The Road to Luoyang
The prison gates flew open all at once.
BOOOOM—!
“One!!!”
BOOOOM—!
“Two!!!”
Every time the drumbeat rolled out slow and heavy, the Xiliang soldiers shouted the count in unison. Their voices brimmed with the same giddy thrill as if they were counting down the final seconds to New Year’s.
BOOOOM—!
“Three!!!”
The prisoners shuffled out of their cages, eyes darting nervously toward the suppression troops before flicking back to the exit. When they realized no one was blocking them and the soldiers were simply grinning and watching, they began to creep forward.
BOOOOM—!
“Four!!!”
Soon their steps quickened, then broke into a frantic run. There was only one gate, but more than ten thousand men were trying to squeeze through it. The exit became a churning sea of bodies.
BOOOOM—!
“Five!!!”
Desperation turned them savage. They shoved and cursed, arguing over rank, who arrived first, who was cutting in line. The weaker ones clustered together, shouting empty claims about going first. The bigger men fared slightly better, yet even they struggled; after all, each giant had friends who also wanted to live. Relying on their fists, they bulldozed forward, hammering anyone who slowed them down. The very scramble to exit first only slowed everyone further. Waiting quietly would have been faster… but the relentless drumbeats whipped their panic higher.
BOOOOM—!
“Six!!!”
Six already! They still hadn’t even cleared the gate. The smarter or bolder prisoners abandoned the exit and began scaling the walls instead. Hadn’t the soldiers promised to stand idle even after a hundred drumbeats? Sure enough, no one stopped them. The troops simply laughed at the sight of grown men grunting and scrambling up the spikes. Clothes tore, shoes shredded, skin ripped and bled… but it was still better than standing still and waiting to die. The brawlers at the main gate saw this and immediately abandoned their fights, rushing to follow.
BOOOOM—!
“Seven!!!”
“…A human hunt? Is this really allowed?”
Zhao Yun, who had been frozen in shock at Dong Zhuo’s brazen declaration, finally snapped back to his senses and turned to Cao Cao. No matter what, these men had surrendered. Was it truly fine to treat them like animals? If Dong Zhuo escaped punishment, wouldn’t the backlash splash onto him instead?
“Mm… it’s fine,” Cao Cao answered lightly. “Xiliang is still Han soil. No one will punish us for following local custom. …Still, I can’t pretend I like it.”
Zhao Yun felt a flicker of relief that the hunt would happen on the way to Luoyang, yet even Cao Cao seemed displeased by the idea of hunting humans. The usual squint of her smile tightened with clear distaste.
“In the barren borderlands where food is scarce, such things are silently tolerated… but to come all the way to the Central Plains and hold a grand hunt like this? Even I find it blasphemous.”
Zhao Yun’s brows drew together. Something in her words felt… off.
“This time I have no choice but to agree with you,” Yuan Shu said, her own face twisted in a frown. “Even a triumphant general must observe proper limits. A hunting competition? Only His Majesty may kill the beasts of this land for sport. To dismiss this as mere ignorance is far too arrogant.”
……
Only then did Zhao Yun understand the true source of their displeasure. It wasn’t the fact that humans were being hunted; it was that Dong Zhuo had dared to hold a formal hunting gala as though she were the emperor.
“…So it’s perfectly fine for them to hunt people?”
“What are you even saying?”
“Excuse me?”
Both women stared at him as if he had sprouted a second head.
“Those rebels aren’t people.”
“You have a rather amusing way of looking at the world, Zilong. Just because they have human shapes, you’ve been treating them as actual humans? Heh heh heh… You’re softer than you appear!”
Dong Zhuo’s booming laughter followed right after their scolding. Zhao Yun squeezed his eyes shut.
Right. This wasn’t the twenty-first century.
When had people begun treating prisoners like human beings? Certainly not in 184. And rebels who had taken up arms against the emperor? Even less so. To the soldiers here, the remnants of the Yellow Turbans were nothing more than beasts—perhaps less.
Fuck. I thought I’d been living in constant tension ever since I was dropped into this world…
Maybe seeing all those famous historical figures turned into women had softened his sensibilities without him realizing it. What an idiot. Wasn’t that exactly why he had fought so desperately to desert? Because this was an era where only the powerful were treated as people.
