The imperial cause at the end of the Han Dynasty was not one of partial peace.

Liu Bei reined in his horse, his gaze sharp as a sword, sweeping over the burly, dark-faced man and the tall, thin Taoist priest. His voice clearly reached everyone's ears:

"Deng Zhong, Li Shi. I know you are both from Zhuo County. Mr. Zhang and Mr. Su are honest merchants, selling horses and brocade, and I have never heard of them doing anything wrong in the village. Today, for my sake, you may leave now and return to your villages, so that you may be safe."

Over the past two weeks, he had ordered his henchmen to secretly investigate the various forces in Zhuo County and had gained some understanding of the Taiping Dao's situation in the area, so he naturally recognized these two men.

The dark-faced, bearded man's real name was Deng Zhong. Because of his bravery, the villagers called him "Tiger." He was originally a butcher in the market, with superhuman strength, a volatile temper, and a gambling addiction. After accumulating huge debts, he had nowhere to turn and joined the Taiping Dao three years ago.

Li Shi, a tall and thin Taoist priest, claimed to have been taught by a mysterious person and had some knowledge of talismans and incantations. He would often draw talismans on yellow paper with a cinnabar brush, and either have the sick wear them or burn them and mix them with water for them to drink. These were called "talisman water" and had quite a few believers in the countryside where medical care and medicine were scarce.

Since the great plague last year, the Taiping Dao has spread particularly rapidly in the Youji region. Many of its followers use this method to win people's hearts. Believers often wear yellow turbans on their foreheads or post yellow paper with the word "Taiping" written on it on their doors, saying that it can ward off the plague demons.

Deng and Li used this opportunity to gather hundreds of destitute refugees and local poor people, becoming minor leaders in Zhuojun.

When Deng Zhong heard Liu Bei address him by his real name, he was first taken aback, then his face flushed red with embarrassment and anger. He brandished his blood-stained ring-pommel sword and shouted sharply:

"Liu Xuande! Enough talk! Since you know me, you should know that I am now the 'Minor Commander' of Zhuo County in the Taiping Road! I command several hundred strongmen here. Even under the command of the Dafang Chief in Youzhou, I am a figurehead!"

Since the Zhang brothers founded the Way of Peace, they set up "thirty-six districts, with more than ten thousand people in the large districts and six or seven thousand people in the small districts" to govern the followers. Each district was headed by a "chieftain", and under him were "junior commanders" who were in charge of the prefectures and counties.

Deng Zhongneng had gathered several hundred people in Zhuo County, indicating that he did have some influence.

The Taoist priest Li chimed in with a shrill voice, raising the iron ruler he used for "exorcising evil" and pointing it at Liu Bei: "Liu Xuande! You are nothing but a wandering knight from a county, yet you dare to obstruct my Way of Peace from practicing the Yellow Heaven's laws?"

"Have you not heard that my sect has millions of followers, spanning across provinces and counties? If you know what's good for you, retreat quickly!"

His voice suddenly turned fierce: "Otherwise, today I will capture you, along with those two Jias, Zhang and Su, and use your heads to offer as a sacrifice to me..."

"Whoosh—!"

The bowstring twanged, and the arrow pierced the air!

Before Li Daoren could utter the last word "flag," his voice abruptly stopped.

An arrow, as if it had eyes, pierced through his wide-open mouth. The powerful force caused his burly body to stagger back two steps. His eyes were filled with disbelief, and his throat made a "hoarse" sound, but he could no longer utter a complete syllable.

The iron ruler in his hand clattered to the ground. He tried in vain to grab the arrow shaft that had pierced his neck, and finally collapsed to the ground with a thud, kicking up a cloud of dust.

寂。

A deathly silence suddenly enveloped the entire street.

Everyone was stunned into silence by the sudden, incredibly accurate arrow.

Deng Zhong stood a few steps away from Li Daoren, and could even feel the chill of the arrows as they passed by, as well as a few warm drops splashing from his companion's neck.

