"Those who speak know nothing
Those who know are silent."
These words, as I am told,
Were spoken by Lao-tzü.
If we are to believe that Lao-tzü
Was himself one who knew,
How comes it that he wrote a book
Of five thousand words?"-(Po Chü-i)

8:33 p.m.

Buildings were toppled everywhere.

Rocks were strewn onto the roads, and carts and wagons were carelessly turned over.

The air was thick with smoke, making it quite hard to breathe and to see the full moon that waned overhead. A fire still raged further on, deeper within the city, its probable source would most likely be the imperial palace.

Clothing and other lesser belongings were thrown carelessly onto the street by the inhabitants fleeing the destruction.

Bodies of people that had put up a fight to stop the destruction lined the roads. Most of the dead were that of commoners, but sometimes a dead soldier or two would be found among the commoners, from which whom their deaths most likely resulted from.

Ironically, amidst all of the destruction and death, there was an intact sign surrounded by still blooming flowers. The sign simply read, "Welcome to the capital of China, Lou Yang."

Su Benji was staring at the sign with bitter resentment. "May the gods curse you into damnation for all eternity, Dong Zhou." Su Benji then remembered the heathen, Schnider Huan. "You can join the traitor to the Han as well, Schinder Huan."

Coalition soldiers continued to file past Su Benji's position, as they made their way into the capital grounds to assess damage. As well as to see if Dong Zhou had truly retreated from the once glamorous capital.

Benji wondered if the warrior, Schnider Huan had left as well. The mere thought of him brought back terrible memories of death. First his horse, Brutus had been killed by a spear in the lungs.

Then, thanks to Benji's own carelessness, Su Ru had died saving Benji's life.

Benji's body shuttered at the mere thought of Su Ru's headless body standing before Benji.

"I will avenge you, Su Ru."

Benji turned away from the sign, and made his way back to his new horse, the coalition soldiers giving him a wide berth, for they had never seen a warrior quite like Benji. Benji's own soldiers were still loitering around on a nearby grassy knob, recovering from the past battle.

Reaching the other side of the dirt road, Benji found his red horse eating nearby dandelions.

Benji walked over to a nearby tree that had a beautiful saddle hanging from a branch. The saddle had, engraved into it, jewels and crystals of all colors. The most distinguishing feature, being a horse, made of red rubies.

He grabbed the saddle from its perch, and looked it over, to check if any soldiers had tried to steal any of the precious gems.

Luckily for them, they hadn't.

Benji hated thieves the most, being the way that they stalk around and steal for their own personal gain. Most of the thieves spend their gaining on beer and women. A whole month's work could be gone in just one night.

To Su Benji, it wasn't worth it. Well, maybe for the women, though Benji just simply had found no time to look for a suitable spouse, with all of the fighting.

Benji had promised himself that when the coalition operation was over and he returned to Jiang Ling, that he would look for a suitable wife.

Returning his attention back to the horse, which had formally belonged to Lu Bu, Benji casually walked over to it, and placed the jewel encrusted saddle upon the horse's back.

The horse didn't seem to mind, as it continued to eat the pretty, yellow flowers.

Benji strapped on the harness, letting out a sigh. "You are a great horse, but no horse can ever replace Brutus," Benji pulled himself onto the horse's saddle, recalling the saying that Sun Tzu had told him. "Lu Bu among men, Red Hare among horses. Let's hope this holds true for you, for it lied about your previous master."

Benji's new horse, Red Hare, stopped eating at that, and let out a ferocious cry that rang throughout the surrounding hills.

It wasn't quite as powerful as Brutus's cry, but Benji decided that it would do for now.

Besides, dwelling on the past will get you killed in this era of chaos.

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10:12 p.m.

Amidst the dark, a group of soldiers could be seen covering the knob located just above the destroyed city of Lou Yang. Most of the soldiers were lying down, sleeping. Others though were recovering from their recent injuries. A few mourned over the recent deaths of their fellow soldiers, though not many of Su Benji's soldiers had been killed in the recent battle at HuLao gate.

At the very top of the knob was a group of about five hundred soldiers, who had been captured in the recent battle. Surrounding the prisoners of war, were a hundred armed guards. A few of the prisoners had been tied up with bonds for their excessive resistance.

Sun Tzu was busy convincing the captured soldiers, whose hands were tied up with bonds, to join the army of Su Benji.

At the moment, many were ready and willing to join, but still one must always look for deception.

"What do you soldiers think about Su Benji," Sun Tzu began to question about the soldier's views on Su Benji.

A soldier, wearing gray armor, stood up and eagerly answered, "Su Benji is truly the greatest warrior I've ever seen in my many years of combat." The soldier then started to rally other soldiers to give their own personal views.

