Chapter 7: The state of the land.
"We did all we could... Whether he will wake up or not, it's all depend on his willpower... "
All the doctors said the exactly same thing, about the condition of the one lying unconscious in the room, the lord of the Date, Date Masamune.
Date Masamune... He witnessed his father, his wife and his best friend killed off during the demon's attack... He got so angry and despaired that he run back to face the demon's army when he himself should know best that it was suicidal... And as the result, he... And master Shigezane...
Ugh... If only... If only I had been braver and tried to stop him back then... If only I had go together with him...
"Young master?"
"Ah..."
Ma Dai...
"Don't be so hard on yourself... You did try to run to master Sima Zhao and convince him to go back as quick as you can after all..." Ma Dai put his hands on my shoulders and try to comfort me, even though his hands are visibly shaking.
"..."
"... Come on, young master... At least lord Masamune is still alive!"
"But master Shigezane..."
"... Yes... He was... unfortunate. But there's just too many demons there... What can you do?"
"..."
"Everybody is holding a war council at the main hall... So I'm heading there now, okay? Just... take your time, young master..."
Ma Dai left the room, leaving only me and lord Masamune behind.
...
"... I know that feeling."
To suddenly realize your whole family just got murdered...
To have blood rushing to your head furiously...
To be unable to think straight...
To have only one thing occupied your mind...
"... I know that..."
... What can you do?
"There's nothing I can do..."
I know that...
I know that even if I tried, he wouldn't listen. There's no way he would listen...
I know that! I know that! I know that!
But that's not acceptable! Just because I know that I can't stop him doesn't mean that I can't try! But I didn't even try! I just stand there and see lord Masamune and master Shigezane go back to meet their deaths... Because I was afraid... Afraid of seeing that giant serpent again!
You did try to run to master Sima Zhao and convince him to go back as quick as you can after all...
No... I was too afraid to go back... So I run to master Sima Zhao as fast as I can to seek help... It was master Sima Zhao who asked about lord Masamune and master Shigezane, not me... It's him who want to go back.
... It's him who want to go back...
It's master Sima Zhao...?
"Ah..."
What am I doing!? Master Sima Zhao also witnessed the whole thing. He also saw that giant serpent. He also know how terrifying that thing is, and yet he was willing to go back, he overcame his fear!
That is... That is...
"... Justice!"
Justice, justice, justice! That's right, justice! To oppose evil and to protect the weak, justice!
"Ha... Hahaha... Hahaha..."
What was that all about? I lost myself for a brief moment and forgot about the goal of my life. What's good about sitting here getting all depressed like like this? Justice isn't gonna go and serve itself. Justice needs me! And I need to bring justice back to the land! I need to purge the land from the evil demons!
"Hah... Thanks god I managed to wake up before something got worse..."
What's done is done. I can't do anything about, I need to to accept that.
"... Lord Masamune. I apologize from the bottom of my heart. I apologize for my cowardice..."
What I need to do now is to make sure that I won't repeat the mistake that I made back then.
"... But I swear... Never again, I will never make the same mistake again! I will never succumb to my fear again. I swear I will forever uphold my justice, to forever oppose evil and protect the weak."
I bow down to lord Masamune until my forehead touches the ground itself and remain at that position for a while. Maybe I was being too hopeful, I had hope that if I keep bowing with my forehead touching the ground like that, lord Masamune would somehow wake up and tell me that I annoyed him.
... But nothing happens, lord Masamune didn't respond at all. He just continue with his peaceful sleep.
...
I stop bowing, raise my head and stand up.
" I swear... Next you're in trouble, I swear I will rush to your side to help you."
I say my farewell to lord Masamune, bow to him one last time. Then, I get out of the room and head straight to the main hall.
...
A moment later, I arrive at the main hall. There, I see lord Masayuki sitting at the farthest of the hall, since he is the lord of Ueda castle, it was only natural that he would sit there. On the left side of him (that means to the right side of me) are lord Sima Zhao, lady Wang Yuanji, master Deng Ai, master Zhuge Dan and master Pang De. To the right side of him (that means to the left side of me) are lord Yukimura, master Magoichi, master Zhao Yun, and Ma Dai.
