Chapter 61

Chapter 695: Came to Retrieve Tongguan! (2)

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Tongguan.

The one who is currently in charge of Tongguan is named Sedong.

He was a Qiang tribal general leading one of the six battalions that formed the Jiangyiduan.

He was spending his days meaninglessly.

Just as the Chisha Army was the strongest among the Guanxi Army, the Jiangyiduan was the strongest among the armies that made up the Guanxi Army.

However, Sedong, one of the Five Generals of the Jiangyiduan, was only in charge of defending Tongguan, which was far from exciting.

The only thing that could make him happy and excited was killing Han people.

But Tongguan was not a place in the rear for Huang Bosong. Moreover, Huang Bosong judged that even if there was Lü Bu, he would not attack Tongguan.

Who didn't know that while occupying the fertile lands of Guanxi was easy, obtaining Tongguan was by no means an easy task.

Sedong started singing mountain songs early in the morning, but now he was just sitting there, staring blankly at the clouds.

Squeak~!

A hawk flew across the sky, crying out. Sedong's gaze turned to the flying hawk. For a moment, his eyes flashed sharply.

'They say the hawk has been seen for several days.'

It wasn't strange to see a hawk.

But there was something odd. The hawk would fly in from the west, go east, and then return to the west over Tongguan after a few hours.

This had been happening for four days.

'Is it a messenger hawk? If not, a hawk wouldn't move like that...'

Sedong suspected that the hawk flying in the sky might be a messenger hawk.

Actually, messenger hawks were not common. Training a hawk to carry messages was not an easy task.

"Luobei, bring me my bow!"

* * *

Luobei, one of Sedong's subordinate generals, thought that today would pass without incident. But when Sedong, who usually did nothing but play around, asked for his bow, he was puzzled and asked:

"What do you want the bow for?"

"Bring it if I ask for it. Why so many questions?"

Before Luobei could further irritate Sedong, he went to fetch the bow. A moment later, he returned with Sedong's bow.

Sedong was a general of the Jiangyiduan, not the Chisha Army, but he was quite skilled in archery.

The bow Luobei brought could be called a strong bow. Even those known for their strength could hardly draw the string halfway.

"General, I've brought the bow."

Just as Luobei thought he wouldn't be scolded, Sedong's fiery roar hit him.

"Luobei, you fool! I, Sedong, one of the Five Generals of the Jiangyiduan, need so many arrows just to catch a mere hawk?"

Luobei's face fell.

'Oh, really! I shouldn't get involved with this lunatic... How can he shoot down something so high with a bow...?'

Luobei thought Sedong was crazy.

He wasn't the only one. In fact, anyone who had dealings with the Jiangyiduan wouldn't think Sedong was sane.

The Jiangyiduan had a thorn in their side named 'Sedong,' just as the Hanshu Army had a thorn in their side named 'Yan Xing.'

"Why? Do you think I can't do it?"

Sedong was serious. Luobei couldn't affirm or deny it. Sedong's archery skills were such that he could hit a bird in flight. But birds are different. How could he hit a hawk flying so high that it looked like a dot?

Sedong guessed why Luobei couldn't continue speaking and his face turned red and then pale.

"Fool, watch carefully. See how miraculous my archery skills are, Sedong's!"

Sedong was foolishly trying to catch the hawk flying high in the sky with his bow.

* * *

"General, look... There's a lot of dust rising in the west."

At Luobei's words, Sedong loosened the bowstring and turned his gaze to the west. Indeed, as Luobei said, a large amount of dust was rising at the western horizon.

"Hmm...!"

Sedong stroked his chin, deep in thought.

'If there's that much dust, it must mean a grand procession or a large army is coming... There's no way such a large army could be in Guanxi. If there is, it can only be the supply convoy from Chang'an and the large Chisha Army escorting it.'

The mere thought of the Chisha Army made Sedong feel dirty.

"It must be the Chisha Army. Hehehe! Luobei, prepare the archers."

"General, what are you planning to do...?"

"I want to give the Chisha Army a hard time, why?"

The Jiangyiduan and the Chisha Army didn't get along.

After all, the Chisha Army was the elite archers of the Han Dynasty, tasked with suppressing rebels. After defeating the Xiongnu, their main enemy became the Western Qiang. The Jiangyiduan was composed entirely of Western Qiang Nuozhong warriors. It was natural that they wouldn't get along with the Chisha Army.

Of course, the Nuozhong were a Qiang tribe friendly to the Han. But it wasn't always like that.

They had submitted to the Huang family, who dominated Xiliang.