A peasant soldier responded, "None can oppose Su Benji, including the bastard Dong Zhou who burned our city to the ground." He then shifted his gaze to the destroyed city below the hill. "Su Benji will make Dong Zhou pay for his crimes!"

At that the other soldiers stood and began to chant, "Su Benji! Su Benji! Su Benji!"

Sun Tzu called out, "And what of Su Benji's ethnicity?"

The chanting ceased at that.

A soldier though was unmoved by this, "It does not matter if he is not of one us."

The soldiers turned to see a warrior that was dressed in gray armor, with a red sash. Upon his head was a simple farmer's hat with a white feather. He was no more than five and a half feet tall.

The warrior was unnerved by this and continued, "Su Benji has accomplished more in just seventeen years, then we will in a lifetime."

Sun Tzu was pleased with the warrior's commitment. "Who speaks?"

"I am Zhang Liao, a warrior who was recently employed under the service of the Han court's imperial guard," the soldier began to grimace. "When Dong Zhou took the capital, I was forced to serve under him. I was in command of a sub-unit at HuLao gate when your forces came and defeated us."

"What a waste of talent, for you, Zhang Liao, will surely carry your name to new heights in our army...," Sun Tzu stopped hesitantly, for he finally noticed Su Benji standing right next to him.

Su Benji had been listening from a distance the whole time, but at the warrior's boast, he decided to make his presence known.

"Tell me warrior," Su Benji was unimpressed with Zhang Liao's flattery, "What real traits do you have in the battlefield?"

Zhang Liao, wasn't scared as he had been trained by some of the greatest tacticians, and fighters, in the land. "I possess a flair for ambushing the enemy, and I am quite skilled with the scimitar. Many hapless victims have fallen to its blade."

Su Benji was still unimpressed with Zhang Liao, "Untie his bonds!"

Two soldiers that were watching the captives, quickly ran over to Zhang Liao, and sliced his bonds with a knife.

Benji continued, "If you are as skilled with your weapon as you say you are, show me!"

Zhang Liao stretched his arms, and walked over to where a pile of weapons had been placed. The weapons had belonged to the captured soldiers, including Zhang Liao, who found his weapon on top of the four foot tall pile. Zhang Liao wielded the scimitar by the hilt, checking for the engraved pouncing tiger on the blade. The golden tiger flared brightly in the night, this was indeed Zhang Liao's weapon.

Zhang Liao then grabbed a nine foot spear, and hurled it forty yards towards the bottom of the hill, the spear sticking in the ground with the shaft up.

"Su Benji, will you kindly stand by that spear's shaft."

Sun Tzu was wondering if Su Benji would agree to the request, but was amazed to find Benji taking off his helmet, and heading for the spear.

Benji reached the spear, and faced the warrior with his head resting against the spear's wooden shaft. He then called out, "Like this?"

Zhang Liao responded with a grin, "Yes, perfect."

He then hurled his scimitar, blade swinging to and fro, towards Su Benji's position.

In the night the soldiers could only see the blade when it caught the moon's beams, as it revolved constantly, showing a sliver of silver.

Benji meanwhile stood, unmoved, and not the least bit nervous. Well maybe just a little, as the scimitar's sharp tip suddenly appeared right in front of his head.

Benji closed his eyes for a split second, waiting for the darkness, but it never came. He opened his eyes to see the shaft of a weapon dangling in front of him.

Looking up, Benji saw that the scimitar had lodged itself perfectly into the spear's shaft, just millimeters above Benji's head.

Zhang Liao knew Benji was stunned so he shouted out, "What do you say now, warrior of Jing?"

Benji shouted, excitedly, back, "Welcome to our army!"

He stared more intently at the scimitar's blade tip embedded in the wooden shaft, to find a few strands of black hair. The strands of hair had been neatly sliced by the passing scimitar.

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11:19 p.m.

Benji walked the dirt path, wondering where it led. The path, so far, had led him through a peaceful wooded area, full of trees and the occasional bats.

Rounding the corner, Benji finally saw the end of the trail, stopping near a cliff.

Benji headed towards the cliff, looking down it and then up at the serene sky. The cliff overlooked a river, and provided a nice few of the stars.

Benji stared at the shining stars. "I wonder which one of those stars is mine, and when will it ever fall down to this world?"

"Have you forgotten your astronomy?"

Benji turned to find Sun Tzu, staring at the stars himself. "What are you doing still up?"

Sun Tzu continued to stare at the stars. "I should be asking you the same question?"

Benji said, "I couldn't sleep?"