"I'm sorry I'm late..."
I apologize to everybody and slightly bow to them.
" Raise your head, master Ma Chao. You're not late, we were just starting the war council anyway." Lord Masayuki says.
"Thank you, my lord."
I raise my head and look to Ma Dai. Upon seeing me, Ma Dai waves his right hand to call me to sit next to him. And there's no reason not to, so I come over to Ma Dai and sit down.
"That was faster than I thought." Ma Dai smiles at me.
I just smile back at him without saying anything, mainly because I don't know what to say, and partly because it looks like the war council is continuing.
"Now Yukimura, as you're saying..." Lord Masayuki says to master Yukimura.
"Yes, my lord. Even though we weren't able to see the whole army, but judging from the number of corpses where we found lord Masamune, I think it's safe to assume that they aren't mere remnants of the demon's army that we all know." Master Yukimura answers.
Master Yukimura just said about when we found lord Masamune, so that means they have already talk about the whole incident at the town at Wu Zhang plains in my absent... I can't complain though, since it's my fault for being late.
"Of course they aren't just mere remnants. They have a freaking giant eight-headed serpent with them." Master Sima Zhao says.
"Ah, right... About that serpent. Anyone have any idea about what that thing is?" Lord Masayuki asks everyone.
"Oh oh, I can answer that!" An unfamilliar voice suddenly comes from behind of me. I instinctly turn back to see whose voice it is, and see that it was a man with white hair that obscures his eyes and dressed in a black robe with red patterns.
But... When I get in the main hall, there were only 10 people here in this room. So where did he come from?
"Hey... Why are you looking at me like that? I'm not a..." Before he could finish his sentence, another figure suddenly appear out of nowhere and stand right beside him, or stand right behind him to be exact, with a knife just a few centimeters away from the man's throat. It was Kunoichi.
"Ah... You... You're that man at the stable yesterday." Ma Dai speaks up.
"You know him?" Kunoichi asks Ma Dai, still holding her knife at the man's throat.
"Ah, yes... Wait, no... I mean yes! Wait... What I mean is..." Ma Dai stutters, maybe he is trying to think carfully about what to say.
"We met him yesterday." Master Pang De speaks up. "When master Ma Dai and I were looking for some horses to quickly escape from the town, we met that man."
"Yes, what he said." Ma Dai nods in agreement.
"Well, hear that? I'm not a bad guy. Now, if you please put the knife away." The man says and make a smile at Kunoichi. It just a smile, but his smile somehow gives me the creep.
"..." Kunoichi frowns a little. She doesn't put away her knife. Instead, she presses the knife closer to the man's throat, while the man just keep smiling like it was nothing.
"Kunoichi! Put the knife away." Master Yukimura orders Kunoichi.
"... Yes, my lord." Kunoichi slowly pulls the knife away from the man's throat and put it in the pocket she hangs around her waist. After that, she vanished into thin air, just as sudden as she appear.
"Now, that was heart-throbbing. Hahaha..." The man laughs and goes to the right side of me and sit down.
Now that he is closer to me, I can see his face more clearly. And it feels like that his hair wasn't obscuring his eyes, it feels like weren't anything under those bangs to begin with.
Tccht... What am I thinking? Sure, he is creepily creepy as heck, but to think like that is just too ridiculous.
"Now, where was I? Ah... That's right! About the Hydra..." The man flip his finger.
"The Hydra?"
"Yeah, you know... Because 'the giant eight-headed serpent beast' is such a mouthful, so I decide to call it 'the Hydra' for short." The man shrugs.
"Wait! Before you say anything about this Hydra... Who are you? I can't say I can trust someone when can't even at least provide his name." Lord Masayuki says.
"Ah... A name, right? Humans need names to identify each other, right? Completely forgot about that. My bad." The man laughs yet again. "Anyway, you can call me Yu Ji."
