Li Dian POV
As I continued to think as I looked about, Cao Ren accelerated and the troops about followed along as well as they disengaged as quickly as possible. I swung the reins down and kicked my horse but was never quite able to catch up to Cao Ren despite this horse being a rather good one actually. Naturally I could not see what expression she had on right now as well.
“Cao Ren, let’s go and check on the troops in the middle in a bit!”
“I know.”
Good thing she was still replying me, I thought as I looked about and saw that the battle was still proceeding. Most troops who saw us galloping through quickly realised what we were doing and also joined us in retreating as well. As for the enemy, they did not seem to be as numerous as I thought they were and 10,000 would be an exaggeration. No matter how I looked at it, they could not be more than 5-6,000. It is true that they have suffered losses by now but there cannot be much more than that.
In that case, where were the other troops? Or did we miscalculate their numbers that were at the front? That could be possible as they did hamper us for quite a long while after all.
But… What is this feeling I am getting? Why is it that I feel like something is not right somewhere? It’s like I am forgetting something but then again, this could just be a misconception borne from suffering a grave defeat.
“All troops! Do not get too engrossed in battle! Exiting the city is top priority!” Cao Ren yelled once more, breaking my thoughts.
I hurriedly regained my senses and assessed the situation. Right now, we were racing for the north gates. There were not too many troops in the alleys so they could not stop us. In the distance, we could see the north gates were wide open. It was just 3-400 paces away and we would be there in no time.
“Yaa! *Pala*!”
All of a sudden, the door of a nearby house burst out and a figure with a glaive leapt out at me. To prevent injury to both myself and Lu Xiang’s corpse, I had no choice but to slow down my movements as I tried to block it. When our weapons clashed, my arm nearly buckled under my assailant’s might and I nearly lost my grip on my weapon but was able to hold on and push back.
Guan Yu?!
That was my first guess as to who my assailant was but when I turned back, I saw that it was not her but someone else. Someone else that I was also very familiar with.
“Lord Li Dian, we meet again.” That person smiled as she saluted and met my furious glare with a firm gaze.
“Zhang Liao…”
By right, I ought to return the salute. Be it friend or foe, propriety demands such behaviour but this time, I really did not want to do so.
“You lied to us.”
“You’re an enemy so I don’t feel like it’s lying. To you, it would be called scheming; to us, it’s just part of our strategy.”
“Hmph, such sophistry.”
Saying anything now is pointless. Even so, I had little grounds on which to berate her with. If she herself does not think that she did anything wrong, then there is nothing I can say. All I can do is just to glare at her as I raised my spear and point at her as she readied her stance.
However, whether or not I am a match for Zhang Liao, I cannot afford to duel with her. I looked to the side and saw that Cao Ren was still charging forward and the enemy troops had not yet caught up. Just from this short delay by Zhang Liao’s surprise attack, I was already situated where the troops in the middle were. If this goes on, the battle will eventually shift here as more retreating and enemy troops catch up and I will not be able to escape.
Un… When I thought of this, I lowered my gaze at Lu Xiang. No matter what, I must get Lu Xiang back to Fan city.
“You’re not going to attack?” Zhang Liao asked as she tilted her head. I looked at her and saw that her glaive was already heading towards me.
Kuh… I can only try to gamble at this point!
“Yaaaaaaaaa!!” I yelled as Zhang Liao neared and reached out with my spear. Zhang Liao was originally planning on slashing down but when she saw me stabbing at her, she immediately retracted her blade to defend against my attack and then tried to deflect my spear to the side–
Now!
“Haa!” I yelled as I slid my hand to the tip of my spear and pushed forward.
“Wu!!” Zhang Liao grunted as she got a shock from my attack and hurriedly twisted her waist to try and dodge my attack.
*Ka*!
My spear stabbed into her armour but my strength was not finished yet. Good! I just need to stab further!
*Ka*!
Eh?! My spear which should have pierced into Zhang Liao’s abdomen was flung to the side along with several fragments of her plate armour.
Kuh… It was not enough huh…
Just as I was thinking about this, Lu Xiang’s body lurched towards the right where my hand was outstretched.
No!
I could not retract my hand in time and was forced to watch as Lu Xiang’s body fell to the ground, my heart filled with anguish and helplessness–
*Dang*
A light sound filled the air as some object stretched out from the side and stopped Lu Xiang’s fall mid-air. I hurriedly grabbed her legs and pulled her back up as I took a closer look and saw that it was a glaive. Zhang Liao was holding her abdomen with 1 hand and holding the glaive with the other as she held it against Lu Xiang’s head.
