Liu Bei: My younger brother is a deity.

Chapter 72 Summer Nurturing Heart

Liu Quan then unleashed three arrows in quick succession, astonishing everyone present with his skill.

Even the Wuhuan people looked at each other in bewilderment, and many of them looked at Liu Quan with a hint of awe.

Grassland tribes have always admired strength.

If you are weaker than him, he will rob you, humiliate you, and treat you like a human being.

If you are stronger than him, he will worship you, submit to you, and treat you as his master.

However, Liu Quan's performance did not convince all the Wuhuan people.

The Wuhuan archer was quite dissatisfied.

He felt that the man was just lucky, not really skilled.

The main reason was Liu Quan's three arrows, especially the first two, which were truly miraculous.

As a top-notch archer, this Wuhuan archer did not believe that this was something a human could do.

"Luck, it must be luck, the Han dogs are really lucky!" the Wuhuan archer cursed inwardly.

Just then, a flock of geese flew overhead in a V-formation.

A glint flashed in the eyes of the Wuhuan archer, and he suddenly drew his bow and nocked an arrow.

Whoosh!

The arrow shot out through the air.

A wild goose fell to the ground in response.

A cheer erupted from the Wuhuan crowd.

The archer looked at Liu Quan smugly, raising his chin once again, as if to say: Can you do it?

Liu Quan glanced at the wild geese flying further and further away in the sky, then calmly took out an arrow and nocked it on the bowstring.

Draw the bow and aim.

He silently chanted in his heart, "Pangu, set a trajectory for me; I want to shoot down two eagles with one arrow."

The next second, a shiny "arrow" appeared in his field of vision.

The arrow changes continuously as the goose moves.

Liu Quan's hand holding the bow also made a slight adjustment accordingly.

The Wuhuan people made a series of mocking, guttural noises.

The Wuhuan archer became even more smug and said to the person next to him, "How could a Han man know how to shoot an arrow? It was just luck."

The voice just fell.

"Whoosh!"

The arrow pierced the air with a sharp whistling sound.

The Han Chinese warriors held their breath, their eyes following the arrow.

The arrow pierced through the flock of geese, penetrating the bodies of two geese in succession!

Two geese became entangled and spun as they fell from the sky, crashing to the ground.

The Wuhuan people quieted down.

An even louder cheer erupted from the wandering knights.

"good!!!"

"Two geese shot with one arrow! A peerless gentleman!!"

"Divine Arrow! Divine Arrow!!"

Liu Quan rode his horse up to the two geese, hooked them with the horn of his bow, lifted them up, and threw them at Zhang Xun's feet.

He laughed and said, "We'll bring the sheep back, and take the goose too. We'll make soup for your brother to help him recover."

He then looked at Zhang Liao, "Not bad, kid, you've got guts!"

Zhang Liao looked at Liu Quan with a flushed face, too excited to speak, his heart filled with admiration.

He had already learned of this man's identity from the wandering knights of Youzhou around him, and thought to himself, "The Jade Gentleman of Youzhou, this is truly a hero!"

In the evening, Lü Bu, Wei Xu, and others returned from hunting and heard about the events of the day.

Lu Bu slapped his thigh, "Oh dear, I've missed a chance to become famous."

He added, "I've heard of the reputation of that Jade Gentleman of Youzhou from merchants from Youzhou in Bingzhou. It seems the rumors are true; he is indeed a hero. We should make his acquaintance."

He picked up a gazelle he had hunted that day and handed it to Wei Xu, saying, "Go and deliver it to the Liu brothers' camp."

Wei Xu had been riding alongside Lü Bu all day, his body aching all over. He didn't want to move and muttered, "He's just a kid, is all this really necessary?"

Lu Bu glared at him: "Are you going or not?"

"Go away!" Wei Xu hurriedly took the sheep and turned to leave.

Lu Bu called out to him again, "Wait."

Wei Xu turned around.

Lu Bu picked up another wolf carcass. "Take this wolf to the Zhang brothers and tell them we are deeply sorry that we couldn't help them today. Consider this wolf meat our apology."

Wei Xu muttered to himself, "Zhang Xun is weak and gets bullied, why should we apologize? Is my brother-in-law stupid?!"

But he dared not show the slightest hint of complaint on his face.

After all, it really hurts when your brother-in-law beats you!

…………

Three days later, Xia Yu's army broke camp and set off.

Smoke and dust obscured the sun, and bugles sounded.

Fifteen thousand Han infantry and cavalry advanced northward in a mighty procession.

Swords and spears gleamed coldly, and banners fluttered in the wind.

The wandering knights, in groups of three or five, were scattered around the army.

