Huang Zu POV

I don’t need anyone to acknowledge nor understand what I’ve done.

All I hope for is that I have not turned my back on my path.

Whether it’s leaving the city to draw in the enemies, giving up an advantage to defend my lord’s honour, or refusing to use Gan Ning because I suspect her; the end result may not be optimal but at the very least, I’ve never doubted that my actions were correct.

And it is because of this reason that I’ve lost; lost as though this was the way it was meant to be.

Perhaps it was meant to be. An eye for an eye. Back when I slew Sun Jian, I should have seen this end coming.

And I did but I thought it wouldn’t happen, and I’ve always felt conflicted and uneasy about this.

“I feel that I’ve done everything I can. There are many aspects during the course of this battle that you all might feel dissatisfied about and I don’t intend on explaining myself.” I began to calm down somewhat as I thought of this and continued in a calmer tone, “If you do not wish to return and defend the city with me, you can very well leave or surrender. I said this before and I’ll say this again, even if I’m alone, I will defend Jiangxia city–”

— I’m afraid you won’t have that chance!

Un?!

Just then, my words were cut off by another voice, a voice that made me shudder.

This boice came from atop a short cliff nearby.

“Who!” I was startled and hurriedly looked about for the source.

“Heiya!”

Just as I turned my head, the sky turned dark in an instant and when I raised my head to look, I saw several large rope nets fall down from the sky landing right for us.

I immediately raised my spear to slice at it and I was lucky that the ropes were not too strong and was able to slice through and escape the net above me.

Ha! Ha!

I then slashed at the net above me several times to try and make the opening wider.

“Chen Jiu, Su Fei! Get out, quick!” I yelled out to them behind me and went ahead to escape the net.

When I looked back, I saw that practically all of them were trapped and entangled in the net, unable to break free.

Kuh… Looks like I’ll have to turn back to remove the other nets.

“Don’t think you’re going anywhere!!”

And just then, another loud roar came from the side. I turned and saw another black shadow falling from the skies, in her hands was a full moon scimitar slas.h.i.+ng at me.

Wu! I raised my spear to block the attack but was nearly slammed off my horse by the sheer force behind the attack and it took me both of my hands to sweep her away.

“It’s not over yet!” She muttered as she was swept away, and several ropes flew out from the back of her head and flew at me.

Were they hidden weapons?! No, they’re actually purple braids! What the heck is this!

Mixed in with my bewilderment was fear and even though I wasn’t sure they were lethal, I still hurriedly made my horse gallop up.

But then I remembered the 2 behind me who hadn’t broken free.

“Su Fei, Chen Jiu! Be careful of that fellow!”

“Ah!!”

Just as I finished, a scream came from behind me. When I turned back to look, I saw that Su Fei, who had just made it out of the nets, was tied up tightly.

Chen Jiu who was beside her actually ignored her and hurriedly galloped over to where I was.

“Chen Jiu! What are you doing! Go and save Su Fei!”

Even if you don’t save her, you should cut the ropes.

As I said so, I swung my reins and stopped the horse.

“Administrator, we should hurry and leave–”

“No! Do you intend on leaving behind a comrade?!” I yelled at him but he had no intention of stopping even at where I was and looked like he intended to escape for good.

Kuh.

“Oi! Chen Jiu! Stop now!” I turned my horse around as I yelled out, “We have to save Su Fei! And the troops!”

I looked about, and apart from my a.s.sailant from before, the only ones around were the soldiers on the cliff controlling the nets. If we attack them, we can regain control.

I looked into the distance and saw that Su Fei was having a hard time, and she wouldn’t be able to last for much longer as her neck was being held.

“Administrator! It’s too late!” Chen Jiu exclaimed despondently, “We should cut our losses and head back to the city–”

Before he could finish, a gust of wind swept by.

This time, the one who interrupted him wasn’t me.

It was a blade.

“Ah!” Chen Jiu yelled out as the arm which held his sword tore away.

“Chen Jiu!” I yelled out, and hurried forward to him.

There were other generals about!

As I hurried forward, I looked about–

And just then, a blade came flying for me.

It’s fast!

A clear *ding* rang out as I was able to somehow muster up the strength to deflect the blade.

“Who is it! Who do you think you are, hiding in the corner?”

“We meet again, Administrator Huang Zu.”