His arrogance froze instantly, and he stared blankly as Li Daoren convulsed in the dust.

"Murder...murder?" he murmured absentmindedly, seemingly unable to comprehend what was happening before his eyes.

Although in those days, it was not uncommon for local strongmen to fight each other and for wandering knights to kill each other, these were mostly settled in the wilderness or in private.

In the middle of a street where hundreds of people are watching, he takes a life over a mere disagreement. Doesn't he fear the law?

"Liu Xuande! How dare you kill the Yellow Angel—" Deng Zhong snapped back to reality, his features contorted with shock and rage. He brandished his ring-pommel sword, pointing it at Liu Bei, who was calmly drawing his second arrow from his horse, and roared hoarsely at the still-dazed followers around him:

"You will surely be punished by Heaven! Brothers, see clearly! He is advocating for a wealthy merchant and harming members of our sect! Kill him! Avenge Master Li..."

The word "hatred" had not yet been uttered.

"Whoosh—!"

The second arrow has arrived!

This arrow was faster and more urgent than the previous one, aiming straight for Deng Zhong's throat!

Deng Zhong felt a flash of cold light before his eyes, and a sudden chill ran down his throat. All the shouts and incitement were pinned to his throat by this arrow.

He dropped the ring-pommel sword, then gripped his neck tightly with both hands, warm blood gushing from between his fingers, instantly staining his coarse linen clothes red.

He staggered backward, knocking over two stunned believers, then fell backward to the ground, kicking his legs a few times in vain before stopping.

Only then did the hundreds of Taiping Dao believers and the ordinary people who had been alerted and gathered in the outer circle awaken as if from a dream.

"Murder...murder!"

"My God! Liu Bei killed Butcher Deng! And he also killed Master Li!"

"Run! Murder!"

Terrified screams and cries suddenly erupted, and the crowd instantly erupted into chaos.

Many people dropped their wooden sticks and plows and fled in all directions like headless flies.

They were just a mob temporarily gathered together by prophecies, slogans, and religious fanaticism. They had never seen such ruthless and decisive methods of taking lives one after another right in front of them.

Deng Zhong's usual charade of "divine power from the Yellow Heaven" and "protection from the Great Virtuous Teacher" proved as fragile as dew under the sun in the face of real, splattering blood and cold death.

Some people, looking at the bodies of Deng and Li on the ground, quickly soaked in blood, and at the young man in coarse clothes on horseback, holding a hard bow and with a somber expression, felt a chill run from the soles of their feet to the top of their heads.

This is springtime of the first year of the Zhongping era!

The Yellow Turban Rebellion had not yet been openly launched, and the Zhang brothers were still secretly making contact.

Although the prophecy "The Blue Heaven is dead, the Yellow Heaven shall rise" was stirring up undercurrents at the bottom, on the surface, the laws of the Han Dynasty, the dignity of the government, the order of the court... at least that banner was still there!

Killing people in the street, and killing two people in total, one of whom was the Yellow Angel, who had many followers... Has Liu Bei gone mad? Does he not fear the law and discipline?

Zhang Fei's leopard-like eyes widened as he looked at the scattered crowd, then at Liu Bei, and he roared excitedly, "Brother! What excellent archery!" He gripped his eighteen-foot spear tightly, eager to try it out.

Guan Yu's phoenix eyes flashed with a sharp light. He tightened his grip on the spear and scanned the chaotic scene with his eyes, preparing for any unforeseen events.

On the wall, Zhang Shiping and Su Shuang were both trembling, and they had to support each other to keep from collapsing.

Their eyes as they looked at Liu Bei were filled with relief at surviving a calamity, but even more so with awe, shock, and disbelief.

They knew Liu Bei was a chivalrous and powerful man, which was why they had been on good terms with him, hoping that he would come to their rescue when trouble struck Zhuojun.

But they never expected that the way to get out of the predicament would be so...ruthless, direct, and without leaving any room for maneuver!

This goes far beyond the scope of "heroes mediating disputes".