The Weight of a Leash
Liu Bei watched the passing scenery in silence. From Zhenliu to Yangping, from Julu to Shangshan. The road stretched on, unchanging.
“Sister, what are you thinking about?”
“Hm? Oh… it’s nothing.”
To Liu Bei, Gongsun Zan was a man who stirred complicated feelings. He was undoubtedly a person of character. His attitude toward Master Zigan had been courteous, and even toward her, he had never made any unnecessary physical contact. But during their sparring sessions… there had been several truly terrifying moments.
It was as if he were desperately suppressing a cruel nature, as if he were fighting the urge to tear open her vital points. At the final stage of their bouts, she had seen his wooden sword tremble violently as it hovered before her pressure points more than once.
He’s a dangerous man.
Yes. He was clearly dangerous. He was still desperately clinging to righteousness and maintaining his humanity, but even a girl not yet twenty could see that if he ever crossed that line, his nature was such that he would never be able to return.
“Guan Yu, Zhang Fei. There’s someone I need to meet.”
As someone who understood his temperament, she felt it was her duty to occasionally check on him and see whether he had crossed that line.
“Who?”
“My senior brother. I heard he went down to Runan for the funeral of one of Master’s acquaintances. They say he’ll return around autumn, so I should stop by. I heard he’s getting married once he returns.”
“What? You’re getting married, sis?”
“…What are you talking about? I mean my senior brother and his fiancée are holding the ceremony.”
He was a precarious person. Like someone walking a tightrope. In that case… someone needed to hold onto him. If his fiancée couldn’t recognize his true nature, then at least she would.
---
The journey gradually grew peaceful. No matter how romantic, how barbaric, how close to wilderness this era was, the method of executing rebels was still effective here. …Should I be glad about that? I’m not sure.
The execution techniques accumulated over roughly two thousand years for maximum visual impact worked perfectly even in this savage age. As long as the bandit groups weren’t particularly large, none dared attack us. And for a truly large bandit group, attacking us simply didn’t add up.
At best, we were an old man and a young one each carrying a single travel bag. Our clothes were ordinary cotton garments you could buy anywhere in the market. Even if they jumped us, all they’d get were a few silver coins we’d brought for travel expenses, two horses, a rusty axe, and a dagger.
The bandits of this era weren’t guerrillas born from religious beliefs or ideological differences. They were mostly farmers who had fled to the mountains because life had become too hard, or petty criminals. If they came in small numbers, they’d clearly become another “billboard.” If they came in large numbers, they’d be loot that made you think, Is it even worth it?
“Disciple.”
“Yes, Master.”
“Are you all right?”
“What do you mean?”
“Your temperament.”
“Well… it seems fine for now.”
I knew very well about the personality flaw that had come with being reborn in this body. And I didn’t bother hiding that flaw from those close to me. At the very least, Administrator Hu, Lady Jin, and my master knew about it.
Since I possessed memories from my previous life, I was certain this personality would never be tolerated in normal society. And if I truly became drunk on blood and my reason snapped, there was a high chance the tip of my blade would turn not toward the enemy, but toward my own allies.
That was why I always needed a leash on myself. The leash I had chosen was my family and my master. As long as I had a house to rest in and a pillar to lean on, I was confident I wouldn’t lose even the last shred of my reason.
“We’ll reach Zhongshan soon. Tomorrow it should be Zhuojun.”
-Clang! Clang-clang!
From far ahead came the sound of metal striking metal.
“It’s been quiet these past few days. What should we do?”
“Will you be all right?”
“It’s not a road I walk alone, so I’ll be fine. On the contrary, I’m worried that if we ignore them, Master might get hurt.”
“Which side do you intend to help?”
“I don’t know. It might be better to deal with both… Ack!”
“You fool, you’re already drunk. I’ll have to go with you.”
“It’s dangerous.”
“Your eyes are more dangerous, you idiot.”
…Is that so? I’m not sure… No, I suppose it is.
My master, Sir Lu Zigan, was one of this country’s renowned generals and outstanding ministers. No matter how much I boasted about being a soldier in my previous life, I had only been a company commander. Compared to me, he must have dealt with several times more people and rolled through a political arena several times more hellish. If someone like him judged it that way, then his words were probably more correct.
“I’m sorry.”
“What is there to be sorry for? Being born with a murderous nature was not your choice. You have placed a leash on yourself and handed the end to another. Therefore, consider it the responsibility of the one holding the leash.”
“…Yes.”
