The old man looked me over a few more times and said with pity, "You're so down on your luck, why do you care who won? Here—" He took a hard flatbread out of the basket to give to me, but hesitated for a moment and only broke off half of it for me.
"What a kind man! Can I take this pancake? At worst, I can eat grass for three days and earn 200 yuan to cook a feast. This half-pancake is half his life!" I stuffed the pancake into the child's hand, straightened up, and said, "Grandpa, I see you're a good person, so I'll just ask directly. What dynasty are we in now?"
The old man asked in confusion, "Dynasty?"
Is the current emperor Qin Shi Huang or Hu Hai?
The old man's expression changed drastically as he said, "I wouldn't dare to talk nonsense."
The child beside him, munching on a pancake, chanted, "Hu Hai—"
Oh no, theoretically speaking, Ying Ge has already gone to my place for vacation. So, if we're in the midst of the chaos at the end of the Qin Dynasty, then the Battle of Julu must have been Xiang Yu's doing.
I patted the child's head and admonished him, "Don't talk nonsense again. You're not old enough to call leaders by their names yet, understand?" I asked the old man, "So, Xiang Yu has already won?"
The old man gave me a classic NPC answer: "Who is Xiang Yu, the Hegemon-King of Chu?"
Uh... why isn't Xiang Yu (Xiang Yu) here? Did I accidentally travel to another world? Is this a dynasty that resembles the Qin Dynasty but isn't actually the Qin Dynasty, an alternate history? I suddenly realized: Xiang Yu probably hasn't become the overlord yet—he'd probably still pay for his meals.
"Tell me, do you know anyone named Xiang Yu?"
The old man now wore a complicated expression and stammered, "That is... their general."
I began to understand. At this time, Xiang Yu had not yet proclaimed himself the Hegemon-King of Western Chu. This old man, as a remnant of the Qin Dynasty, was dissatisfied with Hu Hai on the one hand, and dared not openly support the anti-Qin coalition on the other. But in short—I came to the wrong place. Xiang Yu had just finished the Battle of Julu.
It's good to have some old acquaintances around. If I were really stranded in the middle of nowhere, who would I cry to? The car won't be able to move again for at least three days. I can't just eat grass for those three days, can I? Although this pill was originally for Fatty and Ersha, now it might have to be given to Xiang Yu. Anyway, history is parallel, as long as the major events don't change, it's fine. Besides, there will be plenty of blue potions later.
The old man said, "Judging from your appearance, do you want to join the army? If you walk a little further, you'll see their camp in the time it takes to eat a meal."
I thanked the old man and continued in the direction he pointed. Logically, I shouldn't have let him go. According to time-travel novels, this group seemed to have the potential to become my first armed force, and among them might be the most valiant general and the most cunning strategist of the era. But I simply didn't have the time. Not only was I still naked, but with so few men, without being fed bird's nest and shark fin for six or ten months, aside from a dozen or so men riding a single horse, I couldn't see how they could be of any help in a war. And before I was certain I could handle Xiang Yu, I couldn't let them risk their lives with me.
Sure enough, after walking a short distance, I saw a series of camps several miles ahead. The camp gates were fortified with menacing sharp wooden stakes, and the camp was bustling with activity, horses neighing and people shouting. I was about to approach when I suddenly stopped. What was my identity now? To put it nicely, I was a refugee. Given my hairstyle and attire, I was lucky if no one mistook me for a spy. What would I say if I went over? That I wanted to see Brother Yu? I'd probably run into someone with a kind heart who would just give me a quick death.
I paced back and forth for a while, completely at a loss. Whether I could even meet the King of Hell was another matter; right now, I didn't even have the resources to pester the little devils. In this era, soldiers at the camp gates treated a few lives like dirt, as if it were child's play.
