Vol 8 Chapter 100 (2/2)

“Chen Dao, Xuan De will be fine. That man won’t die so easily and must still be alive.” I said to Chen Dao and rubbed her face to comfort her and wiped away the tears.

Those words were not just for her. They were for myself as well. I know that it is unlikely for Xuan De to come out of this alive but someone here has to be adamant about this.

“Lord Zhao Yun, saving our lord is important, but by this time, I’m afraid…” Just then, Wen Ping spoke and saluted me. Her hair was still sticking to her face all over but she didn’t seem to care.

Un… I raised my head and looked up at the sky. It was now dark enough that nothing could be seen. Wen Ping and I have been searching for a long while now and have basically searched this entire section of the river.

Since there was nothing, this meant that Xuan De was washed away downstream. Without a large number of troops to form search parties with, it will be impossible to search further down the river. And our troops have already gone to Xinye and there is no hope of them returning without knowing what happened.

“Alright, I got it.” I was very unwilling but I still nodded at Wen Ping and said, “No matter what, I’m grateful to you and Lord Liu Qi for notifying us.”

“No…” After I thanked her, Wen Ping only spat out one word. Perhaps from her perspective, the outcome has not changed at all. But from mine, it’s still uncertain.

“I’ll be troubling you to help notify Lord Liu Qi for me that I’ll be heading to Xinye with Chen Dao first. I’ll be counting on Lord Liu Qi for the search efforts for the next few days.”

At this, Wne Ping nodded very quickly, “The young mistress is currently discussing this with my lord. At first light tomorrow, we will be sending troops to search the area. When the time comes, we will notify you all as soon as we get any news.”

“Many thanks for that.”

“Many thanks, Lord Wen Ping.”

Chen Dao and I bowed to Wen Ping. I looked at the river one more time. Even though it was late at night, the currents were still unusually strong. In my mind, the scene of Xuan De struggling in the waters played over and over.

Just like the scene of Bo Gui being burnt.

The sorrow, and helplessness, pierced my heart over and over.

…

… Ah, alright.

“Chen Dao, let’s go.” I suppressed the urge to cry and did my best to speak to Chen Dao in as normal a tone as I could muster.

Chen Dao was holding the torch with one hand and rubbing her eyes with the other. Under the light of the torch, I could see that her eyes were already puffy.

If I were to cry, Chen Dao would probably be wailing.

Someone has to stay strong. And I haven’t given up yet.

After parting ways with Wen Ping, Chen Dao and I went to the nearby shrubbery where our horses were. Following this small road, we could reach where the encampment previously was and quickly make our way to Xinye.

It was just several dozen paces to our horses. But for both me and Chen Dao, this distance was very difficult to cover. Every 2 steps, Chen Dao would turn back and look at the river, sniffling as she did so.

“Let’s go. There’s no use looking now. We’ll be back here to search again soon.” I did my best to berate her with an irritated tone. But I too found myself turning back to look at the river. Sometimes I would even look at the cliff and wonder if there was any small cave where Xuan De might be hiding in.

But in the end, we got to our horses.

“We’ll be riding straight for Xinye and telling everyone about this.”

“… How do we tell them…” Chen Dao said with a difficult expression. Indeed, this time, it won’t be like the last time when everyone was pranked.

What awaits us is round after round of interrogations. And there was the possibility of Lord Lu Bu going into a frenzy like the last time. But the truth is the truth. And they have the tight to know.

“We shall say it as it is. Xuan De fell into the river and his fate is unknown.” I said, every word slicing my heart to bits, “I am responsible for this and if everyone decides to blame me for it, I have no intention of refuting.”

“Lord Zhao Yun…”

“Don’t say anything,” I hurriedly interrupted her when Chen Dao called out to me. I know she wants to comfort me but I don’t want to s.h.i.+rk my responsibilities.

When I turned back to look at Xiangyang city, I saw that the lights which dotted the city earlier had mostly disappeared. Most people have probably gone to sleep. Apart from Liu Qi, Liu Biao and some other key personnel, most people don’t about the tragedy that happened.

I had the impulse to charge in and kill Cai Mao and everyone a.s.sociated with her but all I can do now is to suppress my rage.

Xuan De doesn’t wish for us to fight with Liu Biao who is a fellow royal. Moreover, if I were to charge in alone, I would probably end up dying, which isn’t a bad thing but if the rest know, they might kick up a fuss. We have numerical superiority now, with more than 30,000 troops in our ranks, but Xiangyang’s garrison numbers over 10,000. It will only end up being a pyyrhic victory at best. Before we find Xuan De, our organisation would collapse.

… Ah, our future is looking dim huh?

No, we still have a future.

Jia! I yelled out and the horse galloped away.

Xuan De, no matter where you are, dead or alive, I, Zhao Yun Zhao Zi Long will find you.

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