The Bian River
Haa… haa…
Faint, pleasure-soaked moans from a man and a woman seeped out and dyed the whole forest. Half-naked, Xiahou Yuan straddled me and worked her hips with a ferocity I had never seen from her before.
Ghk… ghhk…
All I could do was clamp a fist over my mouth and keep the sound from escaping. Are you actually sane right now? Who decides this is a good idea right in front of the enemy lines?
Thud… thud… thud-thud-thud!!
Her pace quickened. That snow-white skin of hers began to flush, her neck and face turning scarlet, her eyes rolling back.
“Hnn… hnn…”
The problem was that the closer she got to climax, the more her self-control slipped away. No—if that sealed voice of hers broke free here, we would be found out in an instant!
“Ngh… nngh!!!”
But Xiahou Yuan hit her peak before I could even finish. The moan she had been holding back tore free like a thunderclap.
“Haaaaah—Mengdeeeee!!!!”
“…!?”
What… the hell… was that? Why, of all names, was she screaming Cao Cao’s and not mine?
“Who’s there!”
That, however, was no longer the issue. The moment she cried Mengde’s name, a stranger’s voice cut through the trees.
Pop! Scramble!
We tore apart and scrambled to our feet without either of us needing to say a word. Before we could even finish yanking our half-shed clothes back into place—crash!—a sentry burst through the brush, trampling the undergrowth.
“Enemy!”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake…”
Xiahou Yuan spat a curse that was almost a death rattle and ripped free the Heaven Sword. Then—shhk!—she drove it straight into the man’s throat.
Waaaaah!!!
Enemy voices rose from every direction at once. I yanked free the White Peach Sword in a panic, for all the good a Martial 4 scrap of steel would do me.
I told you this was a terrible place for that. Fine, we could have done it—but why scream at the top of your lungs, and why scream Cao Cao’s name instead of mine?
“There are too many of them.”
“You’re only noticing that now? Did you forget whose main camp we just did that in front of?”
“Don’t worry. You’re not going to die.”
“Huh? What do you mean—”
Whip! Clatter…
Xiahou Yuan flung the Heaven Sword down in front of me. Why was she throwing away her only weapon?
“What are you waiting for, you idiot! Run!”
“Y-you—what are you—”
Crash!
That was the last of it. Xiahou Yuan bolted—not toward the exit, but straight for the enemy’s main camp.
And as if that weren’t enough, she shouted a provocation for every ear to hear.
“Come and catch me, you bastards! This Xiahou Yuan is heading for Luoyang right now to take Dong Zhuo’s head!”
“That way!!”
The enemy sentries wheeled at once toward the sound of her voice. In the middle of a situation I understood nothing of, there was only one thing left for me to do.
Run.
I tore through the forest in a daze and burst out the other side. Two horses were still tied at the edge of the trees.
I threw myself into the saddle and rode like a madman. Xiahou Yuan’s riderless mount seemed to stare after me in confusion as I fled.
I wasn’t thinking about anything out there. I just drove myself toward Cao Cao’s main camp on the single thought that someone had to be told.
“What? Miaocai’s been taken?”
I woke Cao Cao, the sisters, and even Bao Xin on the spot and dragged them into an emergency council. The moment they heard Xiahou Yuan had been captured, the sisters all fell into a panic.
Quiet! Quiet!
Cao Cao shut every one of them up, then asked the question with a face that said none of this made the slightest sense.
“Something’s off. So a scouting party got hit, everyone else went down, and only you got out?”
“No? Xiahou Yuan and I found Xu Rong’s main camp, something went wrong, and we got spotted. The scouting party’s fine.”
“What the hell were you doing? And why was only Miaocai taken?”
“What? She… she told me to run.”
Honestly, even in that moment I still didn’t understand why Xiahou Yuan had chosen to save my life instead of her own. She had even handed me the Heaven Sword and told me to protect myself.
“What the hell is wrong with you? A man leaves a woman behind and runs?”
Wham!
Cao Ren’s fist smashed into my cheek. The Martial gap was so wide I never even got a chance to resist before I hit the floor.
“Ghk… th-that’s not—Miaocai told me to—”
“You still should have stayed! Mengde, what are we doing? We have to go get her right now!”
Everyone was looking at me like this was my fault. Cao Cao sorted the situation with cold calm.
“You’re right. Xu Rong will go for the scouting party first. If we cut the road and hit them from behind, what the hell can that bitch do about it?”
The plan itself wasn’t bad. The problem was everything that had to happen before we got there.
