Sanctuary

After Liu Bei endured Ji Ling's siege at Xiaopei, he was no longer satisfied with his few thousand soldiers. After the battle, Mi Zhu sent people from Donghai with money, cloth, grain, and fodder to help him recruit troops in the surrounding area. Many people from Gan Family Village also enlisted.

Because Gan Qian was interested in Lan Tian, she often returned to Gan Family Village to visit her family.

Gan Family Village was only a few miles from Xiaopei City. Besides, Liu Bei valued brotherhood over his wives and concubines, so he paid no heed to Gan Qian's behavior.

A few days later, Lan Tian had finished digging his "cellar." It was a pit more than two meters deep and four or five meters long and wide—many times larger than an ordinary cellar.

Gan Ji had helped at first, but when he saw the fellow digging farther and farther off track, he gradually lost his enthusiasm. Lan Tian ended up doing most of the work himself.

"Tian'er, are you making this huge cellar into a pond or a cesspit? We only grow a few vegetables right now. We really don't need one this big," Gan Ji asked, puzzled.

Lan Tian smiled faintly. "Neither. I'll tell you once it's finished."

After digging the cellar, Lan Tian asked the villagers to cut down trees and saw them into logs of two different lengths: two or three meters, and five or six meters. He had them toss all the branches, leaves, and treetops left over from the felling into the pit and burn them.

It was the slack season, so the villagers were more than willing to help. They just couldn't understand what Lan Tian was doing.

During this time, because Gan Qian often returned to her parents' home, she had taken up work at the stove again. She had learned nearly all of Lan Tian's cooking skills.

When Lan Tian used the short logs as pillars and the long ones to "cap" the cellar, Gan Ji and his daughter finally realized that the fellow really had built a cellar—and an exceptionally lavish one at that. At the end, he even brought in a carpenter to secure it with mortise-and-tenon joints.

Once the cellar was finished, Lan Tian invited Gan Ji and Gan Qian to open the hatch on top and climb down the ladder.

The walls had been baked dry, leaving little dampness. It was just like a small house aboveground.

"Tian'er, you spent so much effort and twenty whole days on this. What exactly is it for?" Gan Ji asked, puzzled.

"Foster father, elder sister, this is the shelter I made. We still need to put in a wooden bed and stock it with some water and dry food."

"Wait, Tian'er. Are you planning to live down here? Isn't it better to live aboveground?"

"Of course we won't live here all the time. It's just somewhere we can hide if war and chaos break out."

Once Lan Tian explained, father and daughter immediately understood. The massacre in the fourth year of Chuping still haunted people to this day.

"Little brother, aren't you being too cautious? Xuande is stationed at Xiaopei now. I'm sure nothing will happen in the future," Gan Qian said.

Lan Tian shook his head. "Xu Province is flat, with practically no natural defenses. Xiaopei sits at the meeting point of Qing, Xu, Yu, and Yan provinces. I doubt your husband will find it easy to hold for long. I'm just preparing for a rainy day."

Gan Qian felt her heart tighten as she listened. Thinking it over, she had to admit Lan Tian was right. As she looked at her foster younger brother, who was growing up by the day, he seemed more and more unfathomable. Not only could he devise strategies from a thousand miles away, he also saw the situation with such piercing clarity.

Gan Qian, at least, didn't believe Lan Ziyu was only good at farming.

After the three of them emerged from the shelter, Lan Tian covered the top with soil and turf, then hid the ventilation holes under fallen leaves. The survival skills he'd picked up from watching wilderness survival shows, he put to use here in this world.

When they walked two meters away, Gan Ji realized the shelter they'd just seen was almost impossible to make out. He exclaimed happily, "Tian'er, your camouflage is convincing enough to fool anyone. If war really does come, like you said, we'll need to make sure the inside is properly equipped."

"Little brother, if what you say comes to pass, what about Xuande? Think of something for him," Gan Qian said anxiously.

"Elder sister, you really think too highly of me. I'm only any good at farming. I don't know the first thing about governing a country or fighting for the realm." Lan Tian thought to himself, I really am in the wrong line of work. Besides, if Liu Bei went to Western Sichuan right now, could he conquer it with the troops he has?

