Upright Utopian - Sun Ce

        “...It’s hard to breathe…” Sun Ce groaned in pain, tossing and turning in bed, “No! I don’t want to die...I miss Da Qiao!”
        Sun Ce sat up in bed and gasped for breath. His heart was beating hard and it took him a while to calm down.
        “Where am I...” Sun Ce looked around and found himself in a strange room. He tried to get out of bed, but his lower body was as heavy as a stone.
        He got into a panic and immediately tossed away the bed sheet. Everything was fine with his legs except for several flesh wounds. He tried to move but to no avail. Then, he angrily beat his legs, but what terrified him was the fact that he couldn't feel anything at all.
        “No! No way! I would rather die than become a cripple.”
        In order to get out of bed, Sun Ce recklessly propped up his body with both his hands. However, his hands could not handle the weight and rolled down. Sun Ce crashed into a table beside the bed, making a huge noise as the table tray fell to the ground.
        The noise had drawn everyone's attention outside. A strong man, Meng Huo, sprinted towards the room and saw all the food and liquids poured over Sun Ce's body. Meng Huo immediately approached him and asked: “Brother Sun, are you alright?”
        Meng Huo tried to help him up, but Sun Ce refused his offer because he couldn’t accept this truth.
        “How can I be fine! I can’t walk. I’m a cripple now! Darn it…! What is the point of living like this——Ah!”
        Sun Ce's sentence was disrupted by a sudden slap to the face. Suddenly, someone with a beautiful face pulled his collar hard——the person was Zhurong, Meng Huo’s wife.
        “I saved you because you're still of use to me, but I’ll kill you if you continue to grumble and disgust me.” Zhurong let go of his collar after scolding him, letting Sun Ce heavily crash into a wall. She glared at him as she left, and only Meng Huo and Sun Ce were left in the room.
        Meng Huo understood how Sun Ce felt, so he did not say a word and cleaned up the messy room.
        “...Sorry.” Sun Ce apologized. Even though he was wide awake from Zhurong's admonishment, he remained sad.
        “Never mind that.”
        “What happened to my legs?”
        “You...got injured when you jumped off the cliff. The Stasis has stopped your blood running down to lower body.”
        “That’s why I can’t move my legs…” Sun Ce said as he touched his stiff legs. He asked with his eyes closed: “Did you save me?”
        “Yes. You opened Zhurong’s red bamboo tube.”
        “I didn’t open it...Maybe it was crushed open as I fell down.”
        “It seems like God doesn’t want you to die like this.” Meng Huo smiled sincerely. He continued to speak as he placed Sun Ce back onto bed: “The flame from the bamboo tube told me your whereabouts. Fortunately, Rong and I were coincidentally delivering goods to your land, so we were able to save you in time before Cao’s army arrived.”
        “Why did you save me?”
        “Rong mentioned that Cao Cao’s army is getting stronger. If we don’t cooperate, sooner or later, we’ll be invaded.”
        “So you’re counting on me…” Sun Ce smiled wryly. He continued despairingly: “But I’m a cripple now and I can’t fight at all. How can I help you?”
        “I can’t believe your mind is so weak.” Sun Ce was about to refute as he thought Meng Huo was insulting him. However, Meng Huo simply looked calm as if they were just chit chatting, which made Sun Ce even more confused.
        “...What are you trying to say?”
        “Don’t you want to create a country that repays hard-working people? Have you given up?
        “I have to! I can’t even walk, how can I possibly defeat Cao Cao!?” Sun Ce resignedly said as he hammered the bed with his fist.
        “Who said it’s impossible?” Meng Huo looked at Sun Ce, “You're giving up even before trying. Do you think you deserve to be rewarded?”
        “I…”
        “If that is what you really want, you have to strive for it no matter what stands in your way. There’s nothing to be ashamed of, even if you’re a cripple.” Meng Huo determinedly said as he looked at Zhurong who was outside giving instructions to servants: “Achieving a dream is never easy.”
        Sun Ce was moved by Meng Huo’s speech. Meng Huo did not hesitate when he became Asura for the love of his life. Sun Ce felt ashamed for acting like a child and for giving up on himself!
        Sun Ce regained his hope, clenched his fists, and determinedly said: “You’re right! Even if I’ve lost my legs, I still have my hands and my mind. I’ll never give up again!”