Chapter 36 What Disease

  Long Fei led Zhao Yun, Gao Shun, Zhang Liao, Ta Lun and Wang Wei into the room, where they exchanged greetings with Xu Rong. Although a school lieutenant was not a high-ranking official, he was already quite impressive in the eyes of soldiers. The squad leader nodded and bowed, repeatedly paying respects to several school lieutenants. Xu Rong waved his hand: "A pack of nonsense! A single arrow can shake open the city gate? Who has ever seen such a thing!"

  Zhao Yun turned his head to look at the man, and with one glance, he saw the bow and arrow in the man's hand. He hastily stepped forward: "May I ask this gentleman, is this bow made by Nongyuji?"

  Yongyoubi, Longfei knows. Also known as Yangyouji, he was born in the 7th century BC and was a famous general of the Chu State. He was originally a member of the palace guard of King Zhuang of Chu and later served as the commander of the royal stables. He was born in Nourishing Family Village, two miles north of ancient Ling Village, Chu State. From a young age, he was skilled at archery, and the idiom "hitting the target 100 paces away" refers to him. "He would often crouch down and shoot, piercing seven layers, earning him the nickname 'divine'." He could catch four arrows shot from different directions with his hands and draw a bow that required a thousand jin of force, earning him the title of "divine archer". All these were learned in shooting class. What's special about Nourishing Family's bow?

  He nodded and presented the bow with both hands in front of Zhao Yun: "Sir has a good eye, it is indeed the Nurturing Bow!"

  Zhao Yun gently stroked it for a long time, then returned the bow to that person and turned to face Xu Rong and others: "The Nourishing Bow is made of bamboo, wood, copper, iron, and cow tendon. The bows made now are not less than 100 catties in strength, but that bow...". Zhao Yun pointed at the bow in that person's hand and continued: "That bow has been around for a long time, with the character 'ji' carved on its back. If I'm not mistaken, it was used by Nourishing Bow itself, which is the real Nourishing Bow! One arrow shot out only shook several soldiers, which can be considered as that person showing mercy. If he had used his full strength, these people would have died without a doubt!"

  "What?" Long Fei also felt exaggerated. The bow and arrow were fast, but they couldn't be faster than bullets, right? Such a large city gate, one arrow could shake a person to death, what was the point of using engineering machinery?

  Xu Rong also didn't believe it: "Lord Zhao is exaggerating, isn't he? According to Lord Zhao's words, can a single bow and arrow really breach the city walls?"

  Zhao Yun nodded: "Not bad! If there is a genuine Nouryoukyuu bow, it can attack the city! Of course, I'm talking about a truly genuine Nouryoukyuu bow, and there might only be one in this world! My master once said that to draw the Nouryoukyuu bow, you need not only astonishing arm strength but also special techniques. It's not something anyone can do just because they want to, even if they have arm strength of a thousand jin, it would still be useless!"

  "Easy to say, but you still need arm strength to draw this bow!" Long Fei looked at the man. He was about 40 years old, quite tall and large, but not burly, didn't seem like someone with extraordinary arm strength: "With this gentleman, it seems..."

  "Cough!" Gao Shun deliberately coughed: "Several adults, we are here to deal with the matter of breaking into the city, it seems like we've gone off topic!"

  "Right, right, right......, storming the city, storming the city!"

  That man knelt down on both knees, constantly kowtowing to the few people: "Your Honor, I'm Huang Zhong, a humble commoner. It's not intentional that I rushed into the city, it's really helpless, please forgive me!"

  Long Fei was petrified in an instant. As for the Three Kingdoms era, brave generals were as common as clouds and strategists as plentiful as rain, but it's not like they're running all over the streets! Today, I encountered two brave generals in a row, one of the Five Elite Generals, Xu Huang, and one of the Five Tiger Generals, Huang Zhong. To think that Cao Cao and Liu Bei took more than a year or two to encounter these two great generals, what kind of bad luck did I run into?