Yu Ji? The Taoist priest who wandered Jiang Dong to make people believe that he can uses magic and creates miracle, who ultimately got labeled as heretic and was executed by lord Sun Ce? That Yu Ji?
"And before anyone ask if I somehow per chance know any guy with the name start with 'Sun'. Yes, yes I do." Like he could read my mind, he confirms that he is indeed the Yu Ji that I was thinking about.
"But that's not the important thing right now." He continues. "Now, about the Hydra..."
"Wait! You haven't tell us how you get here, in the main hall of the castle." Master Zhuge Dan asks master Yu Ji.
"You're a nosy one, aren't you?" Master Yu Ji points his index finger at master Zhuge Dan.
"Well, normal human can't just suddenly appear out of thin air, right? Or are you saying you're a ninja?" Ma Dai says.
"No, not ninja. A mystic." Master Yu Ji says. "Well, I'm orginially just a Taoist, but I hang around the Mystic Realm the past few years, so yeah..."
"That still doesn't explain how you got here." Master Zhuge Dan frowns.
"You're really hard to please, you know that? Ha... Fine, I have power over shadows. You know, like how The Great Teacher Zhang Jiao have power over fire." Master Yu Ji shrugs. "And I've been staying inside master Ma Dai's shadow over there until just now."
"Say what?" Ma Dai jumps up from the floor and look down at his shadow. I also look too, but there doesn't seems to be anything out of ordinary about the shadow.
"Relax. I'm sitting right here, so your shadow is back to normal already." Master Yu Ji grins. "Anyway, that's not the important thing right now. And don't you dare interupt me again, got it? Even I have something called 'patience', got it?"
Hearing he said that, no one dare to say another word. Then, he continues.
"Okay, now... About the Hydra. I don't know when it first appear, but I first saw it at the ruin of Koshi castle just a month ago. At first, it just stand around the ruin and isn't much of a threat, but as time passes, it get more and more aggressive, and it start to wreak havoc at the ruin of of Koshi castle. I manage to confine it somewhere thanks to my ability. But because of its aggressiveness, I have to transfer it outside for it to blow off some steam every once in a while."
"And you let it out to destroy the town yesterday!?"
"Yes." He nods without even thinking twice.
"Why you..."
!
Before I realized it, both of my hands have already grabbed his robe and pull him closer to me.
"Calm... Calm down, young master!" Ma Dai grab my hands, try to stop me. I know it's not just or Ma Dai who got surprised, everyone do. But what he just said is too ridiculous for me to ignored.
"Yes, calm down and listen to me, master Ma Chao." Yu Ji says.
"Calm down? How can I calm down? Do you know how many innocent people died during that attack!?"
"That's why I said you should calm down and listen to me. I swear that I tried to save as many people as I could."
"What? How!?"
"Sucks them into their shadows and transfer them elsewhere, like what I did just now. You saved some, I saved some, only a very few unfortunate were killed during the attack yesterday." Saying so, Yu Ji grabs both of my hands and try to take them off his robe.
"But you did release that monster out there to kill people! Lord Masamune's family was killed during that attack, and lord Masamune himself is still unconscious! That's absolutely unforgivable!" I tighten my grip on his robe as I shout at his face.
"Master Ma Chao, calm down, will you? I'm not a god, how am I suppose to know lord Masamune would be at that town at that time? And if there's anyone who suppose to be angry, it's Sima Zhao! Not you!"
Ah... That's right. The town at Wu Zhang plains was under master Sima Zhao's govern. If there's anyone who should be angry the most, it's him. But he's been quiet all this time. He knows that getting angry won't do any good about what already happened, so he stay quiet and listen to Yu Ji to prepare for the best approach in the future.
I didn't realize that. I... was too hot-headed and too immature.
"Sorry, master Yu Ji... Sorry, everyone... I was too impulsive." I release my hands from master Yu Ji's robe and apologize to him and everyone, and sit down to the floor.
"No problem. Now, get back to the topic. The problem isn't just the Hydra, there are also the reptilian army of Orochi too, remember?" Master Yu Ji says.
