"Dying is easy; it takes work to live."- (unknown)
"Those who do not change are doomed to be forgotten in time." – (Nobunaga Oda)
A dozen armed guards quickly filed past Benji and into the building ahead. Their armor glinted off of the morning sun. Benji didn't notice as he looked on at the immense building before him, "Only the gods could have designed such a perfect temple."
The building was fashioned out of well polished marble, and a huge statue of a white horse was facing westward; at the front of the temple itself. The horse statue stood to show the direction towards the Han's birthplace; near the lands of Chang An. To Su Benji, it stood to show where China's most formidable cavalry force was located at; the very army that Ma Teng was leading in Xi Liang.
Su Benji continued on, and entered through an arched gateway, stopping to ask directions to a guard standing nearby, "Excuse, but would you tell me where Yuan Shao's command post is stationed at?"
The soldier gave Benji a wary look when he glanced at his face, but eventually he replied, "Take a left down the main hall, and it's past the slave's corridors. Trust me you can't miss it; just follow the bodies."
"Thank you," Su Benji walked past the guard, and continued down the main hall; confused about the soldier's last statement. He shrugged it off, and his attention was quickly drawn to the walls lining the main hall.
Benji saw that the walls were covered with depressions, and what looked like, scratches. Upon closer inspection, he realized though, that they were engravings that depicted battles, and important times of the Han Empire.
"Maybe, someday, my battles will be on these walls as well," Benji continued on until he reached an intersection. He went left; just like the guard had said to, and quickly he noticed that the walls were stained with blood. There were also three bodies that had been lined up along the right wall.
"Odd…I had not been told of any resistance when the coalition took the capital." Benji bent down to inspect the bodies. He found out three things: First of all, they had died of spear wounds, in other words it had been a close combat battle; second, two of the soldiers were wearing the same armor that Yuan Shao's guard usually wore, with a golden chest plate and a purple cloak; third, the last of the three dead soldiers was wearing the armor of Sun Jian's personal guard.
Benji walked further down the corridor; more dead soldiers, a lot more. The armor never changed; it was always one of Sun Jian's soldiers or that of Yuan Shao's guard.
He began to realize that Dong Zhou's troops hadn't been part of the fighting. Suddenly, a terrible thought came to him. What if the coalition has fallen apart? No, Sun Tzu had guaranteed him that the regional lords would last until Chang An had fallen.
Remembering the story of the imperial seal that had been told to him by his father, his thoughts shifted to a different idea as to what may have caused the sudden rift in the coalition.
"Unless something had been discovered among the ruins of Lou Yang that may have caused this," he muttered to himself.
Rounding a corner; Benji heard the sounds of swords clashing with one another. Faint cries of agony could be heard among the noise.
Benji drew his sword, "I guess that the fighting isn't quite over just yet."
He did not see any signs of combat in the hall that he was currently in, but the sounds of battle were drawing closer with each step he took.
Nearing the end of the corridor; Benji noticed that there was a three-way intersection: a path leading to the right, where the sounds of fighting were coming from, and a narrow hall leading to the left.
Benji halted, "Which path should I take?"
The sound of a soldier sobbing could be heard.
Benji scratched his chin, "The path on the right will be a lot more fun than the hall on the left."
He raised his sword, and prepared to charge around the corner.
The door to the left of Benji burst open, and out ran six of Yuan Shao's guard. The soldiers instantly recognized "The God of War", and hurriedly ran by him; rounding the corner to join the battle that was waging on the other side.
One of the soldiers, a sergeant, stopped upon seeing Benji, "My lord I am happy to see you."
Benji sheathed his sword, "What is going on here?"
"It is terrible; Sun Jian's men have revolted against the coalition."
"They have attacked other camps as well," questioned Benji.
"Well…no, I guess this is the only camp that they have raided so far," replied the sergeant.
Benji heaved a sigh of relieve, "So then the coalition has not yet dissolved."
"Tch, of course it hasn't." Benji turned to see a person clad in yellow, and wearing a helmet with a purple feather sticking out of the left side, standing near the door in which the soldiers had left from.
Benji bowed respectively, "You called upon me, supreme commander?"
