The Wei Main Camp. It's even larger than I thought it would be. Master Guo Jia, the Wei Strategist leads me through the camp. I follow the shorter blonde man and try to piece together where I've gotten myself. I somehow gotten myself into the Wei troops and the high positions of the Strategist's apprentice. I couldn't really believe it. Everything happened so fast, that the whole battle now sits as a blur in my memory.

I just hope Lord Liu Bei is alright. Before they sent me back, Lord Cao Cao had ordered some men to chase after them, and then we were off.

Maybe they got away, Kongming would lead them out, right?

"Xu Shu. You seem to be spacing out, not a good first impression." A smooth voice caught me off guard.

Master Guo Jia's voice is that of a sweet coo, but a coo with venom. I know at least that much. I bow, respectively.

"Ah, my apologies."

He chuckles and places a hand on his cheek leisurely.

"It is quite alright. It can be a bit overwhelming." He smiles at me and I can't help but distrust it. He turns and points, and my eyes follow the direction of his gloved finger. There was a building, as if it was separate form the base itself.

"There is the dining hall. There all the officers come together and eat their rations. Tonight we're celebrating."

I look at Master Guo Jia with confusion, until I realized the source of their celebration. Did they…

Did they catch up to Lord Liu Bei?

I have to ask, directly! I won't let him dodge the question!

"May I ask, Master Guo Jia, celebrating what?

He turns back to me and flashes another smile, and he put his index finger upon his lips.

"Well, celebrating life itself."

My head tilts, I don't get it. Celebrating life itself? Are they celebrating for just living?

"Excuse me, Lord Guo Jia."

Our heads turns and wee a man with tan skin and purple and blue head wrap. He wears loose clothes and a casual face. He strides over to Master Guo Jia.

"Ah, Jia Xu. How may I help you?"

Jia Xu is his name? They seem to be on good terms as well. Jia Xu lifts his arm and points back over to the dining hall.

"Everyone's waiting on you. They want you to join the celebration and show us your new toy."

Toy? Do they mean me? Master Guo Jia chuckles and crosses his arms over his stomach.

"I'll be there. I still have to show Xu Shu around."

I give a small wave to Jia Xu but he didn't wave back. His eyes plaster themselves onto me and I pull hood down again.

"So Xu Shu's your name huh? I'm the second strategist Jia Xu. Good to meet you" He holds out a hand to me.

I hesitantly take it, and shake it with a nod. He pulls away and waves to Master Guo Jia and walks back to the dining hall.

I followed Master Guo Jia through the camp, learning what tent is what, where to bathe, where to train, and even specific tents for officers. After the grand tour we made our way to the dining hall. When Master Guo Jia opened the doors, the loud roaring and rumbling of officers partying echoed through the camp. Soldiers were drinking like it was their last night to live. Handmaidens were even drinking, enjoying the booze they sell. And there was plenty of laughter and smiles.

Master Guo Jia walks in and I follow him. He strides with confidence, as if none of the drunken men or women could touch him and even the occasional flying cup seemed to avoid his way. I duck and scoot my way through the people, trying to keep with him.

In the back of the dining hall, there was a large table that seated the highest ranked warriors, and Master Guo Jia headed straight for that table. Lord Cao Cao sits at the head of the table, and beside him was a tall man with an eyepatch. I should keep my distance from them.

Alas, I have to follow Master Guo Jia...who is sitting right beside Lord Cao Cao. He had taken the seat while I was thinking and he crossed his legs and went for a bottle of wine. Meanwhile the man with the eye patch speaks up.

"Gonna introduce yourself?"

He forcefully makes eye contact with me, and it causes me to shiver. I try to swallow down my anxiety as I bow to them.

"My apologies, I am Xu Shu. New apprentice of Master Guo Jia."

All eyes at the high ranking table landed onto me, and I felt the nervousness rise. I see so many large warriors and even some women sitting at the high table. Even though more soldiers were around us roaring and having a fun time, this table seemed to be deader than a desert. My heart was pounding and I kept my head down, in an attempt to calm myself.

"This was the man that knew his way around your Eight Gate formation Cao Ren." Lord Cao Cao had spoken up.

"Ah I see. You led Liu Bei to safety?" Cao Ren had replied.

My mouth seemed to go dry as the anxiety raised. My heart was pumping and my hearing was starting to fade.

The table was lively again, but now with talk of me. I couldn't hear it all very well, only really registering small tidbits.

"So he was under Liu Bei?"

"He's not beautiful at all! ~"

"Are you sure you should trust someone like him, Cousin?"

No, I must calm down.

My breath is starting to be taken away as I keep my head down.

