Second-hand time travel: Liu Bei, the big-eared bandit

Chapter 56 It all depends on acting skills
Evening, by the Juma River.

Liu Bei and Jian Yongzheng slowly 'explored' the way upstream along the Juma River, followed by a dozen soldiers and dozens of volunteers.

The soldiers were Liu Bei's private troops, while the loyal followers were Gongsun Zan's subordinates.

This group of followers seemed to have a fondness for the color white; most of them rode white horses, wore white lacquered armor, and had plain white headscarves tied around their necks, making them look like they were in mourning, which was quite conspicuous.

Liu Bei's soldiers, however, were all dressed in red robes and black armor, which was the standard color scheme for regular soldiers in that era: red and black.

The two groups appeared to be clearly distinct.

Liu Bei and Jian Yong moved very slowly, taking two hours and covering about five miles, which was practically equivalent to crawling.

But when it comes to scouting and reconnaissance, we always move forward in a serpentine pattern. Who knows if we'll encounter a large group of bandits? It's normal to be slow and cautious.

"There seem to be thieves ahead..."

Jian Yong suddenly pointed to the woods to the west and said in a low voice.

"Charge! Charge in split formation and capture a few alive!"

Liu Bei spurred his horse, drew his sword, and charged forward, displaying an air of bravery and fearlessness.

His troops followed closely behind.

The dozens of followers looked around and indeed saw a group of people by the grove of trees at the bend in the river ahead, so they followed Liu Bei forward.

However, they were noticeably slower in their advance.

Just as Liu Bei rushed to the edge of the woods, a large, dark group of bandits emerged from the forest, each carrying a weapon.

The leader of the bandits held a thick spear in his hand, and with a single blow, he pierced through Liu Bei. The spear emerged from behind Liu Bei, and a large spray of blood flew into the air.

The spear was broken, and Liu Bei collapsed to the ground without uttering a sound, seemingly lifeless.

The bandit pointed behind Liu Bei and shouted, "Kill!"

The thief was masked and looked every bit the tough, ruthless bandit.

The other thieves were all dressed in rags, their faces covered with tattered cloth, and several of them had their faces smeared with mud, clearly so poor they were picking their toes.

The dozens of followers behind were stunned for a moment, seemingly surprised, but then quickly rode back, with a few wiping their faces with plain hemp cloths as they retreated.

Jian Yong also started running back.

The bandits swarmed forward, surrounding Liu Bei's troops. They chased after them for a few more steps, watching as Jian Yong and dozens of his followers fled the scene.

"They've all run far away... Big brother, you can get up now."

Seeing that his followers had all run far away, the masked bandit leader returned to Liu Bei's "corpse" and began calling out, "Hey... elder brother?"

"Cough cough... When we get back, I'll have Zuo Yuan teach me a good lesson in acting. I went too far!"

Liu Bei got up, coughing while covering his ribs, and wiping the pig's blood off his face.

This masked bandit's name is Zhang Fei. He's just starting out in the arts and isn't very skilled in performing arts yet.

Although he had been practicing his skills diligently, his performance of "killing" Liu Bei was still overdone. He used a fake spearhead to pass through Liu Bei's ribs, but the spear shaft and arm still made Liu Bei's vision go black, and he almost suffocated because he couldn't catch his breath.

The way Liu Bei fell to the ground was not acted at all; he fell to the ground like a piece of wood.

The pig's blood, too, was such a huge clump, it looked like heads had been chopped off...

"You're stabbing someone! The blood should be splattering on your own face, not all over mine..."

Liu Bei snatched the pig bladder from Zhang Fei's hand and squeezed it onto Zhang Fei's face: "See? This is how it should be!"

"Yes, yes, I'll know how next time I kill my elder brother..."

Zhang Fei removed his mask and wiped his face: "What do we do now?"

The 'bandits' around him also took off the tattered cloths covering their faces. These were actually most of Liu Bei's regular soldiers, about six hundred men.

Liu Bei staged a grand spectacle, employing hundreds of extras, all to fake his own death.