Yuan Shao laughed, "To think that one with such a reputation would show such respect for me."
"I respect my superiors with an unyielding discipline," Benji said; still bowing.
"Yes, anyways, I did call upon you, and if you would be so kind as to follow me, I will tell you what I seek of you," Yuan Shao turned to enter back through the door, but he realized that Benji was still bowing, "You may rise."
Benji rose and entered into the room; Yuan Shao was at least gracious enough to hold the door open for Benji.
Looking at his surroundings, Benji noticed that Yuan Shao's command post was merely a tenant's quarters. The room was barely twenty paces long and no more than twelve paces wide. A small cot was in the right corner of the room, and there was a small desk with a chair. On the desk were two different maps; one of the Si Li area, and another who's land pattern reminded Benji of Jing, his homeland.
He couldn't help but question, "How did you, and your men fit in here?"
Yuan Shao sat himself onto the chair, "Tch, believe me, it wasn't very comfortable. I was quite happy when the chance a rose to send them out of here." At that Yuan Shao let out a chuckle.
Benji found it a little unnerving that the leader of the coalition would laugh at his very own soldiers, who were probably fighting with their very lives for him. He changed the subject though, before Yuan Shao noticed, "What is it that you wish me to do for you?"
"Ah, yes," Yuan Shao said, "As you now know, Sun Jian has turned against the coalition, and—."
"But why would he turn against a just cause," Benji interrupted Yuan Shao.
"I was just getting to that when you interrupted me," Yuan Shao replied.
Benji apologized, "I'm sorry, it's just that I'm so anxious to help your Excellency." Benji was quite good at being a suck-up.
Yuan Shao smiled, "You're forgiven. I know how reckless youths can be," Yuan Shao continued, "Anyways, where was I…oh, yes. Sun Jian has turned against the coalition and I know why he has done such a thing. One of my soldiers last night saw Sun Jian uncover an object from a well near the Hall of Paragons. Immediately I began to suspect that he had uncovered the imperial seal so I decided to summon him to headquarters to find out if that was the case. A messenger from Sun Jian's camp arrived shortly after, and told me that Sun Jian was unable to appear because he was sick."
"But you know that he wasn't because your soldier had just seen him working in the palace grounds," Su Benji said.
"Precisely," Yuan Shao said, "but when I was about to question the messenger's reply, he ran off, and then about a hundred or so of Sun Jian's troops stormed HQ. My men were completely caught off guard, but luckily it was a small force that was attacking. Last I heard, only about a dozen or so remain of them…"
A soldier entered the room, his armor was splattered with blood and his left arm had a deep gash in it, but he showed no signs of it even being there as he said, "Sir, we have just dealt with the last of Sun Jian's raid party, and we are awaiting further orders."
Yuan Shao smiled, "Excellent, have the men rest for now."
"Sir," the soldier replied, and left the room.
"Well, I was going to have you demolish what was left of the raiding party, but with the party now destroyed I can set you out on what is to be your main task," Yuan Shao pointed to the map that Su Benji had thought was of Jing. "Sun Jian's raid was a diversion, and a good one at that, for now he has a good half a day lead. Sun Jian had been appointed a governmental position at Chang Sha, and that is most likely where he is fleeing to, with the imperial seal in hand."
Yuan Shao moved his finger from Chang Sha to Xia Kou, a small river port currently under the domain of Liu Biao, "Right now Sun Jian has most likely just entered the Jing territory, and he will follow the river down to Chang Sha. I have ordered Liu Biao to set up an ambush at Xia Kou, in doing so this will prevent Sun Jian from reaching his destination."
"Yes, but what is it that you want me to do," Benji was becoming frustrated.
Sensing this, Yuan Shao replied, "Due to your knowledge of the terrain of Jing, I want you to hunt down Sun Jian and kill him. He has committed a terrible crime by stealing the imperial mandate, and he must be severely punished. Be wary of Sun Jian's strength, for he isn't called the Tiger of Jiang Dong for nothing."
"When should I leave," asked Benji, excitedly.
"As soon as you can mobilize your army," said Yuan Shao.
