Liu Xuande would never be a succubus of the Eastern Han Dynasty!

"Alas, to use Master Bei's words," Old Seven said disdainfully, "Can you please just die from your love-brain?"

"...If you don't know how to speak, then don't speak. No wonder your little daughter doesn't want to talk to you!"

Lao Liu felt a pang of pain in his heart when he heard this. For a middle-aged man, it must be such a painful thing to have his lovely little daughter dislike him.

Fortunately, Old Seven didn't press his advantage and instead said, "Hmm? Their boss has finally gone out to have some fun. Now's our chance."

"receive."

The pretended pain on Lao Liu's face immediately disappeared, and the whole person turned into a black shadow, rushing away from the top of the mountain at an incredible speed.

The seventh brother jumped down and landed on a tall tree. Then he took out the bow and arrow from his back, scratched the back of his hand, and got some blood on it.

Then she drew her bow, aimed forward, and shot gently.

"call out--"

Arrows flew through the air.

At the same time, Lao Liu took advantage of his speed and the cover of night to sneak into the mountain pass. Then he jumped hard and kicked hard.

Lao Liu didn't even look at what happened next and rushed straight into the warehouse where the wine was stored.

The arrow in the air was already arriving at an extremely fast speed, and was kicked by Lao Liu with his heel during the process, so it now flew forward at an unstoppable speed.

A sound of breaking air was heard.

The leader of the mountain stronghold had just casually pulled over a woman and had only half of his pants off. When he heard the sound, the alarm bells in his heart that had been fighting for many years immediately rang out.

He subconsciously wanted to pull the girl over to block the arrow, but unfortunately, he was a step too slow.

The arrow mercilessly pierced through the back of the leader's head, went through his nose, and shot into the tree in front, going deep into the wood.

The leader of the mountain stronghold fell to the ground helplessly, with some doubt still in his eyes, as if he had not expected the arrow to be so fast.

"what!"

"Boss!"

"Enemy attack, hide quickly!"

The leader of the copycat group just left the busiest center, but he did not leave the sight of everyone, so they all witnessed the process of their leader being shot and falling down.

The huge village suddenly fell into chaos.

Lao Qi finally reached the warehouse at this time. He looked at the many wine bottles, first picked up a few bottles, then took out a small bottle from his arms, threw it in, then immediately closed the door and retreated quickly.

The small bottle shattered to the ground, and wisps of mist adhered to the remaining wine bottle.

At this moment, a voice came from outside the door.

"Cloud Piercing Arrow, this is a specialty of the Zheng family!"

Jiujiang County: Chapter 20: I am Zuo Ci, big brother, what about you?

Shouchun County does not cover a very large area, and only a few children of noble families who are not given important positions serve as officials here, while the majority are native locals.

However, due to the famine caused by the recent drought, the court's forced taxation without regard for the lives of the people, and the frequent looting by barbarians... all of this has led to a sharp drop in the number of households.

Looking across the street, one can see many refugees huddled together, keeping each other warm.

In order to resist hunger, this group of honest civilians either sold their farmland and properties or sold themselves to others.

But food is hard to come by and expensive now. Even if they sell everything they can only barely survive for a while. Now they have no house, no land, and no courage to associate with the barbarians. Naturally, they can only huddle on the street and wait for help from kind people.

Liu Bei was dressed in black, walking among the refugees. There was neither sadness nor joy in his eyes, but just as calm as a dry well.

He stood alone among the emaciated crowd, his voice slightly raised as he spoke, "The newly appointed governor is kind-hearted and deeply sympathetic to the people's suffering and hunger. He is currently opening the granaries to provide relief... Please go and claim your food immediately."

As soon as he finished speaking, a skinny old man beside him grabbed Liu Bei's wrist and said with difficulty: "...Sir...are you telling the truth?"

Liu Bei said gently, "It's true. The new governor is the world-renowned Mr. Lu Zigan."

"Very good!"

"It's Mr. Lu from Zhuo County... We are finally saved..."

