Chapter 24: Unexpected Changes Along the Way

  Jia Xian fell asleep and had a very sweet dream, but was a bit tired because he was tossing about in his sleep.

  Li Jue and Guo Si, the Western Liang army, received satisfactory rewards from the imperial court and obtained half of the grain and grass left behind by Lü Bu's troops in Mei Wu. With their ambitions temporarily satisfied, they did not cause too much trouble for Emperor Xian Liu and the officials of the imperial court. Moreover, due to Jia Xu's entrustment to Li Jue, the disturbance of the people was partially controlled, and a strange calm appeared in the situation within Chang'an City.

  Qin Xu is now living a very comfortable life. Since crossing over to this era, his nerves have been stretched taut, as if they would snap at any moment.

  Now it's all right, not only do we have Lao Xu and Sima Mao leading Kong Er and his gang to hunt wild game every day to satisfy their cravings, but also Brother Xu Huan's guards are by our side. Although this big brother's face has been looking not too good, at least with Xu Huan and his troops, we don't have to worry about our future and live in fear of being pursued every day.

  Xu Huan was very true to his word. After Gao Shun had been on high alert for a whole hour, the scouts sent out by Xu Huan reported that the Chang'an side had actually begun to withdraw their troops. The man who claimed to be Han Certain had also disappeared without a trace, and it was unknown where he had been taken after being brought back. The reward for pursuing Lü Bu and capturing Lü Bu's family members had also been withdrawn.

  After learning the news, Xu Huan looked at Qin Xiang like a monster for half a day before reluctantly sighing and agreeing to escort this strange group to meet Lü Bu in Hebei. He repeatedly stated that he was only temporarily helping out because of his willingness to admit defeat and his affinity with Qin Xiang, and that once they arrived in Hebei, Xu Huan and the others would return to Chang'an. As for how to explain things to Yang Feng, Xu Huan merely fell silent for a moment, without saying anything. It seems that there are many unknown stories between Xu Huan and Yang Feng.

  Qin Xu naturally agreed, but in his heart, he found Xu Huan's persistence to be both amusing and admirable. In the Three Kingdoms era, there were not many people who could stick to their ideals and stance, but each one was worthy of respect. The news brought back by Xu Huan's scouts made Yan Shi and Diao Chan, who had been worried about Lü Bu, let out a sigh of relief, and the tense atmosphere in the group was also alleviated. With Qin Xu's cooking skills being quite good, although it was just barbecue, Kong Er's enthusiasm was unstoppable, and every day's wild game was never repeated, which was truly a delicacy that would not get tired of eating in this Han Dynasty where culinary techniques were not developed. On this "fugitive" road, Yan Shi and Diao Chan's complexion had improved significantly compared to before, and Cai Yong was the most pleased, having even gained a few pounds.

  After Lü Bu and Guo Si take over Chang'an, they will soon start to withdraw their troops and indulge in pleasure. What Qin Xu is more worried about is another matter, and he doesn't know if Lü Bu has any tricks up his sleeve to deal with that person who makes even this time-traveler feel uncertain.

  But this matter can only be known after meeting Lü Bu. If it is successful, it will also repay Lü Bu's kindness.

  What made Qin Xu happy and disappointed was that he learned from Xu Huang's mouth the news of Cao Cao, who had been paying attention to him. Cao is indeed eager for talents now, and except for his own clan, Cao and Xiahou, there are very few civil officials due to Cao's background issues, which is an opportunity for Qin Xu. The disappointment is that Cao is now rushing to grab territory and is attacking Qingzhou Huangjin, and it is said that the battle situation is not good.

  Although he knew that Cao Cao would win this battle and obtain the powerful Qingzhou army, which would shake the world in the future, Qin Xu had a strange emotion swirling in his heart. He hoped that Old Cao could quickly defeat the revived Yellow Turbans and obtain the prestigious Qingzhou army, but at the same time, he wondered if Cao Cao's failure in this battle would be beneficial to Lü Bu's future.

  This contradictory emotion made Qin Xu feel depressed for several days. He often sat alone, lost in thought, secretly mocking himself for worrying about "ancient people", but thinking that he was already involved in the situation, and another wave of annoyance arose, which made even Sima Mao and Kong Er Dianzi, who were very familiar with Qin Xu, dare not disturb him easily.

  Qin Xu now has a high prestige among these people. Looking at Xu Huan's helpless face following Qin Xu, it is unknown whether this brother is really performing his duties or taking advantage of his position to enjoy good food first. But just this young man, not only used an extremely clumsy stratagem to add an almost must-lose bet, but also successfully fooled a great general who was admired by Gao Shun into becoming a guard, making the soldiers in Gao Shun's camp sigh in amazement. No wonder Qin Zhugong dared to say that he wanted to join the camp before, just this courage is enough to make people speechless.

  Qin Xu had also thought of using this opportunity to probe and figure out what connection he had with Old He, but Old He seemed to be mindful of something. Every time Qin Xu casually brought up the topic, Old He would intentionally divert the conversation to other things. After a few attempts, Qin Xu gave up and stopped thinking about it. With mixed emotions, he could only hope that Boss Cao would stabilize soon, so he could find an opportunity to rush over and make amends.

  Cai Yan has recently calmed down a lot. Perhaps because her father, Cai Yong, is no longer around, she's gradually returning to being the elegant and refined lady she once was, with an air of nobility in every word and deed. However, one thing that can't be mentioned in front of her is her nominal late husband, Wei Zhongdao - otherwise, this big sister will instantly transform into a black-bellied noblewoman, and just one glance from her can make Qin Xu involuntarily recall the scene of a beautiful woman holding a cow-ear dagger on a moonlit night, drawing a turtle on someone's head.

