Now that our junior research papers are done, that's one less burden on my shoulders --; If I'm lucky, I got a passing grade –prays- Now we got to present them DX The next chappie may come later than usual, which already takes too long But I have some other fics ppl have wanting some updates on –facepalm- So yea lol Enjoy this chappie! Reviews are loved!

NOTE: Oh and I apologize if you were reading thus far and realized that there are no longer section dividers in the chapter, FFN has decided not to support dashes so now all previous chapters look like one really long segment. So I am sorry for that, it was pointless for them to change it. I'll have new ones from here on out.

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Chapter 36

Blood and Beauty

After midnight, Xu Chang, the outer city…

Everything had changed so abruptly and by midnight, the capital city of Xu Chang was plunged into turmoil. Violence had erupted and the city was awoken by the ear-splitting cry of masked bandits. The blue horde of the Shé swarmed the small, stone dwellings where innocent civilians attempted to flee in panic. Wu soldiers were ambushed and slain alongside children, painting the city streets with blood. It was now that Cao Jin's true intentions became known.

Women screamed as they searched the through the bloodshed to find they're lost children in the streets only to find them lying murdered on the ground. Wu soldiers made an effort to fight back, but all in vain. Large crescent blades caught the light of full moon until they were completely obscured by fresh blood of another victim.

Amidst the confusion, a valiant general stood with his gallant halberd, White Tiger, in hand. Standing before the massive gateway towards the palace, Lu Meng was appalled by the destruction before him; the innocent dying for nothing.

Cool armor brandished in the lucid moonlight, he addressed the enemy in abhorrence, "Damned fools, the innocent have committed no crime to deserve this!"

He raised the jagged spear as the masked bandits rushed him, gleaming hooks raised above their heads. Before the realized their blunder, they met their fate under the prowess of the Wu general. But hundreds upon hundreds of blue clad bandits scoured the city while some escaped to the palace.

"We must keep them from continuing to the palace!" Taishi Ci exclaimed ambling from the gates as he gestured to the bandits leaping the wall and rushing the palace, "We must push them back!"

"Yes," Meng agreed, gaining a fighting stance and facing the serpent bandits before him. Taishi Ci, standing aside his companion, held his steel bludgeons, Tiger Slayers, tightly in both hands.

"For Wu!"

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Meanwhile, the Wei Palace, the crypt…

Descending the stone stairwell, Ling Tong could already smell the dank stench of the dungeon. In one hand, he held a flaming torch and in the other he held his steel trimmed Numchucks. As he descended onto the damp floor of the dungeon he was suddenly discovered by three bandit members who had been waiting for him.

Undeterred, a smirk crept onto the slick Wu generals face, "Heh, I hear you guys are all over the place" He stated, twirling the Numchucks skillfully in his hands, "I guess you wanna take me on now, huh?"

They didn't reply of course, instead they rushed towards him with weapons held high and aimed for him.

"Well, bring it on! I'll show that pirate what real fighting's all about!" He exclaimed, laughing in excitement before shouting upwards, "Watch me, dad!"

Suddenly, his foot connected to the gut of one of his foes, bringing them to their knees. He could hear the splitting of bones as the Numchucks crashed into the spine of the collapsed assassin. He spun, greeting another in the face with a swift and powerful strike of his Numchucks. Crashing onto the stone floor, the bandit grasped his bludgeoned face in agony as shattered fragments of the masked pierced the skin and eyes. The last looked upon his fallen allies and though Tong couldn't see his face, he could detect the terror in his enemy's eyes.

"Aha, that was great!" Tong chuckled, grinning eagerly at his final foe with anticipation.

With a shaken battle cry, the remaining assassin lunged forward, nearly puncturing Tong's stomach with the razor tip of the hook. Dodging with agile speed, Tong caught the bandits arm in a painful bound with the chain of the Numchucks. The bandit cried out at the chain lashed into his skin, ripping the fabric of the blue outfit.

"Take this!" Suddenly, the flaming torch set the wooden mask ablaze and the assassin's screams intensified. With a swift elbow to the chest, the bandit fell attempting to extinguish the blaze but was still lift lying on the dank floor in anguish.

"Well it was fun guys, but I gotta go" Tong called over his shoulder in a tantalizing tone as he continued into the dark crypt. He stopped and studied the dimly lit passages and the rusted cells where skeletal figures still lay. Distantly he could hear water dropping in an endless, repetitive cycle.

"Hmm…" He mumbled in perplexity, "Now where is that explosives room again?"

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In the meantime, the Wei Palace, The eastern second level corridor…

Separated from the others, Zhou Yu searched for his daughter and had failed so far. He spurned himself for allowing her to run unsupervised around the enemy bastion. Only Heaven knew where she could be. He prayed for her that she was still alright; he prayed to Sun Ce for his blessing to assist him in locating her. But with each step in the dark, each empty room he came upon, his faith was slowly withering.

And Xiao; he had abandoned her in the courtyard along with Da, whom he had vowed to Ce that he would protect. He could only imagine them waiting in fright as Cao Jin's assassin's swarmed the palace.

His Ancients Sword quivered in his hand as he listened to the distant cries of dying men. The lights of fire and gleaming swords showed through the open windows as Wu soldiers and Wei assassin's battled.

He had thrown open yet another door to find an empty guest room, when suddenly he heard another cry of terror amongst the cries of the dying; the cry of a child, a girl's cry.

Following the shouts he discovered Zhou Ying and her friend lying cringed together on the wooden floor of the corridor. Over them stood the Butterfly General, Zhang He, and several Shé bandits at his side.