Benji couldn't help but get over the fact that he actually wasn't a true Chinese Han. "Sun Tzu, do you think that the soldiers care about my ethnicity?"

Sun Tzu now turned to face Benji. "My lord, the soldier's respect for you in combat is beyond your own comprehension. I know for a fact that all of them would gladly lay down their lives for you. Most people do not care about your coming to this land, but it may prove a difficult thing when the time comes for you to become emperor."

Benji replied, "Sun Tzu I'm not even close yet to becoming emperor. Besides, I want to rule the world not just China."

Sun Tzu smiled at that, "Fine then we'll have one of your future sons rule each land, so that the name of the Su is well known."

Benji didn't say anything.

Sun Tzu taking the hint, quickly changed the topic. "Benji, you know, you have yet to tell me of how you came to be adopted by Su Xian."

Benji sighed, "Now Sun Tzu, it is a long story, and I know hardly anything of it. Su Xian only told me that my real family was traveling from the west with a caravan. They were on a quest for spices to bring back to their land, which I don't know where it is, when they became under attack by bandits. I was told that Su Xian, found me among the carnage the very next day. He pulled me out from under a dead warrior that had a black falcon engraved onto his shield and garments. Su Xian said he had probably died protecting me from the bandits. I was only a month old at the time."

Sun Tzu shifted uneasily, "I'm sorry Benji, for that incident, but maybe it was the will of the heavens for you to come to this land and fight for it."

Benji laughed, "You are most likely right. Besides, China is my true home, I mean I was practically raised here."

Benji turned his gaze to downward at the nearby river. "From up here the mighty Ch'iang looks like a sliver of sparkling blue."

"That it does, but always remember this Benji, things always look smaller from a distance," Sun Tzu started to walk back down the path.

"Where are you going?"

Sun Tzu continued walking. "We have just been given permission to enter the city of Lou Yang, and the army is waiting to march."

Benji was startled, "And why, again, didn't you tell me this right away?"

Sun Tzu didn't answer so Benji ran down the dirt path, to catch up with him.

Together they headed back to camp.

-------------------------------------------

12:02 a.m.

Cao Cao didn't care what the coalition thought about his plans.

No, he would be the one to surely defeat Dong Zhou during their retreat from Lou Yang.

Him, Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuan, Cao Ren, Cao Hong, Li Dian, and Yue Jin, had led ten thousand men from their encampment near Lou Yang, to pursue Dong Zhou's fleeing forces.

Of course Yuan Shao, and the other members were against the move, but all they sought was their own personal gains.

What could they possibly know?

A soldier appeared before Cao Cao, "My lord, we are entering a ravine. Do we keep marching?"

The ravine was very narrow, allowing only a constricted passage for his army to advance through. Cao Cao thought about it, the enemy could be setting up an ambush, but that was most likely due to their sudden retreat. "Yes, keep advancing, I'm sure we are catching up to them."

Cao Cao, and the others, continued their march into the ravine.

They were unaware however of the pair of eyes watching them from the cliffs, above the ravine.

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Schinder Huan watched the soldiers enter the ravine. He easily picked out Cao Cao among them, who was wearing his silver helmet, adorned with a feather.

Just as Li Ru had predicted, the coalition, or at least part of it, had decided to pursue the fleeing forces.

"Fools, they will all die!"

Schinder Huan watched the full moon, waiting for the last of the soldiers to enter the ravine. The ravine was only five soldiers wide.

"The soldiers of the coalition will have a tough time trying to put up a fight in it."

Schnider Huan's orders though were to simply lead a force through the path, in the ravine that the coalition soldiers entered through.

Turning his attention back to the ravine, he noticed that the last of the soldier's were just leaving the open plains.

Schnider Huan got up from his perch, and headed towards a valley, that had been just beyond the view of the advancing coalition forces.

In the valley were a total of ten thousand mounted cavalry, along with a thousand archers under the command of Dong Zhou's nephew, Guo Si. They had all been positioned there to cut off the line of retreat for the coalition forces after they had entered the ravine.

Schnider Huan grabbed his spear, and walked towards his horse, located at the head of the column of cavalry.

Huan mounted, and then gave the order for the army to advance out of the valley, and into the wastelands that the coalition had first crossed.

The entire column moved as one, towards their destination.

Guo Si though, headed a different direction. He went back to where Schnider Huan was spying on Cao Cao's force, sending his archers to cover the cliffs.

Looking down from the cliffs the archers would have a clear shot at the, soon to be, fleeing enemy.

Bows were drawn, and aimed near the bottom of the ravine. The archers though, held their fire, waiting for the right moment.

