"Sorry for the unannounced visit. Please forgive me for disturbing you!"
When Xu Yi appeared, the middle-aged man rose and clasped his fists in greeting, sending his words by voice transmission.
Xu Yi lowered the door curtain and strode inside. "May I ask who you are, and why you've come uninvited?"
As he spoke, he remained fully alert.
He couldn't make out the man's strength. Among the entire prefectural army, the only other person whose strength he couldn't gauge was Commander Ming Liding. The man before him carried himself much like Ming Liding, yet Xu Yi had never met him before. His sudden, uninvited visit left Xu Yi on high alert.
"I am Zhu Shisan!"
The middle-aged man sent his answer by voice transmission.
A thunderclap seemed to explode in Xu Yi's ears. How could he not know the name Zhu Shisan? He was the head of the rebel forces in Fanyang Prefecture, the man Commander Ming addressed as "Brother Thirteen."
Although Xu Yi had never met him, Zhu Shisan's name rang like thunder among the thousands of prefectural soldiers.
The great battle had ended that very day, and all kinds of rumors had spread in every direction. One of them concerned Zhu Shisan.
It said that Commander Ming had gathered eight experts to surround and kill Zhu Shisan, beheading him and securing a complete victory in one fell swoop.
Yet Xu Yi had never dreamed that Zhu Shisan would appear right inside his own tent.
Steadying himself, he said, "Your great name is known far and wide. Have you come looking for me to take the head of this newly risen nobody and lift the spirits of your routed soldiers?"
As far as he could tell, Zhu Shisan had sought him out because Xu Yi had distinguished himself in