As we walked and chatted, the scene of the fight soon came into view. It was a boy who hadn’t even shed his childish features yet, fighting against two bandits—the kind you could see anywhere in this period.
“That little brat… he’s pretty good with a spear.”
“Stop talking nonsense and go save the boy. And this time, don’t spill any blood.”
“……”
“Baigyu.”
“Yes.”
Dirty and tedious… Tsk. If I have to go on long-distance trips in the future, I should either gather a proper escort and travel elegantly like a noble, or only move when the country’s public security is perfectly maintained. The temperament that had stayed quiet during my days as a city hall secretary or a graduate student was slowly creeping back out, and it wasn’t a pleasant feeling at all. The fact that I was calmly accepting that feeling was slightly disgusting.
“Hold it right there.”
I slung the axe over my shoulder and slowly walked toward the fight. Every time the axe blade—still covered in dried blood and oil, its edge freshly sharpened—bounced against my shoulder, it scattered droplets of blood. I made no effort to hide the sound of my footsteps brushing through the grass. The noise cut through the clash of metal and rang clearly in the ears of all three people.
“I am Gongsun Zan of You Province.”
-They froze.
The movements of all three stopped at once.
“What are you doing? You lot.”
---
Gongsun Zan’s notoriety spread quickly in every direction. No matter how much of a mountain bandit one was, to survive one occasionally had to visit a village to buy salt or food. The bosses usually turned a blind eye to the small, cute deviation of having a few drinks while there.
And the drunken bandits… or rather, the “suspiciously murderous travelers” found that sharing what they had seen and heard with “new comrades” was one of the secrets to survival. Thus, the rumor that began in Runan quickly passed through Zhenliu, Yangping, Guangping, Julu, and reached all the way to Shangshan.
Moreover, since the “mystery of the human body” that Gongsun Zan had performed hadn’t happened only in Runan, the rumors spread even faster and gained more embellishments.
Some of it was according to his intentions, but with the creativity of the late Han Dynasty—where torture ended at things like the wooden donkey or the “human swine”—it was impossible to imagine the grotesque rumors that were added. By the time the stories reached Shangshan, the bizarre rumor that he was the incarnation of Chiyou Heavenly King was circulating. So it was only natural that the two naturally occurring mountain bandits and the sole survivor of an unfortunate slash-and-burn village would freeze in place.
“P-Please spare us!”
The bandits reacted quickly. Since the grotesque killings had only been carried out for the purpose of safe travel, there was no need to kill even those who knelt and begged for their lives. The testimony of those who had been spared was clearly etched into these bandits’ minds. The rumor that one would not die if they knelt and begged for mercy was certain. Without a moment’s hesitation, they crawled on the ground and pleaded for their lives.
“……”
However, the boy… no, the girl’s reaction was different. She was the sole survivor of a village that had already been wiped out. Whether she died at the hands of bandits or at the hands of the murderous demon, the Chiyou Heavenly King before her eyes, the future of death would not change.
…No. At least there was no rumor that Chiyou Heavenly King lusted after women, so perhaps that was fortunate. Although her chest had not yet begun to swell, the girl thought that rather than having her heart and chastity torn apart by bandits who wouldn’t care about such things, it would be better to endure the pain of her entire body being torn apart. She gripped her spear tightly.
“I said put down that spear while I’m still speaking with words, didn’t I?”
Her arm trembled. No—her two legs, her arms, her waist, even her vision shook. That thing was a calamity that could not be defeated. A height close to eight feet. Forearms that looked thicker than her waist. From the axe thicker than her torso, blood that had not yet dried dripped steadily.
Yes. Rather than dying at the hands of worthless bandits…
“Uwaaaaaah!”
“No… what on earth are you thinking? I really don’t understand.”
-Slice!
The axe swung. The girl squeezed her eyes shut.
-Thud.
It doesn’t… hurt as much as I thought.
And that was her last memory.
---
What the hell? The actual bandits had thrown away their weapons and taken submissive postures, yet this village kid charged at me with a spear. Is this that so-called Heavenly Killing Star or whatever? A natural-born psychopath who just wants to kill everything in sight? And the adults in the village had been trying to stop it?
The thought that I might end up like this if I lost my reason sent a chill down my spine. The moment I cut the spear shaft to disarm her first and was wondering what to do with the kid, she suddenly collapsed onto the ground with a thud.
I swear to God, I didn’t do anything. Is this that Conqueror’s Haki or whatever they call it? I really don’t know. Seriously… I really don’t know.