“Hurry up…!”

Lu Zhi had a great reputation. Even people as far away as Shouchun County had heard of him. They naturally knew that he was a kind-hearted teacher, and the atmosphere suddenly became lively and excited.

Liu Bei looked at the excited crowd and couldn't help but smile. He lowered his head and said to the old man, "Old man, you should go as well."

Unexpectedly, the old man showed a smile that was uglier than crying: "...Thank you so much, kind person, but I can't go anymore..."

"Ok?"

Liu Bei frowned slightly, touched the old man's pulse with two fingers, and then his face changed drastically: "Who assaulted you to cause such severe internal injuries?"

The old man was stunned at first, then he smiled bitterly: "It's just a dispute over a meal. Kind people, please don't get angry. These days, everyone is trying to survive. If I were still young, I would do the same..."

"The Han Dynasty governs the world with filial piety. How can we bully and humiliate an elderly person?"

“…It’s okay. Whoever is alive is alive. It’s all the same. Ahem…”

The old man coughed violently for a long time. After the crowd had run away, he revealed a pleading look: "It's just... sir, my unfilial son has defected to the barbarians, leaving only my daughter here..."

When Liu Bei heard this, he understood what the old man wanted to say and immediately nodded and said, "Old man, there is no need to say more. Our meeting is fate. I can guarantee it."

"you…"

The old man looked puzzled upon hearing this. "Your Excellency is kind-hearted and generous, and I admire you. But this kind of thing happens everywhere in the world. If you really protect someone without hesitation, then others will do the same thing after hearing about it. Wouldn't that cause trouble for you?"

Yes.

Once one person takes over, others will naturally come in droves after they hear about it.

Liu Bei looked at him strangely, as if he had not expected that an unknown old man from Shouchun County would have such knowledge.

He thought for a moment and replied, "I don't know if there will be more in the future, but I do know that if someone is in trouble right now, then I should help them. If I choose not to help because of this or that concern, it would be unkind."

Liu Bei does not have the ability to save everyone in the world now, but he cannot allow himself to choose not to save the people in front of him when he clearly has the ability to do so.

"What's more," Liu Bei continued, "the future is unpredictable."

He just doesn't have the ability now, but that doesn't mean he won't have the ability in the future.

The old man naturally understood the implication of this sentence. He looked at Liu Bei's appearance carefully and then smiled: "Resemble him, really look alike."

"Like who?"

"Of course it's Pei Gong... Oh, nowadays we should call him Great-Grandfather."

After the old man said this, he didn't even look at Liu Bei's expression, but just waved his hand behind him, and a small dark figure jumped out from the garbage dump.

"Ci'er, come and pay your respects to Master Xuande. From now on, you must listen to him more. Do you understand?"

"…OK."

The dark-skinned little figure looked to be about eleven or twelve years old. She seemed a little shy. She tugged at the old man's clothes with her hands, lowered her head and secretly looked at Liu Bei. After seeing his face clearly, her body trembled and her face turned red with shame.

But Liu Bei had no intention of coaxing the child now.

He pulled the corner of his mouth and said helplessly: "Old man, we can just talk about it normally. Why do you have to test Yu Bei?"

The old man blinked and said innocently, "What are you testing?"

"...I haven't told you my calligraphy yet, right? How did you know it?"

"Hahahaha, young man, your words are really interesting." The old man was not embarrassed, but just lowered his head and laughed for a while, "I know you, and you know me, so you should save me..."

After he finished speaking, he snapped his fingers and a red light accurately entered Liu Bei's forehead.

"Is this...a fragment?"

Liu Bei touched his forehead, still a little confused.

No, buddy, I've seen people give away wives and then lose their troops, but I've never seen anyone give away a granddaughter and also give away a Chixiao fragment...

Also, what does the so-called "You also know me" mean?

"You don't need to be confused, and you don't need to ask questions," the old man's figure was a little blurry. "As you said, meeting is fate. I didn't wait for you here specifically. I just happened to meet you... Well, I'll tell you a few words in advance. Consider it as food money for this little girl."

