Chapter 97: The Speaker Has a Mind

  Anyi

  Guo Tai and Yang Feng stood shoulder to shoulder, gazing at the distant Anyi City, feeling relieved. This month's battle has been smooth sailing, obtaining a lot of supplies from Hedong, not only solving the problem of winter but also opening up the road for advancing on Guanzhong. As long as they take down Anyi and deal with Niu Fu and his few thousand remaining soldiers, the entire Hedong will be theirs.

  The western expedition plan, which had been delayed for several years, can finally be put back on the agenda.

  "Mr. Xun, what's our next move?"

  Xun Yu shrunk his neck, wrapping the brocade robe on his body even tighter. The river separated Hedong and Luoyang, but the temperature was much lower, and he was not accustomed to this cold weather. He raised his head, looked at the sky filled with dark clouds: "In my opinion, it's better to plunder Hedong and retreat back to Baimen Valley."

  "Return to Baipo Valley?" Guo Tai and Yang Feng exchanged a look, bewildered. The situation was going great, why return to Baipo Valley?

  "News has come from Luoyang that the Emperor is leading an army of 10,000 elite infantry and cavalry to provide support." Xun You looked at Guo Tai and then at Yang Feng: "This army of 10,000 infantry and cavalry is currently the most elite force in the imperial court. After more than a month of fighting, although the Yellow Turbans have become familiar with battle formations and have made great progress, they are still no match for this army of 10,000 infantry and cavalry. Let's retreat back to White Wave Valley, summarize our battles over the past month, and practice some new formations for infantry to counter cavalry. Next year we will fight again, and it will certainly be better than rushing into battle hastily. Moreover, with the New Year approaching, people's hearts are longing for stability, and I'm afraid the soldiers don't want to continue fighting here either?"

  "We're not inexperienced in dealing with cavalry." Yang Feng chuckled, somewhat disdainfully: "The Western Liang cavalry under Niu Fu's command weren't defeated by us and left fleeing in disarray? Sir Xun, it's better to muster our strength than to let it dissipate. The Alliance Lord is at Xiangyang; how can we retreat back to Baibo Valley for the new year? What will we say when the Alliance Lord asks about this later?"

  Kuo T'ai nodded in understanding and also smiled, saying: "Although our military strength is not as good as the Alliance Master's, we can't be the main force for a head-on attack. But if we can tie down the Heavenly Son's elite cavalry, that would be great too. With your guidance, sir, even if we can't win a big victory, at least we can hold him back and share some of the burden with the Alliance Master."

  Xun Yu let out a sigh and closed his mouth. He knew what Guo Tai and Yang Feng were thinking, they wanted to make more contributions so that they would have the capital to negotiate with Yuan Shao later. The Yellow Turbans' willingness to cooperate with Yuan Shao did not mean they could accept Yuan Shao's reorganization, they still thought about dividing up the land and becoming kings themselves. At this time, if they were to retreat back to White Wave Valley and watch Yuan Shao conquer the city and unify the world, wouldn't all their previous efforts and sacrifices be in vain?

  Unfortunately, they did not know how powerful the ten thousand cavalry led by Tianzi was. It was far beyond comparison with the Xiliang elite cavalry led by Niu Fu. Tianzi rushed over to fight quickly and decisively, retreat back to Baibo Valley, avoid battle, which can reduce the loss of Huangjin Army, and also achieve the goal of restraining Tianzi, why not?

  Such a good strategy, the Yellow Turbans refused to accept it, and can only say that they deserved to be used as knives by Yuan Shao. Guo Tai, as the leader of the White Wave Army, and Yang Feng, as an important general of the Black Mountain Army, were considered wise men, but they only had this little insight, which shows that there are no talented people in the Yellow Turbans.

  If you were allowed to dominate the world, that would be utterly unjust.

  ……

  Liu Bian sat in the spacious carriage, stroking the nine-section staff in his hand. The Buddhist relics on the nine-section staff had been removed and replaced with jade stones that looked exactly the same. The real relic was worn on his left thumb, resembling a ring.

