Chapter 9: Desire to Travel and Study, Old Friends Come to Join

  As expected, Ma Chao and Meng Huo rose up. Although Ma Chao had long been aware of it in his heart, when he heard it from Ma Teng's mouth, his heart still trembled slightly.

  "Super child, your grandfather said that 'Meng' means the first in order of birth, and 'Qi' means to rise. I hope my Ma family has risen from my grandson's generation, so the name of my eldest grandson is Meng Qi!" Ma Teng said with a nostalgic expression.

  It turned out to be this meaning, at least Ma Chao didn't think about what Meng Qi meant before.

  The courtesy names of the ancients were not casually given, each had its own meaning. For example, Dong Zhuo, whom I met at a noodle shop before, was named Zhongying. Because Dong Zhuo was the second child in his family, he was called Zhong, and Ying means intelligent. His family hoped that Dong Zhuo would be smart and not make mistakes at critical moments, so they gave him the courtesy name Zhongying.

  "All right, Super Boy, you can go now." Although Ma Chao already had a style name, his father Ma Teng still liked to and was used to calling him "Super Boy".

  "No, I'm going to retire." Ma Chao turned around and went back to his own room.

  On the second day, Ma Teng returned to the army, while Ma Chao stayed at home packing his belongings in preparation for departure. However, under the persuasion of his mother Liu, he agreed to stay at home for a few more days and leave only after the beginning of May.

  While Ma Chao was gathering his belongings, a servant came in to report that an old friend had arrived outside the gate.

  Ma Chao was taken aback, an old friend? He didn't seem to have many old friends, Master Yan Zhong? Unlikely, Dong Zhuo? Even more impossible. Whoever it was, he would know once he went out and took a look, he thought.

  Arriving at the gate, Ma Chao took a look and, well, it was indeed an old acquaintance.

  A man rode up on a sorrel horse, with a halberd hanging from the saddle. The man dismounted and saw that he was over eight feet tall, neither fat nor thin, but very sturdy, with a bundle slung diagonally across his back. It turned out to be none other than Cui An, the only son of Cui Hong, Ma Chao's former teacher.

  Cui An dismounted his horse and immediately saw Ma Chao. Before Ma Chao could speak, he rushed to Ma Chao's side and knelt down with a thud, "Fufeng Cui An Cui Fuda, pays respects to the lord!" His voice was loud, giving the unprepared Ma Chao a fright.

  Ma Chao didn't even have time to say anything, and then he heard Cui An say: "Before my dad left, he specifically told me to come find you and acknowledge you as my master! From now on, whatever Master does, I'll follow suit. He also gave me a new name, Fuda!"

  After listening to Cui An's words, Ma Chao couldn't help but feel self-reproach and guilt. At the beginning, he had promised Mr. Cui to take care of Cui An, but for these five years, he had only been thinking of himself and hadn't taken care of him. Now it was still Cui An who came to find him first. Thinking of this, Ma Chao used both hands to help Cui An up, "Fu Da, please get up. I owe an apology to Mr. Cui!"

  "Yes, milord." Cui An stood up.

  Looking at Cui An in front of him, Ma Chao was very happy. He finally had a subordinate of his own. Moreover, he knew something about Cui An's skills. In the future, if he wanted to contend for the Three Kingdoms, he couldn't lack either civil or military officials. Today, didn't he just gain a brave general? It could also be considered a good start.

  Ma Chao was even more delighted by Mr. Cui's trust in him, as it was not difficult to see from the courtesy name given to his son that "Fu Da" was a homophone for "good fortune", indicating that Mr. Cui had no high hopes for Cui An to bring glory to their ancestors, but rather hoped that his son would be safe and have a good life.

  Chui On is not a born fool, but he has nothing to do with cleverness. Sometimes his brain just short-circuits and doesn't work well, so Chui Hung really can't trust his own son, and lets him follow Ma Chao, believing that Ma Chao will definitely take care of Chui On.

  Invited Cui An into the house, arranged a room for him, and during this time Ma Chao asked Cui An what he had been doing all these years. Cui An told Ma Chao about his experiences over the years.

  It turned out that before Chui Honglin left, he told Chui An: After I leave, you go to join Ma Chao and make him your master. From then on, just follow him and do things with him, and I will be at ease. However, he wants to go study, so it's estimated that it will take five or six years for him to achieve something. So, wait a few more years until he has achieved something before going to find him. For now, just stay home and don't stir up trouble. After five years, you can go find Ma Chao.

  Cui An nodded in agreement after hearing this. He had grown up to be fearless, but there were two people he was afraid of. The first was his teacher, and the other was Cui Hong.

  However, his teacher had already passed away and couldn't take care of him anymore. His father, Cui Hong, also didn't know where he was. Although no one was taking care of him, this kid Cui An still listened to what his father said. Since his father forbade him from going out, he only went out once a year to pay respects to his teacher and relatives. Fortunately, the Cui family had been doing business for generations and had a good foundation, so he didn't have to worry about food and drink. Otherwise, it would be a problem.

