Chapter 10: A Despicable Plan

  Guan Yu shook his head and said, "If it's to kill Meng Huo, I'm confident, but if it's to capture him alive, I don't dare guarantee that I can do it, unless one has martial arts skills like Taishi Ci."

  Li Chong couldn't help but feel a little disappointed, as capturing Miao Fang alive was an important part of his plan. Li Chong didn't want to fight the Miao family to the point of mutual destruction, and seizing grain and killing people would have completely different consequences.

  Simply robbing the Miao family of their food, the Miao family may not necessarily fight to the death with you, but if you kill Miao Fang, the Miao family will definitely use all their strength to exterminate you.

  Li Zhong believed that with Guan Hai and his thousands of men lurking around Beihai, Kong Rong must have known about it. Perhaps Kong Rong just thought it was not necessary to make a big fuss about dealing with Guan Hai, so he let Guan Hai's gang roam free until now. However, once Mi Fang made a mistake on Kong Rong's turf, Kong Rong could not escape responsibility. He definitely did not want to have any conflict with the Mi family, after all, the Mi family's grain had a significant temptation for various lords.

  At that time, the entire Beihai army will probably surround and annihilate itself, just thinking about it is terrifying. Li Chong doesn't think he's a war genius who can resist tens of times more enemies.

  It seems that only asking Taishi Ci for help is left, but what attitude Taishi Ci will have, Li Chong has no grasp of it at all, and he doesn't dare to hold any hope either.

  Lying in his own tent, Li Chong carefully pondered how to persuade Taishi Ci, and before he knew it, he fell asleep.

  The next day, at dawn, Li Chong was woken up by the noise. He got up and went outside to find that the people in the mountain village had already started making a fire and cooking. Li Chong grabbed a handful of snow and rubbed it on his face to refresh himself. Since he had arrived in the Three Kingdoms, he should adapt to the local customs.

  Breakfast was oatmeal and pickled vegetables. Li Chong looked at the dark, shiny pickles and asked about a strange smell, which he really couldn't swallow. He didn't even know what kind of vegetable they were made from.

  Taking a glance at others, even some small heads didn't have pickled vegetables to eat. Li Chong couldn't help but feel a sigh and a twinge of anxiety towards the simple and bitter life in the mountain stronghold.

  After having breakfast, Li Chong led several attendants to meet Taishi Ci. Before reaching the gate, Li Chong heard a dull sound of horseshoes and the "whooshing" sound of weapons cutting through the air from within the courtyard, guessing that Taishi Ci was practicing martial arts.

  When the door opened, Taishi Ci was visibly startled. He hadn't expected Li Ren to arrive so early in the morning and wondered what his intentions were. But Li Ren noticed that Taishi Ci's body was steaming with heat, which further confirmed his suspicions. So he asked: "Brother Taishi, are you practicing martial arts? Can you let me see it?"

  "What's wrong with this? Come over here... Just in time to discuss martial arts with Zihuan." Taishi Ci said with a big laugh.

  Taishi Ci's war horse still had beads of sweat on its back, and without even warming it up, Taishi Ci mounted the horse and said: "On the battlefield, what's important is speed and accuracy. Watch closely."

  As he spoke, Tai Shi's hands shook and the steel gun in his hand "hummed" loudly, with more than half of the gun body trembling violently, causing the surrounding air to disperse in all directions.

  Tai Shi Zi's two hands merged, and the gun shadow in front of him suddenly merged into one, then stabbed rapidly in all directions.

  At this moment, Taishi Ci was like a giant porcupine with his horse and himself covered in quills, no one could get close to him. The fierce shadow of the spear continued for several breaths before suddenly retracting. With a loud roar, Taishi Ci swung his steel spear back and forth in front of him, creating massive gusts of wind that were like whirlwinds.

  Due to the yard being somewhat narrow, Taishi Ci was unable to gallop freely and could only frequently charge back and forth. The horse's hooves kicked up all the snow on the ground, and before the snow on this side had even fallen, it would be splashed up again from the other side. The snow gradually enveloped the entire yard, with some of it being compressed into ice crystals that stung his face when they hit it.

  Li Zhong was extremely excited, Taishi Ci was indeed a first-rate general in the Three Kingdoms. Li Zhong estimated that with just the momentum of his spear, ordinary arrows would be deflected, and compared to him, Guan Yu was slightly inferior.

  Tai Shi Zi danced with his long spear for a while before stopping, dismounting and saying: "Let Zizhan see the joke."

