Lu Bu: Invasion Hunnic

Chapter Six: Searching for Relatives on the Battlefield

After taking advantage of the chaos to ambush several Xiongnu soldiers, Lü Bu arrived at the hidden entrance to a small cave behind the village. By this time, many villagers had gathered there, trying to escape.

They must be ordinary people; only a minority would want to perish in the flames of their own hometown. Most people still hope to leave this war-torn village and go elsewhere to live a peaceful life.

Watching the villagers leave in twos and threes through the small hole, Lü Bu waited in vain for his father.

At this moment, a villager said to Lü Bu, "Hurry up and leave. If we don't leave now, and the Xiongnu realize what's happening, we won't have another chance to escape."

Although Lü Bu also wanted to leave with the others, the thought of his adoptive parents still in the village made him reluctant. Lü Bu felt that his life in his previous life had been ordinary enough; was he destined to live a life of ignominy and compromise in this one?

Lu Bu smiled bitterly, thinking to himself, "Damn it, I'll risk it all. At most, I'll die again. Since I've decided to be a hero, how can I turn back?"

Thinking of this, Lü Bu grabbed his bow and arrows, tucked his scimitar under his belt, and dashed towards his home.

When Lü Bu returned home, his house was engulfed in flames. He went to the backyard, cleared the cellar, and found no one there.

Just then, Lü Bu suddenly heard the sounds of fighting outside the wall. He ran towards the direction of the fighting and saw two Xiongnu soldiers surrounding a young girl, leering at her.

Lu Bu looked at the girl and recognized her as the same girl who had been with him yesterday. Lu Bu grabbed a sharp arrow and swiftly shot it towards the back of one of the Xiongnu soldiers.

With a soft "thud," the arrow pierced the chest of a Xiongnu soldier. Just as Lü Bu was about to fire another arrow, the remaining Xiongnu soldier grabbed a curved sword and charged at Lü Bu.

If Lü Bu were to draw his bow again at this moment, his arm would likely be severed by the charging Xiongnu soldiers. Left with no other choice, Lü Bu retreated, leading the charging Xiongnu soldiers to his own backyard. He drew his scimitar and began to fight the Xiongnu soldiers, though in reality, with Lü Bu's current strength, he could only barely hold his own.

However, Lü Bu had already planned his escape route: his own cellar. The entrance to the cellar was very well hidden, and Lü Bu retreated slightly, luring the Xiongnu soldiers to the vicinity of the cellar.

At this moment, Lü Bu stepped back, bypassing the entrance to the cellar. The Xiongnu man, on the other hand, looked smug. He stepped forward and swung his sword down.

Lu Bu momentarily lost focus, and the Xiongnu soldier stumbled and fell to the ground. One foot was still on the ground, while the other had already stepped into the cellar. His entire body was leaning forward, sprawled on the ground.

At this moment, Lü Bu strode forward, stepped on the back of the Xiongnu soldier, and swung his sword to cut off the soldier's head.

Looking at the Xiongnu soldier's head rolling on the ground, and his neck still bleeding profusely, Lü Bu thought that this was probably what they called a scar the size of a bowl.

Lu Bu casually kicked the Xiongnu man's head away. At that moment, a crying figure appeared beside him—the little girl Lu Bu had met yesterday.

The little girl cried and said to Lü Bu, "Big brother, my family has been killed by the Xiongnu. Can you take me away from here?"

Lu Bu reached out and wiped away the little girl's tears. At that moment, Lu Bu so wanted to tell the little girl "yes," but he really couldn't say it because he knew that his family was still in the fire and he still had to go find his parents.

After a long pause, Lü Bu had no choice but to gently push the little girl's hand away and say, "You should hurry to the back of the village. There are many villagers there who will take care of you. I still need to find my parents."

Seeing Lü Bu push her hand away, the little girl's tears streamed down her face. She trembled all over, sobbing uncontrollably. Lü Bu felt bad too, but he always remembered his father's words: a man sheds blood, not tears. Lü Bu feared that if he stayed any longer, he wouldn't be able to resist the urge to leave with the little girl. He shook his head sharply and walked towards the courtyard gate.

As soon as Lü Bu stepped out of the courtyard gate, he heard a little girl crying from inside: "Big brother, will you come back for me?"

