Shadow Runner
Caught mid-act with Xiahou Yuan by the enemy. Only Xiahou Yuan was taken; Do Yeop escaped. Cao Cao then advanced a bizarre strategy: forget rescuing Xiahou Yuan—go save the scouting party instead.
Cao Cao had been right. The moment Xu Rong seized Xiahou Yuan, she wheeled her forces around and struck precisely where the scouting party was.
But that made no sense. Even if the enemy's scouts had been loafing around in plain sight outside the camp, how could she know the exact location?
Did that mean Xiahou Yuan had actually given up the scouts' position?
"No—no! Aaaah!!!"
Broken with despair, Bao Xin slid from his saddle and began clawing through the corpses for Bao Do. I dismounted as well and joined the search.
"Ugh..."
A woman's pained moan drifted from somewhere nearby—from behind a small tree stump not far from where Bao Do's tent had stood.
"Lady Bao Do!"
"Doya!"
Bao Xin and I sprinted for the stump as one. There she lay, collapsed and soaked in blood.
"Sob... Doya, what happened to you?"
"N-no, Lord Bao Xin! The wound in her stomach is huge—don't move her!"
But it was already too late. The instant Bao Xin lifted his sister to support her, black blood poured endlessly from her belly.
"No! Stay with me just a little longer! I'll get you out of here, I swear—"
"T-trap... Xu Rong... still nearby..."
"What did you say? Bao Do, what did you just—"
"..."
Bao Do had already stopped breathing—leaving behind only a warning of the catastrophe still to come.
"Bao Do! Bao Do!"
"L-Lord Bao Xin? This isn't the time. If Xu Rong is still nearby—"
WAAAAAH!!!
That was when it hit. From behind us—along the path we'd ridden in on—came a tremendous battle cry and the thunder of hooves hammering the earth.
Bao Do had been right. After wiping out the scouting party, Xu Rong had used her specialty to melt into the terrain and wait.
This was a complete disaster. Cao Cao's original plan had been to ambush Xu Rong on her way back from striking the scouts. Now the reverse was about to happen—Cao Cao's side would walk straight into her ambush.
"Sob... Bao Do... sob..."
"Lord Bao Xin! You have to get up! If we don't turn back right now, we'll be cut off too!"
"AAAAAH!!!"
I don't really know what it feels like to lose a beloved younger sister. But if I didn't drag the screaming Bao Xin out of there, both of us would die today.
Clatter-clatter!
I barely managed to haul the still-deranged Bao Xin onto a horse and ride back. What greeted our eyes was a scene of pure hell.
KRAAAH!
Cao Cao's army had long since been shattered by Xu Rong's surprise assault. Worse, they'd been hit by her signature skill—Swift as the Wind, an ambush that dealt damage and sowed chaos—so the entire force was in total disarray, beyond any hope of control.
Thrust! Thrust!
Xu Rong's troops were practicing their spear work on Cao Cao's fleeing soldiers, slaughtering them at leisure. Friend and foe were clearly distinguishable, yet no one had the faintest idea where to go or whom to fight—the worst possible situation.
"Urrrgh... I won't forgive you, Xu Rong... I'll avenge Bao Do!"
And Bao Xin, seeing his enemies right in front of him, completely lost his mind. He drew his sword and charged onto the battlefield. With a Martial of only two, there was nothing I could do to stop him.
My vision went white. I had no idea what to do. In the end, nothing had changed, had it?
Just a slight shift in position—and we were still dancing in the palm of Xu Rong's hand, about to be wiped out by her ambush. Why the hell had I agreed to come here?
"Kyaaaah!"
A woman's scream. Fearing one of the sisters had been hit, I rushed over—only to find Wei Zi collapsed with a blade through her stomach.
"W-Wei Zi? What are you doing here?"
"Guh... W-who are you? I-I just followed Lord Cao... Gah..."
"..."
How optimistic had that bastard Cao Cao been to drag even Wei Zi along? She convulsed a few times, then went limp and died.
The battle was critical. If even Cao Cao's mistress had fallen, there was no need to check on anyone else.
Maybe Xu Rong had even predicted we'd change our crossing point. So why had she left us alone at first?
Simple—if she struck the moment we forded the river, the rear guard would just board the boats and flee. By luring us into the forest instead, she could cut even that chance of escape.
In other words, the current situation was playing out even worse than the historical Battle of Xingyang.
"The one in the red helmet is Cao Cao!"
Someone—I didn't know who—had recognized Cao Cao, the celebrity of the court. I immediately set out to find him.
