Chapter 20: Hai Pig Si Snake

  Gan Hei Na's knife stopped at the back of Shi Xun's neck, almost scraping off a layer of skin. Suddenly, he heard the young man exclaim: "Big sister!" Confused, he tilted his head for the third time and asked: "What is this again?" The translator also hesitated: "This... might be a dialect or slang, I don't understand it either..."

  Guan Hai put away his knife and pointed at Shi Xun, saying: "How about it? Can you speak now?" Just then, a little girl named Luo Li shouted from the side: "Dare to deceive my father, kill both of them!" The two she referred to were probably Shi Xun and his brother Shi Jun.

  He hadn't thought of an explanation yet, but Guan Hai waved his hand: "He's not deceiving me." Looking around at the crowd, he said calmly: "I've seen this kind of thing before. Some people lose their parents, some people lose their children, and for a while, they're stunned and can't speak. Not even Da Xianliang's sacred water can cure it. Ah, Da Xianliang is truly a god! He called that person over and lectured him, and he was able to speak immediately. The old man also told us: 'You people don't have the divine power of lecturing. If you encounter this kind of illness, try scaring them. When they're at their wit's end, on the verge of death, even a mute person can shout a few times, let alone someone who was originally able to speak.' Today we tried it out, and Da Xianliang's teachings are truly brilliant!"

  It's Xun Xin who said, "I'm speechless, I couldn't even come up with a good excuse myself, and you've already solved the problem. How is this possible? What, Zhang Jiao cured dumbness by lecturing on Taoism, is he a psychologist or something?

  "Really?" Roli was still a bit confused, "In that case, let's not kill them for now and let them shout instead."

  "Alright, let's forget it. As the great teacher said, a loyal minister is just a pile of dung, but a filial son deserves respect. This kid cried his throat hoarse because his father died, he's a filial son, so we won't make him shout slogans anymore." He pointed at Jian: "And this one, daring to block the way in front of his brother, helping to plead for mercy, quite righteous, let's pardon him too."

  He was originally holding on with a hard breath, but after hearing this, his whole body went soft and he leaned against Shi Xun's shoulder, almost pulling Shi Xun down with him. On the verge of life and death, Shi Xun didn't collapse, but he felt his forehead throbbing, his bones trembling, and his internal organs tightening, as if he was having a nightmare.

  Guan Hai pointed at Zheng Yi: "You come and shout." Zheng Yi's legs were still trembling, his neck was stiff, but he still gritted his teeth and refused: "I won't shout, kill me if you want to."

  Guan Hai sneered coldly: "Good, you have backbone, I like it! Now I'll give you a quick death." The big knife was raised again. Just as Xun Zai was about to die, he suddenly had a wild idea, shrugged his shoulders, shook off Si Jun, and stepped forward to block Zheng Yi's path: "This is the son of Zheng Kangcheng, you can't kill him!"

  "Zheng Kangcheng?" Guan Hai was taken aback, "Is it Zheng Xuan, Mr. Zheng from Gaomi?"

  It is recorded in the "Book of Later Han" that Zheng Xuan once took refuge in Xuzhou and when he returned to his hometown, he encountered the Yellow Turban Army. As a result, after reporting his name, the Yellow Turbans all bowed their heads and knelt down, seeing him off without anyone daring to disturb him. I have always been skeptical of this record. Zheng Xuan was not some kind of upright and incorruptible official who had directly bestowed favors on the common people. He was just a scholar, how could the Yellow Turbans know his name and respect him so much? Is this possible?

  But after hearing Guan Yu's words about "loyal ministers are worthless, filial sons are to be respected", he felt that he couldn't underestimate these Yellow Turbans too much. Zhang Jiao's political slogan was to change the sky and earth, change the dynasty, not to kill all corrupt officials and landlords, maybe the contradictions between them and the scholars were not so thorough and irreconcilable after all. Moreover, in this small group of Yellow Turbans in front of him, there was actually a "translator" who was not a pure rustic bumpkin, maybe if he mentioned Zheng Xuan's name, it would have some effect.

  Anyway, Guan Hai just finished saying he wouldn't kill him, but because of a sentence of advice, the possibility of suddenly changing his mind and not recognizing people isn't zero, but it shouldn't be high. If by chance Guan Hai listened to his words and spared Zheng Yi, then wouldn't he have established a connection with the Zheng family? After returning alive, asking Zheng Yi to put in a good word for him, so that Zheng Xuan would accept him as an apprentice, shouldn't be entirely impossible, right? Even if Guan Hai didn't listen, saying "Who is Zheng Kangcheng again?" or "Zheng Xuan's son is just a mediocre scholar", the worst that could happen is - "I just said it like that, hero, please go ahead."

