Downfall (5)
Several hours earlier.
After completely occupying Xiabi, Cao Cao cautiously made her way to Lü Bu's residence. The situation had already been sorted out, with all potential threats captured, bound, and restrained—but to guard against any unforeseen mishaps, Cao Cao moved with her sword drawn.
And there, she finally met the woman.
"...It's been a long time."
"It has, Lady Cao Cao."
Diaochan. The adopted daughter of Imperial Secretary Wang Yun sat alone in a chair, gazing up at the night sky. Dawn was approaching, the darkness slowly lifting, and Diaochan turned toward the east with a faint smile.
"Have you caught Lü Bu?"
"Yes. We have him. He's still thrashing about, but no single man can resist the pull of hundreds of soldiers clinging to him."
No matter how tiger-like the man, he couldn't fight off hundreds of troops latched onto him.
"Even if he snaps the ropes, he won't escape the cage. We brought a beast pen sturdy enough that he can't bend the bars."
"You brought an actual animal cage?"
"Just in case, for the escort to Heodo. Though... given the current situation, it'll probably be his head right here."
Cao Cao stood calmly beside Diaochan.
"Are you all right? You spent years with him, after all."
"Could you live for years at Yuan Shao's side if he ordered it?"
"...Absolutely not."
"Exactly."
Diaochan let out a hollow chuckle, raising her hand to her gaze. Her hand was gaunt, veins bulging prominently—a clear sign of deep illness to anyone who saw it.
"Lü Bu never left the castle because of me. He had no idea it was the noose tightening around his own neck."
"...Thank you. Imperial Secretary Wang Yun would be proud. And I'm sorry."
Cao Cao clasped her hands and bowed deeply.
"If I'd only killed Dong Zhuo that day, you wouldn't have suffered like this."
"It's fine. That's all in the past. And I was truly grateful that you drew your sword yourself. No one else in the realm dared attempt what you did. Thanks to you... heh, Dong Zhuo had to sleep with his sword by his side every night."
Diaochan smirked, grasping her trembling hand.
"Thank you so much. Out of everyone under heaven, you alone tried to fulfill my father's dying wish, driving Dong Zhuo from Chang'an and bringing about his downfall. It would have been impossible without you."
"But the decisive factor was..."
"...In the end, good results are what matter, aren't they?"
Cao Cao fell silent at Diaochan's words.
"If we'd succeeded in killing Dong Zhuo and immediately executed Li Jue and Guo Si, would Father still be alive, I wonder?"
"...Probably. He'd have made a triumphant return from Chang'an to Luoyang, serving the Emperor himself."
"Yes. But that didn't happen. Because of Lü Bu's indecision. Last time, he killed my father. This time, he's killed himself."
Diaochan slowly rose from her seat.
"Milady."
"Stop. This body, defiled by beasts, must not be touched by you, Lady Cao Cao."
She looked ready to collapse at any moment, and Cao Cao reached out to support her, but Diaochan extended a hand to stop her.
"I'm an impure wretch full of poison. Let me die like this."
"...Come to Heodo with us. We'll fetch medicine right away and cure you."
"No. My time is up. Surviving this long is already a miracle."
Diaochan turned her head toward Cao Cao. Shadows darkened her eyes.
"That day, when Dong Zhuo summoned me. The flower was plucked, merely awaiting death. At least I have no lingering worldly attachments. If only there'd been a child... sigh."
Cao Cao's chest tightened at the fading life before her, but Diaochan bowed shakily toward her.
"I know it's improper, but grant me a few requests."
"Anything. I'll repay the debt to Imperial Secretary Wang Yun now."
"......Spare Lü Bu's wife and daughter. They suffered endlessly because of a wretched thing like me. Show them mercy."
Tears began streaming from Diaochan's eyes.
"Please, let it end with Lü Bu alone."
"I'll consider it."
"...Thank you. And one more thing."
Diaochan exhaled deeply, pleading with Cao Cao.
"Before you kill Lü Bu, may I speak to him one last time? Even after years together, I want to share a final farewell in this life before we both head to hell."
"That's enough."
Cao Cao had already resolved to kill Lü Bu. The only question left was how—not whether to spare him. Even if the Emperor himself begged, that option was off the table.