Gan Qian returned to Xiaopei with a heavy heart. Seeing his daughter's dejected figure, Gan Ji sighed. "Alas, from what you just said, Qian'er may still have to suffer with Xuande..."

"Don't worry, foster father. Though I don't want to help Liu Bei, I'll do everything I can to keep elder sister safe," Lan Tian said earnestly.

Gan Ji shook his head and said meaningfully, "You see those dogs on the farm barking up a storm? If I walk past them with a stick in my hand, those beasts will wag their tails at me. Only when you have weapons and power in your hands might people respect you."

Lan Tian felt his heart tighten. Was it really a mistake to keep my head down like this?

On September 28, a sudden rumble of hoofbeats thundered along the main road outside the village. Standing by the courtyard gate, Gan Ji looked into the distance and saw countless troops kicking up clouds of yellow dust as they galloped toward Xiaopei.

"Those look like Lu Bu's troops from Xiapi. Qian'er, why has General Lu brought his men to Xiaopei again?" Gan Ji called to her inside.

Gan Qian was preparing dinner. She wiped her hands on her apron and asked, bewildered, "No, he hasn't. Xuande's been drilling the troops lately. Why would Lu Bu come now?"

Just then, Lan Tian hurried over from behind the house. "Foster father, elder sister, quickly take some bedding and clothes to the shelter. Put out the fire in the stove, too. Let's bring plenty of cooked food down with us."

"Little brother, what are you—"

"Go to the shelter first. We'll talk about it later," Lan Tian urged before Gan Qian could finish.

When Liu Bei learned that Lu Bu was coming with troops, he hurriedly led Guan Yu and Zhang Fei out of the city to greet him. Before the two sides had even met and exchanged greetings, Cheng Lian's vanguard suddenly attacked, catching Xiaopei's troops completely off guard.

Liu Bei hurriedly retreated into Xiaopei City to hold it, while Guan Yu and Zhang Fei rushed to organize the men for battle.

After Cheng Lian repelled the defenders, Lu Bu's rear army arrived beneath the city walls. A glance showed tens of thousands of troops.

"General Lu, why have you suddenly attacked?" Liu Bei shouted from atop the city wall.

Lu Bu reined in Red Hare and rode out in front of his formation. Pointing his Square Sky Painted Halberd at the city wall, he roared, "Liu Bei, I kindly took you in and let you station your troops at Xiaopei. Last month, I even shot an arrow through the halberd at the gate to free Xiaopei from Ji Ling's siege. Yet instead of repaying my kindness, you ordered Zhang Fei to steal my warhorses. That's the act of a worthless brute!"

"There must be some misunderstanding. General Lu, please put aside your thunderous anger for a moment. Let me fetch my third brother so he can explain," Liu Bei said, rubbing his hands together.

Just then, Zhang Fei happened to come up to the city wall. He had heard Lu Bu's aggressive words, and his anger made his eyebrows bristle.

Zhang Fei ignored Liu Bei and pointed at Lu Bu below, roaring, "Three-Surname Slave, you stole my big brother's Xu Province first, you worthless brute! How dare you come here and flaunt your might? So what if I stole a few hundred of your warhorses? I'll steal them every time I see you from now on!"

"Eyed Thief, today I swear I'll kill you!"

Lu Bu flew into a rage and immediately ordered Zhang Liao and the others to attack the city. Zhang Fei's theft of the horses had only been the spark. The real reason was that Liu Bei had been frantically recruiting troops at Xiaopei.

After managing Xu Province for several months, Lu Bu had only then realized how great Liu Bei's influence in the region still was. On top of that, the turncoat Xu Dan feared Liu Bei's retaliation and kept whispering slander in Lu Bu's ear. In the end, Lu Bu resolved to attack Xiaopei and uproot Liu Bei's power from Xu Province.

Caught completely unprepared, Liu Bei hastily fought back. After holding out for two days, Xiaopei City fell. His family once again fell into Lu Bu's hands, and he fled toward Yu Province with Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and the remnants of his forces.