  More than five years have passed, and these more than five years have almost suffocated Cui An to death. Fortunately, he managed to survive. When the time was about right, he hastily packed his bags and came to Longxi to find Ma Chao, and then it was the same scene as before.

  Fu Da, from now on you'll be following me, but you must listen to my words. If not, you can go back to your hometown in Fufeng! Ma Chao said with a serious face.

  "Master, you can rest assured, my father has already told me, I will definitely listen to you!" Cui An patted his chest in guarantee.

  Ma Chao told Cui An to just call him Meng Qi, but Cui An was stubborn and said that his father had instructed him to address him as "Master", so he had to listen to his father. Ma Chao thought to himself, "Where can I go to find your father?" He didn't have a choice, so he also gave up wasting time on this matter.

  The next day, the two of them engaged in a martial arts contest. Previously, Ma Chao and Ma Teng had contested several times, testing each other's horsemanship skills. He asked Ma Teng not to hold back, but as a result, Ma Chao lost the first round. The second round was also lost. In the third round, the two of them fought over 150 rounds without a winner, and in the end, it was considered a draw. However, Ma Chao knew that if they were on the battlefield, he would still be the one to lose, so Ma Chao positioned himself as a second-rate superior, but lacking actual combat experience.

  Today, I have the opportunity to spar with Cui An, and Ma Chao also wants to see if he has made any progress, and at the same time test what level Cui An is.

  Two men rode horses to the outskirts, both were making preparations.

  "Foda, don't hold back for a moment, bring out your true skills!"

  "Yes, sir!" Cui An is a stubborn person. If you don't let him have his way, he absolutely won't give in to you.

  After the two joined hands, Ma Chao was surprised in his heart. Cui An was indeed powerful. A master could tell with just one move whether someone had skills or not. Cui An was absolutely much better than himself and was a first-rate martial artist.

  In the first fifty rounds, Ma Chao and his opponent were evenly matched, but by the hundredth round, Ma Chao was unable to withstand. Just after a hundred rounds, Ma Chao was defeated. In this way, Cui An is stronger than Ma Teng, should be a top-notch lower-level player.

  Although defeated, Ma Chao was even more delighted in his heart. This is a great general, a first-rate warrior, easy to get a thousand gold, but hard to find a good general.

  In the following days, the two of them practiced martial arts every day, and not only that, Ma Chao also asked Cui An to teach him the parts of gunplay that he didn't understand. It's true that Cui An is talented in learning martial arts, but there are 20% of things that Ma Chao doesn't understand, which Cui An also doesn't know. However, for the 20% that Ma Chao half-understands, Cui An understands them all and explains them to Ma Chao bit by bit. This kid's brain is most useful when talking about martial arts, but not at other times.

  Ma Chao listened to Cui An's lecture and suddenly felt enlightened, that half-baked two-ten gun technique, he finally fully understood it, his gun technique improved again.

  While he was making progress, Chui An was also making progress. Chui An knew two sets of spear techniques, one set was passed down by his teacher, and the other set was created by himself, but his self-created technique was not very perfect yet. However, after watching Ma Chao's gun technique, he gradually perfected his self-created spear technique, although it was still not completely perfect, it was absolutely stronger than before.

  As a result, when the two clashed again, Ma Chao could only withstand about thirty rounds under Cui An's spear. In fact, both of them had made great progress, but they themselves didn't feel much of it.

  Before long, it was May and Ma Chao was leaving, of course with Cui An. Mrs. Liu had prepared two fine horses for them.

  Liucheng is a place with not many other things, but it has the most cattle and horses. There are many horses, but it's not easy to find a good horse. However, if you spend money, you can still buy a good one. These two high-quality horses were bought by Liu from the Qiang people at a high price, and Ma Chao and Cui An both liked them very much.

  Ma Chao hung his long spear on the horse and then got on the horse. On the other side, Cui An also hung up his painting halberd and got on the horse. In addition to the long spear, Ma Chao also brought his Snow Drinking Knife, which was wrapped in cloth and carried on his back. Of course, there were also packages, containing several sets of clothes and eight books.

  These eight books, except for the two left by Nan Hua, are also copied by Ma Teng from the six volumes written by Ma Yuan. There were some other goods in the package, and what Cui An brought was less than Ma Chao's, apart from his halberd and money, it seemed to be just a few pieces of clothing.

  They mounted their horses with these things, bid farewell to their families, and the two set off on the road. The first destination was Wu Yuan Jiu Yuan in Pingzhou, where Cui An had learned from his master, and his teacher was also buried there. Now it just so happened that it was the day to pay respects to his teacher again, and Cui An naturally went.

  Ma Chao had never been to Pingzhou before, and now that he had the chance, he would definitely go. Pingzhou was his first stop. As for where exactly to go, it didn't matter to him as long as it was in Pingzhou. But when he heard it was Wuyuan or Jiuyuan, Ma Chao's eyes lit up. If luck was on his side, he might even get to meet some famous people.

  The two of them didn't walk particularly fast, and at most they would only travel for four or five hours a day. When they got tired, they would rest for a while, traveling during the day and sleeping at night. Since they had plenty of time, there was no need to rush through the day and night. If they encountered a city at night, the two of them would enter the city to spend the night; if it was too late to enter or if they ended up in the wilderness, then they would spend the night outside the city or in the wilderness.

