Liu Bei POV
“There’s someone…?” Chen Dao asked as though we were in some ghost story as she went over to Feng Xian who nodded in response.
“Un, after coming this close, I detected a breath.” Feng Xian said as she frowned, “But it’s greatly weakened.”
“Big brother, could this be what you were talking about?”
“Un, possibly.” I replied Yun Chang and nodded, beginning to feel serious now that my suspicions were beginning to be proven right. To be honest, I never seriously thought that we would find someone and was just following my gut feeling.
I went over to where Feng Xian was and exchanged glances with her and looked at the fallen debris. It was not too dense and there were cracks which I could peer through to the other side.
Un… It feels like there is no one–
*Sha* *Sha* *Sha*
Eh? Just then, a tiny head moved about near the bed.
“There is indeed someone inside.” I said as I stepped back and turned to the others, “Come over and help, everyone. Let’s move this debris away and go in.”
“I will help.”
“Me too.”
When I finished, Zhou Cang and Chen Dao came over to help.
“Wait, don’t be so reckless you both.” Zi Long said as she came over and surveyed the debris, “Take out this piece at the center bottom. That should allow someone to go through.”
“”Alright!”” They yelled and got to work just as Zi Long finished. The rest of us backed away and they very quickly pulled out the piece Zi Long had highlighted.
“We’re done, my lord!”
I squatted down and peered through the hole and saw that it was big enough for someone to fit through. The rest of the fallen debris also seemed to be sturdy enough not to fall apart as well.
“Alright, I’ll go in then.” I said as I rolled up my sleeves but Yun Chang and Feng Xian came over with frowns on their faces.
“Xuan De, let me go.”
“Big brother, I’ll do it.”
“No need for you both to go. I’ll go in myself.” I said as I shook my head and got into position in front of the hole, “All this was a result of my own whims after all so I’ll take care of it.”
“…”
“If big brother insists.”
“Un, don’t worry.” I said as I lowered my head and crawled through the hole. It was not too long and probably only 50cm in total but even so, it felt like I was climbing through a long tunnel. As I continued crawling, my long sleeves would sometimes get caught by the debris. The clothes of this era are really unsuited for hard labour.
Eh… Eh…
But it was a good thing that it was a short distance and I could see the interior of the annex after just 3-4 steps. The room was messy as with the previous room I was searching but it was rather large.
“Big brother, is there any problem?”
“Ah, it’s fine.” I replied Yun Chang who was probably concerned when I stopped moving for a while. After about another 3-4 steps, I finally reached the end of the tunnel and came out.
Eh!
I got up with some difficulty and dusted myself as I spat out all the dust and dirt in my mouth. The worst part about crawling through that tunnel was the layers of dust. Because there was so much of it, breathing was difficult and a lot of dust and dirt went in whenever I opened my mouth.
“Oi~ Is there anyone around?” I yelled out after I tidied myself and began pacing about. If there is someone here, they should be–
*Gudung*
— Appearing now.
Before I could complete that thought, a light knock came from the corner of the room. I slowly walked over and came to a wooden cupboard that was in rather bad shape. There was a lot of dust on it and there were numerous slash marks as well.
“Umm… Is there anyone inside? *Dang* *Dang*” I called out as I knocked on the cupboard.
“Wa!” A yell came which made me jump in fright.
I stared at the cupboard and slowly put my hands on the handles and gulped before opening the doors.
*Giiyaaa*!
Loud creaks filled the room as the doors opened and revealed what was inside. Naturally, I already knew there was someone inside and was expecting that someone to yell or run or seem shocked but what appeared before me surprised me.
It was a child.
A child was squatting inside the lowest level of the cupboard with her hands covering her mouth. Her eyes were filled with terror as though she had seen the devil. To be honest, I was a little lost as to what to do here as this is the first time being in such a situation and I was not very experienced with children.
“Ah, why are you here, little girl?” I asked as I squatted down and looked at her. She looked like she was about 11-12, younger than Mi Zhen was. She was also very thin and wore very tattered clothes. When I looked at her face, I saw 2 dark streaks extending from her eyes. Looks like she has been crying a lot.
“Little girl, where is your family and why are you here?” I asked as a dark premonition filled me.
“…” She remained silent and tried to squirm deeper into the cupboard. I continued to wait for her where I was for a long while before she finally shook hr head.
“Are they… Already…” I was going to ask further but realised that I could not do so when I realised the truth of what happened.
It was too painful and sorrowful. The bandits, the state of this building and this child. This was enough for me to guess what happened.
This child should have been having a relatively carefree life, divorced from the troubled times thanks to their relative affluence. But one fine day, in an instant, all of that changed and her family and all that they had turned to dust and pieces of flesh.
I could see it before me. As her family was slaughtered 1 by 1, a mother perhaps snuck a panicking and bewildered child into a cupboard before falling to the bandits in this very room. As she stayed hidden behind the cupboard, she would have to listen to the horrifying screams yet she could not make a single sound. Only when everything was over could she cry.
I have seen how pitiful people can get back in my era when I saw beggars and heard of sob stories but none of that could compare with the despair, pain and sadness I have seen in this era. What happened to this little girl is too cruel.
“Haa… Huu…” I regulated my breathing and steeled myself before asking, “But little girl, why didn’t you come out? Why did you hide from the others who came?”
Based on what Zhou Cang said, they should have surveyed every room in this building and she could have asked them for help. I do not believe that Zhou Cang would have overlooked this room though she might not have detected that there was someone inside here.
“…” She continued to remain silent and looked away. I could see from the corners of her lips that they were quivering and she tried for a long while before she managed to say something, “D… Don’t kill me…”
Wu, this really hit me and I had to bite my lips to control the emotions that began to well up.