I hauled myself up, half-convinced Cao Cao had lost his mind, and asked.
“Ugh… Lord Cao Cao, you’re not serious? How would Xu Rong even know where the scouting party is? She’s waiting for us to cross the Bian River—the second we start the crossing, she hits us.”
“We don’t know that. Miaocai might give up the scouts’ position.”
“That’s—Miaocai would never do that.”
This was the same woman who, when Dong Zhuo had her, had calmly drunk the poison pouch and tried to take her own life. By any sane measure, a loyal retainer of Cao Cao’s wasn’t going to open her mouth just because someone roughed her up a little.
“What do you know about Miaocai? She acts tough, but she’s soft by nature. Scare her a little and she’ll spill everything while she’s shaking.”
“Well… you’re family, so of course you know her better than I do. But betting everything on that and heading for the scouts is still…”
“Then what do you propose? Have you forgotten my little sister is with them!?”
Bao Xin exploded. Right—with Xiahou Yuan and me gone, the one commanding the scouting party was Bao Do.
“Anyway, that’s the decision. Get ready to move. We’re crossing the Bian River under cover of night, so bring every fishing boat we’ve already arranged for. If they won’t listen, just steal the damn things.”
The moment Cao Cao gave the order, the sisters threw themselves into motion with the single-minded will to save Xiahou Yuan. I still couldn’t believe the call.
Why was Cao Cao so sure of Xu Rong’s line of advance? Capturing Xiahou Yuan might force some adjustments to the strategy I’d read with Ghostly Schemes, sure.
But that didn’t mean the target had to be the scouting party. Or was it something else?
Did he believe Xiahou Yuan would give a false confession just to protect him?
She wasn’t the type who could think that many moves ahead. I was still standing there blankly when Cao Cao looked at me strangely and asked.
“You’re not getting ready? You don’t care what happens to Miaocai?”
“Of course I care. But charging blindly toward the scouts is—”
“Why are you this stupid? Fine. Let’s say you’re right and Xu Rong planned to hit us mid-crossing. By shifting our route toward the scouts, we also changed the crossing point. So Xu Rong ends up walking into empty air, doesn’t she?”
“…”
That case could exist, sure. But my gut was screaming otherwise.
The Intelligence gap between Cao Cao and me was a full six points. On paper, the edge was mine.
But command authority sat with Cao Cao, and without his help I had no way to save Xiahou Yuan.
“Oh, right—I’m taking the sword. It’s expensive.”
“…”
Cao Cao claimed the Heaven Sword and hung it at his waist. Looking at him, he seemed to value that blade more than Xiahou Yuan herself.
Splash… splash…
We began crossing the Bian River. This was the part that had me the most wound up.
We had changed the crossing point the way Cao Cao wanted, but Xu Rong was still not an opponent you could afford to get careless with. If she hit us the second we hit the far bank, we would already be spent—and we would be wiped out without a fight.
Trembling…
The whole way across the river, and even after we reached the opposite shore, I shook from head to toe, certain the enemy could appear from anywhere. Cao Hong saw me and spoke with a sneer.
“What are you so scared of, you coward? No wonder you left Miaocai and ran alone.”
“That’s not what happened… Anyway, it looks like there’s no enemy. That’s something, at least.”
For once, Cao Cao had been right. Xu Rong clearly hadn’t expected us to cross here—she hadn’t sent a single soldier.
Which, put another way, only proved how stupid his choice to head for the scouts had been. So what now?
Confirm the scouting party was fine, then drive straight into Xu Rong’s main camp? If our paths crossed the wrong way, we might even seize an empty enemy stockade.
“Mengde! There’s smoke rising from the scouts’ position!”
“…!?”
I didn’t get any more time to think. From the very forest where the scouting party was camped, a thin, ominous column of smoke was climbing into the sky.
“B-Bao Do!”
Bao Xin was already past reason. He spurred his horse and charged that way alone before anyone could stop him.
“Hey! Bao Xin, where are you going!?”
Cao Cao went white. I had no choice—I kicked my own horse after him.
“Lord Bao Xin! You can’t go that way right now!”
“Shut your mouth! I don’t know what’s happened to my sister!”
“It could just be the late-returning scouts cooking a meal. So if you’d just wait a little—”
But when we cleared the trees and the broad basin that held the scouting camp opened before us, my mouth shut on its own. What remained there was a nightmare of blood and torn flesh.
Against every expectation, Xu Rong really had attacked the scouting party.