In the next second, a very familiar voice could be heard. Despite being a bit m.u.f.fled, as though the one who spoke was wearing a mask, it was still familiar. To be more precise, it’s not a mask but a long scarf.

“Gan Ning! Stop hiding and come out!” I yelled out as I surveyed the nearby hills and the vicinity but didn’t see her at all.

Un?!

I hurriedly turned around when I sensed someone behind me but all I saw was a black cloth which covered my eyes.

What is this now!

I got a shock and hurriedly raised my spear to slash at it.

This is!

As the black cloth tore open, weak sunlight shone through, and a thin line of white light flashed towards me. I knew this was a weapon and ducked just in time as a gust of wind swept by my ear.

“You took the bait.” A soft voice came from the side that didn’t belong to Gan Ning.

Wu!

Before I could react, something pulled my neck from behind and I was pulled down the horse.

“Ah!” I fell heavily to the ground and landed on my back as a cloud of dust and sand swept up.

“Yo, you’re!” I opened my eyes as I endured the pain.

In front of me, a partisan spear was pointed at me. And the one who wielded it was a woman who wore black robes, and she was currently smiling at she looked at me.

“Are you the Administrator?”

“Kuh!”

I raised my spear to sweep at her–

But before I could raise it above her knees, it was locked down by her partisan spear.

“Forgive me but you have already lost. Not just you, but your subordinates as well.” When she finished, she intentionally moved to the side to show me Su Fei and Chen Jiu’s status.

Su Fei was still held by her neck while a large pool of blood had formed by Chen jiu, who was lying motionless on the ground.

“What do you want!”

“I don’t want anything. I’m just here on orders.”

The woman said with a calm and peaceful face. If this weren’t a battlefield, I would have thought that she was a dancer. But now, her face was more scary than anything else.

“Come on out, Lord Gan Ning.”

“What! Gan Ning!” I exclaimed and my eyes bulged when I heard this name.

“… Stop looking, I’m here.” All of a sudden, her voice could be heard from the side of my ear. When I blinked, Gan Ning appeared beside me in a half-squat position.

“I hope you’ve been doing well, Lord Administrator.”

“You traitor!”

Just when I finished, a flat cleaver landed in front of me, just in front of my nose but didn’t hurt me at all.

I s.h.i.+fted my gaze to Gan Ning instinctively while in a state of shock.

Gan Ning had her scarf wrapped around her and only her eyes were revealed, eyes which stared down coldly at me.

“… Even now, you’re still calling me a traitor?” She said.

“Even if you’re not a river thief, you’re a traitor. Your heart was never at Jing state, nor was it with my lord Liu Biao!” I roared as I stared daggers at Gan Ning. As I did so, I caught a glimpse of my reflection on her blade and shuddered.

Were my eyes always this murderous looking?

“… I see.” Her eyebrows seemed to jump at my words.

“What about it? Am I right?”

“… Right or wrong doesn’t matter anymore at this point.”

“Keke,” I chuckled, “It is indeed unimportant anymore.”

She’s right. No matter what, the result has been set in stone.

Never mind, both Gan Ning and I know this would have come to pa.s.s.

“Alright.” Just then, she raised the cleaver in front of me, “I never wanted to kill again. But it looks like you’re going to be an exception.”

“Go ahead. I just feel that it’s a waste not to have a sip of wine at the very end.” I said as my hands left my spear.

“I won’t give you any wine to drink. I hate liquor, I always have.”

“… I know.” I shrugged as I opened my eyes and looked at Gan Ning as she slowly raised her cleaver.

Just then, for some reason, that Imperial Uncle Liu popped up in my mind, and I thought back to what Imperial Uncle Liu said to me that night atop the city tower. Words which didn’t seem to matter much to me then.

“Can you help me untie my hair? I want to let my hair down.”

“… Alright, that’s much better than letting you drink.” She thought for a moment before complying.

Ah… At the very end… Let’s do as that Imperial Uncle said. It was the first time someone chatted with me after all.

As my hair was let down, I blew my fringe up and the half of my face which was usually covered flew up.

This was a rare time when I looked up to the skies with both eyes.

The weather wasn’t great, but at least it was bright.

“Bon voyage, Administrator.” She softly called out as she raised the cleaver on e more.

I’d thought that I would face the end with my eyes wide open and even see myself bleed. But at the very end, I closed my eyes like a wimp.

My lord Liu Biao, your subordinate is incompetent and this is as far as I can go.