This guy is not Ma Chao

  The sky outside Gaozong City is very blue, and the air is filled with a faint scent of grass.

  Completely different from the bleak grayness everywhere in my previous life, I deeply felt the beauty and happiness of people's lives over 1800 years ago. Although Xiliang itself is a poor mountainous area with bad water, belonging to the kind of place where people are not talented, land is not spiritual, chickens do not lay eggs, and birds do not drop dung, but this environment is really exceptionally good!

  "Master, let me find it for you," With a neigh of the horse, my playmate Zhao Cheng, who was only four or five years older than me, jumped down from his horse. He said with an urgent expression, "Today is the day Master officially teaches you the ancestral spear technique, why are you still out here hunting birds? Master has already waited for as long as it takes to drink a cup of tea! Daigongzi told me to come and hurry you up, if you don't come, Master will have to discipline you..."

  "Wait a bit longer, just wait." I waved my hand and replied casually, "Let me shoot him a few more arrows..."

  My attention followed a small bird flying in mid-air, and the Western-style small crossbow in my hand bent into a full moon. With a "whoosh" sound, a small feathered arrow shot out from the bowstring.

  In the distance, a faint neighing of horses was heard, followed by a crisp "ting" sound. The small arrow I shot out was actually split in two by an arrow shot from the other side! The little bird was suddenly startled by the airflow stirred up by the arrow and flapped its wings rapidly, disappearing from sight in the blink of an eye.

  My anger suddenly flared up, I drew the bow and shot an arrow in the direction of the approaching person. This arrow was small, but compared to shooting birds just now, I used ten times more force.

  "Is the young master angry again?" The newcomer saw me release an arrow with all my might, smiled slightly, and didn't dodge. Instead, he leaned forward, and when the arrow was less than a foot away from his waist, he twisted his waist, and my small arrow "whooshed" into the quiver at his waist.

  This man, though dressed in armor, had an air of refinement about him that was unmistakable. He was none other than my father's deputy, Pang Yi. Behind him, not far away, a blue-maned horse was carrying a young man who was running towards us at a steady pace. The young man was Pang Yi's second son, and he would one day become the great general of Xiliang, Pang De, also known as Second Brother Pang.

  When I was four years old, my parents allowed me to play with the children of Father's subordinates. After that, I often went to find him, but this person has a gloomy personality and a strange temper. He is always alone, silently riding horses outside the city. Although he is only three years older than me, it feels like there is a generation gap between us. Is this because my charm as a reincarnated person from the 21st century is lower than Ma Chao's? No way! In order to unify the world and live a happy and peaceful life in the future, I must win over Pang De. Otherwise, relying solely on these people from the Ma family, it's estimated that we won't even be able to defeat Han Sui's eight elite soldiers in the future.

  Pang Tong's abilities are unknown to me in the Central Plains, but in Xiliang, he is absolutely the first person who can be called a versatile talent - because... Ma Teng and his sworn brother Han Sui are both genuine rough men - so they have gained the trust of the old man. Although he is the old man's subordinate, the old man treats him like a brother, and his relationship with the entire Ma family is extremely close.

  When my elder sister Ma Wen was born, the Ma and Pang families agreed that she would be married to Pang De in the future. This Pang De is also the brother-in-law of Ma Chao, but I really didn't know about it. Although Pang Yi's personality is kind and generous, he has always been strict with his children, even with me, not giving me a good face; my mother loves me dearly, but whenever she encounters the golden combination of Father and Pang Yi, she can only let them educate me. So, seeing Father isn't scary, what's scary is being seen by the smiling Pang Yi...

  Pang Yi's legs lightly clamped together, and the galloping horse slowed down its pace, stopping in front of me with a few gentle thuds.

  "If you're free, let Pang teach you some of the Pang family's gun techniques," he said with a slight smile. "How about practicing with De'er?"

  Pang De immediately reined in his horse, held up the long spear in his hand, and said very respectfully: "Please, Young Master."

  I hastily made a sideways movement, urging the horse to jump behind Zhao Cheng's horse. I made a fist at Pang Yi and said, "Uncle Pang, sorry about this, my father is going to formally teach me gun techniques today, so I'll take my leave first." Then I whispered to Zhao Cheng, "What are you still dazing around for? Hurry up and go!"

  Zhao Cheng saluted Pang Yi with a slight bow, then spurred his horse and galloped back. I'd better go back to studying Ma Chao's spear techniques honestly, after all, I couldn't tarnish Ma Chao's reputation.

  This time, in order to avoid Father, we ran a bit far, and when we rushed back to the Ma Mansion, it was almost noon.

  I went straight into the martial arts arena, where my elder sister Ma Wen was practicing a small spear move by move. Father sat at the north end with a gloomy face, and Mother was sitting beside him. As soon as I saw Mother, I felt more confident.