Hearing this, Lü Bu's heart softened, and he returned to the courtyard. Supporting the little girl's shoulders, he said, "You should leave with the villagers first. I, Lü Bu, swear to you that as long as I, Lü Bu, live, I will find you, no matter where you are in the world."

Having said that, Lü Bu felt a pang of helplessness. It wasn't that he wanted to deceive the little girl; it's just that people need something to hold onto in this chaotic world to survive. So let Lü Bu become that little girl's anchor, hoping that with this anchor, she could survive in this turbulent era.

After Lu Bu took the little girl to the village and reunited with the villagers, he once again embarked on his journey to find his parents.

This time, Lü Bu didn't continue searching along the previous path. Instead, he changed direction and headed towards the village entrance. Along the way, Lü Bu saw many corpses, some of the villagers', some of the Xiongnu's, laid out haphazardly together. Only then did Lü Bu realize that, whether Han or Xiongnu, there was no difference after death.

As Lü Bu was walking forward, he suddenly saw an old man, frail and elderly, holding a long sword, blocking five or six Xiongnu soldiers.

The old man stood there like a mountain, actually holding back the five or six Xiongnu soldiers. At the old man's feet lay the corpses of three or five Xiongnu men.

The old man pointed his sword at the group of Xiongnu people and said, "You people do not submit to the king's rule and have repeatedly violated the borders of my great Han Dynasty. Do you really think that my great Han Dynasty has no one left? Today, I will show you what a true warrior of the great Han Dynasty is."

After saying this, the old man began to brandish a large sword. Lu Bu observed carefully and saw that the sword was wielded with great momentum, like Mount Tai pressing down, yet with the power of a rainbow piercing the sky. Every move and every stance revealed extremely profound techniques.

Although Lü Bu was a martial arts i***t in his previous life, since arriving in this world, he has spent the last two days learning martial arts with his life on the line. From struggling on the brink of death to learning his family's halberd technique, and then observing the old man's swordsmanship, Lü Bu felt his martial arts skills had improved rapidly. However, his understanding of martial arts had become increasingly vague. Perhaps this is what people mean when they say, "The more you know, the more you realize your shortcomings." Lü Bu was like that now; the more he learned and understood, the higher his desire became, and the more he felt his martial arts were inadequate.

Lu Bu was engrossed in watching when the old man stopped wielding his long sword. The five or six Xiongnu soldiers who had been standing there were now lying on the ground, dead.

At this moment, the old man turned around, and only then did Lü Bu realize that the old man was none other than the frail village chief. The old man called out towards the direction where Lü Bu was hiding, "Who goes there? Come out."

Seeing that no one was around, Lü Bu walked up to the old man, cupped his hands in greeting, and said, "Village Chief, your swordsmanship is superb. I pay my respects to you." With that, Lü Bu bowed downwards.

When the old man recognized Lü Bu, he breathed a sigh of relief. He put his knife aside and beckoned to Lü Bu. He then took out a small, creased book from his robes and handed it to Lü Bu, saying, "We are destined to meet; this is for you."

When Lü Bu saw the small book, he was startled. Had he obtained some earth-shattering secret? He hurriedly wanted to open it to read it, but the old man stopped him.

The old man said, "Don't rush, go see it when you have time later. Leave now."

Lu Bu thought about it and realized it made sense. They were currently engaged in battle; who had time to study secret manuals? So he put the small book into his robes.

Lu Bu had just put the small book into his robes and was about to thank the old man when, with a "whoosh," an arrow shot into the old man's back, the arrowhead already piercing through his chest, nearly impaling Lu Bu as well.

Lu Bu was shocked to see this and was about to step forward to help the old man. But the old man stopped him again. He heard the old man say in a low voice, "I saw your father heading towards the village entrance. Go find your father quickly. With him there, he can surely ensure your safe departure." With that, the old man pushed Lu Bu aside, turned around, picked up his sword, and charged at the Turks behind him.

Watching the old man's departing figure, Lü Bu had no choice but to turn away helplessly and head towards the village entrance. Although Lü Bu desperately wanted to help the old man fight the enemy, he knew that the old man had been struck by an arrow and was beyond saving. The old man was merely using his last breath to buy himself some time.

Thinking of this, Lü Bu had to console himself: "If I can't make good use of the time the old man bought for me, wouldn't I be wasting his good intentions?"