Huan continued to lead his cavalry to the opening of the ravine. In a matter of minutes, the ravine's opening was completely surrounded by horsemen.

With Xu Rong, and Li Ru waiting at the other end of the ravine, there was no possible way for Cao Cao to escape.

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Cao Cao, though, did not know of the coming ambush. He also did not know that their only exit had just been cut off by Schnider Huan, and he was unaware of the archers watching them from above, waiting to unleash their barrage.

As Cao Cao's forces began to exit the ravine, they became aware of two things: one, there was about five thousand spearmen charging at them, and two, there was only one safe place to run...back to the ravine!

Cao Cao had just exited the ravine when he noticed the predicament his forces were now in. As one doesn't think properly when under pressure, Cao Cao shouted out, "Everyone retreat back into the ravine!"

He turned his horse around, back towards the ravine, but he was surprised to see the thousand soldiers still in the ravine, being pelted by arrows and rocks alike. Cao Cao looked up at the source of the bombardment, to see a line of archers on the cliff, surrounding the ravine.

"Accursed heavens, do you wish me, Cao Cao, to die now?" Cao Cao turned his horse back, towards the incoming spearmen. There was no way to escape!

Cao Cao though suddenly saw a path to flee. Embedded within the cliffs, almost invisible to the naked eye, was a rock path leading out of the valley. It was unguarded, and most likely, it was not noticed by Dong Zhou's ambush parties.

Xiahou Dun, along with Xiahou Yuan, flanked Cao Cao as they retreated towards the hidden path. Ahead of the Xiahou's was Li Dian, and Yue Jin, behind Cao Cao was Cao Ren, and Cao Hong. These officers formed a formidable line of defense, protecting Cao Cao from the enemy spear men.

Soldier after soldier rushed Cao Cao's entourage, but to no avail, as the Xiahou's swords moved gracefully, slaying soldier, after soldier. As Xiahou Yuan was engaging a soldier that was armed with a ten foot spear, he was being led further away from Cao Cao.

The right flank was now open so the enemy did not hesitate to take advantage of it. Four spear men quickly rushed Cao Cao's horse, spearing the horse twice. The horse quickly fell to the ground, throwing Cao Cao from it.

Cao Ren, seeing this, quickly rushed to Cao Cao's aid, who was now surrounded by the four spearmen.

The spearmen aimed their spears at Cao Cao, and threw them all at once. Cao Ren though was on the move. Wielding his sword, he dived in front of Cao Cao, hacking in half, two of the spears, the spears falling harmlessly down to the ground. Cao Ren though, missed the other two spears. This was not good.

Cao Ren cried in agony, as the two spears embedded themselves into his left leg. It was almost comical to see two, ten foot sticks, flailing around, in front of Cao Ren. Too bad, for Cao Ren, the sticks hurt like hell.

Cao Hong quickly arrived, to assist Cao Ren. He downed two of the spearmen with a couple passes of his sword. The other two, who were unarmed, quickly ran off.

Cao Ren gritted his teeth as he removed the two embedded spears with both of his hands. Cao Cao couldn't believe what his uncle had just done for him, "Why did you just do that?"

Cao Ren pulled the spears free, "My lord, I would gladly give my life for you, so that someday you may bring the Cao's to glory."

Cao Cao was happy to have such loyalty among his officers, but there wasn't time for it. "We have to keep moving, the path is right before us."

Indeed the path was just a few yards away, where Li Dian and Yue Jin were forcing a way through the battle, for Cao Cao.

Cao Ren, unfortunately, could barely move his left leg, "My lord, go on without me."

Cao Cao wouldn't have it, "No, you are going. Cao Hong and I will carry you, if it comes to it!"

"No, I will only slow you down," Cao Ren brought himself up, using one of the broken spears as a crutch. "I will survive this battle, and help the soldiers here to retreat."

Cao Cao walked over to Cao Ren, placing his arm on his shoulder, "Cao Ren, you truly are the warrior they say you are."

With that Cao Cao, and Cao Hong ran towards the path that Li Dian and Yue Jin, had made for them. Xiahou Dun, had left to assist Xiahou Yuan, who was now in the thick of the battle.

The party, which only consisted of Li Dian, Yue Jin, Cao Hong, and Cao Cao, made their way up the path. At the top they saw a sight which quickly dampened their spirits. It became apparent why the enemy hadn't guarded the path.

A raging river flowed directly in front of them, blocking their path of escape.

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Schnider Huan charged out of the ravine, along with his cavalry.

Upon finding that Cao Cao was not going to retreat back through the ravine, he had led his cavalry through the ravine. The archers, of course, had stopped their bombardment to let the horsemen through. Every, single enemy, in the ravine, was either dead or seriously wounded.