“Hu, nice catch.” Zhang Liao said as she heaved a sigh of relief and looked at Lu Xiang and then at me, “Lu Xiang is…”
“Ah,” I nodded, “I’m going to bring her back to Fan city.”
“…” Zhang Liao did not say anything and only retracted her blade as I settled Lu Xiang back in front of me.
“Zhang Liao, I’ll say this first, I do not owe you anything.” I said coldly. Even now, I have no intention of forgiving her in the slightest.
“I know.” Zhang Liao said as she looked at us and then at our troops that were retreating, “You’re not fighting anymore?”
“…” I wordlessly picked up a light spear from nearby and said as I pointed at her, “We can.”
I have to admit that this is not a smart choice by any means but there is no way I can finish this quickly and she is standing in my way anyway. It’s not like I fear death. The only regret I have is that I cannot fulfill Lu Xiang’s last wish. This is probably the only reason why I will not be able to rest in peace.
“Un…” Zhang Liao’s smile faded away and she blinked as she retracted her glaive and turned her horse around, “Leave.”
“Un… You think I have not made my resolve?” I replied, feeling furious as I felt like I was looked down upon by Zhang Liao.
“Your resolve is your resolve and has nothing to do with me.” Zhang Liao said as she turned back and looked at me and at Lu Xiang, “But of peoples’ last wishes have to be executed by the people they can trust.”
“…” I remained silent as I looked at Lu Xiang. Her corpse was silent and I could not expect a reply from her here but if her soul was here, she would undoubtedly want me to fight with Zhang Liao.
But I cannot do this. Not now.
“I won’t return this favour.”
“Hahahaha.” Zhang Liao chuckled and said irritably, “I know.”
“…”
Even though we were enemies, she still acted honourably. Even though we were enemies, even though she schemed against us, I still have to say that I respect Zhang Liao as a person. If we were in the same faction, we would probably be good friends.
What a waste… If only her defection was genuine.
“…” I wordlessly saluted her and she returned it, smiling as always.
The reason why I saluted her was because of gratitude for letting us go, and also as a gesture to myself to shift the hatred I bore against her to myself, as all this would not have happened if I had not believed her words.
I should have realised that her loyalty, and honour, lay with Liu Bei and Lu Bu.
Li Dian POV
As I continued to think as I looked about, Cao Ren accelerated and the troops about followed along as well as they disengaged as quickly as possible. I swung the reins down and kicked my horse but was never quite able to catch up to Cao Ren despite this horse being a rather good one actually. Naturally I could not see what expression she had on right now as well.
“Cao Ren, let’s go and check on the troops in the middle in a bit!”
“I know.”
Good thing she was still replying me, I thought as I looked about and saw that the battle was still proceeding. Most troops who saw us galloping through quickly realised what we were doing and also joined us in retreating as well. As for the enemy, they did not seem to be as numerous as I thought they were and 10,000 would be an exaggeration. No matter how I looked at it, they could not be more than 5-6,000. It is true that they have suffered losses by now but there cannot be much more than that.
In that case, where were the other troops? Or did we miscalculate their numbers that were at the front? That could be possible as they did hamper us for quite a long while after all.
But… What is this feeling I am getting? Why is it that I feel like something is not right somewhere? It’s like I am forgetting something but then again, this could just be a misconception borne from suffering a grave defeat.
“All troops! Do not get too engrossed in battle! Exiting the city is top priority!” Cao Ren yelled once more, breaking my thoughts.
I hurriedly regained my senses and assessed the situation. Right now, we were racing for the north gates. There were not too many troops in the alleys so they could not stop us. In the distance, we could see the north gates were wide open. It was just 3-400 paces away and we would be there in no time.
“Yaa! *Pala*!”
All of a sudden, the door of a nearby house burst out and a figure with a glaive leapt out at me. To prevent injury to both myself and Lu Xiang’s corpse, I had no choice but to slow down my movements as I tried to block it. When our weapons clashed, my arm nearly buckled under my assailant’s might and I nearly lost my grip on my weapon but was able to hold on and push back.
Guan Yu?!
That was my first guess as to who my assailant was but when I turned back, I saw that it was not her but someone else. Someone else that I was also very familiar with.
“Lord Li Dian, we meet again.” That person smiled as she saluted and met my furious glare with a firm gaze.
“Zhang Liao…”
By right, I ought to return the salute. Be it friend or foe, propriety demands such behaviour but this time, I really did not want to do so.
“You lied to us.”