"That's right. Isn't the demon's army suppose to vanished along with Orochi when we defeat him 3 years ago?" Master Yukimura asks.
"That's the problem. Da Ji and Himiko escaped imprisonment in the Mystic Realm and ran to this world. Kiyomori also got resurrected, bringing the whole demon's army with him." Master Yu Ji says.
What!? First, the Hydra appeared, then Da Ji and Himiko escaped from the Mystic Realm, then Kiyomori got resurrected and bring the whole demon's army with him? It's just one bad news after another.
"I don't know where Da Ji and Himiko currently are. But Kiyomori is currently somewhere in Wu, I think he is waging war with the Sun family." Master Yu Ji continues. "And... Dong Zhuo is colluding with Kiyomori, except that Dong Zhuo isn't fighting the Sun family with Kiyomori, he is planning to take control of the northwest area first before heading southeast to meet Kiyomori's army. Starting from his home base at An Ding, he is preparing to attack Wu Wei as we speak..."
"What!?" Me, Ma Dai and Pang De all yell at what master Yu Ji just said.
"Then what are we waiting for? We have to hurry to reinforce Wu Wei fast!" Master Pang De says, slamming his fist to the wooden floor.
"Not so fast, master... Pang De, right?" Master Yu Ji hold out his right hand at master Pang De to stop him from doing anything further. "I drived master Ma Chao, master Ma Dai and you out of Wu Wei for a reason."
"Say what!?"
Not again! This is the third time already! Everytime master Yu Ji open his mouth to say something, he gives another shocking news to me.
"You're the one who told that woman to give us the letter?" Ma Dai asks.
"Ah, about that... I wrote the letter, and I'm also that woman." Master Yu Ji shrugs.
Again, what!?
"Now, before any of you have any funny idea. All I did was dyed my haird black with my shadow and talk in a higher pitch. I can't shape-shifting, okay?" Master Yu Ji says.
"Wh... Why go all the trouble? Can't you just be like you are now and talk to us normally?" Ma Dai asks.
"Hello? Look at me! White long hair that obscurses both of my eyes and dressed in a black robe with red patterns that gives off a mysterious aura! It's basically screaming 'totally suspicious'." Master Yu Ji says.
I hate to admit it... But he tells the truth.
"Another thing is..." Master Yu Ji continues. "If I just walk to master Ma Chao and start blabbling about demon this, demon that. I'll probably be grabbed in the neck like master Ma Chao just did."
Again... He tells the truth.
"Back to Wu Wei... I did what I did to avoid unnecessary bloodshed. If you three remain at Wu Wei, there will surely be a fierce long fight between lord Ma Teng's army with Dong Zhuo's army and many men will fall. But with you three absent, Dong Zhuo can quickly take Wu Wei in a single night, or at most a day." Master Yu Ji says.
"How?" Master Sima Zhao speaks up for the first time. "Are you saying that Dong Zhuo's army has superior number better officers?"
"Not quite..." Master Yu Ji tilts his head.
"Dong Zhuo has his men planted in lord Ma Teng's ranks, correct?" Lady Wang Yuanji says.
"Sharp mind you have there." Master Yu Ji smiles.
"But that's impossible! If Dong Zhuo had his men planted in my father force, we would have notice it right away!"
"What if he didn't plant his men. But rather... Lord Ma Teng's men willingly agree to Dong Zhuo's plan?" Master Yu Ji says.
"You mean there are traitors in our ranks!? That's absurd!" Master Pang De slams his fist to the ground. I can't blame him for getting angry like that though, master Yu Ji keep saying ridiculous things like that one after another without a sign of stopping.
"I'm just telling you what I know. Believe it or don't, whatever you want." Master Yu says like he doesn't care.
"You've been telling us nothing but incredible events. Even if you claim yourself to be a Mystic, there's no way you can know that much information. Just... who are you really suppose to be?" Master Zhuge Dan questions master Yu Ji.
"Isn't that obvious, master Zhuge Dan?" Lady Wang Yuanji says. "To know that much about what the demon's army is doing, surely he must hold a position in their ranks..."