  He nodded slightly after sizing up Zheng Yi for a while: "So you're the young master of Mr. Zheng, no wonder you have such a strong presence... The young master of Mr. Zheng is not someone to be trifled with..." Just as he finished speaking, he suddenly let out a loud shout: "Next!"

  The next was Wang Sheng's family slave, his master had already died, and he immediately knelt down on the ground, shouting slogans three times in a row, then begged Guan Hai: "I couldn't protect my young master's life, going back is also death, I'm willing to rebel with you, please General accept me."

  He patted his shoulder: "Alright. But we are not rebelling, our Yellow Turbans are for overthrowing this man-eating heaven and building a peaceful world of yellow heaven! The heavenly way is cyclical, the blue heaven will die, and the yellow heaven should be established. This is the heavenly intention, it is the heavenly decree, it is the order of Zhong Huang Tai Yi!"

  At this time, someone ordered the house slaves to take him away and brainwash him... no, comfort him. Finally, he stood in front of Wang Zhong: "And you, are you willing to shout?"

  Wang Zhong rolled his eyes: "I won't shout, nor am I willing to die."

  "Unbelievable! You don't want to be a eunuch and you also don't want to die? Is there such a wonderful thing in this world?"

  Wang Zhong replied to him: "My father, Guo Ziyi, is the commander of Gaomi, actually serving as the chief secretary of the state, and is a pillar of Beihai. The arrangements in the prefecture are all in someone's pocket, I am willing to exchange this for my life."

  Before Guan Yu could ask any questions, the "interpreter" hastily came forward to explain: "He says his father is the deputy magistrate of Gaomi County and his actual job is as the chief clerk of Beihai State. He's a trusted subordinate of that old scoundrel Kong Rong. So he knows all about the arrangements made by the prefecture to defend against us, and hopes to use this information to save his own skin."

  "Alright," Guan Hai sneered, "if it's true, I'll spare your life. But if you dare to deceive me, hey, I won't chop off your head, but I'll flay you alive!" He ordered his subordinates: "Take him aside and interrogate him thoroughly."

  He pushed Wang Zhong to interrogate the intelligence, and Xun, Jun, Zheng Yi, and Shen Yuan were still tied together in a bundle, stuck in the siege of the Yellow Turbans. No one dared to raise their head or speak. Xun was thinking about when Guan Yu would let him go. Suddenly, he felt a gentle breeze on his cheek, turned his head, and saw a delicate little face facing him, less than ten centimeters away. As he turned his head, the two noses almost collided.

  It turned out to be Guan Hai's daughter, that little Lori - he was puzzled, how could a big man like Guan Hai give birth to such a delicate girl? Lori leaned in and blew air on Zai Xun's face, looked at him turning his head around, raised her slender eyebrows, sparkled with apricot eyes wide open, and said in a low voice: "Little boy, you hurt both of us, today Dad said not to kill you, but I have to leave some marks on you, to avenge them!"

  Xiong had just put on a heroic act, and it wasn't good to soften up at this time. He stubbornly changed the subject: "You should be younger than me, what's your name?"

  Loli exerted a bit of effort with her small mouth, and suddenly, with the speed of lightning, she drew out a copper-tipped arrow from behind her back. With a "puff" sound, it pierced into Shi Xun's thigh. Before Shi Xun could even finish his scream, Loli pulled out the arrow, which was now stained with blood, and stabbed it into his shoulder once again.

  Xī Zài cì dà jiào, zhè huí zhōng yú jīng dòng le zhèng zài yī páng wèn huà de Guǎn Gāi, tái qǐ tóu lái, hè yī shēng: "Sì ér nǐ zuò shén me?"

  "Dad, don't worry," Lori replied with a self-satisfied smile. "I won't kill him, I'll just let some of his blood out."

  "Stop messing around! This rich family's young master is frail and weak, if he loses a bit of blood he might die. I promised not to kill him, do you want Father's words to be worthless and get punished by Zhong Huang Tai Yi? Quickly bandage his wound."

  Loli pouted, muttering: "It's not that easy to die..." She beckoned to the ruffian beside her: "You come..." Suddenly, she heard Guan Hai shout loudly: "You hurt him yourself, you bandage him!"