Huan gave orders for his soldiers to spare none. His soldiers demounted along the way, killing any survivors. They had done this all the way towards the exit of the ravine.

When Huan exited the ravine, he noticed that a small force of coalition soldiers had made it through the spearmen, and were retreating around the ravine, towards the opposite cliffs.

Huan did not see Cao Cao among them, though he did notice a warrior leading them that was limping oddly.

Looking towards the cliffs that led to a river he saw a small band of warriors fighting their way up a path. As they reached the top of the path, Schnider Huan saw something that raised his spirits considerably. One of the warrior's wore a silver helmet with a feather sticking out of the top.

"Cao Cao."

Huan urged his horse on to where the band had fled up the path. Huan was followed by only five horsemen. The others went to pursue the force fleeing to the opposite cliffs.

Huan, and the horsemen, rode up the path. Reaching the top, Huan saw the river and the small band of warriors near the edge of it.

Huan shouted to his horsemen, "There is no escape for them," he raised his sword high, "Death to all who oppose us!"

"Yaaaaahhhh!" The other horsemen shouted, and charged towards the enemy warriors.

Schnider Huan waited a few moments before following them.

He couldn't help but think, how well he would be rewarded for this. Maybe he would finally have enough gold to buy his own kingdom.

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Cao Cao, and the others, turned at the sound of the yelling. A group of horsemen were riding towards them. One of them though, held back for a few seconds before following at a leisurely pace.

"We have no choice," said Yue Jin, who began to shed his armor and helmet. "We must swim across the river."

The others, except Cao Hong, quickly followed suit. Yue Jin, Li Dian, and Cao Cao, then waded into the water.

Cao Cao walked into the water, its' icy touch sending a convulsion throughout his body. He continued through the water until it reached his waist. Then he realized that Cao Hong wasn't following them. He turned to see him still standing near the banks, "Cao Hong, what in heaven's name are you doing?"

Cao Hong replied, "The enemy will be upon us before we get halfway across the river. I will stay and give you some well-needed time."

Cao Cao couldn't bare to lose a family member, "Don't be absurd. We can make it across in time." Cao Cao turned his gaze towards the advancing horsemen, to see a dozen archers appear on top of the path from the cliffs. He now knew that time was something he truly needed.

Cao Hong noticed Cao Cao hesitating in the waters, "My lord, the world can do without a Cao Hong, but without a Cao Cao, I shudder to think of it."

The touching words of Cao Hong motivated Cao Cao, as he headed into the deep part of the river, following Li Dian and Yue Jin who had both been swept downstream by the current. "Good-bye, my uncle," he shouted.

The river's current quickly took Cao Cao away from Cao Hong. Cao Cao gave one last look at Cao Hong, now just a tiny black speck in the night. He quickly lost sight of him though as he rounded a bend in the river.

It would be the last Cao Cao would ever see of his beloved uncle.

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Meanwhile, back on shore, Cao Hong turned to face the coming horsemen. He unsheathed his sword, "I have no regrets."

The lead horseman was almost upon him.

Cao Hong positioned himself into a standard martial form, taught to him by his mentor. He placed his feet shoulder width apart, with the right foot in front, facing the enemy. He then brought his sword up. Placing his left arm out in front, he now formed a right angle between sword and arm. He began to meditate. This is the famed style of Jian, the most commonly used.

The lead horsemen brought up his spear, throwing it at Hong, but Hong in his meditated trance, was ready. He leapt into the air, clearing the spear's projected path.

The soldier that had thrown the spear, watched as Hong did a forward flip in the air, avoiding the spear and propelling forward. As well as the soldier had been trained in the arts of riding, he was unable to stop his horse in time.

Hong reached with his right arm, blade first, towards the mounted soldier. The sharp blade penetrated through the soldier's sash, and he fell from his horse in a spray of blood.

Hong landed, smoothly onto the horse's saddle, now taking the horse as his own. The battle was, for the most part, now evenly matched with Cao Hong on a horse.

The four remaining horsemen formed a circle around Cao Hong. He had to turn constantly just to keep an eye on the four.

Hong shouted, so as to provoke them, "Who wishes to die first?"

He heard a yell, and the sound of hooves beating from behind. Without even turning his head, he brought up his sword, turning it so the blade faced behind him, and jabbed back. He instantly felt the blade work its way through flesh and bone.

Turning, he saw his victim, frozen in a state of death, with his spear still raised up in a striking pose. Cao Hong, wouldn't have been impressed---he had done this many times---, if it wouldn't have been for the spear's tip, just millimeters above his head.