What!? What!? What!?
I look to master Yu Ji. He doesn't deny what lady Wang Yuanji just said, instead he just grin at her and says."I think I'm starting to like you, my lady. Yes, I'm officially an officer of Kiyomori."
Everybody in the hall got shocked from master Yu Ji's response.
I can't tell if he's joking or he's serious anymore... If he's serious, is he so insane that he doesn't realize that he is an enemy of humanity?
"You... You chaotic insane demon, begone! This place isn't a playground for you to mess around!" Master Zhuge Dan angrily shout to master Yu Ji, he even stand up from the floor and walk to master Yu Ji like he's trying to get in a fight with master Yu Ji. But master Deng Ai has hold master Zhuge Dan back before he even take one step.
"Master Deng Ai...? What are you doing? Let me go!" Master Zhuge Dan struggles to get out of master Deng Ai's grip but in vein.
"Calm down, Zhuge Dan." Master Sima Zhao speaks up." If master Yu Ji here is really an officer of Kiyomori's army, then you should treat him with respect."
"Wh... What are you saying, Sima Zhao!? Have you lost your mind!? He said he's one of those demons! Why should i treat him with respect!?" Master Zhuge Dan shout at master Sima Zhao while still trying to get out of master Deng Ai's grip.
"You're really a short-sighted man, Zhuge Dan." Master Sima Zhao scratches his head. "Ha... What a bother. Deng Ai, explain to him."
"Yes." Master Deng Ai nods to master Sima Zhao's order and asks master Zhuge Dan. "Master Zhuge Dan, did you consider why master Yu Ji is telling us about all these things?"
"There is a reason? Isn't he just trying to confuse us with false informations and then attack us when we let our guard down?" Master Zhuge Dan answers.
"No, we saw how devastating the Hydra was. There's no need for him to spread false information." Master Deng Ai says.
"Then what does he want? And let go of me already, master Deng Ai!" Master Zhuge Dan says.
"Ah, I apologize." Master Deng Ai let go of master Zhuge Dan and turns to look at master Yu Ji."If we want to know master Yu Ji's true intention, I think we should ask him directly."
"Then said so from the beginning! You almost make me choke to death!" Master Zhuge Dan uses his fan to smack master Deng Ai's head like a child smacking a toy hammer to his father's head. The sight is strangely amusing...
"Ahem..." Master Yu Ji coughs a little to gain everyone's attention. "Everyone pay attention, please. I don't want to drag this chapter longer than it already is, okay?"
... What... is he talking about?
"Anyway... Yes, I'm officially an officer of Kiyomori, but for a very good reason. Remember the last war with the demon's army? It took 6 major forces of this land, Shu, Wei, Wu, the Oda, the Uesugi, and the Takeda, to unite to defeat the demon's army. But that was already 3 years ago. Now, Kiyomori and the demon's army have been resurrected to be even more powerful than before, surely anyone who present in the attack yesterday would notice the demon's strength..."
Yes... Master Yu Ji was right. Yesterday, I fought a bnuch of demons and they were noticeably stronger and faster than they did 3 years ago.
"And not to mention that they also have the Hydra as a secret weapon..." Master Yu Ji continues. "The war this time won't be like the war 3 years ago. You will need all the strength and informations you can get. And I'm playing the role of information dealer for you humans, got it?"
Everyone stay silent for a brief moment to try to go over everything master Yu Ji has said and everyone all agree believe him.
"Right!" Lord Masayuki speaks up. "Since the Mystic had helped us to win against the demon's army during the last war. We will trust you, master Yu Ji."
"Good. Now, I've tell you what I know. Any question about them or about what to do?" Master Yu Ji asks.
"I have a question." Master Sima Zhao raises his hand. "You said Kiyomori is currently waging war with the Sun family, right? So how long have the war been going on? How did we not know anything about that?"
"I think about a week or so. The Wu's territory consists of Wu, Jian Ye, Chang Sha, Kyoto and Shikoku, all of which are surround by water. It's fairly easy for Kiyomori to cut them off with the rest of the world, so it's understandable that no words about the war have been able to reach you." Master Yu Ji answers.
