“Yes, Father.” Liu Pan changed the way he addressed Liu Biao.
“Good. Good. Initially, I never planned to have you return but the matter this time is too important.” Liu Biao said with full of killing intent. He could no longer trust the majority of people in Xiangyang. He could no longer trust the Cai Family and the Kuai Family. While he could still make use of the Huang Family, they were not of much use. Just one look at Huang She was enough to see how useless the man is. That was why Liu Biao called for his nephew Liu Pan.
“Pan Er?” Liu Mang could not help but look at Liu Pan, who looked back at Liu Mang. The two of them gazed at each other for a while.
“He has fierce eyes.” Liu Mang could feel that Liu Pan had either been a commander for a very long time or was a person at the Refinement stage. Could a person that young reach that level of skill? He wasn’t much older than Liu Mang.
“Milord! It is time to leave!” Jia Xu said and dropped a rope. Zhou Cang was already in the hot air balloon. Liu Mang grabbed onto the rope as the hot air balloon slowly ascended.
“Do not let him leave!” Huang She shouted, interrupting Liu Biao and Liu Pan’s reminiscence.
“Pan Er. Help your father catch that false king! We cannot allow him to leave Xiangyang.” Liu Biao said as he pointed up at the hot air balloon.
“He is the King of Shu?” Liu Pan asked as he found out about Liu Mang’s identity. The cavalry he brought with him had stopped further away because many of Liu Biao’s guards were kneeling on the ground. Some of these guards had initially not kneel down but suddenly decided to kneel after the arrival of the cavalry. These were the Cai Family and the Kuai Family’s men that purposefully act this way to block the way.
The heavy cavalry could not advance unless they wanted to trample over their comrades. They were also very skilled as they were able to stop in an orderly fashion in front of the kneeling guards. After all, horses were not people. For them to act this way showed that these heavy cavalry were the cream of the crop.
“Do not let the false king escape!” Even if there were reinforcements, it does not guarantee that stop Liu Mang.
“Liu Biao! Well played!” Liu Mang said as he looked down at the city. The blood have not yet dried. He looked at Liu Biao, Huang She and Lady Cai and felt his heart ache. However, he quickly dispelled the aching feeling he had.
“Liu Biao! I will not forget the reception I received here today! I will definitely repay this one day!” Liu Mang said coldly to Liu Biao. Liu Biao had sent out so many soldiers just to kill him. On top of that, Liu Mang’s son had even died. How could Liu Mang not harbor any resentment?
“Yi Er! Take care of yourself! Let us leave!” Liu Mang said to Lady Cai and then shouted to Jia Xu. Meanwhile, Guan Hai pulled the rope to bring Liu Mang up to the hot air balloon.
“We cannot let him leave!” Liu Biao shouted. He had seen Yangzhou’s strength. Liu Bei was no match for Yangzhou and Jingzhou was unable to defeat Liu Bei. The same applies to Jiangdong. If such an opponent were to escape, Jingzhou would face a lot of difficulties. The only way out was to have the slut Lady Cai kill Liu Mang and then shift the blame to the Cai Family.
“Leaving already? We should first greet each other!” Liu Pan quickly took a bow and arrow from his subordinate and aimed at Liu Mang.
Liu Mang felt that he was being targeted even though he was in the air. While surprised, he quickly turned to see Liu Pan aiming at him. He felt like a prey being hunted.
“Milord. Come up quickly! What’s wrong?” Jia Xu asked. Liu Mang had been climbing up when he suddenly stopped.
“Military Advisor! It is the enemy!” Guan Hai could also feel the enemy’s gaze.
Liu Mang did not dare to act rashly. If the arrow was shot, he would have nowhere to hide.
“You have good reaction but this is as far as you go! Farewell!” Liu Pang said and let the arrow loose.
“Not good!” Liu Mang may have been able to dodge it on land but it was hard to move while climbing the rope of a hot air balloon.
“Give me a shield!” Liu Mang shouted1.
“Catch!” Guan Hai shouted and threw the shield. Liu Mang grabbed the shield.
“You want to block my arrow with that shield? You must be dreaming!” Liu Pan laughed. The Dragon Bird Arrow that he used was meant to deal with heavy armor. It was made entirely using black iron. Liu Pan needed to use all his strength to shoot the Dragon Bird Arrow and he could only do it twice per day. Once used, the enemy was definitely dead as heavy armor was like mere paper to this arrow.
The arrow flew through the sky with a loud cry.