Something was bound to happen. Several sentries, seeing me pacing around suspiciously, strode towards me, their hands on their knives. I quickly spread out what I had on the ground, trying to see if there was anything that could help me. My phone was useless; I knew without even looking that they weren't there to invite me in. Cookies? I only brought two this time, one from Zhao Bailian and one unused. After my battle with Kongkong'er, I learned that Zhao Bailian's cookies were the real treasure, but would eating them help me break through and find Xiang Yu? Even if I succeeded, what could I do even if I found Xiang Yu? He doesn't recognize me yet—so, it seems I have no choice but to change my tune.
I have two options for changing my appearance. The first is to become Xiang Yu, but that doesn't seem feasible. Who has ever seen a Xiang Yu who is less than 1.8 meters tall? What if I said I was his twin brother? That seems very imaginative, but even if others don't kill me, once I see Xiang Yu, everything will be over. He can't possibly not know whether he has such a brother or not. At that time, it will be as difficult as climbing to the sky to trick him into taking the medicine.
Another option was to become Yu Ji—just get Zhang Bing's face. This was obviously more creative, but I quickly rejected it. I'm naked right now. How could Xiang Yu possibly face me if I walked through the camp like this? How could Yu Ji possibly survive? Besides, what use would it be if I looked like Yu Ji, given how I'm now blocking the way? And besides, I couldn't handle the psychological burden.
Just as the sentry was about to reach me, I suddenly remembered someone: Liu Bang!
The Battle of Julu has just ended, so Xiang Yu and Liu Bang haven't reached the point of turning against each other yet. Liu Bang is currently just one of the warlords in the allied forces, so imitating him would be the best choice. As for the issue of being naked, well, there's nothing we can do about that. Anyway, Liu Bang has a thick skin and probably won't try to kill himself.
I popped a piece of chewing gum into my mouth and chewed it vigorously, desperately trying to picture Liu Bang. I immediately felt my face scrunch up. Just then, the sentries were standing in front of me, and one of them shouted, "Who goes there?"
I looked up, and the sentry paused for a moment before immediately saying, "Lord Pei?"
Well, it seems that Liu Bang hasn't become the King of Han yet, but he still holds a significant position as one of the feudal lords.
I gave a curt "Mmm" with a straight face, stood up, and said, "Take me to see the Supreme General." Then I added, "Xiang Yu."
The sentry looked strange, as if he wanted to laugh but was hesitant, and stammered, "What is this...?"
I said, "Stop talking nonsense and hurry up."
The sentry turned around and shouted into the camp, "Bring out a horse, Liu Bang is here."
Several fast horses galloped out of the camp, and a few cavalrymen came up to me, their faces bearing the same expression as the sentries. They saluted on horseback and said, "Lord Pei, if you want to see General Xiang, let's go now." Someone led an empty horse to me.
How am I supposed to get on? The horse doesn't even have stirrups yet, and I have to hold onto the blanket with one hand. I tried jumping around a few times while gripping the saddle but couldn't get on. The sentry, suppressing a laugh, said, "Please, sir, you go ahead. We'll turn our backs." He then winked at the others, who all turned their faces away. I chuckled awkwardly, quickly grabbed the saddle with both hands, climbed on, and then draped the blanket diagonally over myself, saying nonchalantly, "Let's go."
A few cavalrymen led the way with pursed lips, and I followed them with my face propped up on my hand under their gazes. I really wanted to put my hands together in front of my chest and pretend to be a foreigner, but since I was pretending to be a foreigner, and besides, I had to hold on with one hand, so the other hand couldn't be idle either. Not only did the horse not have stirrups, but they even took off the iron ring on the saddle that tourists could grab. I didn't know how to ride a horse, so I could only hold on to the reins tightly and lower my body.
Ma Xiao trotted for more than three minutes, passing countless tents, but still saw no sign of them. I held another piece of chewing gum in my hand, sweating, and said, "What..." But I dared not finish the sentence. Liu Bang should recognize Xiang Yu's camp and wouldn't ask others why they hadn't arrived yet.
It turned out that the central command tent wasn't like the main room facing the camp gate as shown on TV. I didn't dare chew my gum even with it in my mouth, I was so anxious. After walking for a while, we finally arrived at a huge tent. A cavalryman jumped off his horse and pointed to a smaller tent next to the huge tent, saying to me, "Please make yourself at home, I'll go and report to the general."