That, and the fact that Wu is way down south from here. It takes more than just a week to travel from the south the central land, and almost a month to reach us here, at the northeast of the land.
"What about Shu or Wei? Have Kiyomori do anything to their forces yet?" Master Zhao Yun, who has been silent from the start, asks.
"No. At least I don't think so. But if Dong Zhuo is going to head southward to meet Kiyomori, it is very likely that he wil attack Shu once he takes Wu Wei for himself." Master Yu Ji ponders.
"And about Wu Wei..."
"Wu Wei will go down either tonight or tomorrow's morning. You won't be able to prevent it, so forget about heading back to Wu Wei, master Ma Chao." Master Yu Ji pats me on my shoulder.
"But what about my father, my family?"
"I can guarantee their safety. Dong Zhuo only interests in gold and women, so it won't be hard to persuade him. I only need to say something like sending your family to Kiyomori..." Master Yu Ji reassures me. But the idea of having my family being sent to Kiyomori to be tortured is just disturbing...
"Any more questions?" Master Yu Ji asks once more.
"So right now, we should have some men to head Shu to warn lord Liu Bei, and have some men head to Wei to tell lord Cao Cao about Wu to ask for reinforcement, right?" Lord Masayuki asks.
"Exactly." Master Yu Ji nods.
"Hey, wait!" Master Magoichi raises his hand to ask a question. "Can't you just teleport yourself to other lords and tell them about these things yourself? I will save much more time, no?"
"I can't. I can only go from my shadow to another when I've met that person before. I've never met Liu Bei or Cao Cao, so it's out of the question. Life ain't so easy, you know?" Master Yu Ji sighs.
"Well, that's a let down..." Master Magoichi sighs, too.
"Well then... If there's nothing else, I'm leaving, okay? You guys better starting moving soon, too. The sooner you warn the others, the better you can prepare to fight, after all." After saying that, master Yu Ji stand up, he snaps his fingers, and his shadow on the floor rises up to the air and swallows all of his body. And the next second, he's already gone.
That was... an eye-opening sight. Guess there's many way to teleport youself, huh?
Anyway... I turns to lord Masayuki and bow my head down to the floor.
"Lord Masayuki! It's only approriate that I, the tiger general of Shu, to go warn lord Liu Bei about the demon's army. I ask that you please provide me some of your men so I can safely reach Cheng Du!"
"Master Ma Chao, please raise your head. I'll provide you with any help I can, even if you don't ask. I'll provide you 500 men to accompany you." Lord Masayuki replies.
"Thank you, lord Masayuki!"
I thanks lord Masayuki, and raises my head.
Then, master Zhao Yun and Ma Dai both follow suits and bow down to lord Masayuki.
"I, also and officer of Shu! I wish to accompany master Ma Chao on his journey!" Somehow, they both say the exact same line.
"Alright, I'll allow you two to accompany master Ma Chao." Lord Masayuki says. "But instead of going straight to Cheng Du, it's better if you three head for Tian Shui first. Since if Dong Zhuo want to attack Shu, he will have to go through Tian Shui first. So telling lord Jiang Wei to prepare to fight should be your top priority."
"Yes, my lord!" Master Zhao Yun, Ma Dai and I all bow to lord Masayuki and raise their heads.
"What about you, master Pang De? Aren't you coming too?" I ask master Pang De, who is sitting across me, with a small voice, so as not to disturb the others.
"My apology, master Ma Chao. But I want to stay here at Ueda castle. There are... things I need to confirm first." Master Pang De answers.
It must something important if master Pang De has to confirm it himself. Ah... It's truly unfortunate, but I guess it can't help.
"And, about you, master Sima Zhao..." Lord Masayuki looks to master Sima Zhao's direction.
"Huh... Yes, my lord?" Master Sima Zhao clumsily answers lord Masayuki. Was he not paying attention, or was he busy thinking about something?