  Everyone, whether in spirit or body, became much more relaxed after Xu Huan joined, and they slowly made their way towards the river. However, Qin Xue's "master" Lü Linggui was acting strangely - not only had she not come to give Qin Xue lessons for several days, but every time Qin Xue asked about it, Cai Yan would blush and hurry him away from their carriage, leaving one wondering what those two were up to.

  "Qin Zhubu! It seems like there's a fight going on up ahead!" Xu Huan said to Qin Yu after hearing the scout's report, having gotten used to calling out orders with Gao Shun and others over the past few days.

  "Fight?" Qin Xu's face turned somewhat unnatural when he heard Xu Huan say this word, seemingly very angry, and curiously asked: "Or should we go take a look?"

  Qin Xu and his party had been walking for over ten days, and they were about to reach the border of Luoyang. If they continued north for another two or three days, they would arrive at the administrative center of Hebei Province. This place was where Cao Cao had once pursued Dong Zhuo and was ambushed. There were few people around, but suddenly Xu Huan said that there were people "fighting" here, which piqued Qin Xu's curiosity.

  This place is already very close to Hanoi, after discussing with Gao Shun, he also didn't ask much and agreed directly, but asked Lao Xu and Sima Mao to follow, which made Qin Xiang feel a kind of powerlessness. In the past, there was always an illusion that Gao Shun and Lü Bu seemed to be very indulgent towards Qin Xiang, as long as Qin Xiang decided on something, the two generally didn't ask much about the reason, but rather seemed to worry like parents sending their child out to play, every time they equipped Qin Xiang with enough guards to keep him safe. Lü Bu was like this, and now Gao Shun is also like this.

  Fortunately, he was already familiar with Lao Xu and others, and didn't feel any other meaning, but just before leaving, Qin Xu was made very headache by one thing.

  Lü Linggui insisted on following Qin Xu. Originally, this was nothing out of the ordinary, but since leaving Chang'an, Cai Yan had been inseparable from Lü Linggui, and recently it seemed like they shared some kind of secret, always hiding from everyone else. Now that Lü Linggui wanted to go, with her skills she would be fine, but why did Cai Yan, a delicate young lady, also love to get involved in such trouble?

  "Listen, it sounds like a real fight." Lü Linggui's complexion was much better today, and her pale melon-shaped face also had a rosy glow. She suddenly pulled the reins of her horse in front and called out to Qin Xu, who had just learned how to ride a horse.

  Qin Xu did not think that he was originally under the pressure of Lü Linggui's "lustful power" and reluctantly agreed to bring Cai Yan together, and repeatedly warned him not to bring any weapons, lest Lü Linggui would only rush to kill at that time, and the old Lü family had this legacy. If they encountered danger, Qin Xu did not want Cai Yan to repeat the mistake of being captured again.

  After a long speech, Qin Xu, who had almost been strangled to death by the two women, did not expect that the most useless one would be himself. When he saw Cai Yan elegantly stepping on the stirrup and mounting his horse with ease, and then compared it to Qin Zhongbo's struggle to get on the horse for half a day, Qin Xu felt that the prestige he had accumulated over the past few days instantly vanished. Lv Linggui laughed the most fiercely, directly saying that it seemed she still needed to strengthen her training of Qin Xu, making him cry out in distress. Even Xun Xu couldn't help but open his usually expressionless face and join in the laughter with everyone else, leaving Qin Xu completely humiliated.

  "This is terrible! There are still villagers here!" Old Xu suddenly shouted with a pale face: "These people... these people must be regular troops, they, they are slaughtering civilians? How dare these beasts do this?"

  Qin Xu, as a modern person, had experienced many things since coming here, but this was his first time seeing someone being killed. The living person under the knife light only flashed for an instant, and life was gone with it. The blood flowers spraying from the neck and the mournful, helpless cries made Qin Xu's stomach turn upside down in an instant.

  The people who fell down never got up again, some were white-haired old men, some were rural women in plain clothes, and there were even a few children with yellow hair hanging down, under the knives of a group of evil-looking men without armor but could be identified as soldiers from their behavior. These people were all killed, and the people following behind these dozen or so evil-looking men actually took out short knives and placed them on the necks of the already fallen villagers.

  Beheaded?

  This...

  "Qin Zhūbù! What's wrong with you?" Xu Huan's face was a sheet of iron, his hands gripping the reins tightly, his knuckles white with rage, but he restrained himself from chopping down these executioners who had slaughtered almost all the villagers. Qin Xiang gritted his teeth, glaring furiously at the group of villains who were laughing loudly, while Cai Yan beside him was pale-faced and trembling slightly, unsure whether it was fear or anger.

  Lü Linggui was already furious, previously she had only heard that Wei Xun killed the good and took credit for it, to this little girl it was just an unpleasant term, but today seeing the real scene made Lü Linggui regret not bringing her weapon out.

  "What a chaotic world!" Qin Xu gritted his teeth and squeezed out these two words. A deep sense of powerlessness suddenly struck Qin Xu, wiping away the laziness and sense of superiority he had gradually developed over the past few days as a transmigrator.

  Living people, innocent people, were killed and then beheaded to report their achievements! Whose army is this?

  Even Wei Xun's continuous killing of good people and usurping of merit can make Lv Bu, who was notoriously cruel in history, think of the great righteousness of killing his relatives. Then, who are the descendants of these evil men?

  No!

  No matter who!

  Qin Xu felt a sense of responsibility from the depths of his heart. Suddenly, he had a feeling of clarity and understanding.

  Right!

  No matter who!

  Since it has changed Cai Yan's history! Changed Chang'an's history! Changed Lü Bu's history!

  Then,

  You people who regard human life as worthless, you people who secretly manipulate others behind their backs, no matter who you are, I, Qin Xu, will help erase your history!