Though they became Huang Bosong's hunting dogs, they were still Western Qiang people.

The conflict between the Han and the Western Qiang had a long history. So, it was natural for Western Qiang people to hate the Han and for the Han to regard the Western Qiang as their enemies.

Both the Chisha Army and the Jiangyiduan served under Huang Bosong, but it was also natural for them to be enemies.

'Should I close the gate and pretend not to hear, leaving them outside? Or should I start a fight?'

Sedong was thinking of ways to torment the Chisha Army.

But all he saw was a man running barefoot towards Tongguan.

* * *

Sajian, who was just outside Tongguan, started babbling again.

Xuemiao looked at Guo Jia for cues. When Guo Jia nodded slightly, Xuemiao immediately put the plan into action.

"Sir Sajian, this is Tongguan. Look, that's Tongguan. Lord Huang's banner is fluttering high on the watchtower."

Sajian's gaze followed Xuemiao's finger.

Indeed, he saw the banner of Huang Bosong fluttering on the watchtower of Tongguan. Sajian exclaimed 'Oh!' repeatedly, then jumped out of the cart and ran towards Tongguan without even putting on his shoes.

"Sir Sajian, stop! Sir Sajian! Sir Sajian!"

Xuemiao chased after him.

'What? Why is this guy so fast?'

Xuemiao found it hard to catch up with Sajian.

Despite his bloody feet, Sajian didn't slow down.

Was his fear of Lü Bu so great that it surpassed the pain of his body? Even with his breath almost gone, Sajian kept running.

There were hundreds of archers on the walls of Tongguan. When they saw Sajian running, they grabbed their bows.

"Stop!"

Even with Luobei's roar, Sajian didn't stop. He seemed oblivious to the arrows aimed at him, thinking that he could only survive by meeting Huang Bosong.

If Xuemiao hadn't caught up and shouted, Sajian might have really become an arrow target.

"Don't shoot! This is Sir Sajian! Anyone who knows Sir Sajian's face can recognize him!"

When Xuemiao mentioned Sajian's name, Sedong finally showed interest.

"Huh? Sir Sajian?"

Sedong looked closely at the man struggling in Xuemiao's grip. But his appearance made it impossible to recognize him.

"Is there no one who knows Sir Sajian's face?"

Even though Sedong was a headache, he wasn't about to open the gate without verification, even if the man seemed half-mad and claimed to be Sajian.

So he shouted to the soldiers on the wall.

He intended to send someone who knew Sajian's face to verify his identity.

But the Jiangyiduan had no reason to be close to the S family, who owned the Chisha Army.

Moreover, Sajian was a key figure in the Guanxi Army, responsible for supplies and military affairs. The soldiers of the Jiangyiduan had few opportunities to meet him.

Sedong, being one of the Five Generals of the Jiangyiduan, had met Sajian. But the others had no such opportunity, so no one knew Sajian's face.

"Really, no one?"

Sedong couldn't hide his disappointment, even though he had expected this result. Then Luobei came up with an idea.

"General, what about the messenger left behind by our lord?"

"Oh! Right, there was a messenger."

Luobei's idea pleased Sedong, who repeatedly slapped his knee. But his expression soon hardened.

"Can we send the messenger just like that? What if this man isn't Sir Sajian but an enemy targeting Tongguan...?"

"He will die if we send him out."

"That's what I'm saying."

Luobei waved his hands vigorously in response to Sedong's concern.

"Would it be a sin to let one messenger die? Even if it is, who would blame a general of the Five Generals of the Jiangyiduan?"

"Of course not."

"Besides, the messenger isn't one of our Nuozhong people. He's not even a messenger sent from here to where our lord is. He's just a leftover from Cao Qinglong's army, an orphan with nowhere to go."

Sedong had to nod. The messenger Luobei mentioned was 'Lidou,' the one Xuemiao had sent to Zhongtian.

Cao Qinglong's army originally guarded Binyang, which connected Yangshan, where the supply depot was, and Zhongtian, where the main force of the Guanxi Army was.

Just as the Chisha Army was responsible for the supply route starting from Chang'an, Cao Qinglong's army was responsible for the supply route starting from Yangshan.

Thus, it was easy to assume that someone from Cao Qinglong's army would have many opportunities to see Sajian's face.

Everyone in the Guanxi Army knew that Cao Qinglong's army had been defeated by Lü Bu. Therefore, Lidou had nowhere to go.

Since no one was looking for him, he was left in Tongguan, and Sedong found a use for him.

"Bring that messenger here. Have him verify Sir Sajian's face, and if it's him, welcome him."