"We need somebody to go to Chang An tell lord Jia Xu there about what we heard, too. You won't mind going, will you?" Lord Masayuki asks.
"Haaa... What a bo... Ah, I mean... Yes, gladly." Master Sima Zhao slightly bows to lord Masayuki. "And naturally, Yuanji and Deng Ai are coming with me too, right?"
"Sure." Lord Masayuki replies.
So... I, Ma Dai and master Zhao Yun are going to Tian Shui. Lord Masayuki, master Yukimura, master Zhuge Dan, master Magoichi are staying here at Ueda castle. Oh, and Kunoichi too... While master Sima Zhao is going to Chang An with lady Wang Yuanji and master Deng Ai? Sure, sounds reasonable enough...
...
Master Deng Ai... Master Deng Ai?
Wait...
Something just... Something just flashes over my mind...
Wait...
"Wait!"
"Hmn...? Yes, what is it, master Ma Chao? Do you perhaps have something to say?"
Ah... I said 'wait!' without even realizing it. What now? I wasn't going to say anything. It was just a slip of the tongue.
But... There's this disturbing feeling that I can't explain... Something about master Deng Ai?
Agh... And I was suppose to be the one who told Ma Dai not to worry too much!
"Master Ma Chao? Is something wrong?" Seeing my troubled look, lord Masayuki asks worrily.
Ah, no... It's just..."
I turn my gaze to master Deng Ai. What could possibly go wrong? I mean... Master Deng Ai is an honorable warrior with both brawn and brain, very trustworthy as an ally and very formidable as an ... There's still something... I feel something really disturbing about him... Is master Deng Ai gonna...
"Can I... Can I ask master Deng Ai to accompany me? You know... Because I heard that master Deng Ai is an expert at mountanous geography, so I thought... Maybe I can ask him to look for some shorter routes so we can arrive at Tian Shui sooner..."
"Hmn... That does sound reasonable." Lord Masayuki stroked his chin thinking, and then asks master Deng Ai. "Do you have any problem with that, master Deng Ai?"
"I'll gladly accompany master Ma Chao on his journey, my lord. But I can't just leave master Sima Zhao and lady Wang Yuanji and go off on my own." Master Deng Ai answers.
Ah... Right, it's dangerous to leave master Sima Zhao and lady Wang Yuanji alone. Who knows if they won't run into something dangerous along the way?
"Ah, alright then! I'll go with the lady and her husband there." Master Magoichi raises his hand to voice his opinion. "We'll pass through Saika village first and ask for some more of my Saika Rebels to tag along, too. So no more problem, no more worry, eh?"
"If you can guarantee their safety, then I have no objection." Master Deng Ai replies.
Good! Then it's settle that master Deng Ai is coming along with me. Though I still don't know what will happen, but if I can keep an eye on him, everything will turn out okay.
... I hope.
"Well then..." Lord Masayuki claps his hands. "We've went through everything we need. This war council is officially over. Now, master Ma Chao and master Sima Zhao, do you want to spend the night here or..."
"I'll leave for Tian Shui immediately! The sooner I go, the sooner I arrive!"
"Uh yeah... I also need to pay a visit to Saika village before heading to Chang An, so I also think it's best to leave now." Master Magoichi says.
"Good!" Lord Masayuki stroke his chin again. "Then I wish everyone good luck."
And with that, the war council is officially over...
Sanjima: Do you guys realize that you just made the longest chapter ever since this fanfic began?
Yu Ji: Hey, it's a war council, it's suppose to be long! If you want to blame someone for making this chapter unnecessary long, blame it on Ma Chao.
Ma Chao: Wa... What!? What did I do!?
Yu Ji: If your incomprehensible blabbing at the start of the chapter isn't pointless and unnecessary, then I don't know what is.
Ma Chao: Why, you! That's called character development! Not incomprehensible blabbing!
Sanjima: Okay, guys, stop! If you two fight here then this chapter is gonna be even longer than it already is!
Sanjima: Ah, anyway... Chapter 7 is finished, please look forward to chapter 8. Thank you very much.