  Huang Zhong was originally from Nanyang, and served as a minor official in Changsha County. Although his archery skills were remarkable, he did not receive recognition from his superiors, and after joining the army for over twenty years, he was still only a deputy captain. The chaos throughout the land was actually a good opportunity for him to achieve success and fame, but unfortunately, he was held back by his son and did not appear in the troops fighting against the Yellow Turbans. Huang Zhong's son, Huang Xu, had been ill since childhood, and his wife Liu died early, leaving only Huang Zhong and his son dependent on each other. This time, they came to Luoyang, but it is unknown where they heard that the divine doctor Hua Tuo was in Luoyang, so they hastily resigned from their official posts and traveled thousands of miles to come here.

  Upon hearing this, Long Fei's heart was filled with joy. He thought that as long as he saved Huang Zu, Huang Zhong would definitely surrender to him. With Huang Zhong's archery skills, he would have a strong foundation. Adding Zhao Yun and Xu Huan to the mix, haha... Long Fei couldn't stop laughing maniacally in his heart. He hastily said to Xu Rong: "Xu sir, it seems that this matter has a good reason behind it. This Huang fellow is also forced by circumstances. What do you think? I'll give each of these injured brothers 1,000 coins to cover their medical expenses, and we can just consider the matter settled?"

  On the market, one dou of rice is only five coins, and a thousand coins are not a small number. An ordinary family can live for half a year with that amount. Those injured soldiers naturally agreed. Xu Rong and Long Fei were both newly appointed as the eight schools of Xiyuan. With Zhao Yun, Zhang Liao and others pleading for mercy, Xu Rong also agreed. Huang Zhong thanked him profusely, and he was able to continue treating his son's illness after escaping this ordeal.

  Followed Longfei back to the Western Garden, and settled down. Before Huang Zhong could speak, Longfei immediately sent Talen to Wang Yun's mansion to invite Hua Tuo. Upon seeing Hua Tuo, Huang Zhong knelt down with a normal voice and kept kowtowing to Longfei and Hua Tuo. Hua Tuo carefully examined Huang Xu's body. The child was not very old, only fifteen or sixteen years old. He had been troubled by illness for many years and had become emaciated, leaving only a skeleton.

  Hua Tuo pondered for a long time: "This child was born prematurely, so he is weak, and because his mother died early, he never had a drop of breast milk, which led to many illnesses. In these years, although he has been treated by many doctors, he hasn't met a good doctor, and the timing has been missed... Ah..."

  "Divine doctor, please save my child! As long as you can save my child's life, I am willing to repay your kindness by being a cow or a horse!" Huang Zhong knelt on the ground again, his eyes filled with tears: "My family has only one son for four generations, and now he is all that's left. If he dies, our family line will be cut off!"

  Hua Tuo ignored Huang Zhong and turned his face to look at Long Fei, saying: "Do you think this illness can be cured?"

  When Huang Zhong took down Huang Xu from his back, he saw Huang Xu's thin body like a withered wood, and also saw that his left leg and right hand were shaped like chicken claws. Long Fei already had a preliminary guess. Hua Tuo asked, and Long Fei said: "It's not difficult to save him, but saving him would make him a useless person!"

  "Son!" Huang Zhong rushed to the bed, hugging Huang Xu and wailing loudly. Huang Xu, who had not spoken until now, said softly: "Dad, don't cry, it's my fault for burdening you, just pretend I'm not your son!"

  Huang Zhong fell to the ground beside Hua Tuo: "Divine doctor, I beg of you, please save my child, I beg of you!" With tears streaming down his face, a big man cried like this, and everyone present saw it for the first time. The father-son relationship moved everyone, and they all turned their faces away. Long Fei pulled Huang Zhong up: "Huang Zuo Shi, I have a suggestion, I don't know if you can accept it?"

