NOVPUB"Great, great, great! Who would’ve thought that among us Yellow Turbans, we’d one day have a scholar," Guann Hai laughed loudly. "Haha, in a few days when we surrender, I’ll go learn too! Come on, come on, write down my name for me. I’ve been called Guann Hai for so many years, and I still don’t know how those two characters are written. Come on, Yuanjian, write it so I can see it."
For ordinary folks to become literate was no easy feat; someone like Liaoo Hua who could even read Military Books was truly rare.
Seeing Liaoo Hua use his hand to write Guann Hai’s name on the ground, a group of both minor and major canal commandants crowded around to watch with envy evident in their eyes.
"The opportunity General Tiangong’s disciple, Xuangu, acquired for us with his life, Lord Xuande has already said he would teach literacy to the people under his rule," Liaoo Hua reminisced about the great leader he had never met, his eyes showing a clear expression of admiration.
"Worthy of being Lord Xuande," Guann Hai mused as he looked at the two characters on the ground. They seemed vaguely familiar; Zhang Jiao once wrote his name similarly.
"Big Brother Liaoo, help us write down the names of our brothers too. We’ve never seen our own names," a canal commandant on the side shouted, immediately receiving agreement from everyone else.
"No problem," Liaoo Hua nodded and said, then proceeded to write everyone’s names on the ground. All present were excited and proud, their respect for Liaoo Hua growing. Those who could write always commanded such admiration.
That night, Liaoo Hua, carrying a gourd of alcohol for sterilization and a dried chicken, made his way to Guann Hai’s tent. Speaking of which, there weren’t many tents among the Yellow Turbans; many who came here simply spread some straw on the ground and rested that way, without any bedding.
"Yuanjian, if you have something to say to me, just speak," Guann Hai said as he eyed the items Liaoo Hua was carrying, saliva pooling in his mouth. After eating vegetable buns for so long without a trace of oil on his lips, the sight of the dried chicken made him swallow saliva involuntarily.
"Eat first, then we’ll talk," Liaoo Hua passed the dried chicken and the gourd of alcohol to Guann Hai.
Guann Hai, taking the chicken and alcohol, seemed a bit unsettled and eventually sighed, setting them down. "Speak frankly, Yuanjian. Our brothers can’t even fill their stomachs with those vegetable buns. This... I can’t bring myself to eat it. We might as well chop it up and make porridge out of it."
If it weren’t for this kind of mutual support and righteousness, the Yellow Turbans would have long since become scattered sand. The Yellow Turbans of Qingzhou had been able to exist without internal fighting, not only because of strong individuals keeping order but also because of this mutual respect and support among the Yellow Turbans.
"Sigh, Guann Hai, do you know? You’ve caused big trouble," Liaoo Hua said plainly as he opened the gourd, took out a bamboo tube, and poured a cup for each of them.
"What big trouble?" Guann Hai asked in confusion. "If it’s about us besieging the North Sea, I’ll just surrender when the time comes — it’s not worth worrying about."
The aroma of the wine was tempting. Seeing Liaoo Hua pour a cup for himself, Guann Hai picked it up and started sipping. He barely remembered the last time he had a drink, but this time the wine was indeed delicious.
"Do you still remember our former great leader, General Tiangong’s disciple, Xuangu?" Liaoo Hua sighed as he spoke.
"How could I forget? He is a hero of us Yellow Turbans, and we worship him tirelessly all year round," Guann Hai said with displeasure. "Without the great leader, would you, boy, be able to be at Mount Tai, be literate, read books?"
"I remember, without the Great Leader, we Yellow Turbans could only be trapped in Qingzhou, doomed to be exterminated sooner or later. The Great Leader paved a broad road for us with his own life." Liaoo Hua’s eyes clearly brimmed with tears, and now that he had read books, he understood things that he hadn’t before.
"Yes, without the Great Leader, we Yellow Turbans only had a dead end," Guann Hai said somewhat gloomily as he drank, "But why did the Great Leader have to die? I used to think it was because Mount Tai didn’t want a Channel Commander from the Yellow Turbans, but Yuanfu and the others are all fine, so why did the Great Leader have to die?"
"Because as long as the Great Leader lived, the Yellow Turbans would always be the Yellow Turbans. Just by raising his arm, the Great Leader could rally the Yellow Turbans to fight once more, and that was the potential danger. Yuanfu and I couldn’t achieve that. Do you understand?" Liaoo Hua explained earnestly to Guann Hai.
"I don’t understand," Guann Hai shook his head and said, "The Great Leader gave so much for us; isn’t it only right that we help him when he asks? Are you saying you, Liaoo Yuanjian, wouldn’t go?"
"A droplet of kindness should be repaid by a gushing spring," Liaoo Hua stated solemnly. 𝖓𝖔𝖛𝔭𝖚𝖇.𝔠𝖔𝔪
"Worthy of being a scholar, well said," Guann Hai clapped Liaoo Hua on the shoulder, "Exactly, the Great Leader did so much for us, shouldn’t we do something for him in return?"
Liaoo Hua looked at the robust man before him and felt a sense of sorrow for the first time; Guann Hai simply couldn’t understand any of this.
"We should repay the Great Leader, but if he were just to raise his arm, it would resurrect the situation of General Tiangong from those years. Could Lord Xuande afford not to be cautious? Let’s think ten thousand steps back—if you were Lord Xuande, if you had managed to bring order to the world, but there was a person who could destroy everything at any moment, what would you do?" Liaoo Hua tried to explain his thoughts to Guann Hai.
"How could that be? The Great Leader, if he were alive, would never do such a thing," Guann Hai said with simplistic logic.
"To be on the safe side and, furthermore, with the Great Leader alive, we would never have this life; the Yellow Turbans would always be watched by Lord Xuande," Liaoo Hua said gloomily.
"…" This time, Guann Hai didn’t continue the conversation but nodded at Liaoo Hua with a sort of half-understanding.
"By the way, Yuanjian, what exactly are you trying to say? I still don’t understand," said Guann Hai, slightly distracted as he picked up his cup, and after a long time realized there was no taste of wine; looking down, he saw that there was no more wine left, and then it dawned on him, scratching his head in confusion.
"Sigh, it seems that there’s no quick way to make you understand," Liaoo Hua sighed, feeling he simply could not tell his good friend, "Only with your death can the remaining Yellow Turbans of Qingzhou be saved."
"Heh, heh, heh…," Guann Hai chuckled, "There’s no helping it, I’m quite slow, not as quick-witted as you. I’m just like Zhou Cang, good in a scuffle but slow upstairs."
Liaoo Hua didn’t say more, just looked at Guann Hai’s naive face and silently sighed.
That night, Guann Hai tossed and turned, contemplating Liaoo Hua’s words, and as he did so, he fell asleep, only for less than an hour before he suddenly awoke with a start. The man who had been muddled in his thoughts now deeply felt the impact of what Liaoo Hua had been trying to say, and in an instant, he understood the words that Liaoo Hua had been wanting to say but dared not speak.
[So it turns out, I am now just like the Great Leader was back then. Only with my death can the Yellow Turbans be accepted by Mount Tai. Raising my arm to summon—yes, right now, all I need to do is raise my arm and over a million Yellow Turbans would follow. This is the reason I must die, no wonder Yuanjian couldn’t bring it up...] Guann Hai thought bitterly, wishing that he could remain ignorant of all this. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it at Qidian.com with your recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)
