Just when Zhuge Liang thought he was dead for sure, something struck Lu Bu from behind with tremendous force. The warrior was thrown off his feet and to the ground. Zhuge Liang recovered and looked over to see Sun Ce, with his good friend, the pirate Gan Ning.

"You want some more?" Sun Ce said, filled with cockiness. Lu Bu stared at him coldly, perhaps summing up the situation, then decided it would be wiser not to continue fighting. Especially since Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were back on their feet and ready to fight. If he were to wait around here, he would probably be overwhelmed by enemy officers and killed. Cao Cao would be very angry at him for leaving Cao Ren behind, but the warrior didn't really care that much what Cao Cao thought. This was an alliance. He was not working for the Wei overlord.

With a mad look on his face, Lu Bu signaled for all forces near him to retreat. They happily obliged, being greatly outnumbered for the most part. "Well, looks like your plan failed, Cao Cao," he said to himself as he mounted Red Hare and fled the battlefield.

Zhang Fei was barely standing, but his concern was not for his own condition. "How has my brother fared?"

Sun Ce answered, "Don't worry about that. My brother went with Wei Yan to help him out. We received word that he killed Xu Zhu and took off to fight Cao Ren's forces by himself."

"We really didn't want him to fight in this one. He wasn't in the best state for it," voiced Guan Yu.

"Wait," Zhang Fei said, "Aren't you Sun Ce? What are you doing here?"

"Your Lord sent for help from the Wu Kingdom. What, not happy to see me?"

Zhang Fei simply collapsed at this point. Guan Yu sighed and began to carry back his rather heavy brother.

Sun Ce smiled, bragging, "I don't know why everyone is talking about that guy being tough. I beat Lu Bu in one hit!"

"Just because I didn't get there first!" Gan Ning retorted.

"My lord," Zhou Tai started, "Shouldn't we help clean up the enemy forces?"

Sun Ce shook his head vigorously. "Officers are not necessary for that kind of work. It would be a waste of talent. The normal forces are more than enough to eliminate the Wei presence."

Zhou Tai had a hard time believing the ego Sun Ce had developed since becoming well-known as a warrior. Not that it bothered him. His father was the same way, in a more calm sense. It was just so surprising how much he had changed. Zhou Tai was a very powerful man, but even he would not want to get on his Lord's bad side. He could probably conclude that it was just too much talking to Gan Ning, who seemed to always think he was the greatest.

"What do we have here?" Gan Ning asked, as he ran into the unconscious Taishi Ci. "Wow, is that Taishi Ci? Maybe this Lu Bu guy is a bit better than we thought."

Sun Ce shrugged. "I wouldn't know. I never even got to see him fight."

A ways away, Zhuge Liang was recovering from the shock he had been put through. Never in his wildest dreams had he thought that he would be killed in what he thought was a trivial battle. So it seemed Wu forces had saved his life. What surprised him more, however, was the great work that Wei Yan had done on the mission he had undertaken. Zhuge Liang had never really like Wei Yan, more preferring the intellectual type of officer. Also, to join Liu Bei, Wei Yan had killed his former master. Anyone who would kill their commander could not be trusted by their next commander.

But his dislike went deeper than that. Wei Yan never took off his helmet. His face could not be seen, and for some reason the sorcerer could not tell what he was thinking. Maybe it was because he avoided talking, maybe because of the helmet, or maybe some strange magic he had laid on himself, but Zhuge Liang had a lot of trouble trusting anyone that he couldn't read, like he did most people.

The sorcerer still didn't like this Wei Yan, but he had to commend the job he did. With that, he headed back toward where the battle was ending.

Cao Cao was sitting in his throne room when he heard the news of the battle. "What?!" he shouted, punching his servant out of the room and through the hallway.

They had lost the battle without killing a single enemy officer. What could this mean? Did this mean Lu Bu had betrayed him? He couldn't be sure without more information, but this was enough to seriously anger him. That attack had been meant to cripple the Shu army. However, all it served to do was boost their morale. This was not what he had planned.

Of course, Cao Cao had no idea that they won with help from Wu forces. He just figured his officers were incompetent. His chief sorceress, Himiko, had told him of what happened when Xu Zhu died. The loss was a bit sore, but he could easily be replaced. There were many hard-working minor officers to take his place with nearly equal power, and surely with greater intellect. That was it! He would get Himiko to give him more information on the battle.

Without him even asking, the young woman burst in. "Lord Cao Cao! Cao Ren is in some serious trouble!"

"Cao Ren?!" he responded with much emotion, "What's happened?!"

"He's been surrounded! Him and a few minor officers are holed up in a cave. At the moment their forces are keeping them safe, but they won't hold out much longer!"

Cao Cao made a fist, "Take me there quickly with your magic!"

"But what are you going to do? You can't take on the whole army by yourself!"

Trust me, Himiko. I know what to do. Liu Bei won't be able to resist the opportunity for a shot at me. Besides, I cannot lost Cao Ren. He is a great man and my most trusted officer!"

Himiko took a deep breath and said, "All right. I'll trust you, Lord Cao Cao."

Then they were flying at incredible speed toward their destination. Cao Cao was intent on resolving this situation in his normal, cool way.

End of Chapter