NOVPUBBefore Guann Hai spoke the truth, the entire tent was filled with cheers and laughter, but as he began to speak, the tent fell silent, the faces around him stiff with shock.
"Great... Great Leader, please say that again..." Jiang Gong already believed him, but still couldn’t help kneeling on the ground, asking for confirmation.
Guann Hai repeated his previous words, and all the Yellow Turbans looked at him with bitter expressions. "Marshal Guann, while the Mount Tai Army hasn’t arrived yet, you should hurry and leave this place. With your strength, you can survive anywhere."
"If I leave, what will happen to you all? So, stop speaking such foolish words. Look after our brothers for me. Du Yuan, after I’m dead, take care of them and keep them from acting recklessly," Guann Hai glanced at Chen Mao, who had stepped forward, then his gaze landed on Du Yuan and the other leading men.
"Marshal Guann, there’s still time to leave if you do it now," Sima Ju murmured, "The incident with the Great Leader has already happened once; they will believe us. You don’t need to do this."
"Sima Ju, I’ve always thought you were the most rational one. Where can I go at this time? Give up on the Yellow Turbans? Turn to other Feudal Lords? Impossible." Guann Hai might not have been as clever as Sima Ju, but he was crystal clear about this matter.
"Does the future of our Yellow Turbans require someone to die?" Jiang Gong asked bitterly. "Why must it be like this?"
"No need to ask why; I just feel it’s worth it," Guann Hai spoke like an elder who had seen through the vicissitudes of life. "Go about your own tasks; let this matter rest. I’m not here to inform you; I’m here to command you. Don’t do anything foolish, the treatment of our Yellow Turbans’ women, children, and elderly depends on your performance in the future."
Guann Cheng knelt on the ground and gave Guann Hai three kowtows, then stood up silently and walked out of the tent, having heard an irreversible determination in Guann Hai’s tone.
Sima Ju and Huang Shao also had tears in their eyes as they gave Guann Hai three kowtows before leaving the tent. Following them, each of the Yellow Turban Commanders did the same, and eventually, even they began to weep bitterly. The Yellow Turbans weren’t willing to be bandits but were bound by the initial circumstances, and now, in order to break free, they could only watch as one hero after another sacrificed their lives to save the Yellow Turbans and pull them out of this cage.
Guann Hai sat alone in the empty tent, heaving a sigh, and couldn’t help but look back on his past. After a long while, he realized that since becoming a Yellow Turban, he hadn’t done much good, apart from protecting the Yellow Turbans.
"Alas," Guann Hai let out a long breath, looking back on his life he hadn’t really done anything grand. [Just like this, dying under Guan Yu’s blade is fine; I’ve found a good place for the Yellow Turbans to belong, and that is a worthy death, much better than starving or being killed in an accident.]
"Gurgle gurgle gurgle~" Guann Hai listened to the sound of his own stomach and couldn’t help but sigh. "Apart from not dying of overeating, it seems I have no regrets, haha." Guann Hai laughed hysterically.
After laughing for a while, Guann Hai felt a touch more desolate. He then heard a commotion outside the tent and slightly furrowed his brow, "Guann Cheng, let Yuanjian in, don’t block him. He’s our own brother, let’s not embarrass ourselves. This is my choice; it has nothing to do with Yuanjian. After I’m dead, you all need to get along. Don’t let others ridicule you!"
Upon hearing Guann Hai’s words, Guann Cheng, Du Yuan, and the others gave Liaoo Hua a fixed stare before letting go. As for the other Commanders, they also forcibly held back the anger in their hearts and made way for Liaoo Hua to pass through.
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"What’s the matter with Yuanjian?" Guann Hai asked from the main seat, yawning. He was sleepy because he was hungry, and not even Inner Qi Manifestation could prevent that.
"General Guan sent me to bring a hundred dried chickens, a cartload of dried mutton, three sides of dried pork, a side of beef, and a cart of strong liquor." Liaoo Hua said with his head bowed, not daring to look directly at Guann Hai, whose radiance inspired his respect.
"Go, go, call all the brothers in, and let’s eat together. Although it’s supposed to be my farewell meal, there’s no need to be so wasteful." Guann Hai’s face lit up with joy. He had just said he didn’t want to die on a full stomach, and Guan Yu had already sent him wine and meat. He had no more extravagant wishes. 𝓃𝓸𝓋𝓅𝓾𝒷.𝒸ℴ𝓂
Not a single Yellow Turban Commander came in. Guann Hai sighed and instructed Liaoo Hua to bring the meat and alcohol into the tent, then he quietly began to eat alone.
For the Yellow Turbans, the secrets among the Commanders were equivalent to the secrets within the Yellow Turbans. The secrets of seventy or eighty Commanders equaled the secrets of all the Yellow Turbans. There was no helping it; their confidentiality was just that good. What could you say?
In summary, the day after Guann Hai spoke, over a million Yellow Turbans already knew. The Yellow Turbans, who came from the ranks of the impoverished masses, possessed all the virtues of the hardworking people throughout history—gratitude was among them. Although they didn’t know how to repay Guann Hai, the next morning, Kong Rong, who was hiding in North Sea City, heard a sweeping cry of sorrow coming from outside the city.
Guann Hai was very annoyed. He just wanted to wait quietly for his glorious death to arrive, but now, with a million Yellow Turbans making such a fuss, his head ached. Dying was already troublesome enough, could they please stop crying!
"I really am a fool!" Guann Hai thought somewhat frantically as he sat in his tent.
"Now I realize how wise the Great Leader was. I used to think the Great Leader was also torn between life, death, and righteousness. Only now do I understand that the Great Leader wasn’t troubled by these trivial things; he wanted to avoid exactly this sort of scene. Great Leader, I am in awe of your intelligence!"
With his mind at ease, Guann Hai still greatly admired the Great Leader, but he no longer felt the same reverence as before. At least now that he had made the same choice as the Great Leader, he felt qualified to mock himself with the Great Leader’s deeds.
Guann Hai couldn’t stand the noisy atmosphere outside anymore. He wanted to curse. Had he known this would happen, he would have definitely followed the Great Leader’s example and made arrangements at the last moment, leaving behind a "The wind howls at the Yishui River, a brave man departs, never to return" sort of desolate silhouette.
"I’m so foolish. If I had known that my prestige was almost equal to that of the Great Leader, I could have just insisted at the last moment. Now what is all this!" Guann Hai wildly muttered to himself.
Thankfully, Guan Yu didn’t make Guann Hai wait too long. At the Si Hour that very day, he arrived outside North Sea City. It was clear he had come alone, the number of his cavalry was not large—just over two thousand horsemen—dragging a huge coffin to the outskirts of the Yellow Turban Camp, calling for Guann Hai to come out.
Before Guan Yu arrived, Guann Hai waited. But when Guan Yu did arrive, Guann Hai didn’t charge out to meet his death as he had previously thought he would. There was an obvious sadness to him. Regardless of how brave a warrior one might be, facing life and death, even with the most significant reasons, maintaining composure like Guann Hai was an indicator of unwavering determination.
"Ah, I am nowhere near the Great Leader in terms of spirit." Having replayed the joys, sorrows, and passions of his lifetime in his mind, a tear slid down the corner of Guann Hai’s eye. Then he rose from his chair, grabbed his Long Spear with his right hand and the strong liquor from the previous night with his left, drank it down in large gulps, and then calmly walked toward the entrance of the tent. (To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets; your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read at m.qidian.com.)
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