  Although his shoulders and thighs were aching to the point of cramping, he couldn't help but think that little Lori's pouting face was still quite cute... Hmm, not sure if it's just normal male instinct or something else. He saw Lori reluctantly muttering to herself, then somehow producing a long strip of gauze from who-knows-where, biting it with her front teeth and tearing it into two pieces. Before bandaging the wound, she first pressed on the area around the injury with her fingers: "Does it hurt? Are you going to cry again?"

  It hurts so much that he's gasping for air, but he refuses to admit defeat in front of Lori, gritting his teeth and forcing out words from between them: "Hurt... hurt your sister..."

  Loli was bandaging his wound while asking him, "What's with 'your sister' again?" Xi Yun was full of resentment and replied casually, "You're my sister." Immediately after, he let out a hiss and took another deep breath - Little Loli was poking at his wound again.

  It was a struggle to grit his teeth and get bandaged up - without even using alcohol for disinfection, who knows if it'll get infected... Hmm, in this era there's no alcohol, so fire... forget it. Just then he heard Little Luo Li whispering to him: "You remember, my dad is born in the year of the pig, so his name is Guan Hai, and I'm born in the year of the snake, so my name is Guan Si... if you have the guts, come find me for revenge!"

  Guan Si, it turns out that it wasn't "four" but this "Si" character, really a poisonous... shiny silver ring snake. Xun Ku was smiling wryly and shaking his head: "What's the point of revenge? Let's just call it even." Guan Si glared at him fiercely: "Even your sister!"

  The Yellow Turbans held them captive for a whole night, until the next morning when they finally untied their bonds and let them go. The five young masters were both hungry and thirsty, with sore bodies all over, supporting each other as they walked down the mountain. Not until they had left the mountain pass and turned around to see that there was no sign of the Yellow Turbans anywhere did Shen Yuan stutter: "Matters are urgent... shouting a few empty words doesn't count... I am cursing these evil bandits in my heart——Zichun, how could you tell those thieves about the arrangements within our country?"

  Wang Zhongchao rolled his eyes: "Someone is going to the capital to confess - Guan Hai, as the leader of the Yellow Turbans, brought a dozen or so people into the country secretly, must be here to gather information. I'll tell him the truth, and he may not dare to have any more ambitions. Besides, when he returns to Langya to mobilize troops to attack, it will take some time, and redeployment should also come in time."

  Xie Xun listened to his words and nodded silently - this kid is still quite clever, these words are not just making excuses for himself, but indeed have some insight. He very well understood the intention behind Shen Yuan's questioning of Wang Zhong - it was all about shirking responsibility and finding someone to share the blame, hoping that everyone would become like ants on a rope, unable to move independently. So he spoke up: "We don't need to explain this humiliation when we return, lest others misunderstand."

  "Yes, yes," Shen Yuan nodded repeatedly, "If those reckless words are brought up again, ignorant people will think that we all shouted our way out and managed to escape."

  "No need to mention those," Xun hastily said, "just say that the Yellow Turbans admired Zheng Kangcheng's name and therefore let us go."

  Suddenly, with a "ripping" sound, Zheng Yi tore off a long strip of cloth from his collar and threw it in front of Shen Yuan, saying in a deep voice: "In the presence of my father, I must tell you the truth. Although we made an agreement at the beginning to keep our mouths shut, from now on, let's break off all relations and never meet again!" Then Wang Zhong also tore off a piece of cloth from his collar and threw it in front of Shen Yuan, without saying a word, he supported Zheng Yi and left first.

  "You, you all..." Shen Yuan's face was cold as he stamped his foot repeatedly, "Why be so pretentious!"

  It's Xun Xin who said, being afraid of death isn't a crime, I almost shouted out that slogan yesterday too. He patted Shen Yuan's shoulder and said, "Everyone has their own ambitions, Brother Shen doesn't need to blame them either. Let's go, we must head back to the county town, the road is still very long...

  I am the happy dividing line

  Today, I got a recommendation for the main station's six-frequency advertisement (although it's just text, but who made me not have a cover yet), I'm really happy, thank you to the editor. It is said that after posting this kind of advertisement, the number of recommended votes and collections will "soar" up, don't know if it's true or false?

  So, to celebrate, I'll add one more update. By the way, are there any book friends who would like to play the role of non-historical NPCs in the book? For example, the interpreter in these two chapters will probably appear again later...