The soldier's body fell from his horse, the horse running off in another direction.

Three soldiers remained, their morale dwindling, as they began to wonder if they could indeed defeat this warrior. They decided quickly, that if they had a chance of defeating Cao Hong, it would be with their numbers.

All three of the remaining horsemen, one which was merely a boy, rushed Cao Hong from all sides.

Hong was prepared for their every move. They approached Cao Hong with spears raised, and when they were within a few yards of Hong, they hurled their spears, all at once. One of the spears rotated like a wheel, it was thrown by the young boy, and it would eventually fall harmlessly to the ground before its intended target.

Cao Hong simply jumped off of his mount, to the ground. If he would have been still on the horse, the spears would've hit directly into his chest. Being that he wasn't on the horse, the spears went over the horse. Two of the spears ended up, in the chest of two horsemen, quickly killing them. The last spear fell harmlessly to the ground, right in front of Cao Hong.

This meant that only one horseman remained. It wasn't for long, for Cao Hong didn't leave the remaining soldier anytime to grasp what had happened.

Picking up the wrongly thrown spear, Cao Hong rushed the soldier's horse. The young soldier was unable to make his horse move as Hong approached him from the side. Bringing his spear up, Hong threw it and it connected, squarely into the poor boy's chest.

The young soldier instantly had the wind knocked out of him, and he fell from his horse, hitting the ground hard.

Hong walked away from the soldier, knowing that he was still alive. Hong hated the idea of letting young teens into battle, so he had thrown his spear at him, with the blunt end impacting his chest.

The boy was lucky to have faced him, for he showed mercy to a certain degree. For goodness sake, the boy hadn't even been taught how to properly throw a spear.

"Fire!" Hong heard the sound of bows being drawn.

"Not good," muttered Hong as he turned to find a dozen archers facing him.

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Schnider Huan stood behind the archers, watching Cao Hong. He could easily have the archers kill him, but he decided that he could use the entertainment.

With a simple hand signal from Huan, the archers lowered their bows away from Cao Hong.

Huan then unsheathed his sword, Flying Dragon, and began to walk towards Cao Hong, who had now brandished his sword, ready to take on Schnider Huan.

Huan knew that Cao Hong was no match for him, for he was weak. He had seen the act of mercy that he had given to the young soldier. Mercy will get you no where in battle. This rule was what Huan had grown up with, his father constantly imprinting it into his brain.

A few paces away from Cao Hong, Huan stopped, and waited for his opponent to make the first move.

Cao Hong, who didn't know that Schnider Huan was perhaps the greatest warrior in the land, charged him with a simple slash.

Huan read his every move as he brought up the hilt of his sword, bringing it crashing down onto Cao Hong's face. Blood sprayed, as Cao Hong's nose was broken instantly.

Leaving no time for Hong to recover from the blow, he brought his right foot up and kicked Hong in the stomach. It wouldn't have been so bad for Hong, except being for the spikes on Huan's armored boots. The kick sent Hong doubling over in pain, as blood began to gush out of the new punctures in his flesh.

Huan thought for sure that the fight, if you could call it one, was over, but he was amazed to find Hong pulling himself up to his feet and wielding his sword.

"You just don't know when to quit, now do you?"

Hong replied, "I will do what I must to save my lord. Even if it means giving my own life so that he may continue on in the battle for this land."

Huan laughed, "How valiant of you, but unfortunately there is no need for you in this time of chaos," he brought up his sword, "Time to die!"

He charged Hong, who could barely stay up on his feet.

Cao Hong brought up his sword, in a feeble attempt to ward of Schnider Huan's attack, but it was of no use. Huan's sword broke right through his, shattering it into hundreds of little shards. He managed to dodge past Huan's incoming blade, but he now found himself without a weapon.

Schnider Huan looked at him with no remorse---but to Hong's amazement---, Huan walked away from him, heading back towards the archers. He called out, "Why do you walk away? End it now so that I may rest in peace."

Huan simply replied, "I will not feel any achievement in killing you."

He was stunned, "You are going to let me live!"

Huan walked behind his archers, whispering to them to fit their bows with arrows. He turned to face Cao Hong again, "No, you will die."

At that the archers pulled back their bows, and released their arrows at Cao Hong.

Unable to do anything to prevent his fate, Cao Hong kneeled down and stared intently at Schnider Huan. It was the last thing he ever saw, as six out of the twelve arrows embedded themselves into his body.

Adding this to his other injuries from fighting Schnider Huan, Cao Hong was, without a doubt, dead.

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2:24 a.m.

Cao Cao grabbed Yue Jin's hand, and he was pulled onto the muddy banks.

