The Sparring Match (3)
Zhang Fei and Ma Chao.
Ask any fan of Romance of the Three Kingdoms to picture anything starring the two of them, and one scene springs to mind without a moment's hesitation.
In the Romance, when Liu Bei blindsides Liu Zhang and plants a flag in Yi Province, Zhang Lu — on receiving the report — sends a relief army to Liu Zhang's rescue. Serving under Zhang Lu at the time is Ma Chao, fleeced hollow by Cao Cao and sheltering under Zhang Lu's wing, and it is this Ma Chao who marches out at the head of the relief force. Liu Bei's sworn younger brother Zhang Fei digs in at Jiameng Pass to bar the way, and the two collide head-on.
And there, Zhang Fei and Ma Chao bellow across the battlefield at one another:
"Hey, you! Fight me like a man — a duel, one on one!"
"Gladly! Let's see what you've got!"
With roughly that exchange, the two of them brawl the whole day through, weapons locked until the sun goes down. And when darkness swallows the land, they light torches and fight on into the night. In short: the pair wage war upon each other with absolutely ferocious intensity.
There is a scene where Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang watch the two duel for three days and nights and can only marvel. Liu Bei asks Zhuge Liang whether there is no way to win Ma Chao over, and Zhuge Liang answers by unleashing a stratagem of discord, driving a wedge between Zhang Lu and Ma Chao.
The tassel severed, the face forlorn.
A saying that describes, by metaphor, the plight of one who has lost all place to lean on.
Left dangling like a kite with its string cut, Ma Chao surrenders to Liu Bei — and the moment word of that surrender reaches Liu Zhang, Liu Zhang capitulates in turn, ushering in Liu Bei's golden age. But let's move on.
"…"
On the wide training ground, Zhang Fei and Ma Chao had taken their places, facing each other in their own distinct stances.
If you asked me who would win, honestly, my money was on Zhang Fei. Ma Chao carried a dark chapter from the early twenties: a battle lost, a beating taken to the very brink of death. And who was the general who'd won that fight? Yan Xing, of all people. Thanks to which, Yan Xing gets a surprisingly hefty Martial stat in Three Kingdoms games. Sure, Ma Chao had traded blows with Zhang Fei for three days and nights at Jiameng Pass, but I didn't believe a Ma Chao not yet twenty could recreate that feat. And if you countered that it was all just a story from a novel called Romance of the Three Kingdoms anyway — well, I'd have had no comeback.
And yet the reason I'd gently coaxed Zhang Fei and Ma Chao into facing off was simple: I was curious whether this world's Ma Chao truly possessed the extraordinary martial skill she displays in the Romance. A chance to settle that curiosity had landed right in my lap — how was anyone supposed to resist?
If Ma Chao could really hone her arts to a level on par with Zhang Fei, just as in the novel, splendid; and if not, it made no difference to me. Because even judged on strategy alone, with raw strength left out of the equation, Ma Chao was a more than remarkable figure. Her brilliance in the art of war was such that Cao Cao — fully evolved after the Battle of Guandu, with Yuan Shao offered up as the sacrificial offering — avoided meeting Ma Chao in open battle.
The army under Ma Chao's command was so formidable that Cao Cao led troops across the river to strike at the rear — and Ma Chao deliberately let Cao Cao's main body go, lay in wait for it to pass, and then sprang the ambush. Caught squarely off guard, Cao Cao fought through a battle so vicious that even the boatman at the oars was shot dead by an arrow, and only barely escaped with her life. Then, reasoning that sowing discord beat fighting it out, Cao Cao put heads together with Jia Xu and ultimately drove Ma Chao back. That's how formidable Ma Chao was — formidable enough to rattle Cao Cao, a genius in her own right at commanding soldiers.
Spear in hand — a practice spear, this time — Zhang Fei studied Ma Chao and let the point dip ever so slightly. This was a sparring match to take each other's measure, not a kill-or-be-killed blood feud, so Zhang Fei had handed her Serpent Spear over to me, saying to mind it for a while.
Handing over her beloved weapon that easily — was that really all right? Well, she offered, so I took it; and though I'd braced myself the moment I saw its length, the thing was a damned nuisance to lift. Propped upright, it kept swaying like it meant to topple over; lay it down, and the sheer weight threatened to send it crashing down with a tremendous clang. After a moment's pondering what on earth to do with it, I finally stole a glance at Seo Yeo — a glance that said, plain as day, a little help here.
"…"
Without a word, Seo Yeo stepped over and took the Serpent Spear off my hands.
She lifted it like it weighed nothing at all.
By this point I was starting to wonder if the problem was me being weak — no, they were simply too strong. I could still take a common soldier in a fight. Probably.
Then Zhang Fei spoke.
"Ma Chao, was it?"
"…Yes."
"The General-in-Chief asked, so I'll oblige you with a match, but…."
