Vol 9 Chapter 192 (2/2)
…
Hmph, I suppose she’s right. I looked at Cao Ren’s smile and her outstretched hand and felt that she must know exactly what I was thinking and decided to accede to her request as I reached out and mounted behind her.
“Many thanks, Lord Cao Ren.”
“There’s no need to thank me. Now that the battle has ended like this, you should be cursing me.”
“How could I? Lord Cao Ren shouldn’t be saying such things.” I frowned, “Winning and losing is part of life and this loss is not Lord Cao Ren’s sole fault to begin with. I too am…”
“Alright, alright~” Cao Ren smiled as she cut me off again, “Who is responsible is not important anymore. We have too much blood on our hands after this battle after all.”
As I looked at Cao Ren’s back, I found that Cao Ren was a lot more reliable than I thought she was. She had indeed filled the shoes of a commanding officer. At the very least, she never gave up no matter what and it was not a total loss. No matter what happened, she did not crumble. That is something I would not have been able to do. This is perhaps Cao Ren’s strength and why she is the commanding officer.
“Hai, we’ll have to start thinking about how we are going to report this.” Cao Ren spoke up as she took out a blank bamboo scroll from her bag and began writing, “It’ll take a few days before we get to Xuchang and it’ll be best if we’re done before that. It’s going to be a real torture to write down every detail though.”
Cao Ren smiled bitterly as she said so, her beautiful silver hair fluttering behind her in the breeze. There really was a lot to think about, with that Xu Shu and the man with the Nanman hat as well as Zhang Fei. The newcomers in their faction were very surprising and the people we knew have changed.
And just as we came as 2, we left as 2. This was something that made me feel sad. It really hurts to lose and I could feel tears streaming down my face as I rode on. I was grateful that I was sitting behind Cao Ren so she could not see this. There is little doubt however, that she feels the same way while thinking about the same things as I am.
But really, what would it be like if I had met Liu Bei first before my lord now?
…
Who knows? And why is a warrior like me thinking about such things anyway?
“Hu~” I gave a long sigh and gave up all these useless thoughts as I closed my eyes and leaned back even though I knew I could not sleep.
The Battle of Xinye and Fan city has ended with a severe defeat on our side.
It really has ended.
Unknown POV
I like to look at the night sky. Not because the sky is beautiful. In fact, I do not really care about what the sky is like. The reason why I like to look at the sky is because it tells me a great many things.
“How’s today’s weather~ Haa~” I yawned while lying on the bed and yelled to my little sister.
“The weather? Ah… It’s alright.”
“Are the stars out?”
“They are… Why? Is big sister going to look at the stars tonight?”
“Yes.” I said as I got up from bed and picked up my fan as I left the room.
Wu, the moon is so bright. Sometimes I like to blow out the lights and open the doors and let in the bright moonlight on full moon nights. If it were not for the cold, it would have felt like daytime.
I covered the moon with my fan as my eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness and looked at the skies, or more specifically, at the stars.
Un… The twinkling of the stars might seem like a very ordinary thing but they held information about both the past and the future.
Un… I see, Li Dian and Cao Ren lost badly huh? Though there was a hiccup in the middle that was rather worrying, the ending was good and I am relieved.
Relieved, my a.s.s. This outcome is only barely pa.s.sable but given the current circ.u.mstances, I should be content with this. At the very least, it’s better than what has happened before.
But really… Liu Bei, why are you so ignorant even now? I stared at the skies and felt melancholic.
Soon, it will be my turn huh?
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