  Huang Zhong wiped away his tears and looked at Long Fei. Long Fei glanced at Huang Xu on the couch and said to Huang Zhong, "What I just said was that I didn't have confidence in curing him. Since he has already made up his mind to die, why not let me try? If it can't be cured, it's the child's fate; if there's a turn for the better, it's also his fate!"

  Huang Zhong looked at Long Fei, then at Huang Xu on the couch, and finally at Hua Tuo. Hua Tuo chuckled: "Don't underestimate him, this kid's medical skills are quite impressive! Hehe, Huang Zongshi, let him try, I'd like to see it too! Don't worry, I can guarantee your son's safety!"

  Huang Zhong pondered for a moment, looking at Huang Xu lying on the couch. Huang Xu struggled to sit up, and Huang Zhong hastily supported him. Huang Xu said: "Dad! I'd rather die than live like this, why not take a gamble? If I die, we'll both be free; if I recover, it's because our father-son bond isn't over yet! Dad, just agree!"

  The sky had grown dark, and after a day of rushing about, everyone was somewhat tired. Wang Wei prepared some food, and the few people ate a few mouthfuls. Gao Shun and Zhang Liao stood up to take their leave, while Zhao Yun and Taren also went to sleep. Only three people were left in the house: Hua Tuo, Long Fei, and Wang Wei. As Wang Wei was clearing away the cups and dishes, he said, "We've got one thing unsettled and another cropping up - the White Wolf Valley business hasn't been resolved yet. You've kept the Huang father and son here; can you manage this?"

  Long Fei said, "There are many things to do, but there is a distinction between what's urgent and what can wait. Don't worry about it, I know how to handle it!" He turned his head towards Hua Tuo and said, "Old man, for the next few days, please focus on saving that child first. After I've eliminated White Wolf Valley, I'll let you treat him again! At most, three days!"

  Hua Tuo nodded: "Alright! This child's illness is not a matter of one day or one night, nor is it urgent at the moment."

  The next day, everyone got up early. Gao Shun and Zhang Liao also arrived early. Hua Tuo and Wang Wei went to treat Huang Xu's illness, while Long Fei invited Gao Shun and Zhang Liao into the house and discussed the White Wolf Valley matter, but everyone was at a loss for what to do. Long Fei had boasted about it, but still hadn't thought of a plan.

  Zhang Liao said: "I think it's better to go and borrow troops from Taishi and attack strongly!"

  "If we start a fight and suffer heavy losses, those bandits on the mountain will also hate us and naturally won't join us. Then how can we gather our troops?" Zhao Yun hastily said.

  "Since it's hard, then we can only come up with a softer approach!" Long Fei narrowed his eyes: "I'm planning to go to White Wolf Valley today to check out the situation, let's talk about anything else when I get back tonight!"

  "I'm going with you!" Zhang Liao immediately stood up.

  Long Fei shook his head: "I'll sneak up alone, too many people will easily expose us, one person is enough, you all just wait here for my good news!"

  Everyone repeatedly asked to accompany Long Fei, but he refused. He knew that this group of people were excellent at charging and killing enemies, but they were not good at gathering intelligence and getting straight to the point. Bringing them along would not only be of no help, but might also put himself in danger. It was better to go solo.

  After finishing breakfast, Long Fei set off alone on horseback. The speed of the wind was very fast, and thirty miles passed in an instant. Standing at the entrance of White Wolf Valley, Long Fei looked up at the three big mountains. Luoyang is located on a plain, and these mountains are not particularly high, but they are connected to each other, with some places being extremely steep, and the surrounding forests are dense, making it necessary to be extremely careful when climbing.

  Down the Malay. Long Fei took down the dagger borrowed from Wang Wei, grasping it in his hand. A palm patted on the buttocks of Yu Feng: "Give you half a day off, come back here before dark!" Watching Yu Feng walk far away, Long Fei looked at the path, crouched and drilled into the forest.