Some rode their horses to the front of the army to act as scouts.

Some of them roamed the sides of the army, protecting the flanks.

Others followed behind the army, herding sheep and herding hunting dogs.

Liu Bei had gathered about two hundred men under his command, all of whom were wandering knights-errant from the Zhuojun area, fellow villagers, and familiar with each other.

Most of these people were participating in the imperial court's conquest for the first time, and they were all so excited that their faces were flushed, and they had so much energy they didn't know where to put it.

They followed behind the army, herding sheep along the way while shouting and yelling at the top of their lungs. Every now and then, someone would sing a few off-key country folk songs, which would cause a burst of laughter from those around them.

The surrounding groups of wandering knights were mostly in the same situation.

Zhang Xun and his group of about thirty people, all from the same hometown, were following not far from Liu Bei's group.

Young Zhang Liao, riding his horse, already possessed a remarkably agile physique.

Although he was only ten years old, his riding skills were already very proficient. He rode steadily on the horse, occasionally turning his head to look at Liu Quan, his eyes sparkling.

Zhang Fei saw this and chuckled, "Ah Quan, did you see that? That kid really admires you. Why don't you adopt him as your godson?"

"Yide, you mustn't speak nonsense," Liu Bei said with a laugh. "Xinzhi (Zhang Xun's courtesy name) treats us as equals, yet you've asked A-Quan to adopt his younger brother as his godson. Doesn't that mess up the generations?"

Liu Quan smiled without saying a word, his gaze sweeping over Zhang Liao.

When Zhang Liao saw Liu Quan looking over, he excitedly raised his arm and waved it vigorously, his smile as bright as the sun on the grassland.

Liu Quan smiled and waved at him, thinking to himself, "This Zhang Liao is probably the Zhang Wenyuan in the history books who 'defeated 100,000 with 800 men.' I must find an opportunity to recruit him to A Bei's command in the future."

He withdrew his gaze and looked at the vast grassland in front of him, but the records of this battle in the Pangu database involuntarily surfaced in his mind.

The conflict between the Han and the Xianbei lasted for decades.

In the summer of the sixth year of Emperor Ling's reign (177 AD), the court dispatched Xia Yu, Protector of the Wuhuan, Tian Yan, General Who Destroys the Xianbei, and Zang Min, General Who Destroys the Xiongnu, each leading more than 10,000 cavalrymen, to set out from the border in different directions and agree to meet at the appointed time to attack the Xianbei royal court at Tanhan Mountain.

These three armies will suffer a crushing defeat deep in the grasslands.

History books are written in a cold, hard way: Xia Yu led his troops out of Gaoliu, but was defeated by the Xianbei, and seven or eight out of ten of them died; Tian Yan led his troops out of Yunzhong, but lost his baggage; Zang Min led the Southern Xiongnu out of Yanmen, but was also defeated and killed.

All three routes collapsed, and the Han army suffered heavy losses.

The Xianbei general Tan Shihuai pursued his victory, plundering nine border prefectures and killing and plundering countless officials and civilians.

This battle severely weakened the Han Dynasty, forcing it to shift from offense to defense against the Xianbei.

The border troubles were only slightly alleviated after Tan Shihuai died of illness.

Liu Quan looked toward the central position of the Han army.

Xia Yu's flag fluttered fiercely in the wind.

Then their attention shifted to the Han army's supply depot.

His eyes flickered slightly, then quickly returned to their indifferent state.

In the center of the army, Xia Yu also looked at the vast grassland ahead, but he was full of confidence in this battle.

He fought this battle for both public and private reasons.

For the public good, the Xianbei leader Tan Shihuai gathered his followers beyond the Great Wall and raided the border for years, killing and plundering countless officials and civilians in the three prefectures of You, Bing, and Liang.

Since Emperor Huan's reign, the imperial court has repeatedly launched campaigns that have yielded no results, leaving the border regions devastated and the people suffering immensely.

If we can raze Tanhan Mountain to the ground in one fell swoop and capture and kill Tanshihuai, then the north of the Han Dynasty can be at peace for decades.

For his own benefit, Xia Yu entered the court from the position of Prefect of Beidi in Liangzhou and rose to the rank of Protector of Wuhuan, becoming a powerful general in the region.

But he still felt it wasn't enough.

He wanted to take it a step further.

He shall be granted a title of nobility!

If we can decisively defeat the Xianbei in this battle and be ennobled for our outstanding military achievements, then we will not have wasted more than ten years of hardship on the frontier.

Xia Yu withdrew his gaze, gripped the sword at his waist, and a cold smile appeared on his lips.