Chapter Seventy-Three: The Yellow Turban Assignment

At that very moment, a strange and mechanical voice echoed in Liu Yao’s mind.

“Ding! The campaign against the Yellow Turbans mission has begun. Mission One: Slay Zhang Jiao. Reward: ten draws in the lottery. Mission Two: Slay Zhang Bao. Reward: five draws. Mission Three: Slay Zhang Liang. Reward: five draws. Mission Four: Capture Yellow Turbans; starting at ten thousand, for every additional ten thousand captured, one more draw is awarded. The host currently has three draws remaining. As this is the host’s first mission, failure will not be punished. Does the host accept the mission?”

Liu Yao was startled by this voice, but quickly realized that it likely belonged to the ancient tome, which must have upgraded to the point where it could now speak directly into his mind.

Excitement welled up inside him—this was his first mission! And the rewards were so generous: just the first three missions combined offered twenty lottery draws, twice as many as he had accumulated before.

Suddenly, a thought struck Liu Yao. He frowned and asked in his heart, “Ancient tome, do I have to personally kill them for it to count? And what if the targets die of illness?”

“So long as the targets are killed by forces under the host’s command, it will be counted as the host’s kill. Deaths by illness do not count.” The cold, emotionless voice answered.

This news brought Liu Yao mixed feelings. On the one hand, it was a relief that he didn’t have to get his own hands dirty—it would save him much trouble. On the other, Zhang Jiao was supposed to die in October, and it was already mid-September. If Liu Yao couldn’t take Guangzong City by force within half a month, this mission would fail. What was worse, he currently had no good way to breach Guangzong’s defenses.

He shook his head in resignation and sighed inwardly, “Let fate decide. If I can’t get the reward for Zhang Jiao, so be it.”

“Ancient tome, I’ll accept all four missions,” Liu Yao silently declared. Since there was no penalty for failure in this first mission, there was no harm in accepting—it would be a waste not to.

With another “ding,” the voice disappeared from Liu Yao’s mind.

“Guards! Lock up Lu Zhi!” A sudden, thunderous shout snapped Liu Yao back to his senses.

He saw two of Zuo Feng’s guards binding Lu Zhi with iron chains. Lu Zhi’s face bore a look of resignation, surrendering to his fate. His personal guards watched with fury as their lord was humiliated by Zuo Feng, the eunuch. Some, unable to bear it, were about to intervene, but a sharp look from Lu Zhi stopped them.

“What are you thinking? Don’t act recklessly. The innocent need not fear; the guilty cannot hide. I have done nothing wrong—once I reach Luoyang, everything will be clear. His Majesty will distinguish loyalty from treachery. If you act rashly, you will only implicate me further.” Lu Zhi reproached them, glancing at Zuo Feng as he spoke.

“My lord!” All the guards cried out in sorrow, then withdrew, not daring to cause more trouble.

Zuo Feng, seeing this, glared at Lu Zhi provocatively, then shot a dissatisfied look at the two guards dawdling out of fear of Lu Zhi’s men. “What are you waiting for? Hurry up and bind him!” he snapped.

But before they could resume, Liu Yao stepped forward. “Wait! All of you, stop. Release Lord Lu at once.”

Zuo Feng looked at Liu Yao with a trace of fear and guilt—not just because of Liu Yao’s rank, but also because earlier he had falsely attributed a message to Liu Yao. In a low voice, he said, “Your Highness, isn’t this against protocol? He is wanted by His Majesty.”

“Your Highness, do not trouble yourself on my behalf by defying the imperial edict,” Lu Zhi added.

Liu Yao hesitated for a moment, then nodded in agreement. Of course, this was just for show—escorting Lu Zhi back to the capital would also earn him a small share of credit.

He turned to Zuo Feng, his tone icy. “Listen well: on the journey escorting Lord Lu to the capital, he is not to be shackled or chained. He is to be provided with good food and treated well. If I learn otherwise—hmph!”

“Yes, yes, I will see to it,” Zuo Feng replied obsequiously, his previous intention of tormenting Lu Zhi on the way now utterly vanished.

“Thank you, Your Highness,” Lu Zhi said gratefully. “As for the Yellow Turban rebels in Guangzong, I must trouble Your Highness to deal with them. I am useless, unable to fulfill His Majesty’s orders, but I believe that with your ability, peace can be restored to the Han.”

“It will be done,” Liu Yao promised, determination in his voice.

So Lu Zhi, under the reluctant gaze of Liu Bei and his guards, was led away by Zuo Feng toward Luoyang. The difference in their reluctance was obvious: the guards truly cared for Lu Zhi, while Liu Bei was simply losing his patron.

At this moment, Liu Bei approached Liu Yao. “Your Highness, I too am preparing to leave.”

Liu Yao frowned. “Why, Xuande? Is something troubling you here?”

Liu Bei shook his head calmly. “I came here to aid my teacher, but now he has been framed by traitors. I have no reason to remain.”

Liu Yao narrowed his eyes, silently admiring Liu Bei’s wariness. He had planned to “entertain” Liu Bei further, but seeing the situation turn unfavorable, Liu Bei was already preparing to flee, and it wasn’t feasible to detain him by force.

“I see. In that case, I won’t keep you. Safe travels,” Liu Yao said casually, turning without another glance and returning to his tent.

Liu Bei and Guan Yu left the camp, both with a sense of reluctance.

“Brother, are we really just going to leave like this? When will you ever earn merit and shed your humble status?” Guan Yu asked, unwilling to accept the situation. He knew Liu Bei had grand ambitions, but with this departure, all seemed lost.

“Yunchang, we have no choice. Even if we stayed, do you think Liu Yao would let us earn any merit? If he doesn’t target us daily, that alone would be a blessing. Rather than living in constant fear, it’s better to leave early,” Liu Bei replied helplessly.

“Then where do we go now, brother?” Guan Yu inquired.

Liu Bei thought for a moment. “We’ll take it one step at a time. I’ve heard that in Qing Province, there are still many Yellow Turbans left. Let’s go there and see if opportunity awaits.”

“Very well. I’ll follow wherever you lead,” Guan Yu said resolutely. With that, the two set off for Qing Province.

Meanwhile, Liu Yao and Shi A were walking toward the command tent.

“Shi A, send twenty elite assassins from the covert unit. Get rid of Liu Bei and Guan Yu,” Liu Yao ordered harshly. Though he knew both men were formidable warriors and assassination might not succeed, he wanted to try—success would mean eliminating a great enemy at the outset; failure would do no harm.

“Yes,” Shi A replied, leaving immediately to make arrangements.

Liu Yao then ordered his own guards to summon Guo Jia, Zhang Fei, and the others for a council. With those four missions still ahead, he needed to discuss the best way to complete them perfectly.