"I'll have the troops ready to depart in under an hour."
"Good, and when you accomplish your goal I want you to march your army to Chang An where the coalition will—."
There was a knock on the door.
"Enter," said Yuan Shao.
The door opened, and Su Benji instantly recognized Cao Cao, rising from his seat and graciously giving it to Cao Cao. Cao Cao simply declined, but thanked him for the kindness, "There is no need for me to sit, for this will be a short discussion."
Yuan Shao asked, "How did your army fare last night?"
"It was a massacre, Dong Zhou and that dog, Schnider Huan, set an ambush near Tong Pass…," Su Benji grew mad at hearing just the mere mention of the warrior that had slain his brother, Su Ru; his attention though, quickly returned to Cao Cao, "My men were completely caught off guard, for they had strategically positioned archers above the ravine; killing thousands of my men."
Cao Cao began to pace uneasily, "I, and a few of my brave warriors, managed to make it to the river, but we were chased down by more of Huan's troops. With no other option available, we swam across the river." His voice became somber, "Unfortunately, my uncle Cao Hong stayed to hold them off. I don't believe he made it alive."
Yuan Shao didn't seem to care, "So you suffered a loss, big deal. Many generals have faced defeat before, but they were able to replenish their forces and return to the battlefield in no time."
"I have barely five hundred troops left," replied Cao Cao.
Yuan Shao's eyes grew big, "But you had ten thousand soldiers under your command, and…"
Cao Cao didn't let him finish, "I'm returning to Chen Liu, my force is no longer apart of this coalition."
Yuan Shao was furious, "What! How dare you leave us when we are so close to our objective?"
"My army is in shatters, the men's morale is at its lowest, and my beloved uncle is most likely dead. This coalition will never be able to take Chang An at its present state. We should be proud of driving off Dong Zhou's forces from the imperial capital, for even I hadn't dreamed that the coalition would've lasted this long," returned Cao Cao.
"We can take Chang An, if only you'd stay and fight with us!"
Cao Cao headed for the door, ignoring Yuan Shao's pleas. He stopped, and said, "The empire, long divided, must unite, long united, must divide. Thus it has ever been."
Yuan Shao asked, "What is that suppose to mean?"
"It is from a song that the children have been signing since Dong Zhou usurped the Han throne. As for the meaning…I'm returning to Chen Liu, you should no the meaning," and with that Cao Cao left the room.
Su Benji instantly understood what Cao Cao was trying to say, that he was leaving to build his own force, his own rule, but Yuan Shao was still pondering over it, "What does a stupid children's song have to do with any of this?"
It was all Su Benji could do just to not say how stupid he was, so instead he said, "When I have killed Sun Jian, should I bring my army back to Chang An?"
Yuan Shao went into a fit, tossing the maps, and knocking over the chair. Eventually he calmed down enough to reply, "What do I care, the coalition is finished."
Benji stood, waiting hopefully for a change of heart in the coalition's efforts, but after five minutes of Yuan Shao moping, he left.
As he closed the door, Benji wondered, "Should I too leave to form my own rule?"
He continued back through the hallways that he had passed through before; this time there weren't any bodies, the soldiers had removed them after defeating Sun Jian's troops.
Some of the soldiers, though, were scrubbing away at the blood that had stained the floor. They simply used a piece of cloth dipped in water; resources were low at the moment. Their efforts were mostly in vain.
Benji reached the main entrance where he quickly recognized the guard that he had asked directions from previously. The guard looked like he was in a damp mood so he said, "Cheer up soldier! I have a feeling that you will be returning home in due time."
The guard's expression did not change, and Benji continued onward.
Looking up at the mid-afternoon sun, Benji remembered Yuan Shao's orders that had been given to him by the imperial court, "I want you to hunt down Sun Jian and kill him. He has committed a terrible crime by stealing the imperial mandate, and he must be severely punished."
Benji passed by the white horse statue, but at the last moment he decided to stop. He walked to the front of the statue, and there he knelt and prayed to the gods, "May the gods grant me favor on this quest upon which I am about to embark, may they grant me the power to quell the chaos that has plagued this land, and may they grant me a good day of tiger hunting."