Zi Long POV

The darkness of night now blanketed the skies. The liquor from a few hours earlier had long worn off and all that remained was a faint taste in my throat. When I reached up to wipe my mouth, I found that the taste of liquor had mixed in with the taste of the river water and was a little disgusted by the result.

It was rather deserted outside the city at night and when the cold wind blew the leaves of trees nearby rustled. If you listened closely, you could hear the distant bustle of Xiangyang city. It’s probably a very busy and prosperous scene.

But I don’t have the leisure to care about such things. There is something far more pressing for me to deal with.

“Chen Dao! s.h.i.+ne over here!”

Ha–

I yelled out and took a deep breath without waiting for Chen Dao’s reply before plunging into the waters. In the next instant, I could feel water filling my ears and bubbles filled my surroundings. I did my best to keep my eyes open as I swam toward the bottom of the river.

This stream to the west pf the city was surprisingly deep, at about 20-30 meters. Even when I’m swimming at full strength, it takes me about a minute to reach the depths.

Just the, I could feel seagra.s.s, which let me know that I’ve reached the riverbed. It was now dark, and even with the light from Chen Dao, I can barely even make out a stalk of gra.s.s, let alone a person.

I felt about with my hands, hoping to grasp a limb. But after searching like this for a while, up to the limits of my breath, all I grasped were seagra.s.s.

“Puah!” I took a deep breath as I resurfaced, “d.a.m.n it!!”

*Pa*!

I couldn’t contain my fury any longer and slammed my fists against the surface of the water. This was my 23rd time going into the water to look for Xuan De. Like the previous 22 times, it was to no avail.

“Kuh… Ah!!”

*Pa*! *Pa*!

I tried my best to suppress my raging emotions but I failed and yelled as I vented my regret and frustrations on the water.

“Pu! Ah–” On the other side, someone else resurfaced as well.

When I saw this, I hurriedly stopped and swam towards that person. Chen Dao too followed suit. When we got close, we saw an expressionless Wen Ping whose hair was sticking to her face all over.

“How was it?” I hurriedly asked and looked about to see if she was pulling anyone along.

“There’s no need to look. There’s nothing.” Wen Ping’s voice was soft but the contents of what she said pierced my heart.

“… Thank you, Lord Wen Ping.” But no matter what, we owe Wen Ping for coming to help us like this.

A few hours ago, if it weren’t for Lord Liu Qi who came to find me, I might even have forgotten that Xuan De was a sore spot for Cai Mao. I didn’t think that they would be so desperate and crazy enough to execute a city-wide surround.

I didn’t think that… Xuan De would fall off his horse and drown.

By now, it’s been almost 3 hours since Xuan De fell into the water. If Xuan De really did sink to the depths, then it’s unlikely it ended well. But on the other hand, I still have a glimmer of hope from not finding any trace of Xuan De in the depths.

“… I’ll still continue searching nonetheless.” I was beginning to feel faint but this was something that had to be done, “Chen Dao, have the rest gone to Xinye already?”

“Yes… We, the ones at the encampment, learnt that our lord went to the banquet and decided to move off first according to schedule. I was designated to st

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ay behind and be responsible for receiving you both.”

No wonder Chen Dao was entering the city when I was about to leave the city to look for our troops. After I explained to her what the situation was, she came here with Wen Ping and I.

Kuh! Lord Guan Yu and the rest didn’t expect that they would act at the very end too huh… I can’t believe we all let our guard down at the very end.

“Alright, I’ll be going down again…”

“Lord Zhao Yun,” Just as I was about to dive down, Chen Dao grabbed my arm as she called me. When I looked up, I saw Chen Dao, who was similarly drenched, with a grave expression, “Go and rest for a bit. I’ll do it in place of you.”

“No, no need for that. You aren’t a good swimmer and won’t be able to make it down.” I shook my head and shrugged off Chen Dao’s arm, “This was my mistake as well so I have the responsibility of finding Xuan De and bringing him to Xinye.”

When I finished, I began searching aimlessly in the water. Perhaps he washed towards the sh.o.r.e and he might be somewhere near the shallow waters.

“*s.h.i.+ku*… *s.h.i.+ku*…” Just then, the sound of sniffling came from behind me.

“Chen Dao, that’s too unsightly.” I knew it was Chen Dao and didn’t bother turning back to confirm it as I chided her, “You’re always so strong and bright. Why are you crying at this time?”

“Our lord… Our lord has drowned–”

“Don’t spout nonsense, Chen Dao!” I yelled out loud when Chen Dao spoke and was able to drown out her voice. I then turned back and looked at Chen Dao, who was frowning and doing her best to control her emotions as she trembled.

I know I shouldn’t be looking at her. When I see how she is, I’m beginning to get infected as well.