  "There, there, Tai Shi's marksmanship is really unpredictable, it's just too fast, I couldn't see clearly." Li Chong hesitated for a moment, but still decided to speak the truth, he really couldn't see clearly, only feeling that Tai Shi's speed was very fast and his strength was great.

  Tai Shi Ci chuckled and said: "Zi Huan is a scholar, learning martial arts to strengthen his body is enough, unlike me, this rough person, can only wield swords and guns."

  Li Zhong said with a serious expression: "Brother Zi Yi, what are you talking about? With literature, one can bring peace to the nation; with martial arts, one can stabilize the country. Now is a time of great turmoil in the world. A man born into this world should wear a three-foot sword and create achievements that will last for ages. This is the true nature of a man." Li Zhong slightly modified Taishi Ci's original words and spoke with passion and fervor, naturally resonating with Taishi Ci.

  Taishi Ci heard this and burst out laughing: "What a great man, born to change the world! He should wear a three-foot sword and achieve unparalleled success! I regret that not only is your insight impressive, but your writing skills are also outstanding. Truly, Taishi Ci is impressed. Come, let's drink a few cups together!" With that, Taishi Ci pulled Li Chong by the sleeve and walked away.

  Li Chong made a wry smile on the surface, but was very pleased in his heart. He followed Tai Shi Ci to the living room, took off his cloak, shook off the snowflakes on it and put it aside.

  Tai Shi Zi was already wearing a single garment and didn't need to change again. He heated up a pot of rice wine, sat down opposite Li Chong, while Li Chong's attendants naturally went to rest in the side hall.

  Taishi Ci raised his wine cup and took a sip with Li Chong, then asked: "You didn't come to watch Taishi Ci's martial arts this morning, I don't know what you're doing, but please speak clearly."

  Li Zhong put down his wine cup, stood up and bowed, saying: "I only ask you to save me."

  Tai Shi Zi was just about to pour wine for Li Chongtian, but upon hearing this, his hand movement paused, and he asked in surprise: "What makes you say such a thing?"

  Li Zhong's face showed a sorrowful expression, and he said slowly: "I suppose you also know that I am temporarily staying in the mountain stronghold. To be honest with you, Brother Zi Yi, there are still 1,342 soldiers and civilians on the mountain, all of whom are starving and thinly dressed. If we don't get several hundred dan of grain to rescue them, by next spring when the flowers bloom, the mountain stronghold will surely be filled with white bones."

  Taishi Ci heard this and smiled bitterly, saying: "I'm afraid you've got the wrong person. It's not that I regard the Yellow Turbans as thieves, but my family can barely make ends meet, how could we have enough money to rescue over a thousand people?"

  Li Chong slammed his wine cup down and asked urgently: "Brother Tai Shi, do you have a mind to save him?"

  "This is natural, it's just that I have no power to help you." Taishi Ci replied immediately.

  Li Chong's face lit up with a smile, and he said in a low voice: "I have an idea..." Li Chong told the situation of the Mi family's merchant group, and then expressed his own concerns, before looking at Taishi Ci with expectant eyes.

  Tai Shi Zi hesitated for a long time before slowly saying, "As far as I know, the Mou family's reputation is still good. It doesn't seem right to seize their grain without reason."

  Li Chong sighed and said, "Indeed it is so, but to have thousands of people on the mountain die from cold and hunger, Li Chong feels even more uneasy. This time coming to ask Taishi brother to take action is also wanting to capture Mi Fang, and reduce the killing karma."

  "In that case, for the sake of thousands of people's names, it can only be done this way... but I'll disguise myself." Tai Shi Ci agreed very readily.

  This made Li Chong both surprised and feel that it was too easy, before coming Li Chong had prepared a large number of words such as "the merchant is not benevolent" and "they are all exploiting the people's fat", to move Taishi Ci, but he didn't expect that after saying half of his words, Taishi Ci would agree with him readily.

  Li Chong did not know that Tai Shi Ci had already thought of surrendering to him, but since he still didn't have a place to settle down, he suppressed the idea for now.

  As for the reputation of the Mi family, Tai Shi Ci really didn't put it on himself. Who doesn't understand that wealth and benevolence are not necessarily linked? Moreover, as a person living in a chaotic world, there aren't many principles to speak of. The various lords are mutually swallowing each other up, and it's hard to say who is on the side of justice - this is an era where the winner becomes king.

  Can't even protect your own things, can only blame you for not being strong enough.