Zhang Fei let the words trail off, then said flatly:
"Feeling confident?"
"…"
"You could get hurt, you know."
Zhang Fei, it seemed, knew exactly what kind of strength she carried. In her own way, the warning probably came from genuine concern — she just insisted on wrapping it in the bluntest possible tone.
"It's not too late even now. Better to walk away."
"I'm all right."
"Certain?"
"Yes."
At the resolve ringing in Ma Chao's voice, Zhang Fei gave a single shrug.
"Well, if you insist."
"…"
"Then let's see you block this."
With those words Zhang Fei moved first, and Ma Chao, reading her, surged forward in answer.
KAAANG!
What was I even supposed to call that sound? Not the bomb-burst boom that had rung out when Lü Bu and Zhang Fei collided at Hulao Pass, nor the bright, clean ring of ordinary steel on steel. Exactly halfway between the two — that would be the most precise way to put it. I'd watched so many outrageous fights by now that from sound alone I could roughly gauge the caliber of a duel.
Needless to say, none of it granted me any sudden enlightenment or growth. Watching a bear tear a man apart doesn't exactly make you go, Aha! So that's how you tear a person in two! Ordinarily you might never guess it — but in a fight, at the very least, they stopped being human. Wedged between Xiang Yu and Lü Bu back then, or between Zhang Fei and Ma Chao over there now, either way I was confident my body would come apart in two clean pieces in a single instant.
KAGAANG!
Even now, in the space of a single blink, I watched Zhang Fei loose a thrust and Ma Chao swat it aside with her shaft.
…Ma Chao fights far better than I gave her credit for?
Had the Han Sui and Ma Teng factions rallying around me set off yet another butterfly effect? You see — the thing is, Yan Xing, the man behind that dark chapter of Ma Chao's, was one of Han Sui's officers. In the original history, Ma Teng and Han Sui fell out and went to war, and it was in the fighting against Han Sui that Ma Chao came within a hair of dying.
Naturally, I had no intention of standing by while the two went at it, so at one point I quietly sent letter after letter urging them to get along. Ma Teng, who had a remarkably guileless streak, laughed heartily at my letters and grew close with Han Sui; Han Sui, forever reading my moods, grew close with Ma Teng right back. And apparently, somewhere in the course of Ma Teng and Han Sui buddying up under my watchful eye, Ma Chao and Yan Xing had struck up a connection of their own. I couldn't say exactly what form it took — sparring together, most likely. Nothing else explained the seasoned poise of Ma Chao's responses, so far beyond her years.
"Huh? What's with you! You fight better than you look!"
"Thanks for the compliment!"
Zhang Fei had clearly sensed it too; her competitive fire was beginning to show. And Ma Chao, for her part, was slowly shedding the demure front she'd shown me.
After the two had crossed weapons a while longer, Zhang Fei suddenly roared:
"Block this and your bones break!"
"Save your breath!"
By now Ma Chao's manner of speech had changed entirely. Whether the adrenaline pumping through her had temporarily rewired the way she talked, or whether this was Ma Chao's true face all along, I couldn't tell.
Zhang Fei whipped her spear around in a great horizontal sweep, and Ma Chao answered, shifting her grip by a fraction.
KAGAGAGAK—!
Angling her spear against the blow, Ma Chao let Zhang Fei's attack slide off by a hair. She'd evidently judged that deflecting beat the folly of absorbing Zhang Fei's monstrous strength head-on. I nodded along, honestly in awe.
Above all, it was a beautiful sight. Two peerless beauties, locked in a duel that bordered on performance art — if this didn't delight you, what ever would?
Drawn by the din rising from the duel, people had begun drifting in from all around.
"What in the world is that noise…? General-in-Chief?"
"Hey."
"Yes. Have you been keeping well?"
Zhang Liao. We'd met just yesterday, yet somehow it felt like ages.
"…Hooh. Now this is a sight money couldn't buy."
"What — when did you get here?"
"Just this moment."
Xu Huang. Met recently, same as Zhang Liao, yet somehow it felt like ages.
"Yide. What in the world is this…?"
"Hey."
"Ah — that is… I trust you are in good health."
Guan Yu — Liu Bei's Accessory No. 1 — who trotted at Liu Bei's heels as devotedly as Zhang Fei did.
"So Yide handed her beloved spear over to the General-in-Chief?"
"She did."
"Hmm…."
Liu Bei, asking why it was Seo Yeo holding the Serpent Spear — and shooting me a look heavy with meaning.
"And what are you all doing swarming around here?"
"Come over here. Watch with me."
"…Huh? O-okay."
I plopped down in a handy spot and patted the seat beside me, and Lü Bu came shuffling over, cheeks flaming, wearing a dazed expression.
Wow. A genuine all-star lineup.
Every last one of them a dazzling face — my chest swelled with pride as I bobbed my head along.