  However, this is absolutely the world's one and only ring.

  Liu Bian stretched out his hand, against the sunlight, repeatedly measuring the sarira. As the angle changed, the sarira refracted different colors of light under the sun, finely distinguishing, and surprisingly there were as many as seven colors, really astonishing.

  "Your Majesty, what is this?" Cai Yan asked curiously. As she still had to compose the drum music, she followed Liu Bian to Hedong, and on the way, everything was simple, there was no way to prepare a separate carriage for her, so she could only squeeze into Liu Bian's carriage with Tang Xuan.

  In front of the crowd, Liu Bei became more and more calm and composed, more and more like an emperor. However, in private, especially when facing Cai Yan, who had been with him for a relatively long time, he was still a very easy-going person.

  "Buddha's Adam's Apple."

  "Dead man's bones?" Cai Yan was startled, her small face turning pale.

  "To be precise, it's the skeleton of the God of Death." Liu Bian smiled and said: "The Buddha has enlightened to the great way, jumped out of reincarnation, and is no longer human, but a god."

  Liu Bian didn't explain and that was fine, but once he explained, even the bold Tang Xuan felt a bit uneasy. "Your Majesty, is there really a god?"

  "I don't know, maybe there is." Liu Bian withdrew his finger and hid it in his sleeve, gazing at the trees outside that were constantly receding into the distance. After a moment, he chuckled softly and said, "Someone once said that we are all descendants of gods, each person has a god hidden in their heart, it just depends on whether you can release him or not."

  "Is it like Mingwu's fate?" Cai Yan understood intuitively.

  "It's almost that way." He couldn't explain such a profound question either. After being in this world for several months, his worldview and outlook on life had been shattered, leaving him with no intact body or mind. In his opinion, Lü Bu, Zhang Jiao, and Guan Yu, who had all awakened to their destinies, were basically non-human, and even if they weren't gods, they could be considered half-gods.

  Since they can all become gods, why is it impossible for a great practitioner like Buddha to become a god?

  Liu Bian turned his head and brought his attention back to the matter at hand: "How's the drum score coming along, did Mr. Boji give you any hints?"

  "Really." Cai Yan smiled and said: "My father said that the drum tune Your Majesty has figured out may coincide with a lost ancient melody."

  Liu Bian snorted in disdain but didn't expose him.

  "My father also said that the Yellow Emperor, apart from the Twelve Shapes Body Refining, had the 'Drumming Melodies in Ten Chapters', but these have all been lost to transmission. Only some remnants remain in the Drum Blowing techniques. Moreover, the four barbarian tribes may still preserve some of them. If I, your servant, can find these melodies, perhaps we can recover some of the original appearance of the 'Drumming Melodies in Ten Chapters'."

  "That's a big project, can't be rushed." Liu Bian smiled and said: "You first fix this melody, when the time comes I'll find musicians from the army to practice it. If we can enlighten a few more people about their fate, I'll have even more confidence in facing Yuan Shao." He pointed at Cai Yan: "If one more person becomes enlightened, I'll grant you a fief of 100 households."

  Cai Yan smiled and said: "If that helps hundreds of people understand, wouldn't I become the lord of ten thousand households?"

  "No problem at all, as long as you have the ability." Liu Bian smiled and said: "I hope there are more people like this, even if it means paying taxes of one million households, it's worth it."

  "Hmph, in my humble opinion, Your Majesty has granted her so many fiefs, I'm afraid it's to ensure that no one dares to marry A'Yan." Tang Xing stared into Liu Bian's eyes, half-jokingly saying: "If that's the case, why not just take her into the palace first? After all, she'll be thirteen next year and can get married then."

  Cai Yan's face changed color, and she lowered her head, stuttering: "I am not worthy, I dare not have such presumptuous thoughts."

  The second update, seeking recommendations, seeking collections!