“Chen Dao, Xuan De will be fine. That man won’t die so easily and must still be alive.” I said to Chen Dao and rubbed her face to comfort her and wiped away the tears.

Those words were not just for her. They were for myself as well. I know that it is unlikely for Xuan De to come out of this alive but someone here has to be adamant about this.

“Lord Zhao Yun, saving our lord is important, but by this time, I’m afraid…” Just then, Wen Ping spoke and saluted me. Her hair was still sticking to her face all over but she didn’t seem to care.

Un… I raised my head and looked up at the sky. It was now dark enough that nothing could be seen. Wen Ping and I have been searching for a long while now and have basically searched this entire section of the river.

Since there was nothing, this meant that Xuan De was washed away downstream. Without a large number of troops to form search parties with, it will be impossible to search further down the river. And our troops have already gone to Xinye and there is no hope of them returning without knowing what happened.

“Alright, I got it.” I was very unwilling but I still nodded at Wen Ping and said, “No matter what, I’m grateful to you and Lord Liu Qi for notifying us.”

“No…” After I thanked her, Wen Ping only spat out one word. Perhaps from her perspective, the outcome has not changed at all. But from mine, it’s still uncertain.

“I’ll be troubling you to help notify Lord Liu Qi for me that I’ll be heading to Xinye with Chen Dao first. I’ll be counting on Lord Liu Qi for the search efforts for the next few days.”

At this, Wne Ping nodded very quickly, “The young mistress is currently discussing this with my lord. At first light tomorrow, we will be sending troops to search the area. When the time comes, we will notify you all as soon as we get any news.”

“Many thanks for that.”

“Many thanks, Lord Wen Ping.”

Chen Dao and I bowed to Wen Ping. I looked at the river one more time. Even though it was late at night, the currents were still unusually strong. In my mind, the scene of Xuan De struggling in the waters played over and over.

Just like the scene of Bo Gui being burnt.

The sorrow, and helplessness, pierced my heart over and over.

…

… Ah, alright.

“Chen Dao, let’s go.” I suppressed the urge to cry and did my best to speak to Chen Dao in as normal a tone as I could muster.

Chen Dao was holding the torch with one hand and rubbing her eyes with the other. Under the light of the torch, I could see that her eyes were already puffy.

If I were to cry, Chen Dao would probably be wailing.

Someone has to stay strong. And I haven’t given up yet.

After parting ways with Wen Ping, Chen Dao and I went to the nearby shrubbery where our horses were. Following this small road, we could reach where the encampment previously was and quickly make our way to Xinye.

It was just several dozen paces to our horses. But for both me and Chen Dao, this distance was very difficult to cover. Every 2 steps, Chen Dao would turn back and look at the river, sniffling as she did so.

“Let’s go. There’s no use looking now. We’ll be back here to search again soon.” I did my best to berate her with an irritated tone. But I too found myself turning back to look at the river. Sometimes I would even look at the cliff and wonder if there was any small cave where Xuan De might be hiding in.

But in the end, we got to our horses.

“We’ll be riding straight for Xinye and telling everyone about this.”

“… How do we tell them…” Chen Dao said with a difficult expression. Indeed, this time, it won’t be like the last time when everyone was pranked.

What awaits us is round after round of interrogations. And there was the possibility of Lord Lu Bu going into a frenzy like the last time. But the truth is the truth. And they have the tight to know.

“We shall say it as it is. Xuan De fell into the river and his fate is unknown.” I said, every word slicing my heart to bits, “I am responsible for this and if everyone decides to blame me for it, I have no intention of refuting.”

“Lord Zhao Yun…”

“Don’t say anything,” I hurriedly interrupted her when Chen Dao called out to me. I know she wants to comfort me but I don’t want to s.h.i.+rk my responsibilities.

When I turned back to look at Xiangyang city, I saw that the lights which dotted the city earlier had mostly disappeared. Most people have probably gone to sleep. Apart from Liu Qi, Liu Biao and some other key personnel, most people don’t about the tragedy that happened.

I had the impulse to charge in and kill Cai Mao and everyone a.s.sociated with her but all I can do now is to suppress my rage.

Xuan De doesn’t wish for us to fight with Liu Biao who is a fellow royal. Moreover, if I were to charge in alone, I would probably end up dying, which isn’t a bad thing but if the rest know, they might kick up a fuss. We have numerical superiority now, with more than 30,000 troops in our ranks, but Xiangyang’s garrison numbers over 10,000. It will only end up being a pyyrhic victory at best. Before we find Xuan De, our organisation would collapse.

… Ah, our future is looking dim huh?

No, we still have a future.

Jia! I yelled out and the horse galloped away.

Xuan De, no matter where you are, dead or alive, I, Zhao Yun Zhao Zi Long will find you.