Clash! Clash!
Luck was with me; I found him right away. Using a few soldiers as human shields, he was swinging the Heaven Sword himself, fighting Xu Rong's forces with everything he had.
"Lord Cao Cao!"
"Hah... hah... Where the hell have you been?! Aren't you going to protect me?!"
"Uh... of course I will. But where's Zilian? Cao Hong needs to be here for you to survive."
"Zilian? I left him by the river just in case."
"..."
Are you kidding me right now?! Originally, Cao Hong was supposed to become the enemy's target in your place.
Then he'd deliver that famous line—We cannot do without Lord Cao—and get you to safety.
No. With the battlefield changed, that scenario might already be dead.
Wait... so Cao Cao dies here?
Neigh!
That was when I heard it—a horse's cry, unusually loud and clear. I turned my head. Amid the chaos of the battlefield, one woman sat tall in the saddle, surveying her surroundings.
Xu Rong. Of course she'd come herself, leading her forces to take Cao Cao's head.
She was a woman fated to die the moment her undefeated streak ended. But looking at this situation, there didn't seem to be any chance of her losing.
Which meant Cao Cao, who'd left Cao Hong behind, would have to die in his place. But this guy still couldn't die yet.
"N-no good. Lord Cao Cao, hand over that helmet right now."
"What the hell, you little shit? You're coveting someone else's helmet at a time like this?"
"What are you— That helmet is why you're a target! I'll wear it instead, so you get out of here now! This world can do without Do Yeop, but it cannot do without Lord Cao!"
I even borrowed Cao Hong's famous line to persuade him. Cao Cao's eyes sparkled, looking slightly moved.
"Really? You're staking your life for me?"
Are. You. Insane? You think I'd stake my life for you?
Honestly, I didn't want to do something this dangerous either. But as long as I had the Run Away trait, I should be able to escape somehow. That was all I was counting on.
No—maybe I could achieve even more than that.
Whoosh!
I swapped helmets with Cao Cao. But that alone wasn't enough of a setup.
"While we're at it, could I borrow the horse you're riding too?"
"What now? Do you have any idea how expensive this Shadow Runner is—"
"Is that so? Then I suppose it's fine if I go around yelling, 'The guy on the yellow-hoofed horse is Cao Cao!' to the whole neighborhood?"
"...!?"
Cao Cao shot me a look that said, What kind of lunatic is this? Still, not wanting to die, he tossed me the reins and retreated with his soldiers.
Neigh! Neigh!
Not quite Red Hare, but a legendary mount with an incredible ride. I immediately charged toward Xu Rong and shouted:
"You bastards! I am Cao Mengde of Pei!!!"
"...!?"
Xu Rong and her officers couldn't help but be stunned. The moment I shouted that, I spun around and bolted—and sure enough, Xu Rong and several cavalrymen took off after me.
Clatter-clatter!
The horses Xu Rong and her subordinates rode were excellent Liangzhou stock from the start. But I was mounted on the legendary Shadow Runner, and more importantly, I'd thoroughly memorized the local terrain by riding around earlier.
That was why the chase lasted quite a while. While I weaved and dodged with ease, they kept getting hampered by the landscape.
After a long stretch, several of them fell behind. One person stuck with me to the very end—and as expected, it was Xu Rong herself.
"Stop right there, Cao Cao! There's nowhere left to run!"
Because the direction I was heading wasn't toward the Bian River—it was toward Xu Rong's main camp. Even if I fled, I'd just run into the reserves she'd left behind, so her words were absolutely right.
The narrow mountain path kept Shadow Runner from showing its full speed. The distance between us was closing bit by bit, and Xu Rong knew it too.
"Fine horse, but the rider seems a bit lacking. Why not just give up?"
Neigh!
At those words, I immediately abandoned Shadow Runner and dropped to the ground. Then I ran with everything I had.
"Give it up! On a forest path like this, I can catch you easily!"
Xu Rong spurred her horse even harder. She was right—the mountain terrain wasn't so rugged that a person would have the advantage over a horse.
But I hadn't abandoned the horse for no reason. Grunt! I immediately grabbed a tree and started climbing.
"Foolish... Do you think climbing a tree will save you? Are you really the Cao Cao I know?"
Xu Rong snorted as if she'd never seen such an idiot. No longer needing to gallop, she slowly rode her horse up beneath the tree I was climbing.
And then—
Crash! Suddenly the ground gave way, and she tumbled down along with her horse. A truth about this tree that no one could have predicted—known only to me.
Sorry, but that's a trap.