“You’re an enemy so I don’t feel like it’s lying. To you, it would be called scheming; to us, it’s just part of our strategy.”
“Hmph, such sophistry.”
Saying anything now is pointless. Even so, I had little grounds on which to berate her with. If she herself does not think that she did anything wrong, then there is nothing I can say. All I can do is just to glare at her as I raised my spear and point at her as she readied her stance.
However, whether or not I am a match for Zhang Liao, I cannot afford to duel with her. I looked to the side and saw that Cao Ren was still charging forward and the enemy troops had not yet caught up. Just from this short delay by Zhang Liao’s surprise attack, I was already situated where the troops in the middle were. If this goes on, the battle will eventually shift here as more retreating and enemy troops catch up and I will not be able to escape.
Un… When I thought of this, I lowered my gaze at Lu Xiang. No matter what, I must get Lu Xiang back to Fan city.
“You’re not going to attack?” Zhang Liao asked as she tilted her head. I looked at her and saw that her glaive was already heading towards me.
Kuh… I can only try to gamble at this point!
“Yaaaaaaaaa!!” I yelled as Zhang Liao neared and reached out with my spear. Zhang Liao was originally planning on slashing down but when she saw me stabbing at her, she immediately retracted her blade to defend against my attack and then tried to deflect my spear to the side–
Now!
“Haa!” I yelled as I slid my hand to the tip of my spear and pushed forward.
“Wu!!” Zhang Liao grunted as she got a shock from my attack and hurriedly twisted her waist to try and dodge my attack.
*Ka*!
My spear stabbed into her armour but my strength was not finished yet. Good! I just need to stab further!
*Ka*!
Eh?! My spear which should have pierced into Zhang Liao’s abdomen was flung to the side along with several fragments of her plate armour.
Kuh… It was not enough huh…
Just as I was thinking about this, Lu Xiang’s body lurched towards the right where my hand was outstretched.
No!
I could not retract my hand in time and was forced to watch as Lu Xiang’s body fell to the ground, my heart filled with anguish and helplessness–
*Dang*
A light sound filled the air as some object stretched out from the side and stopped Lu Xiang’s fall mid-air. I hurriedly grabbed her legs and pulled her back up as I took a closer look and saw that it was a glaive. Zhang Liao was holding her abdomen with 1 hand and holding the glaive with the other as she held it against Lu Xiang’s head.
“Hu, nice catch.” Zhang Liao said as she heaved a sigh of relief and looked at Lu Xiang and then at me, “Lu Xiang is…”
“Ah,” I nodded, “I’m going to bring her back to Fan city.”
“…” Zhang Liao did not say anything and only retracted her blade as I settled Lu Xiang back in front of me.
“Zhang Liao, I’ll say this first, I do not owe you anything.” I said coldly. Even now, I have no intention of forgiving her in the slightest.
“I know.” Zhang Liao said as she looked at us and then at our troops that were retreating, “You’re not fighting anymore?”
“…” I wordlessly picked up a light spear from nearby and said as I pointed at her, “We can.”
I have to admit that this is not a smart choice by any means but there is no way I can finish this quickly and she is standing in my way anyway. It’s not like I fear death. The only regret I have is that I cannot fulfill Lu Xiang’s last wish. This is probably the only reason why I will not be able to rest in peace.
“Un…” Zhang Liao’s smile faded away and she blinked as she retracted her glaive and turned her horse around, “Leave.”
“Un… You think I have not made my resolve?” I replied, feeling furious as I felt like I was looked down upon by Zhang Liao.
“Your resolve is your resolve and has nothing to do with me.” Zhang Liao said as she turned back and looked at me and at Lu Xiang, “But of peoples’ last wishes have to be executed by the people they can trust.”
“…” I remained silent as I looked at Lu Xiang. Her corpse was silent and I could not expect a reply from her here but if her soul was here, she would undoubtedly want me to fight with Zhang Liao.
But I cannot do this. Not now.
“I won’t return this favour.”
“Hahahaha.” Zhang Liao chuckled and said irritably, “I know.”
“…”
Even though we were enemies, she still acted honourably. Even though we were enemies, even though she schemed against us, I still have to say that I respect Zhang Liao as a person. If we were in the same faction, we would probably be good friends.
What a waste… If only her defection was genuine.
“…” I wordlessly saluted her and she returned it, smiling as always.
The reason why I saluted her was because of gratitude for letting us go, and also as a gesture to myself to shift the hatred I bore against her to myself, as all this would not have happened if I had not believed her words.
I should have realised that her loyalty, and honour, lay with Liu Bei and Lu Bu.