Liu Bei POV
“There’s someone…?” Chen Dao asked as though we were in some ghost story as she went over to Feng Xian who nodded in response.
“Un, after coming this close, I detected a breath.” Feng Xian said as she frowned, “But it’s greatly weakened.”
“Big brother, could this be what you were talking about?”
“Un, possibly.” I replied Yun Chang and nodded, beginning to feel serious now that my suspicions were beginning to be proven right. To be honest, I never seriously thought that we would find someone and was just following my gut feeling.
I went over to where Feng Xian was and exchanged glances with her and looked at the fallen debris. It was not too dense and there were cracks which I could peer through to the other side.
Un… It feels like there is no one–
*Sha* *Sha* *Sha*
Eh? Just then, a tiny head moved about near the bed.
“There is indeed someone inside.” I said as I stepped back and turned to the others, “Come over and help, everyone. Let’s move this debris away and go in.”
“I will help.”
“Me too.”
When I finished, Zhou Cang and Chen Dao came over to help.
“Wait, don’t be so reckless you both.” Zi Long said as she came over and surveyed the debris, “Take out this piece at the center bottom. That should allow someone to go through.”
“”Alright!”” They yelled and got to work just as Zi Long finished. The rest of us backed away and they very quickly pulled out the piece Zi Long had highlighted.
“We’re done, my lord!”
I squatted down and peered through the hole and saw that it was big enough for someone to fit through. The rest of the fallen debris also seemed to be sturdy enough not to fall apart as well.
“Alright, I’ll go in then.” I said as I rolled up my sleeves but Yun Chang and Feng Xian came over with frowns on their faces.
“Xuan De, let me go.”
“Big brother, I’ll do it.”
“No need for you both to go. I’ll go in myself.” I said as I shook my head and got into position in front of the hole, “All this was a result of my own whims after all so I’ll take care of it.”
“…”
“If big brother insists.”
“Un, don’t worry.” I said as I lowered my head and crawled through the hole. It was not too long and probably only 50cm in total but even so, it felt like I was climbing through a long tunnel. As I continued crawling, my long sleeves would sometimes get caught by the debris. The clothes of this era are really unsuited for hard labour.
Eh… Eh…
But it was a good thing that it was a short distance and I could see the interior of the annex after just 3-4 steps. The room was messy as with the previous room I was searching but it was rather large.
“Big brother, is there any problem?”
“Ah, it’s fine.” I replied Yun Chang who was probably concerned when I stopped moving for a while. After about another 3-4 steps, I finally reached the end of the tunnel and came out.
Eh!
I got up with some difficulty and dusted myself as I spat out all the dust and dirt in my mouth. The worst part about crawling through that tunnel was the layers of dust. Because there was so much of it, breathing was difficult and a lot of dust and dirt went in whenever I opened my mouth.
“Oi~ Is there anyone around?” I yelled out after I tidied myself and began pacing about. If there is someone here, they should be–
*Gudung*
— Appearing now.
Before I could complete that thought, a light knock came from the corner of the room. I slowly walked over and came to a wooden cupboard that was in rather bad shape. There was a lot of dust on it and there were numerous slash marks as well.
“Umm… Is there anyone inside? *Dang* *Dang*” I called out as I knocked on the cupboard.
“Wa!” A yell came which made me jump in fright.
I stared at the cupboard and slowly put my hands on the handles and gulped before opening the doors.
*Giiyaaa*!
Loud creaks filled the room as the doors opened and revealed what was inside. Naturally, I already knew there was someone inside and was expecting that someone to yell or run or seem shocked but what appeared before me surprised me.
It was a child.
A child was squatting inside the lowest level of the cupboard with her hands covering her mouth. Her eyes were filled with terror as though she had seen the devil. To be honest, I was a little lost as to what to do here as this is the first time being in such a situation and I was not very experienced with children.
“Ah, why are you here, little girl?” I asked as I squatted down and looked at her. She looked like she was about 11-12, younger than Mi Zhen was. She was also very thin and wore very tattered clothes. When I looked at her face, I saw 2 dark streaks extending from her eyes. Looks like she has been crying a lot.
“Little girl, where is your family and why are you here?” I asked as a dark premonition filled me.
“…” She remained silent and tried to squirm deeper into the cupboard. I continued to wait for her where I was for a long while before she finally shook hr head.
“Are they… Already…” I was going to ask further but realised that I could not do so when I realised the truth of what happened.
It was too painful and sorrowful. The bandits, the state of this building and this child. This was enough for me to guess what happened.
This child should have been having a relatively carefree life, divorced from the troubled times thanks to their relative affluence. But one fine day, in an instant, all of that changed and her family and all that they had turned to dust and pieces of flesh.
I could see it before me. As her family was slaughtered 1 by 1, a mother perhaps snuck a panicking and bewildered child into a cupboard before falling to the bandits in this very room. As she stayed hidden behind the cupboard, she would have to listen to the horrifying screams yet she could not make a single sound. Only when everything was over could she cry.
I have seen how pitiful people can get back in my era when I saw beggars and heard of sob stories but none of that could compare with the despair, pain and sadness I have seen in this era. What happened to this little girl is too cruel.
“Haa… Huu…” I regulated my breathing and steeled myself before asking, “But little girl, why didn’t you come out? Why did you hide from the others who came?”
Based on what Zhou Cang said, they should have surveyed every room in this building and she could have asked them for help. I do not believe that Zhou Cang would have overlooked this room though she might not have detected that there was someone inside here.
“…” She continued to remain silent and looked away. I could see from the corners of her lips that they were quivering and she tried for a long while before she managed to say something, “D… Don’t kill me…”
Wu, this really hit me and I had to bite my lips to control the emotions that began to well up.
