Vol 1 Chapter 3 (2/2)
Nods.
As I watched them leave, only when I saw the rearguard did I relax.
Looks like we avoided it…
I nodded with relief at Yun Chang and Yi De and the 2 also nodded back showing they understood–
“A good chance, kill!!” Yi De yelled out.
“Everyone charge forth with me!!” Yun Chang roared as well.
The yellow turban-less Yellow Turban army were completely take unawares by the several hundred men behind who charged into their midst all of a sudden and their formation soon descended into disarray.
“…” I was completely in a daze. “Oi! Yi De! Yun Chang! I didn’t… No, it’s too far, they won’t hear me.”
I pulled on the reins but couldn’t get the horse to move. And so I stood there dumbfounded as I saw the slaughter before me.
Shouts, violence and cries filled my ears. Blood and flesh were flowing and thrown about so much that I could not differentiate between pieces of meat and humans.
I wanted to get off the horse but I knew that, faced with such a b.l.o.o.d.y sight, my legs had long gone soft.
The ending went without saying, we won, because we killed the general first (the farmer on a horse) and our losses were few. The other side’s losses were few either as they had scattered and escaped, with some surrendering to us.
(TL: It might seem unrealistic but you must understand that this is an era where losing a general is far more detrimental than in modern warfare as the general is oftentimes the sole decision maker. Moreover, these were farmers, not professional soldiers.)
(TL: In the original, Liu Bei did indeed face off against Cheng Yuan Zhi in a place near Zhuo commandery and used ambus.h.i.+ng tactics as well to win. But there were other named partic.i.p.ants, and of course, none of these comedic events took place.)
“Big brother, the 2 of us killed the enemy’s grand marshal and field marshal, and the enemy descended into total chaos.” Yi De said excitedly at the camp at night.
“Didn’t you 2 say you don’t know martial arts?” I said coldly.
“Yeah, but the other side doesn’t know either right?” Yi De’s excitement was not dampened in the least.
“So-called martial arts, doesn’t necessarily need formalised training. In my opinion martial arts is the crystallisation of one’s bravery and mine triumphed his, so I won, that’s all.” Yun Chang said as she read a string bound book. She stopped and looked at me, “What’s wrong big brother, you look terrible.”
(TL: This is actually not more far-fetched compared to the original fiction as it’s actually quite weird how the original Zhang Fei and Guan Yu could fight so well. There is no doc.u.mented history or even mention of their lives in the fiction version before they met Liu Bei. Given Liu Bei’s status as a through and through peasant/villager, it is very likely that the 2 of them were unremarkable peasants/villagers as well.)
“Maa, it’s the first time I met with that sort of situation.” I laughed helplessly, “I didn’t feel anything when I saw it on TV before but seeing it right in front of me has left me with nothing but feelings of disgust.”
“It’s my first time too.” Yi De said nonchalantly.
“Eh?”
“By the way, it is my first time as well.” Yun Chang looked at me, “… Do you think we are both mad?”
I only regained my senses when I heard her finish, and realised that I was looking at them like I saw some weirdoes and hurriedly turned away and denied what she said.
“Big brother, don’t you know? Being able to survive in present times is a privilege.” Yi De said in a serious tone, unlike her usual carefree one, “If we want to live on, then we have to act like madmen at the right times.”
“… But!!” I slammed my fist down on the rocks. I really don’t know how I should view the things that have happened and my emotions which had been swirling about had already broke the limits of what I could hold back. “They are living in poverty, and if they weren’t, they wouldn’t be rebelling no? And not only are we not saving them, we are destroying them, is that really the right thing to do? Aren’t they just ordinary farmers who saw no other way out to live?”
“…” Yun Chang was silent for a while, “But they are no longer farmers. They are traitors now.”
“They have killed, pillaged, and done many things which are not what farmers should be doing, and have forgotten who they are and what they fought for. They, are no longer farmers.”
“But… But… A-re?”
My eyes were already wet, and I did not know if it was from the fear of the battle before, sympathy for those people, my helplessness at meeting up with event after event, or my inability to do anything but watch as bodies pile up on the battlefield… Maybe a bit of everything.
“Big brother is really kind huh.” A soft voice came from close to my ear.
“Yun, Yun Chang?”
Yun Chang hugged me from the front and had a faint smile on her face. Her long red hair seemed even more radiant than usual from the light of the fire.
“But it is because you are like that, that I feel you are fit to be our big brother.”
“Yi De?”
Yi De was hugging me from behind and rested her head on my shoulders, smiling widely. That little face was somehow very rea.s.suring.
I felt different kinds of warmth from my back and chest that slowly spread out through my body.
Deep down, I had always known, that I had no escape from this. I know too that I can only adapt to the things before me. As for whether I would lose my way, I cannot be sure.
But that is fine, at least I have these 2 girls beside me.
“… Thank you.” I wrapped one arm about Yun Chang, and sroked Yi De’s head with the other, as I smiled with tears in my eyes. “I’m happy to have the 2 of you beside me.”
“Hu~~~~” In the morning the next day, I took a deep breath, “Speaking of which, where are we going today?”
“…”
“…”
“You haven’t thought about it!?” Though I too had no right to berate them about it. “Hai~~~ Forget it, just don’t let everyone know. After the previous battle, everyone’s morale is high and quite a number of Yellow Turban troops have joined us. If they know we have no destination in mind, won’t they commit mutiny?”
(TL: If you ever played a game like Sengoku Rance, you will know that a key game mechanic is having enemy troops join you after defeating them or winning the battle. This actually does happen, and goes all the way up to generals as well.)
“So… So shameful!”
“Yun Chang! Softer!”
“Excuse me, can I ask you,” Just then, someone spoke from behind and I turned around to see 2 people. One was wearing a tunic and the other was wearing satin. “The 2 of us are lost, and after speaking with each other, we found that we are both coincidentally heading to Zhuo commandery. We saw your merchant troupe and came to ask for directions to Zhuo commandery.”
Why do we look like a merchant troupe?
I pointed ahead silently… This scene felt exactly the same as the one yesterday huh~~~
“Ah, thanks.”
“Much appreciated.”
“… Ah, may I ask who the 2 of you are…” Yun Chang added in, and then the 2 answered simultaneously–
“Ah I am Zou Jing and have brought my forces on orders from the administrator of You state Liu Yan to support Zhuo commandery. It’s a little shameful to admit, but I have gotten separated from my troops.”
(TL: Zou Jing is actually the guy who used 500 men to repel Cheng Zhi Yuan’s 50,000 which was eventually defeated by Liu Bei.)
“I am Zhang Bao, the General of the Land, and I have come to serve as the warlord for the forces sent on orders from the General of Heaven to conquer Zhuo commandery. I managed to make it this far but I haven’t met with them at all, and decided to go ahead to Zhuo commandery but then I got lost.”
(TL: General of Land is a self-proclaimed t.i.tle of Zhang Bao, who is one of the leaders of the Yellow Turbans. General of Heaven is a self-proclaimed t.i.tle of Zhang Jue, the overall leader of the Yellow Turbans.)
(TL: In short, these 2 lost idiots are on opposing sides of the war.)
… Now then, am I supposed to smile and say ‘Is that so?’
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