord Xuande and General Zhang are here?"

Liu Bei smiled when he heard this, "To be honest, sir, this Black Lian Village is the remnant of the four bandits of Mount Tai. They have always liked to rob caravans on the official road and are extremely ferocious. I thought that since your family is so big and is rushing to Luoyang, the caravan must be huge and eye-catching, and I am afraid that it will attract bandits, so I followed secretly, and wanted to wait until you arrived at the city of Yanzhou before leaving on my own. However, there are many women in your caravan, which is inconvenient for me. I had to order people to disguise themselves as a caravan and follow behind. Please forgive me for my abruptness."

"Lord Xuande..."

Zhuge Xuan's cheeks trembled, and his expression was extremely moved: "Lord Xuande is so kind and righteous. Not only did he condescend to be my bodyguard, but he also thought so carefully. I... I am really grateful. If you have any orders, Xuande will do everything."

Liu Bei's face turned serious: "Hey, sir, why do you say that? Could it be that I, Liu Bei, am a sinister villain who is greedy for rewards? I came here to help because I admire your talent, and I have no other intentions."

"This..." Zhuge Xuan felt a little embarrassed for a moment, and then felt extremely moved.

"I have long heard that Lord Xuande is respectful to the wise and kind to the people. I have seen it with my own eyes today, and I have no doubts anymore."

Liu Bei looked at Zhuge Xuan's horse and said, "I see your horse's eyes are dull and it seems that its legs are weak."

Zhuge Xuan looked down upon hearing this and smiled awkwardly, "Alas, Your Excellency, please forgive me for making a fool of myself. This mount has served me for many years and is now old. It must have been quite tired after traveling all the way here and was frightened just now, so it behaved like this."

"I see."

Liu Bei immediately dismounted and led his mount to Zhuge Xuan's side.

"Please ride this horse, sir."

Zhuge Xuan was shocked: "Sir, how can this be done?"

"Well, you and your family are going to Luoyang, the journey is long, and your horse is not strong enough. If the horse falls ill on the way, it will delay your trip. Beixu is ten years older than you, so I dare not refuse the gift from an elder. So, please don't refuse it. Please get on the horse."

Liu Bei personally held the reins and made a gesture of invitation to Zhuge Xuan. Zhuge Xuan's lips trembled slightly and there was an inexplicable light in his eyes.

He also jumped off the horse, but did not get on it. Instead, he stroked Liu Bei's horse and then knelt down in front of Liu Bei.

"Your Excellency has been so kind to me that even if I die a thousand times, I will never be able to repay you. From now on, I am willing to serve you at your service, even if it means going through fire and water."

Liu Bei was overjoyed and hurriedly helped him up. "With your help, I will surely assist the emperor, pacify the four seas, and revive the Han Dynasty. However, you were supposed to go to Luoyang to respond to the emperor's call for talents. Now that you want to stay in Xuzhou, as a subject, I should submit a petition to the emperor. If your majesty does not allow it, I will definitely summon you and I will personally escort you and will not force you to stay."

Zhuge Xuan bowed and accepted the order: "Everything is subject to the Lord's orders."

Then, he waved to Zhuge Jin and the others, "Madam, and Jin'er, Liang'er, and Dan'er, why don't you come over and greet me as soon as possible?"

Zhuge Xuan's wife hurriedly led a few younger generations to come forward to pay their respects.

Zhuge Dan poked his head out and asked Liu Bei, "Um... Envoy Liu, can you ask General Zhang to accept me as his apprentice?"

Hearing his somewhat timid words, Liu Bei burst into laughter on the spot: "Hahahaha... I often hear people say that Zhuge has a son named Zhuge Dan who likes martial arts since he was young. Today I see that it is true. Don't worry, my second brother, third brother, and Taishi Ci, Chen Dao and other generals under my command are all extraordinary in martial arts. I will let them all come to teach you in the future, how about it?"

When Zhuge Dan heard this, his eyes lit up immediately: "Okay... That's great..."

Seeing him like this, everyone was happy, except Zhuge Liang, who looked at Liu Bei, then at the direction Zhang Fei left, and at the corpses of the bandits on the ground, and his brows sank slightly...

(End of this chapter)