  In the five years of studying with Yan Zhong, Yan Zhong often took Ma Chao to spend nights in the wilderness, and he was trained early on. As for Cui An, this kid is even more formidable, and can fall asleep anywhere.

  Ma Chao and Cui An came all the way, and as a result, someone was unlucky. In the meantime, there were not many blind robbers blocking the road, but Ma Chao and Cui An's clothes were very ordinary, not like any rich master at all. But the horse was a good horse, so people basically came for the horse.

  As soon as they appeared, someone said, "You two leave the horse behind and you can go." If you resist, then stay together. At this time, before Ma Chao could say anything, Cui An directly went up, without saying a word, one spear at a time, and killed several people in just three or four moves. It was also because those people's inferior martial arts skills were no match for Cui An, a top-notch warrior. The remaining people took one look and immediately ran away.

  Such a situation occurred three times, and Ma Chao really couldn't bear it. He told Cui An that if such a thing happened again, he wouldn't need him to take action, and he would personally deal with it. Ma Chao felt that these robbers should all be forced by life and had no choice but to do so. Who has food and drink at home and still runs on the robbery path?

  What kind of bandits are these, killing people and setting fires? They're all wearing tattered clothes, holding hoes, clubs and the like. There were two or three with ring-headed knives, but they weren't rusty broken blades, just discarded junk. Can such a group be professional bandits?

  Ma Chao couldn't bear to take their lives, and Cui An was not very thoughtful in his actions, so Ma Chao didn't let him make another move. Later, they encountered such a team again, all of whom were defeated by Ma Chao alone, and they all fled in disarray.

  After experiencing these small twists and turns on the road, Ma Chao and his group finally arrived at Jiuyuan City in Wuyuan County after more than ten days. He first went to pay respects with Cui An outside Jiuyuan City to Cui An's teacher. Although Cui An usually didn't say much and wasn't fond of speaking or laughing, when paying respects to his teacher, Cui An was overcome with emotion, knocking his head repeatedly without stopping.

  Chui An is also twenty-one this year, and yet he still cries like a child. It's really not often seen. As he cried, he said, "Master, I've come to see you. I won't cause any more trouble like before. Now that I'm following the lord, you can rest assured!" It seems that Chui An has a good relationship with his teacher, otherwise he wouldn't be acting this way. This also reminded Ma Chao of Mr. Chui and his teacher Yan Zhong.

  Ma Chao hadn't seen Yan Zhong for almost a month, but it had been over five years since he'd last seen Cui Gong. Thinking of this, Ma Chao asked Cui An, who was still kowtowing on the ground, "Fuda, have you heard any news about Master Cui in recent years?"

  Cui An wiped away tears and shook his head at Ma Chao, "No, my father left home more than five years ago and there has been no news of him since." He still looked very sad, it seems Cui An also misses his own father, thought Ma Chao.

  "It's alright, don't think too much about it. Master will be back sooner or later!" Ma Chao patted Cui An's shoulder and said.

  "Good grief!" Cui An said, baring his teeth at Ma Chao in a scowl that was even uglier than crying.

  "Fuda, let's go into town, it's getting late."

  "Yes, milord!" It seemed like Cui An would always say just these few words.

  After that, the two of them got on their horses and rushed towards Jiuyuan City. After entering the city, they found a place to stay. It was like this all along the way, eating and staying in the city when they entered, buying dry rations for one or two days when they left the city to eat on the road. If the dry rations were eaten up and no town was found, then they could only go into the mountains to find food.

  Cui An was the mainstay, don't look at Ma Chao and his two men who didn't bring bows and arrows, but Cui An could bring back big game every time he entered the mountain, such as deer, wild boar, they didn't eat less, while Ma Chao could only bring back small animals like rabbits and pheasants when entering the mountain.

  Choi Ahn complained as soon as he saw him, saying that Master will not have to enter the mountain again in the future, and let me go. You went once, and we couldn't eat anything, Ma Chao had no choice but to reluctantly accept it, who made himself less skilled than others?

  They waited in Jiuyuan City for two days, but Ma Chao didn't see any notable figures. After preparing two days' worth of dry rations and water, they left Jiuyuan.

  Ma Chao spent the last two days wandering inside and outside Jiuyuan City, although he didn't see any notable figures, but it's undeniable that the people of Pingzhou are quite bold and fierce, especially in Jiuyuan City.

  It's probably because Wu Yuan is the territory of Xianbei to the north, and if Xianbei comes to attack Cao Cao, Wu Yuan County will be the first stop. The people of Jiuyuan City are even more unbearable, they are more ruthless than those in Longxi, and have surpassed them. It's really true that the environment shapes the kind of person you become, otherwise how could someone like Lü Bu emerge?

  Ma Chao left Jiuyuan Castle with a sigh of regret, accompanied by Cui An. As they journeyed to the outskirts, they suddenly heard someone shouting from behind, "Hurry up and catch them, don't let them get away!"