It was getting dark, and the followers were a bit far apart. Although Zhang Fei, the male lead, was a poor actor, people these days had never seen an outdoor scene with special effects, so there shouldn't be any slip-ups.

"Let's rest in this forest and wait for Gongsun Bogui's move... The next battle will be real. Let the brothers change their equipment, eat some dry rations, and rest for a while."

Liu Bei mounted his horse and said, "I'll go to Lu's house to wait for you. You wait here for my news."

……

Night falls.

Jian Yong and his followers returned to Gongsun Zan's camp. "Mingting, we encountered a large group of bandits, and my elder brother Xuande... my elder brother... has been killed!"

Jian Yong's acting was clearly much better than Zhang Fei's; he even shed tears.

The followers nodded slightly.

"what?"

Gongsun Zan suddenly stood up: "How could this be? Where did you encounter the thieves?"

"Five miles upstream..."

As Jian Yong spoke, he broke down in tears, appearing very distressed.

"There are at least six or seven hundred people in the river bend five miles upstream. We can't rescue them, so we have to retreat..."

The followers reported back to Gongsun Zan, glancing at Jian Yong, who was weeping bitterly, as they spoke.

"They came so quickly..."

Gongsun Zan frowned, looking at Jian Yong and then at the followers: "Was Xuande really killed?"

"He did indeed die in battle; a spear pierced his chest..."

The followers gestured to show that what they saw with their own eyes could not be false.

"Xianhe...Xianhe, please accept my condolences..."

Gongsun Zan turned and patted Jian Yong: "Xianhe, hurry to Commander Zou's camp and ask them to come and support us. Let's wipe out the bandits in one fell swoop and avenge Xuande!"

Jian Yong nodded, sobbing, and ran to the Juma River military camp.

This acting is clearly much better than when he was happy after being flogged.

Late at night, the gates of the Juma River military camp opened, and hundreds of people carrying torches poured out and headed upstream of the Juma River.

Gongsun Zan also sent notices to all the wealthy households, saying that Liu Xuande had died in battle.

But apart from the Lu family, it seems that the other families don't really care whether Liu Bei lives or dies...

Only the Lu family sent out their own soldiers to search upstream.

……

"Why hasn't Yan Gang arrived yet? Now that the Taihang bandits have arrived, he should be here by now!"

Gongsun Zan was throwing a tantrum: "This place is completely undefended right now, yet he hasn't even sent a message..."

“Brother Bo Gui, Brother Bo Ji originally planned to come here tomorrow, but Liu Bei died a day earlier… Liu Bei rushed over to capture people alive as soon as he saw them, and the Taihang bandits couldn’t just wait there to be killed…”

One of the followers explained, "But isn't it enough for us to take action now?"

"It's certainly not difficult for us to kill them, the difficulty is that we can't reveal ourselves... We can only let the Taihang bandits make the first move, and then we will cooperate."

Gongsun Zan sighed, "But the Taihang bandits are only familiar with Yan Boji. With him gone, we have no way to contact those bandits. How can we get the Taihang bandits to take action immediately?"

"Alas... Otherwise, shall we set fire to that military camp first? The Taihang bandits are not stupid; once they see the fire, they will surely take action."

Yi Cong came up with an idea.

"Well... that's fine too."

Gongsun Zan nodded.

Not long after, Zou Jing's main camp on the banks of the Juma River caught fire.

……

Meanwhile, at the Lu Family Manor.

"Why did you come back alone? Where's Jiu Chi?!"

Liu Bei's expression was also grim: "Has Beixin City been burned down?!"

"Nine-foot said that the young master has always been kind and benevolent, and that he wants to accomplish this task without killing anyone..."

Zhang Baiqi did not embellish the story and reported it truthfully.

“That fool Jiu Chi, he’ll probably die at the hands of the Taihang bandits. That’s not how you use benevolence! If you weren’t in Beixin City, Jiu Chi probably wouldn’t be able to burn the city down… If the Taihang bandits get Beixin City, then Gongsun Zan won’t fall for it…”

Liu Bei gritted his teeth in anger: "Go and tell Zhang Fei to retreat! This is a golden opportunity..."

(End of this chapter)