"Continue to collect the fragments of Scarlet Sky. When Scarlet Sky returns to its place, you will know that the world has an end... and the 'Way of Heaven', no, the 'Root' is waiting for you."

Seeing that the fake immortal was about to disappear, Liu Bei hurriedly asked, "Wait, do you have a name?"

"Don't you already have some guesses in your mind?" the old man said with amusement, "As you think, I am... Zuo Ci, and this little girl is... also Zuo Ci."

"Well, come on young man, goodbye."

After Zuo Ci said this, he disappeared with the wind and was never seen again.

All that was left was a small dark figure and a handsome white-faced scholar, disheveled in the wind.

“…Two Zuo Ci? Tsk, this one’s actually an old riddle man.”

Liu Bei had just finished complaining when he saw the little girl reach out and pinch the corner of his clothes, then turn her head away.

He spoke softly, then took the little girl's hand without feeling dirty. The latter stiffened for a moment, then softened.

"Hello... Big brother, I'm Zuo Ci... and you..."

"My surname is Liu, my given name is Bei, and my courtesy name is Xuande."

"Oh."

Two figures, one big and one small, walked towards the end of the street.

Jiujiang County: Chapter 21: Master Lu's Protective Evil

The county magistrate's mansion, the master's mansion.

The whole room was brightly lit with candles. A girl with silver hair and red eyes was looking down at a document. Her brows were sometimes slightly furrowed, sometimes relaxed, and her face showed a hint of sadness.

After hearing the sound of the door being pushed open, she put down the bamboo slips in her hand. Just as she was about to smile, she quickly glared at the handsome man and the little girl who came in, and said in a slightly unfriendly tone:

"Master asked you to inform Kaicang Jimin, so why did you go out and kidnap a little girl?"

"hey-hey…"

Liu Bei gave an awkward laugh, "...I happened to meet her on the road. I saw that this little girl's life story was very pitiful, so I felt pity for her and decided to adopt her."

"Oh, there are so many helpless children in the world, are you going to adopt them all? Besides, how old are you and you're already learning to adopt a daughter?"

"I can't adopt all the orphans in the world, but I can at least adopt the one in front of me. I hope Master will understand."

"...Humph, you pushy guy. I just told you about the rules of living under a dangerous wall, but you forgot it so quickly."

Although Lu Zhi complained, he quickly nodded and said, "Forget it, but there's no need to establish a foster father-daughter relationship. Just recognize her as your adopted sister... By the way, what's her name?"

Hearing this, the little girl huddled behind Liu Bei, revealing her little head. She looked at Master Lu timidly, blinking her eyes.

"My...my name is Zuo Ci..."

"Zuo Ci, right... eh? Zuo Ci?"

Mr. Lu's expression changed, his brows furrowed, and he immediately stood up and looked the little girl up and down carefully. Then all the expression on his face disappeared.

The feeling of indifference, as if standing on the clouds, appeared in the red pupils again, as if the world was ethereal and he was standing on the clouds.

Liu Bei asked tentatively, "Master?"

"..."

Master Lu glanced at his disciple emotionlessly, waved his hand casually and said, "Take her downstairs to wash up and settle her down."

“…Disciple, obey orders.”

Liu Bei bowed, but did not leave immediately. Instead, he continued to look at the teacher with his peach blossom eyes.

He always felt that the Master was in a bad mood, as if he was a volcano about to erupt.

"...Master, it's alright. Xuande, please go down and rest first."

Master Lu cleverly avoided Liu Bei's sight, sat back in the main seat, and continued to look through the remaining documents.

Liu Bei observed Master Lu carefully again and indeed could not see anything wrong with his expression. He could only sigh and say, "It is getting late. Please do not overwork yourself. Please hand over the unfinished paperwork to Wen He. She is quite old and can handle it."

"understood."

"Then I will take my leave first."

"..."