"That is the last time I go swimming in rapids," Li Dian was wringing out the excess the water in his shirt.

Yue Jin smiled, "Yeah, I almost drowned, but thanks to that gut of mine, I was able to get some extra buoyancy."

Li Dian laughed, but Cao Cao just didn't have the heart for it. He couldn't help but to think of Cao Hong's sacrifice that he had made to save him, "I wonder if Cao Hong made it."

Li Dian stopped his hysterical laughter, and quickly looked down with a grimace. Cao Cao hadn't meant to say his thought aloud, but he knew that was what the others were thinking as well.

Yue Jin broke the silence, "We should get to higher ground," remembering Cao Ren and the Xiahou's he also added, "Cao Ren will most likely meet up with us soon, and we should be on the look out for him."

The party left the banks of the river, and headed towards the heavily wooded hills that were nearby.

Yue Jin and Li Dian proceeded into the woods, following a worn-down animal path. Cao Cao was about to enter the woods as well, but the cry of a horse stopped him in his tracks. Silence followed. He knew that he should catch up with the others, but his curiosity got the best of him, as he found himself wandering away from the protected woods.

After a few minutes of walking, he found himself on an old logging road. This was where he was sure the noise originated from.

"Should I call out? It might be a trap, or maybe it's Cao Ren and he's looking for us," Cao Cao said to himself. After awhile he decided to call out, "Hello!"

Silence followed, but then he could hear the sound of hoof beats. Cao Cao's hope got the best of him as he shouted out, "Cao Ren, it's me, Cao Cao!"

The hoof beats grew louder, and now he could see a lone horsemen coming right for him. He only now noticed that there were about a thousand, torch holding, soldiers following the rider, and they were all shouting, "Death to the coalition!"

Cao Cao now knew that the horseman wasn't Cao Ren, but he was Xu Rong, governor of He Nei and a general under Dong Zhou's forces.

Xu Rong was almost upon Cao Cao. He knew that he should flee, but he was frozen in place and couldn't get his legs to move. "My fate is sealed," said Cao Cao, but when Xu Rong was about to run him through, he was struck by a spear that came from behind Cao Cao.

Xu Rong fell from his horse, choking on his own blood as he took his last breath.

Cao Cao turned to see five dozen riders being led by two warriors, the Xiahou brothers.

"My lord, take cover behind us," cried out Xiahou Dun. "We will take care of the soldiers."

Cao Cao ran behind a tree as the horsemen flew by him. The enemy soldiers knew that they outnumbered the riders, and they continued their advance.

In a matter of seconds, a full-fledged battle broke out between the two groups. Xiahou Dun and Xiahou Yuan guided their horses back and forth through the enemy line, killing many as they passed by. Soon Xu Rong's troops were on the run, and the fight was over, with only a dozen dead riders for the Xiahou's and over three hundred dead for Xu Rong's army.

Cao Cao came out from his hiding place seeing that the danger was over. Quickly he asked to the Xiahou's, "Is Cao Ren with you?"

"No, we were separated near the cliffs when Li Ru ambushed us," replied Xiahou Yuan. "We lost many soldiers, but we managed to break through."

"Where are the others with you," asked Xiahou Dun.

"Yue Jin and Li Dian are in the woods somewhere. I left them because I heard a horse and I thought it was Cao Ren," said Cao Cao.

"Well, you found us at least," Xiahou Yuan tried to make Cao Cao feel better about him leaving Yue Jin and Li Dian.

"Yes...but what about Cao Hong," Xiahou Dun scratched his chin.

"He left us when we were about to cross the river," tears were coming to Cao Cao's eyes. "He stayed to hold off the enemy and in doing so, saved our lives."

Xiahou Dun and Xiahou Yuan bowed their heads, realizing what most likely Cao Hong's fate was. "We should go and look for the others," Xiahou Dun called for a fellow horseman to get a horse for Cao Cao.

After searching for awhile the soldier found a horse that had lost its' previous master to the fight that had taken place moments before. He brought it back and led it by the reigns, to Cao Cao, who mounted it.

The party rode down the rode, but after taking only a few steps, they saw torches coming their way.

"Dong Zhou's army is coming," a soldier cried out in fear.

"Calm yourselves! Prepare for battle," Xiahou Dun organized the remaining riders.

"I wouldn't bother if I were you." Cao Cao turned to see a lone rider emerge from the surrounding trees. Only when the rider was a few feet in front of him, was he able to see who it actually was. "Cao Ren!"

