The burly man who stepped forward first cast a disdainful glance at Liu Bei and the fifty guards standing beside him.
Then, his greedy eyes lingered on the carts filled with money and grain.
But when his gaze shifted to the young girl peeking out from the back of the carriage, a flash of stunned admiration lit up his eyes.
Miss Mengde was only thirteen this year.
In modern eyes, she was still just a child.
But in the Han Dynasty, men had a well-known fondness for young girls.
According to Han law, girls were required to marry before the age of fifteen—or else their families would be taxed double.
By Han standards, Miss Mengde was nearly of marriageable age.
Though her face hadn’t fully matured yet, it was already as delicate as fine white jade.
Anyone could tell she was destined to grow into a breathtaking beauty.
So it wasn’t surprising that the brute momentarily harbored impure thoughts.
But he quickly came to his senses.
Raising the long-handled broadsword in his hand, he pointed it at Liu Bei and the others.
“Listen up! Leave the money on the carts to me. I’ll let you keep the food for your journey. I’m in a good mood today, so I’ll spare your lives. As for the girl…” He let out a lecherous chuckle. “Little girls aren’t much fun anyway. Just take her with you. Don’t push your luck!”
With Liu Bei standing in front of her, Mengde wasn’t afraid of this group of supposed regular troops.
Even if Liu Bei couldn’t beat them, couldn’t he at least grab her and run?
Feeling emboldened, the girl opened her mouth and spoke her mind.
“Wait—are you seriously this stupid? You’ve got that many horses, and you’re out here playing bandit? Wouldn’t it be smarter—and safer—to sell those horses for cash? Don’t you know you’ll get hunted down by the army if you keep robbing people?”
The brute couldn’t help but retort.
“Sell the horses? Are you dumb? Horses aren’t something you can just—”
“Boss!”
One of his men immediately interrupted, realizing their leader was about to say too much.
The burly man caught himself just in time and clamped his mouth shut.
But even from those few leaked words, Miss Mengde had already guessed enough.
‘He said “those above”…?’
So they really were regular troops.
Only trained soldiers would have the sense to spare people like Mengde and her group.
They knew better than to make enemies of fellow government troops.
One look at Mengde’s bearing was enough to tell she came from a high-ranking official family.
If she were killed here and it was traced back to them, they’d be done for.
That’s why these soldiers hadn’t slaughtered them outright.
But then… ‘why would official troops be out here robbing people?’
Mengde frowned in confusion.
She glanced at Liu Bei, who stood firmly in front of the cart, shielding her.
After a moment’s thought, she decided to trust his combat abilities.
***
She turned back toward the burly man and said boldly: “Hey! You overgrown oaf! I’m not handing over this money without a fight. That said… I don’t want my guards getting hurt either. So how about this—we settle this with a duel. Each of us picks one champion to fight. If your guy wins, I’ll give you the money. If mine wins, you step aside and let us pass. Sound fair?”
“A duel?” The brute burst out laughing.
“You’re on! I’ve never backed down from a fight!”
Although ancient warfare didn’t rely on duels the way Romance of the Three Kingdoms makes it seem, the tradition did exist.
After all, art imitates life—and sometimes exaggerates it.
That obscure Ming Dynasty writer with the surname Luo didn’t invent the idea of single combat out of thin air.
Mengde called Liu Bei over, then leaned in close and whispered in his ear.
“Make sure to capture that brute alive later. I want to question him. This squad is clearly part of the regular army—I’m very curious how a formal unit ended up resorting to banditry. You can take him, right?”
Liu Bei confidently nodded at Miss Mengde.
“No problem. Leave it to me, Miss.”
He then rode his horse to the space between the two forces, holding a pair of swords—one long, one short.
The burly man on the other side also rode forward on horseback to meet him.
When the brute saw the weapons Liu Bei was holding, he immediately burst into loud laughter.
“Hah! Look at you, you pretty boy. Have you ever seen anyone bring those kinds of weapons to the battlefield? Did your teacher never tell you that swords are just for decoration at the waist?”
“He did.”
Liu Bei’s expression showed no anger—only a calm smile.
“But he also said, if you know how to use a sword, it’s perfectly good for fighting.”
“Then let me see what you’ve got!”
With that, the burly man roared and spurred his horse forward, blade raised.
“Come on!”
Liu Bei didn’t back down in the slightest, raising his sword and charging to meet him.
***
Several minutes later, under Miss Mengde’s astonished gaze, Liu Bei was still fighting the brute evenly.
They had exchanged over ten blows already, and neither side had gained the upper hand.
‘Was this even reasonable?’
Even if Liu Bei wasn’t a top-tier fighter, he was still supposed to have the skills of a second-rate general, right?
‘Could a weakling really survive the journey from northern Youzhou all the way down to southern Youzhou?’
And now some random background character just pops out and manages to hold his own against Liu Bei for more than ten rounds?
‘Whose subordinate is this guy?!’
“Hold it right there!”
Miss Mengde shouted at the two fighters.
When they paused and pulled back, she called out loudly to the burly man across from them—
“Name yourself!”
“I am Hua Xiong of Anding!”
The brute raised his large blade high, answering with great pride and bravado.
Miss Mengde blinked in shock at the name, then widened her eyes in disbelief.
‘Hua Xiong?’
The same Hua Xiong that was cut down in a single strike by Lord Guan in Romance of the Three Kingdoms?
‘Wait, are we in the Romance timeline or the historical timeline?’
Because if we go by history, this guy is supposed to be a no-name who got killed by Sun Jian.
And I say “killed” with emphasis—because the historical Hua Xiong didn’t have even half the prestige that the novel gave him.
In the Romance, he defeated Sun Jian, then killed multiple famed generals before being taken down by Guan Yu.
‘But historically?’ Just a mid-tier officer.
Probably couldn’t even beat someone like Pan Feng.
And yet here he is, holding his own against Liu Bei for over ten rounds? His combat stats clearly match the Romance version.
‘So what kind of world is this?’
If this is the Romance, maybe Liu Bei just didn’t get his pre-fight wine buff.
No “Miss, please let me slay that general” moment, no morale-boosting cutscene.
‘Maybe that’s why he couldn’t defeat this guy in one hit.’
‘So… is this world based on the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, or actual history?’
Miss Mengde found herself stroking her chin in deep thought for the first time.
After all, when she first transmigrated, she had assumed this was the real Eastern Han—just a historical setting.
But now, judging by Hua Xiong’s power level, things weren’t adding up.
‘Wait a minute!’
‘Forget all that!’
‘I, the mighty Cao Cao, have been turned into a girl! Clearly this world has nothing to do with history or the Romance! So why am I even wasting brainpower over this?’
Staring at the long strands of hair that hung over her chest, Miss Mengde suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of apathy.
‘This is pointless.’