Three Kingdoms: Mistakenly Becoming Liu Bei's Adoptive Father at the Start

Chang'an City is visible in the distance.

Cao Cao's troops had already arrived.

Soldiers were checking people coming and going on the suspension bridge. Although the checks were perfunctory, at least there was some order.

Liu Liang said, "Let the brothers camp outside the city and wait. Just the two of us will enter the city. Too many people will only draw attention."

Zhao Yun accepted the order, gave the instructions, and then mingled with Liu Liang into the crowd and entered the city.

The city was far more chaotic than the area outside.

Nine out of ten shops on both sides of the street were closed, with mud plastered on the doors and signs that read "Sick inside" or "Family fleeing".

Some doors had been smashed open, the interiors were empty, and shelves were overturned on the ground.

Further in, you can see houses that are half burned down, with charred beams sticking out in mid-air, and the smell of smoke still lingering.

A troop of Cao soldiers ran past, their armor clattering. The leading junior officer shouted, "Quick! Zhang Yang and Liu Dai are fighting over at the East Market!"

Liu Liang pulled Zhao Yun along the wall to make way for them.

Zhao Yun said, "Hasn't Lord Cao already entered the city? Why is it still so chaotic?"

Liu Liang said, "Entering the city is entering the city, and stabilizing the situation is stabilizing the situation; they are two different things."

The two continued walking forward.

As we passed through an alleyway, we heard cries and the sounds of clashing swords coming from inside.

Liu Liang peeked out.

Two groups of people were fighting. An old man lay motionless on the ground, his blood flowing into the middle of the alley.

The two groups were wearing different uniforms; one group looked like Zhang Miao's soldiers, while the other was unrecognizable.

"Let's go." Liu Liang pulled Zhao Yun along.

The further you go into the city center, the more obvious the chaos becomes.

The palace was surrounded by tents set up by Cao Cao's soldiers, making the palace as solid as an iron barrel.

But once outside that area, they're like children without a mother's care.

Waves of feudal lords' troops swarmed in like locusts, some numbering in the dozens, some in the hundreds, and some were simply scattered soldiers who looted anything they could find and occupied any house they saw.

Flames shot into the sky over the East Market, and plumes of smoke twisted and rose, turning half the sky red.

Some were shouting "grain!" while others were shouting "kill!" The voices were mixed together, making it impossible to tell who was who.

An old man squatted on the side of the street, holding a bundle, trembling all over.

As Liu Liang passed by him, he suddenly grabbed Liu Liang's clothes, looked up, and his eyes were full of fear.

"No...don't kill me..."

Liu Liang squatted down, pried open the old man's fingers one by one, and said softly, "I won't kill you. Head east, out of the city, towards Luoyang. There's porridge there."

The old man stared at him blankly for a while, then got up and staggered westward.

Zhao Yun said, "I'm afraid he won't even make it to Luoyang..."

Liu Liang said, "At least there's something to look forward to, something to strive for."

The two walked along the street for a short distance when they suddenly heard the sounds of fighting ahead.

It wasn't just sporadic brawls; it was a real bloodbath.

The dull thud of a knife cutting into flesh, the death screams, and someone yelling, "Surround him! Don't let him get away!"

The two retreated to the eaves of a building and peered out.

Ahead was a crossroads where two groups were engaged in a bloody battle.

To be precise, it was a group of people besieging one person.

The man was at least eight feet tall, broad-shouldered and thick-waisted, covered in blood, whether from someone else or himself, it was unclear.

The burly man wielded a large knife, slashing left and right, and seven or eight corpses were already lying around him.

The group of men besieging the strong man were dressed in variegated uniforms and were Liu Dai's men, numbering about seventy or eighty. They surrounded the strong man in the center, but they couldn't get close to him.

"What fierce swordsmanship!" Zhao Yun clenched his fist and cheered softly.