From the start, the Emperor's edict had ordered Lü Bu's death.
Whether it was Cao Cao's proposal or the Emperor's own will mixed in.
Exterminate his clan.
Cao Cao had come to execute Lü Bu per the Emperor's decree.
"Lady Cao Cao, do you know the ultimate revenge against a man? Not a joke—the kind that haunts him until death."
"...What is it?"
"Simple."
Diaochan placed both hands on her lower abdomen and smiled resolutely.
"When a prideful man's pride is utterly shattered."
Diaochan gazed at the rising sun beyond the walls, smiling faintly.
"It's a shame. I won't see that sun anymore starting tomorrow. Lady Cao Cao, if you ever reclaim the Seven Star Sword, remember me and my father."
"......Of course."
Above the sky, the sun rose.
* * *
Scraaape, scraaape.
The beast was dragged across the ground like a corpse. Dozens had clung to it moments ago, but now only three pulled it along.
Song Xian, Wei Xu, Hou Cheng.
The trio who captured the traitor Lü Bu now escorted the beast to the execution ground as executioners.
Whether to show off to their new master or fear the beast might turn and bite if they didn't finish it themselves.
Either way, they were more eager than anyone to drag it to its death.
"Huff, huff."
The three pulled the rope together. The beast offered no resistance, dragged like a corpse.
The man who had cried out for his mother against Cao Cao, begging for mercy, was gone.
Only a beast filled with the despair of death remained.
Screeech.
The beast was hauled onto the gallows. Few spectators watched—only the guards carrying out the execution.
"...Ha."
The beast finally began acting human again. Staring at the executioner gripping the broad blade meant for his neck, the beast—Lü Bu—grinned madly.
"To think this Fengxian ends with his head on some nameless wretch's block. Not on the battlefield, but dissolving into the morning dew on an execution ground!"
"Shut your trap, you scum! Die quietly!"
"...Kuh."
Lü Bu glanced at his rope-bound hands. Tied so tightly that blood couldn't reach his fingertips, they looked pale and necrotic.
"Can't you loosen the ropes a bit before I die?"
"Shut up! Who doesn't know you'd start a rampage the second they're loose?!"
"We were once lord and vassals, weren't we?!"
"Pah!"
The three spat on Lü Bu and looped the rope over the wooden beam atop the gallows.
"It's not too late, lads. Spare me. We'll flee far away and seek revenge on Cao Cao together. Yes, we'll ravage Cao Cao—"
"Shut it, you bastard!"
"How dare you spout such nonsense in the open?!"
"You truly don't know why we betrayed you!"
The three men bellowed with demonically twisted faces.
"We put up with your drunken rages! Because you killed Dong Zhuo!"
"Charging battlefields together even thrilled us! We thought Overlord Xiang Yu reborn! What fools we were!"
"There's a limit to whoring around! With your wife and Diaochan at home, sneaking after other men's wives?!"
"!!"
Lü Bu bowed his head. He couldn't undo his past actions.
"...The alcohol made me do it. Can't you forgive... guk?!"
The three yanked the rope in unison. Looped over the beam, it hoisted Lü Bu's massive frame briefly into the air. They tied it to a stake and stepped aside.
"S-spare me! I don't want to die! Please, me!!"
"Don't die so pathetically. You were once the realm's strongest—"
"Pathetic before death? You dog bastards!!"
Lü Bu flailed and roared. The last burst of vitality before death, they said.
"P-pull!!"
The soldiers gripping the slack rope yanked hard. In his final throes, he resisted fiercer than ever before.
"I'll kill you all! Cao Cao! Liu Bei! I'll lop off every last head, guk, I swear!! I'm Fengxian! Not dying in a place like—"
Slash. The executioner swung the blade, severing the rope. The platform beneath Lü Bu dropped away.
Crack.
Something snapped sharply, and Lü Bu's struggles ceased. No movement, just his gaze fixed downward.
"...Should've just beheaded him."
The executioner threw a cloth over Lü Bu's face.
"Even the realm's strongest is the same before death."
Lü Bu, courtesy name Fengxian.
The beast was dead. And then.
"Long time no see, Gongda."
"......"
"Shall we talk after the deed is done?"
Slash. Hair scattered across the execution ground.