  Old Dad heard the hoofbeats getting closer, staring at me as I jumped off the horse and landed on the ground. He slowly straightened up, grabbed a wooden long gun from the gun rack with one hand, and threw it straight at me, looking like he used about five or six tenths of his strength.

  What! Is this a momentary impulse of passion to murder one's own child?!

  After all, I've been playing in Xiliang for eight years, and I haven't learned any profound internal power. At least I still know some light body skills! I took advantage of the momentum to touch the gun body, and with a slight force on my toes, I borrowed the force to retreat backwards, dissipating the gun's energy into thin air. Only then did I walk onto the stage, holding up the gun and bowing to Old Master, saying in a serious and solemn tone: "Thank you, General Xie, for bestowing this gun upon me."

  Old man heard this, suddenly anger disappeared, mother in the back is also laughing out loud, my heart is more settled: see Ben Shao Ye still has some humor cells, one sentence only, this Western cool leopard child has nothing to say, it seems that today there is no big deal, just learn a few tricks to get through.

  Old Dad adjusted his facial expression, clearing his throat with a light cough - it seemed that this cough had become an essential action for people of some status, and even Old Dad in the remote border town had contracted this bad habit, pitiful indeed. Only then did he say: "Chao'er, you're eight years old this year, actually a bit late already. Your dad started practicing guns at six years old, if not for your mom being sentimental about you, I would have let you start handling guns at three years old... Cough, Dad saying this is also out of frustration, just remember that's all. Starting today, every day you must practice the ancestral gun method for at least three hours, one hour each in the morning, noon, and evening, until you can defeat your older sister, then reduce it by an hour. When you catch up with me, that's when you'll be considered somewhat accomplished. Do you understand?"

  I was suddenly chilled to the bone!

  Three periods of time is just six hours, this year and month, daytime is only that much time, at night there's no light, isn't it obvious they don't want me to go out and have fun?! And big sister Ma Wen, although she's only two years older than me, has already been practicing for two years, but during puberty, girls develop so much faster than boys... It seems like I won't have a good life in the next three or four years, no way! I can't just sit and wait for death!

  I looked at my mother with pleading eyes, and her gaze quickly softened. After all, a mother's heart is connected to her child's. Although I'm from the 21st century, my mother said to my father, "Shoucheng, isn't three times a day a bit too much? Chaoer is still young after all..."

  "No way!" Father's words were extremely resolute and unyielding, without any room for compromise. "Yun'er has been practicing three hours a day since she was eight years old, rain or shine, never stopping. I just told Dai'er the same thing. And my son - Ma Chao," he said, turning to me with a stern gaze mixed with a hint of warmth, "you're a man, are you going to always lose to your sister and younger brother?"

  Looking at my father's strange eyes, I felt a sudden tremble in my heart: I had never known that Ma Teng, the rough man from Xiliang, actually had such an unimaginable gentle and loving side! Through his firm eyes, I once again vaguely sensed a hint of worry and trouble. What was making him worried and troubled? Was there something on this vast land of Xiliang that made my old father unhappy?

  What's going on?

  His name suddenly popped into my mind, accompanied by a chill.

  What's going on?!

  In my previous life, I happened to glance over Ma Chao's biography and knew that after joining Liu Bei, he died of illness in just a few years. Before his death, he entrusted Ma Dai to Liu Bei and passed away at the age of 47. Later, his young son and unknown grandchildren inherited his title, achieved nothing, and waited for Deng Ai and Zhong Hui to enter Chengdu.

  I also remember that before Cao Cao's war with the Western Liang nobles, there was a spark between Ma Teng and Han Sui. The specific reason is unclear, but it was probably due to uneven distribution of interests. As a result, Han Sui attacked and captured Ma Teng's capital city, slaughtering his wife and ending the conflict. This small spark directly led to Ma Teng seeking protection from Cao Cao in Central China. However, when Cao Cao targeted Western Liang with the intention of attacking Hanzhong, Ma Chao led the remaining forces of his father and Han Sui to cooperate again, unite with the nobles of Guanzhong, and jointly rebel against Cao Cao. This enraged Cao Cao, who executed Ma Teng, Ma Xiu, and Ma Tie in the capital city, then defeated the combined forces of Ma Chao and Han Sui, forcing Ma Chao to flee and surrender to other regional lords, beginning a life of tragic fate.

  However, at the time when Han Sui attacked Ma Teng, Ma Chao should have been around 20 years old. This year I am only eight years old, and there are still more than ten years to allow me to practice my ancestral spear technique well. Although it is difficult to say what great use it will be, using strong martial arts to defend oneself is much better than having no ability at all.

  I will work hard to practice my marksmanship, and in the future I want to become Old Master Ma's trusted assistant, to help our Ma family resist all external enemies.

  When I don't want my family members to be killed by others, all I can do is cry.

  I want... to hold up the sky of the Ma family.