"Cao Cao, I'm glad to see you, but Xiahou Dun doesn't seem too happy to see me," said Cao Ren jokingly, as Xiahou Dun had a spear raised towards him. He quickly put down the spear though when he realized that it was indeed Cao Ren.

"Those men are yours?" Xiahou Yuan rode up to Cao Ren, pointing towards the advancing torches.

"Yes, I managed to gather about five hundred soldiers," replied Cao Ren. Turning to Cao Cao he said, "I also found Yue Jin and Li Dian, and they have told me that you ran off without telling them?"

Cao Cao responded, "I thought I heard you, but it turned out to be Xu Rong. Luckily though the Xiahou's showed up to save me."

Cao Ren smiled, "Let's hope that we don't make the same mistake again, for they might not be there to rescue you next time."

Cao Cao bowed his head in shame, as he became aware of what could have happened, "I'm sorry for what I happened. For leading our force to an ambush, disobeying the others in the coalition, and for what I've put you all through. As a leader, I shouldn't have made these mistakes."

"Everyone makes mistakes my liege," said Cao Ren, "No one is perfect."

"Still, needless to say, I can't bear to return to the coalition with my army in shatters."

Xiahou Yuan piped up, "Blame this on those stupid Yuan's. They should have led the coalition to help us."

"No...we can't put blames on others because I did not heed their advice." Cao Cao began to think, and after a minute he said, "We will return to Chen Liu and rebuild our forces there. I have no choice but to leave the coalition, I will do them no good if I stay."

"We will not argue with our lord," said Cao Ren, speaking for the others.

Yue Jin and Li Dian appeared with the soldiers that Cao Ren had gathered. Cao Cao turned, speaking to everyone, "We are heading to Chen Liu, and we are...going home."

Even with their overwhelming losses, the soldiers let out a cheer for they were happy to go back home to their loved ones.

"First we must return to the capital, and inform Yuan Shao of our withdrawal from the coalition."

----------------------------------------

"Make sure all of those blocks are removed from the sacred grounds before we go into the temple itself!" Sun Jian pointed towards a group of soldiers who were busy tying ropes around huge rocks that were strewn all over the ground.

Upon entering the capital, Sun Jian had put out as many fires as possible, and had set his soldiers to work on restoring the sacred sites among Lou Yang. After hours of working on temples and shrines, he and his soldiers found themselves at the Hall of Paragons, which was a mess. Dong Zhou's forces had done a great job of destroying the fountains and walls, as well as the pillars that had once held up the hall itself.

Sun Jian shook his head, "How could that fat tyrant do this? He has no respect for the gods."

"Sir!"

He turned to see a soldier reporting in on the progress. Sun Jian asked, "How is the renovation work going?"

The soldier said grimly, "We are unable to restore the pillars to their former state, but the walls and fountains are almost repaired."

"Good work, sad news about the pillars though. Anything else?"

"Well," the soldier said hesitantly, "A man under my command found something that you may be interested in. Follow me, please."

Sun Jian followed the soldier to a well located near the entrance to the Hall of Paragons. A group of soldiers were milling around it, looking down into the well. They parted way, as Sun Jian approached it.

Looking down, Sun Jian saw an ordinary well, with a rope holding a bucket that was used to bring up water to the person that operated a nearby winch. Upon closer inspection though, he found that the walls were glistening with a rainbow-like light being reflected off of the water. Something was indeed down there.

Sun Jian turned towards the soldiers nearest him and said, "Go down there, and find out what is making that light."

The soldiers obeyed quickly, and after finding some ropes and a torch, they lowered themselves into the well which was about twelve feet deep.

Sun Jian waited patiently, and soon he heard a soldier shout out, "Lower a rope down for us, there is a dead woman down here!"

Two more soldiers, next to Sun Jian, tossed a rope down the well. After a few moments, the rope went taut, and the soldiers began to haul up the rope that was now tied around the dead women's body.

Other soldiers arrived to help pull up the soldiers in the well, but Sun Jian didn't notice as the dead women's body appeared over the opening of the well. Right away he noticed the imperial clothing she wore, and he also noticed a small pouch she wore around her neck.

Her body was lowered onto the ground, and immediately Sun Jian went for the pouch. Opening it up, he found the most spectacular sight. A small vermilion box, and inside the box was a small jade seal that was three or four inches around. The top was made of five intertwined dragons, and gold plating filled a chip in a corner.

Sun Jian read the inscription aloud, "By Heaven's mandate, long life and everlasting prosperity."

Soldiers around Sun Jian began to murmur among themselves.

Sun Jian couldn't believe what he held in his hands. It had caused the downfall and rise of many emperors and regional lords. Many have died fighting for the right to have it.

Sun Jian had found the imperial seal.