Hellfire Ride (1)
Though we'd already turned the Cao Cao army against us, it was something I'd anticipated.
Our group roughly cleared away the corpse of what had been Cha Ju's man and the other soldiers' bodies, then steadied our nerves.
"No, Kim Gong. We could have persuaded him or bound him to take prisoner..." Liu Bei grumbled at me reproachfully.
"It's an hour's ride from here to the capital at Heodo. You've seen the roads near Heodo, right? Garrisons everywhere."
After Cao Cao swallowed up Heodo and Yezhou, the thing he focused on most was road maintenance.
It served military purposes, of course, but also commerce and infrastructure. Relay stations and garrisons dotted the routes, ensuring real-time information flow.
If that Cha Ju guy had caused a ruckus and broken through to call for reinforcements, we'd have been massacred on this road.
"What's done is done. We were planning to bolt anyway." Yeo Po casually gathered the Xiliang soldiers' corpses and dumped them aside, as if it were routine. A true master of betrayal—she was used to this sort of thing.
"I see. I'm sorry for killing an innocent man, but..." After gleefully slaughtering in wars, Liu Bei now wore a regretful expression toward the rolling head of Cha Ju's man.
'Why'd you have to do your job so damn well...' If he'd just looked the other way and let us pass, we honestly wouldn't have killed him. But turning detective on us out of nowhere—that was his fatal mistake.
"No choice. It's for the greater good. We're heading to Ma Teng to request aid against the traitorous Cao Cao, right?" Zhao Yun said.
Fundamentally upright and averse to evil deeds, she could accept it with a righteous cause and justification.
"Then let's head straight to Ongju. No time to waste." Liu Bei nodded grimly, staring down the road.
At that moment, among the women riding in the wagons at the rear, Chu Hui looked flustered.
"D-Does this always happen?" She couldn't wrap her head around naturally fleeing to survive, and the other women being so nonchalant was even more bizarre.
"Ah, pretty much." Bu Yong-hwa smiled brightly.
"Ahaha... They must have their reasons." Cho Seon gave an awkward laugh.
"Yeah. I've... gotten used to worse from my time in Chang'an." Choi Yeom scratched her cheek with an ahaha.
"I see..." A life of drifting with the current, never settling a base. He didn't even seem that capable, yet these women followed this one man, Kim Gong.
"Lady Chu, you ended up traveling with us somehow too. If it's too much, you can hop off now and head back to Heodo." Bu Yong-hwa spoke with a gentle, motherly expression.
"...No. I want to stick with these people." For some reason, Chu Hui found herself saying that.
Curiosity about this peculiar man named Kim had sparked inside her.
Tsk. Bu Yong-hwa clicked her tongue at the sight. Choi Yeom and Cho Seon's faces stiffened slightly.
'Even in a situation like this... all they feel is possessiveness toward their man?' Chu Hui was taken aback.
Clop-clop. Clop-clop.
We'd sent Yeo Po and all the Xiliang soldiers ahead to scout, with our rear group following.
"With talent this good... it's amazing they haven't seized any territory." Jia Xu tilted her head, watching the impeccably coordinated Liu Bei forces.
"...You've realized it. Descend the mountain. Jia Xu."
Yeah. That was the Liu Bei army. Doomed to drift like duckweed on the currents.
"Pardon?" Jia Xu blinked in confusion at me.
"...Nah, nothing." I grabbed the reins connected to the wagon behind me. Protecting my wives and household was my job. For the record, Liu Bei's wives—Lady Gan and Lady Mi—were riding there too. Liu Bei had personally entrusted his household to me. He trusted me more each day, making it harder to quit.
"Brother Yu Bi is the paragon who refused the Xuzhou governorship even when Governor Tao Qian offered it twice. He's no vulgar brute who uses power just to sate conquest lust." Guan Yu chimed in, clad in her armor, riding alongside.
Guan Yu's best look was naked, but truly, her finest was in armor, wielding the Green Dragon Crescent Blade with flair.
"...Wasn't that a survival choice? Even if he'd abruptly taken the seal, Yuan Shao or Yuan Shu wouldn't recognize it, and given Xuzhou's nature, it'd be hard to hold." Jia Xu pierced the practicality behind Liu Bei's benevolence.
Well... that interpretation worked too...
"How dare you!! What do you know about Brother Yu Bi?!" Guan Yu's blue hair whipped as she flared up.
"Jia Xu, you're right—Lord Xuande does hide a cunning side sometimes." I acknowledged it.
"K-Kim Gong?! I can hear you!" Liu Bei whipped his head around.
He wouldn't show it if he lost at foot volleyball, but he had a petty streak sometimes.
Romance of the Three Kingdoms and historical records showed his two-faced nature plenty.
"But I admire Lord Xuande's dream." I told Jia Xu that.
"Dream..."