“Milord!” Guan Hai shouted. The arrow was so terrifying that Guan Hai himself was not certain he could withstand it.
“Have you given up?” One person asked when he saw Liu Mang let go of the rope. Did Liu Mang choose to fall to his death instead?
The arrow grazed Liu Mang, damaging the back of his armor. Liu Mang also spat blood as the arrow flew past him.
“Milord!” Guan Hai shouted. Liu Mang had to let go of the rope to narrowly dodge the arrow. If he were to fall from this height, he would definitely suffer serious injuries at best. He would also fall back into Liu Biao’s hands.
“Prepare to collect the corpse!” Liu Pan said confidently. Although he felt a little dissatisfied that his arrow did not hit its mark, the end result was still the same.
“Don’t die! Don’t die!” One of Liu Mang’s enemies prayed for his survival. This was Huang She. Although he wanted Liu Mang dead, he wanted to be the one to do the deed. Otherwise, he would not gain any merits. He did not like Liu Pan any more than he liked Liu Mang. Liu Pan’s appearance alone was enough to give Huang She a sense of crisis. If Liu Mang were to die, Huang She would get nothing. On the other hand, if Liu Mang were to escape, Huang She would at least earn contribution for making the report would not need to fear Liu Pan.
“Father. You need to prepare a proper coffin for the King of Shu.” Liu Pan said calmly.
“Haha! Of course! I will give that false king a coffin made from the top grade wood made from peach tea.” Liu Biao laughed. Evidently, he hated Liu Mang so much he would not let Liu Mang ascend. As the wood form the peach tree was said to ward off spirits, Liu Mang’s spirit would not be able to leave.
“Haha! He is not dead!” Huang She suddenly laughed.
“Hm?” Liu Biao frowned. At this point, Huang She suddenly realized that he had forgotten himself and changed his words to sound like regret and mockery. “The false king is not dead! What regret! If only the arrow struck its target properly!”
Although he was mocked, Liu Pan did bother. “How could it be?” He looked up at Liu Mang and saw that the shield Liu Mang had was dented. Liu Mang himself was still hanging on to the hot air balloon.
“Hold on! You must hold on!” Jia Xu shouted. Guan Hai did not care for the sharpness of the shield’s edges and grabbed on tightly. His hand bled from the cuts but he still persevered to pull Liu Mang up.
Liu Mang panted as he narrowly escaped death. Fortunately he had reassembled his shield axe. He had used gravity to fall to avoid the arrow. At the same time, he used his shield to extend his ‘arm’ so that he could hang onto the hot air balloon. On the other hand, the rope was torn by the arrow.
Guan Hai also managed to pull Liu Mang up with his enormous strength.
“Men! Bring the arrows!” Liu Pan was angered when he saw Liu Mang climb into the hot air balloon, escaping his Dragon Bird Arrow. This was a big slap in his face. He was even so confident, asking Liu Biao to prepare a coffin. In the end, Liu Mang still escaped. Another Dragon Bird Arrow was quickly given to him. This time, he had to hit Liu Mang.
“Go! Go now!” Liu Mang shouted. He was still traumatized by Liu Pan’s arrow.
However, his orders did not need to be given. Jia Xu was the one most afraid of death. He would quickly escape to the best of his abilities at all times.
“Aiyo! I cannot go on!” Huang She suddenly acted like he was dying. As he was injured earlier, there was bloodstain on his clothes.
“Young Master! What’s wrong?” Huang She’s guards panicked and quickly went to Huang She.
Huang She gave the guards a meaningful look. They got the hint and flocked around Liu Pan’s horse as they approached Huang She. The horse became startled as it tried not to trample on the soldiers. As a result, aiming was also impossible.
“Huang She!” Liu Pan glared angrily as he could tell that this was deliberate.
“Milord! Quickly capture that false king! Do not worry about me!” Huang She mournfully houted at Liu Biao while ignoring Liu Pan. His clothing was bloody, making him look like a loyal and devoted subordinate.
“How hateful!” Liu Pan said towards Huang She and then looked at the hot air balloon that continued to go further away. “Men! Follow me after it!” Liu Pan shouted and took his subordinates.
“Step aside! Let Young Master Pan chase after that false king!” Huang She generously allowed Liu Pan to leave.
As the heavy cavalry left, Huang She gave another meaningful glance to his subordinates. They nodded and left. Huang She then quietly left using a shortcut to the West Gate.
“Liu Pan! If this general cannot catch Liu Mang, don’t think you can catch him!”
