Yun Chang POV

Hu…

I thought back to every scene I saw in Baima city as I sat on my horse. Though my time there was short, I am sure that I caught a glimpse of, and heard, big brother.

Could it just be a psychological effect? Because Lord Cao Cao had spoken to me of such a possibility?

“What is Lord Guan Yu thinking about? I can feel the distractions in your heart from your breathing.” Xu Huang, who had come along with me, raised her axe and shut her eyes as she rode on, “Of course, if you’re not comfortable to talk about it, then that’s fine.”

“Ah, no… Just some private matters.” I was a little nervous at how she saw through me so easily and coughed as I said so, hoping to change the topic.

“As a warrior, the worst thing one fears is distractions in one’s heart.” Xu Huang continued calmly with her eyes closed, “Though I don’t know what troubles you, you should put everything aside once you wield a weapon and get atop a horse.”

Un… Indeed, what she says is correct.

Xu Huang is a true warrior. In comparison, I fall short by a fair bit. Even if I want to set aside my worries, I can’t.

I’ve never felt like this before, and never though that I would be this uneasy and worried after being apart from big brother for just a few days. Perhaps my righteousness and values I hold aren’t much after all.

As I thought so, I couldn’t help but to shake my head at myself.

“Oi~~~ Yun Chang~~~”

Un?

I looked over and saw another Cao army battalion across the river. At their head were 3 people, 1 of whom was waving at us while the other 2 were playing with a pet.

Un… Isn’t that Wen Yuan?!

“Eh? Why are you all here?” I yelled out and walked forward toward them partway. They too began to lead their troops across when they saw that the water was shallow.

“Heh!” Wen Yuan pulled on the reins and the horse leapt over and landed in front of me. She saluted and said, “We had orders from Lord Cao Cao and followed General Cao Ren’s troops to attack Yan Ford while Yuan Shao attacked Baima.”

“Did you all take it?”

By now, Lord Lu Bu and Cao Ren were here with the rest of the troops as well. I saluted Lord Lu Bu while Xu Huang saluted Cao Ren who very reluctantly separated from Red Hare.

“No, we only brought a few hundred cavalry after all.” Wen Yuan shook her head in regret, “We did quite a bit of damage but who knew that their rearguard would support the main body so quickly.”

“That’s enough, my cousin…. No, the Imperial Chancellor wanted us to raid Yan Ford just to distract Yuan Shao so that she will send troops to a.s.sist Yan Ford and divert her attention away from Baima.” Cao Ren said as she shook her head, “Now that we’ve regained Baima, it’s enough.”

(TL: Previously, I thought that Cao Ren was Cao Cao’s little sister as Cao Cao addressed her as such. But seems like it’s cousin instead which is the same as the historical version.)

(TL: The reason for attacking Yan Ford, and the deployments apart from Lu Bu of course, are the same as well.)

She was short, about as tall as Hua Tuo. Her looks greatly resembled that of Lord Cao Cao, making it seem like she was a mini-version of Lord Cao Cao.

“Leaving that aside, my lord has really outdone herself this time, she actually slew Wen Chou in 1 bout.” Wen Yuan said excitedly, and seemed as happy as if she did it herself.

But that is truly impressive of Lord Lu Bu. Though I’ve never fought her seriously before, but from the times we have practiced together, I can tell that her skills are definitely not below mine.

“The ones who wrongly accused me of killing my foster father are Dong Zhuo and Yuan Shao. Today, I have gotten my rightful vengeance.” Lord Lu Bu said as she caressed Red Hare in her arms, her double-sided halberd still glistening with blood.

Just then, Lord Lu Bu changed the topic, “But that is a small matter now. Lord Guan Yu, if you have any news about Xuan De, you must tell us as soon as possible and we will head out to where Xuan De is immediately.”

Wen Yuan nodded at what Lord Lu Bu said.

I don’t know if it’s just me but it seems like the light in Lord Lu Bu’s eyes becomes much softer and Lord Lu Bu herself seems much more approachable once she talks about big brother.

But, it was just in that instant.

“Ah, I know.” I don’t intend on speaking about what happened in Baima since I’m not even sure of it myself.

And now that Lord Lu Bu has slain Wen Chou while I have killed Yan Liang, no matter what, we have repaid Lord Cao Cao’s favour. If we do indeed find news of big brother, we have legitimate reason to leave immediately for big brother.

I s.h.i.+vered as a cold wintry breeze blew and as I looked at the bleak wintry landscape, my heart felt a lot more colder as well.

Looks like it will be a couple of months before Lunar New Year is here…

Liu Bei POV

I don’t know if it’s because I’ve gotten too used to this era but I’ve completely forgotten what season it was in mine when I transferred. But this cold weather felt somewhat familiar, and I realised that it should be about new year’s around this time.

I was now kneeling at my seat and thinking about such things as I was at a loss as to what to say due to the heavy atmosphere in the tent.

“Wen Chou…”

The strategists, administrative officials, and generals were sitting where they usually were but Ben Chu, who was usually sitting at the head, had left her seat. She was now hugging a bloodstained piece of clothing and lowered her head as she knelt in a corner and muttered the name of the previous owner of the clothing over and over.

Wen Chou was dead.

This bad news came to us just as we returned to the encampment in Liyang. Not only did we fail to take Baima, we lost a great general despite having kept Yan Ford. From a strategic perspective, this will be bad for troop morale. And for Yuan Shao, the damage will no doubt be great.

I looked at Yan Liang to the side, and saw that she looked as playful as ever, but she was silent and tears streamed down her eyes continuously.

About Wen Chou’s death, I can’t say I’m very saddened by it. But when I see this scene, I’m reminded that this is the doing of Feng Xian and a deep-seated sense of guilt a.s.sails me.

Killing people has always given me a strange sense of dread and fear but at this moment I was finally clear what the feeling was. It was guilt. At this point, I’ve already killed quite a few people while Yun Chang, Yi De, and the rest have killed many, many more. I’ve always stood on the side who has killed, and now that I’m seeing things from the perspective of one who has been killed, I’m starting to lose my way.

Because these are troubled times, blood will flow; because blood flows, tears will flow; because tears flow, these are troubled times.

As I thought so, I lost even the mood to sigh. Because I know that I can’t sigh. I can only accept the reality before me.

“My lord, though Wen Chou’s death is indeed very saddening, we still have to fight this war. We still have a numerical advantage,” Tian Feng, who sat at the front, said with closed eyes, “If we do not make any big mistake, we should be able to win.”

“… Yuan Hao, do you have any good ideas?” Yuan Shao asked as she sat where she was and listened to what Tian Feng was about to say.

Tian Feng calmly stood up and slowly said what she wanted to propose.

— Attrition. Within a month, Cao Cao will be forced to retreat when she runs out of supplies.