Or, more accurately, an era in which everyone else was treated like livestock. The coming turbulent age would only grow more horrific. That was why he had tried to flee to the frontier.
Since that plan had failed, Zhao Yun knew he would have to grow accustomed to it for the time being. Once he entered Luoyang he would be joining the ranks of those very powerful figures. The moment he decided to use high office in Luoyang to prevent the coming chaos, he had already accepted that he must live in this era.
He could never share their way of thinking, but he would at least have to grow used to their words and deeds. From now on he would witness such scenes countless times from the position of those in power. The sooner he adapted, the better.
Of course, that didn’t mean he had any intention of taking part in this disgusting hunt.
…Yet if reluctance alone were enough to refuse, and desire alone enough to obtain anything, Zhao Yun would never have become Cao Cao’s guest general in the first place. Had things gone according to his original plan, he would still be napping peacefully in some quiet village.
Whether he joined the hunt was not for him to decide.
“As you all know, this Dong Jung-yeong is infinitely generous to her own people,” Dong Zhuo’s voice cut through the drumbeats and the soldiers’ shouts. “Therefore I won’t force anyone who truly dislikes it. However, Zilong… I’m sorry, but this time you have no choice.”
She let out an awkward laugh, then extended a hand toward him with a sheepish grin.
“Ah! Who told you to cut off Zhang Jue’s head? Puhuhu! Ahem… You are the protagonist of this feast. If you skip the main event, how could I possibly save face, hm?”
Zhao Yun glanced left and right, silently pleading for help, but neither Cao Cao nor Yuan Shu seemed able to intervene. Of course they couldn’t; technically neither of them was his master. If anyone held that position it was Cao Cao, yet even she was merely his host. She had no grounds to stop her superior from borrowing her guest for a while.
“Aigo, this man! How long do you intend to embarrass me? Are you trying to make me drop my own arm?”
Dong Zhuo forced a warm, friendly smile and spoke in a coaxing tone. The Xiliang soldiers around her looked stunned. They had no idea why their fierce leader was suddenly acting this way toward Zhao Yun, but the fact that she was treating him with such special care was enough to shock even veterans who had followed her for years.
Legitimate justification, special treatment, and high status. When someone possessing all three made a personal “request,” it was impossible to refuse.
“To receive an invitation from Commander Dong herself is an honor I never anticipated. Please forgive me for keeping you waiting.”
Zhao Yun’s unusually humble attitude made both Yuan Shu and Cao Cao pout, but he deliberately ignored them, took Dong Zhuo’s hand, and rose from his seat.
“Forgive you? No, no, I should be the one apologizing! I dragged you here even though you clearly didn’t want to come… Hehe! It seems your tongue is as skilled as your horsemanship, Zilong!”
Even as she noted the sour looks on Yuan Shu’s and Cao Cao’s faces—or perhaps precisely because she saw them—Dong Zhuo’s delight only grew. She kept hold of Zhao Yun’s hand and pulled him up beside her in the hunting carriage.
Dong Zhuo had seated Zhao Yun in the same carriage as herself?
The Xiliang soldiers forgot to keep count with the drums and simply stared, dumbfounded.
That woman put Zhao Yun in the seat right next to her?
Yuan Shu and Cao Cao watched with open fury.
BOOOOM—!
“One hundred!!!”
The moment the drum had sounded its hundredth beat, the Xiliang soldiers who had been counting leaped to their feet with a roar. The promised time was over.
The human hunt had begun.
—Piiiiiiiiiik! Piiiiiiik!
At the signal, soldiers rushed to the remaining gates. With a great creaking of hinges every door swung wide open.
“Waaaaaaaah!!!”
With wild cheers the men vaulted onto their beloved horses and raced out in search of prey.
Dong Zhuo watched the spectacle with a faint smile, then took a swig of strong liquor. After a moment of elegant waiting inside the hunting carriage, she gave the driver the signal to move.
She cast a sideways glance at Zhao Yun’s stiff expression… and secretly licked her lips.
Her own personal prey was right beside her. Dong Zhuo savored the taste of the hunt to come.