"I do apologize" Zhang He admonished as if apologetic, though he was chuckling, "It is sad such beautiful children must die this way"

Zhou Ying and Li Xian cringed close, wrapping arms around each other with eyes clenched closed as they awaited fate. It all seemed so slow as the claws of He's Phoenix Talon's glinted in the fervent moonlight, but death never came for the children. Once eyes were opened, they discovered Zhou Yu with the tip of sword at the Butterfly's throat. The blue clad assassin's stood behind He, ready in impatience for their commander's instruction to attack.

"Father!" Ying exclaimed in overwhelming relief as she leaped to her feet and hid behind her father with her friend next to her.

"So that was the Great Zhou Yu's daughter, hmm?" Zhang He cooed, grinning without slinking away from the blade at his throat, "I had wondered where I had seen such beauty before"

Yu's eyes remained indifferent and not amused, "Enough, you will regret laying hands on my child"

Zhang He simply appeared all the more elated, exchanging glances from Yu to Ying and Xian. He drew his claws and slowly slid them to and fro along Yu's sword like some licentious game, "You needn't lay your resentment upon me, dear sir. I simply follow the orders of my beloved Lord, Jin"

"Your 'benevolent' Lord will die soon enough" Yu retorted, his immoral anger rising.

A dark chuckle rose from the Butterfly General as he replied with a wide smile, "As will yours"

Zhou Yu was caught off guard by the statement when Zhang He abruptly swiped Yu's blade away from his throat, the clash knocking the Wu general from his confusion about his Lord.

Zhou Ying and Li Xian cried out, fumbled backwards as they fled to a distant column. They watched wide-eyed in fear as Yu regained composure as He's claws clashed with his sword.

The Butterfly general signaled with his remaining claw towards the bandits who obeyed. They surrounded the lone Wu general, jagged crescents raised high.

Zhang He smiled brightly at Yu though the narrow spaces between his claws, "Oh, beloved general, I will certainly hate having to ravage such a beautiful face!"

Zhou Yu forced He aback as he retaliated with a sharp kick into the general's stomach. He stumbled backwards and the assassin's rushed the Wu general. Yu evaded their strikes, cracking the skull of one with the butt end of his weapon. Swiftly, he sliced the blade across the torso of another who fell backwards onto the ground, staining the floor. Yu caught the crescent hook as it fell from the bandit's hand and pierced the stomach of another at they leapt towards him. Now one on one with the Butterfly General, Yu watched He stand with an offended expression.

Yu backed against the wall as Zhang He lunged for Yu's stomach with a cry in fury. The Wu general skillfully evaded and He's claw was lodged into the hardwood. He yanked at it, but it wouldn't budge. Letting it wobble as he released it, He deflected Yu's sword with his remaining claws as it came down upon him. Yu's hand swung backwards as the force pushed at his wrist and He made a hasty slash at the general's face.

Blood poured from two cuts on Zhou Yu's cheek, but the wound wasn't enough to stop the valiant Wu general. Yu drew the sword sidelong, cut deeply into Zhang He's arm and the Butterfly General cried out in agony. He stumbled away, not taking his disdainful eyes off Yu. He held his wounded arm as slouched forward, unable to lift his claws.

"I did not know beauty could be so evil" He seethed, his face cringed in pain. Through the throbbing in his arm, he raised his claws, ready and willing for more of his enemy, "For my Lord, I will not flee from you"

Zhang He rushed towards Yu, but only to meet an unforgiving blade through his stomach. He fought the desire to cry out and slumped forward onto the sword, grasping the blade and slicing his hands.

"At least I was fortunate to lose to someone so…beautiful" murmured the Butterfly General as he slid from the blade and lay crumbled on the floor. Blood rushed from the fallen body and glinted in the white light of the moon.

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A few moments later, The Wei Palace, the Emperor's level corridor…

Undeterred by the malevolence of the silence and treading deeper into the Phoenix's nest, the young Wu strategist pressed his back against the wall. Avid in avoiding the light from the windows and keeping to the shadows for disguise, he could hear no one. Perhaps the assassin's awaited for a mistake, an accidental misstep into the light before attacking or perhaps they had been commanded to stay away. Perhaps some one knew he would be coming here.

From where Lu Xun stood, pressed into the wall, he could faintly perceive the handles of the doors into the Emperor's chamber. It was faint but he had an unnerving feeling that it was here where Cao Jin was keeping her.

It appeared to be such an evident place to hide someone, but perhaps that was the purpose. Is this what Jin wanted, to lure Xun into a snare thinking he had safely found Xuan when he had not?

Whether coincidental or purposeful, Xun was prepared for whatever Cao Jin had for him.

As he approached, he could feel a strong sense of wickedness emanating from the large embellished doors. As if evil had accumulated over the generations of housing tyrants and powerful overlords; it seemed like a demon awaited him. And it waited with hungry eyes and a thirst for his blood and pleas for mercy.

Placing an admonished hand on the handle, he found it to be icy cold. Slowly, he pushed it open and he could see several candles lit on the table through the small crevice. The waxes of the candles were barely melted, depicting that they were newly lit.

Cautiously, Xun opened the door further and there on the floor in front of the bed, Xuan lay unconscious in a bloody heap. Her hair was untidy as if someone had been forcefully grabbing and pulling at it and her clothes were torn and stained with her blood. Abruptly, something in Xun pulled him towards her and then something stronger held him back, that something was a threatening blade at his back.

"Welcome" An icy voice said behind him, making his skin crawl, "Xuan and I have been expecting you"

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Well, this chappie was a headache, I am terrible with fighting scenes but I try . But anyways, I got that Warriors Orochi game and it's pretty awesome. I still loved that SW story where you have to save poor little Xun XD Sadly, after I saved him, he goes and gets himself killed. I was like what the hell, man?! Lol I hope you like the chappie, I actually added some canon characters and their weapons, which it took me forever to find the names for. 'til next time, loves! 3