The burly man's swordsmanship wasn't particularly refined, but it was certainly fierce. Every strike was delivered with a desperate, reckless attitude, completely disregarding his own safety. However, this fighting style was most vulnerable to prolonged battles, and he probably wouldn't last long.

Among the attackers was a man who appeared to be the leader. He brandished a knife and shouted, "He's almost done for! Take turns attacking him! Exhaust him!"

The burly man roared, "You killed my lord! I won't let you get away with this!"

The leader sneered, "Blame your stupidity! All's fair in war, don't you understand?"

With a loud shout, the burly man cleaved another opponent in two with his blade, but he himself staggered and fell to one knee.

The attackers swarmed forward, and it looked like they were about to hack him to death.

"Save them!" Liu Liang waved his hand.

Before he finished speaking, Zhao Yun had already darted out.

The silver spear pierced the air, and the two men at the front were sent flying by the spear tip before they could even raise their swords.

Zhao Yun's spear thrusts continued relentlessly, unleashing a three-part combo of sweeping, diagonal thrusts, and a counter-attack, instantly scattering the surrounding crowd.

The man knelt on the ground, looked up at Zhao Yun, and his eyes suddenly widened.

"You...you are...General Zilong!"

Zhao Yun didn't answer, pointing the tip of his spear at the group, and coldly said, "Get lost."

Liu Dai's men looked at each other in bewilderment.

Someone recognized Zhao Yun, their expression changed, and they quietly backed away.

The leader was about to say something when someone tugged at him, lowering their voice to say, "That's Zhao Yun! The one who fought Lü Bu for fifty rounds at Hulao Pass!"

The leader's expression also changed.

Liu Liang walked out from under the eaves and stood with his hands behind his back.

The leader glanced at Liu Liang, then his pupils suddenly contracted.

"You...you are Liu Liang! Liu Bei's adoptive father!"

Liu Liang smiled and said, "It's good that you know me. Go back and tell Liu Dai that I, Liu Zishan, saved this man. If he wants him back, tell him to come find me."

The leader gritted his teeth and waved his hand: "Let's go!"

Liu Dai's men carried away several corpses, tumbling and crawling as they ran.

The burly man stared blankly at Liu Liang and Zhao Yun for a moment, then suddenly threw down his knife, knelt down, and kowtowed.

"Thank you both so much for saving my life!"

Liu Liang stepped forward to help him up: "Get up and talk."

The burly man struggled to his feet, covered in blood, with blood still seeping from the wound on his leg, but he grinned.

"I recognize you two benefactors."

Liu Liang was taken aback.

The burly man said, "During the Suanzao Alliance, I served under Prefect Qiao of Dongjun and was his personal bodyguard for a few days. I was standing at the tent entrance the day you two entered to discuss matters and witnessed it with my own eyes. Later, I saw General Zilong fight Hua Xiong and Lü Bu from afar. His spear skills... hey, I dream of learning them."

Liu Liang looked at him: "Are you one of Qiao Mao's men?"

The burly man nodded, his eyes suddenly reddening.

"I am Zhou Cang. I used to be a nobody in the Yellow Turban Army. After the Yellow Turbans were defeated, I fled to Dongjun. Prefect Qiao took me in and made me his personal guard. Prefect Qiao treated me well. Whenever there was meat to eat, he always remembered to share a piece with me."

Zhou Cang.

Liu Liang was very familiar with this name.

Guan Yu's trusted general, who could capture Pang De in the water and fight Zhao Yun on the mountain, was unparalleled in loyalty and righteousness. In the end, he died alongside Guan Yu at the hands of Eastern Wu.

That happened later.

Now this man is kneeling in front of him, covered in blood, saying he wants to avenge Qiao Mao.

Liu Liang suddenly felt that this chaotic world was pretty messed up.

Good people die quickly, while bad people live long.

Zhou Cang, a man of such loyalty and righteousness, was almost hacked to death on the streets of Chang'an.