A Stroll before War

A week has passed, after I got freed from my captivity

I've been trying my best to recover from my injuries

And as the days passed, the minor ones were finally healed, having regained enough strength to smoothly move my body

I partly have to thank Brother Wei, for helping me treat said injuries

and so, as we kept chatting with each other everyday, we now consider each other as good friends

when the day came, for us to leave for Taiyuan, we were currently sitted inside a carriage full of dead soldiers,

~Sigh~

"Poor bastards.. I wouldn't want to be the guy that brings the news to their families"

I look at them, no visible emotion on my face,

"Well.. they died for their families, that enough for them to be remembered"

I told him, causing him to chuckle,

"haha..., I guess your right about that"

seeing that he cheered up a bit, I looked at the man leading the marching soldiers

an imposing figure, atop a horse, his weapon perch upon his shoulder,

"He's the Grand General of Bing Province army General Lu Bu"

Brother Wei mentioned,noticing my curiosity,

"He's a man that can fight an army of men single handedly, though i don't know the exact numbers, thats still a big achievement, considering he's just one man"

I continue to observe this general of theirs, as he arrogantly laugh for some odd reason,

"He's strange"

I muttered,

"Hmm?..why do you say that?"

confused, he wondered what I meant by that statement,

"Nothing"

not wanting to delv into that topic, I asked what kind of person this general of theirs is,

"Well to summarise, General Lu he's Barbaric"

laughing at his own words he continued on,

"He's bad at leading us, always using brute force to win battles, if anything I think he considers himself as enough to fight an army on his own, which in someone's perspective is stupid, but if you've seen what his capable off, you can't help but respect and worship his might"

"so he's arrogant?"

"haha.. yeah you can say that, at least he can back up that arrogance with his strength"

I nod at his statement, then a thought ran through my head,

"Whats the requirements to join the army?"

...

half a month has passed, we've finally arrived at Taiyuan City

looking at the tall walls, I note the lack of soldiers patrolling it

after we got inside, I looked on at the bustling streets of the city

men and women flooded the streets, as they went on about their day

the cheerful laughter of children, playing on the streets gave the city a serene atmosphere

a small smile graced my face, as children played with each other, untainted by the cruelty of life

"OH! is that a smile I see?"

Brother Wei asked, with a teasing smile

"Shut up.."

"hahaha"

when we finally reached the barracks, me and Wei left the carriage for someone to manage

after that Wei went to go, and report back to his supervisors

leaving me to explore the city on my own

after wandering for a while, I arrived at the market place

looking around, an assortment of goods were being sold to the public which range from meats, vegetables, accessories, pets and more

walking around, as I looked at the different stalls

I saw something that took my interest

a plain mask made of bronze

I held it in my hand, as I looked into its empty eyes sockets

feeling my hand, subconsciously touching the scar hidden behind the bandages, the cut having already been healed

Thinking for a minute, I decided to buy it

luckily, brother Wei gave me some money, before he left

after I bought it, I went to a nearby alley

looking around for a bit, I finally took off the bandages, revealing a horrifying scar across my face,

'Wow, uuu....god, you might have a hard time finding yourself a wife, looking like that'

💢

an annoying memory resurface, as I touched the scar

~Sigh~

sighing, I shook my head to clear my thoughts

holding the mask, I finally put it on, adjusting the straps to fit on my face

having straped it tight, I took out my sword to see myself in its reflection, noting the fact I looked far more intimidating and scary

after that, I left the alley, and continued on exploring the city

though, I was given weird stares from people, I didn't mind

continuing to explore the city throughout the day, the sun began to fall, signalling for night to come

having explored the city enough for today.

I went to an Inn, and grabbed myself something to eat, after that I bought a room for one night, and went to sleep letting all my fatigue take me

...

Lu Bu's POV

~Yawn~

"Damn, its good to finally be back"

I yawn in exhaustion, as I walked towards fathers Manor

Disregarding everyone, I went in, not caring for anyone to stop me

Guards and servants alike shout at my rude behavior, rolling my eyes at them, annoyed at they're constant screeching

Arriving at his office, I couldn't be bothered to nock, and just went in, assuming he wasn't busy

When inside, I saw him at his table drinking tea,

"Old man, I'm back from my expedition"

I announced my arrival, causing him to sigh as he put down his cup, shacking his head in disappointment, as he dismisses guards to go

"Would you mind your manners pls, it wouldn't be good if the grand general of my army has such bad attitude"

He scolds, causing me to scoff at his remark,

"Shut up! I'm not a child"

"But you act like one, Sigh your future spouse will have a headache having a husband like you"

He jokingly stated, which caused me to retort back immediately,

"Hey! If anything she'll be smitten by my handsome looks and sexy figure, unlike you whose already old and shrivelled hahahah"

I laughed at him without any remorse as I flex this beautiful body of mine to spite him

💢

Seeing him force a smile, while he's clearly Irritated, boosted my ego even more

Clearly losing this battle of insults, he cleared his throat as he tried to change the subject,

~Ahem~

"Let's get back to business"

Chuckling at his attempt on changing the subject, I relented as I gave him my report,

"South West from here, we've encountered in total 15 small groups of yellow turbans ranging from a 100 to 500 men, they're mostly situated around linfeng and yuncheng city"

"Hmm.., good both cities have been suffering from constant raids from them, so it should lessen some of their burden, continue"

~Nods~

"Outside Changzhi city, we got ambushed by a big group of turbans numbering around 8k men, although we won, the casualties amounted to almost half my troops, after that we stationed ourselves at the city to recuperate, and to help clean out the smaller groups which took 2 months to complete"

"8k men?... who led them?"

"No one, it's just a bunch of smaller groups who formed an alliance, to get rid of us since they got the news of my massacre on the west"

"Hmm.. good, we currently can't handle any dangerous adversary for right now"

Noticing the worried look he was making, I asked,

"Why?.. what happened?"

~Sigh~

"To the North, a Mongolian army numbering 30k men is marching towards Datong, intending to attack"

My eyes widen, as I stood up and slammed my hand on the desk,

💢

"What!! Why have those coward attacked now"

"I don't know... but we don't have time to think of this, what we need now is for you to gather your men, and help defend Datong from those dogs"

He ordered in an angry tone

"I give you permission to conscript soldiers on your travels, to replenish your troops"

"As you command father"

~Nods~

"Good, go I give you 2 weeks to prepare for your march towards Datong, Go!"

I nod, as I turned around and left, heading to go rest as it was already night

"Sigh, Fengxian this will be your first real war, don't do anything stupid, that could endanger everyone"

I heard my father tell me something, but since I was already quite far, I couldn't make out what he said clearly

Thinking nothing of it I left

...

End Chapter

Things to note:

Friends add the words Brother, Sister, Junior B/S and etc when talking to said friend