"Now, now everyone. Give him some time. He has only just started working toward his ambition, why don't we give him a chance to prove himself. "

Master Guo Jia's words had been caught into my ears and I look to him. He spun the glass gently in his pale fingers and watched as the wine moved. He seemed confident in his words and it caught the table off guard.

"Xu Shu, Remove the hood." Master Guo Jia ordered.

I stand up straight and gently remove the hood off of my head. Now I get a good look at every warrior at the table and they get a look at me. I look around at each of them quickly and then look back away.

"Xu Shu."

Lord Cao Cao's voice called me and I turned and bowed once more.

"Yes, My Lord?"

I hear a creak and I look up to see Lord Cao Cao standing. He holds out his drink and says with a booming voice.

"Allow us to give you a proper welcome to Wei."

The other officers stand as well and they all mimic his movements. All of their drinks being held and they all smile and nod to one another. After a few moments they all sit and I see a handmaiden pull a chair up. I look and she gestures for me to sit. I sit down and thank her and scoot up a little.

I feel a cool tap on my cheek and look to see Master Guo Jia handing me a glass of wine. I awkwardly take and look into the magenta fluid. Master Guo Jia holds his glass to me and I do so as well.

'Clink'

The night goes on and I don't drink a sip of alcohol. However, halfway through the night I see Master Guo Jia stands and walk off. I'm guessing he has had enough, and I find myself sitting outside enjoying the night. The moon glows with a calming hue and the stars seem more abundant from here.

I feel a pain in my back suddenly causing me to turn to the source. I see Jia Xu as he waves to me and walks to my right side.

"Beautiful night. Wouldn't you agree?"

I nod and continue my stargazing hobby. Soon seeing in my peripheral as he joins me on the ground. We sat in silence for a while until I hear him sigh.

"You know, when I first joined Wei, it was even worst."

I look at Jia Xu and his eyes turns downward.

"What do you mean by worst?"

He lifts his head and glances at me.

"I mean, it wasn't so friendly! Yeah there were some tensions but because of Guo Jia you were able to relax." Jia Xu's hands moved, conveying his emotions.

"When I joined, the tensions were so think you could feel it on your lungs. But it wasn't for no reason. "

"What was the reason?"

Jia Xu chuckles and he stretches, after patting his knees he stands back up and dusts himself off.

"We should get to sleep, we have a long training day tomorrow."

He ended up avoiding the question, but I decided not to pry. I watch at Jia Xu walks away while waving to me.

"Good night."

"You too."

I look back up to the stars and moon, enjoying the nostalgic feeling. Though it is much different now. I'm not a free man, I am a Wei strategist and I will have to get used to that fact.

I reach into my robe and look at my burned chariot piece. It somehow is still with me after all this time. Jiang Ping must have used very heavy duty metal, well she was married to blacksmith. My thoughts then travel back to Mei.

I wonder if they're doing well.

It's not as if I can ask or go back. I sigh and stand up, deciding to call it a night. I walk over to a vacant tent that Master Guo Jia had pointed out during the tour and enter. It wasn't grand, pretty small actually, but it had a small sleeping bag within and a little 'desk area'. I remove my robe cautiously, and crawl into the sleeping bag.

It's pretty small.

I toss and turn until I force my eyes close and attempt to think of things that put me to sleep. Old stories, counting sheep, anything. But none worked. Until I remembered something.

The lightning bolt song my mother used to sing to me. It was a song that she made up on the spot one night when I was young but she continued to sing it every time I needed comfort or sleep. I remember the lyrics myself. Taking a small breath and quietly sing to myself.

"Ó, wǒ de shǎndiàn, shǎn liàng de guāng. Diǎn liàng jīn wǎn línghún de fāngshì. Nǐ de línghún běnshēn rúcǐ míngliàng. Lǐngdǎo de dàolù, shì tiāntáng de zhǐnán."

I sing the familiar song to myself and it instantly soothes my nerves. Memories of my mother comes to mind. Of her selling her crafts and her bright smile as she woke me up at the crack of dawn to help her with harvesting. Seeing her struggle with cooking a meal, even laughing at her own atrocious dishes.

I smile, and slowly allow myself to fall to sleep. A tear rises and slowly falls down my cheek.

Mother.

[A/N] I've finally made it….he is in Wei now! Now IF you're wondering technically you can count the whole village thing as an intro, but still it's a very important thing! So yeah! I wanted Jia Xu and Xu Shu to be good friends at least! Oh and the Lullaby goes like this in English (according to Google Translate):

"Oh my lightning, shining light

Light the way for souls tonight.

With your soul itself so bright

Lead the way, be heaven's guide."

Yep! That's the little song! Sing it to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star because I am a sad American. So I made it up for him. I hope you enjoyed this short chapter! See you next chapter!