"Peace under heaven." That was why the whole Liu Bei army rose as义兵. I respected the ideal of a warless, peaceful world. Even after founding Shu, Liu Bei tried blending benevolent rule into reality. Combining Legalist thought with virtuous governance—that effort impressed this modern guy. He never fully adopted Wei's tuntian fields or forced migrations, deeming them too harsh on the people. That must be why even Zhuge Liang liked him.
"Everyone secretly wants to be conquerors. Fighters for peace over desire are rare." This was my world now. Wishing for its peace was natural.
'Cao Cao knockoffs are everywhere.' Plenty thought like him but lacked the skill. Vulgar types chasing success, promotion, conquest—I'd seen enough. Better a hypocrite preaching good.
"...You reek of green." Jia Xu said bluntly.
"...Can't be helped. Lord Xuande wields this blade called me now. Gotta follow his lead." Jia Xu seemed resolved to stick with me.
As we marched along the road, we hit checkpoints, but Liu Bei bore the prime minister's direct orders. Free pass through the gates—we escaped Cao Cao's domain.
"Straight north from here is Ongju." Zhang Fei said, eyeing the map.
Surprisingly, he read maps best, so he guided.
'Smarter than he looks.' Crude speech aside, he read well, handled arithmetic, even sketched maps. Fallen nobility from Yan—trained as a prodigy. Zhang Fei was an intellectual at heart.
"But what's with the graffiti?" I eyed the cat-like scribble beside the map on his scroll.
"Th-the kid drew it. Jeez." Zhang Fei sighed. Ah, Ha Hu Hui. She adored him.
"Right. Let's link with Ma Teng and convey our resolve." Liu Bei murmured, relieved at our smooth exit from Cao Cao's lands.
But... things never went easy.
Clop-clop!! Clop-clop!!
Generals under Yeo Po—Wei Su, Hu Xing, and Jin Uirok—charged through, bloodied, breaking trail.
"Lord Xuande!! Big trouble!!" Hu Xing bellowed.
"It's Xuande, not Xuandu." Liu Bei twitched his ears faintly.
"Ah, sorry... I only remember horse names well..." Hu Xing grinned sheepishly.
"Anyway!! Big trouble!! Enemy attack!! The Qiang tribes hit us!!" Hu Xing yelled.
"Qiang tribes?!" Ambushed by nomads mid-road—pure Xiliang vibes. Liu Bei panicked.
That was daily life there.
"What of vanguard Fengxian?" I asked casually. With Zhang Liao and Go Sun, they'd manage.
"Flashin' her stuff, but... too many!" Hu Xing remounted.
"Then we punch through while rescuing!!" Liu Bei scanned around, glancing my way.
I was minding the wagons with generals' families, soldiers' kin, supplies. Plus hangers-on who'd heard—blacksmith Dao Ran, named commoners from Pingyuan.
'Uncle Dao Ran, you're a top Ye Province smith. Enjoy retirement easy.' I'd suggested.
'Hmph. A smith's like a blade—hammer it ceaselessly or it's worthless.' He packed tools without hesitation.
'And the Central Plains' top sword needs prime craftsmen.' He grinned at me.
'I'm no top sword...' Not that strong. Decent, though.
'Hah. Future tense. You'll be.' Cryptic as ever.
Someone had to guard here.
'All the treasures Chun Seol and I grinded for are here.' No wasting loot.
"Kim Gong, hold the rear!! Rest, follow me!" Liu Bei drew his Dual Sword of Might, signaling Zhang Fei and Guan Yu.
"...Yun Chang, sorry—pregnant and all." Liu Bei apologized to Guan Yu.
"No worries, brother. This Guan Yun Chang's still active duty." She hefted her blade, winking at me reassuringly.
"Kim Gong, trail at a distance!! All others—to rescue Lord Fengxian!!" Liu Bei ordered, charging ahead. Generals and troops followed.
Liu Bei forces were battle-hardened field experts. I relaxed, inching the convoy while watching flanks.
"My lord... seems the enemy ambushed organized." Jia Xu sighed.
"Ah." Dust rose left and right of the plains.
Eh. Screwed.
"Ehehehet!!!" "Han Chinese!!!" "Loot the wagons!!" Small cavalry band charged straight at us, leather-clad and bare.
"Everyone!! Fight!!" I called my Kim Squad.
Gu Ligeo, Guan He, Mok Lan, Chun Seol, Gwang Yeom, and the old archer swiftly formed battle lines.
'Qiang tribes.' Xiliang's hard-mode foes... but doable now.
Shing.
Sword drawn, I waited mounted as they closed.
"Lotsa women!! Bust!! Where the men?" "There!! Baldy!! Looks tasty!!" "Kill women!! Spare men!!!" "Ehehe!! Rape the men!!!" Nearly nude thugs in leather thongs leered stickily at me.
Chill ran down my spine. What the hell were these guys?