I nodded and gracefully dismounted. The blanket fluttered in the air, revealing glimpses of spring. The cavalrymen who had come with me couldn't help but burst out laughing.
I strode confidently into the small tent, then jumped up as soon as I entered, exclaiming in annoyance, "How embarrassing! How embarrassing!"
But the most embarrassing thing was yet to come. I didn't see the little girl cleaning in the corner. Thinking I was safe, I jumped, and the blanket fell to the ground. She turned around and saw a naked man jumping around. She froze in shock. Only then did I notice her. I quickly held the blanket in front of me. The little girl nodded haphazardly at me and hurriedly ran away.
At this moment, my heart was completely at peace. I sat cross-legged at a table, spreading a blanket on my lap. Bangzi, please don't blame me, I will take good care of Fengfeng for you.
By this time, the chewing gum's flavor had faded considerably, and Xiang Yu was still nowhere to be seen, making me anxious as I kept looking around. The little maid who had timidly peeked in earlier, and seeing me sitting there unharmed, she dared to come in. She placed a bowl in front of me, then picked up a wine pot and poured me half a bowl of wine before leaving again.
I carefully examined the place. Although it was a relatively small tent, it was still over fifty square meters. The most eye-catching thing was a wooden bed in the corner. Although it wasn't luxurious, the soft silk curtains and fragrant canopy indicated that a woman had slept on it. The furnishings inside weren't exquisite either, but they were considered luxurious in this military camp.
I didn't have time to look around; the most important thing next was to get Xiang Yu to take his medicine. I noticed there were bowls on the table, and besides the one the maid had brought, the other two were wrapped in gold thread, apparently Xiang Yu's personal belongings. Without thinking twice, I poured wine into both bowls and carefully took out the blue pill. But which bowl should I put it in? I thought for a long time before finally pouring the wine out of one of the gold-threaded bowls and setting it far aside, then carefully tossing the pill into the remaining gold-threaded bowl. The blue pill dissolved instantly upon contact with water and disappeared without a trace. Just then, someone at the door called out loudly, "General Xiang has arrived!"
I frantically tossed and turned the wine bowls, because I kept thinking: if Liu Bang offered Xiang Yu a toast for no apparent reason, wouldn't Xiang Yu suspect something? And then, just like in the movies, in the end, Xiang Yu would grin wickedly and say to me, "I'll drink your bowl..."
I'm not afraid of taking this medicine; at worst, I'll remember I was just some nobody in my past life, so what? The problem is, I only have this one precious thing. If I waste it, I won't even be able to leave this house. I've come to the wrong place at the wrong time, but there's nothing I can do about it. Everything I'm doing right now is to save my life!
There was no time left! In the end, I gritted my teeth and placed the gold-inlaid bowl opposite. The light at the doorway dimmed, and a tall man walked in, stooping. Seeing me, he couldn't help but chuckle, "Lord Pei, what's wrong with you?"
I looked up and froze. The voice and face were so familiar. Xiang Yu was still unkempt, with a stubble beard, but his eyes were bright and piercing, and he moved with the stride of a dragon and the gait of a tiger. He was much more energetic than the Xiang Yu I had ever seen.
I hurriedly replied, "I... just returned from scouting the enemy's situation."
Xiang Yu's pupils contracted, and he said, "Oh, you've come back in such a sorry state. You must have found out some important intelligence, Duke Pei?" The current Xiang Yu was sharp and forthright, and he was no longer good at hiding his domineering and ambitious nature, which also made him very charming.
I abruptly picked up his bowl and handed it to him, saying, "Drink this bowl of wine first!" I was desperate; I didn't care about anything else. I could feel the sweetness in my mouth had faded to almost nothing. If he didn't drink this bowl of wine, I would have to put on a show of changing faces in front of him. He would definitely kill me if he thought I was a monster.
Xiang Yu was taken aback by my question, then said, "You drink."