NOVPUBThe remnants of Dong Zhuo’s forces and Ma Teng of Xiliang’s battle did not have much impact, at most they felt a slight envy for the two newly-born practitioners of Inner Qi Manifestation, as for the strength displayed by Zhang Xiu, it was already enough to draw the attention of all the Feudal Lords across the land.
Cao Cao led his great army directly from Yuzhou and passed through Lub Kingdom, and after passing through Faan County with strategically forward-thinking, he ordered Le Jin to lead three thousand soldiers to garrison Faan County, guard the city, and avoid the possibility of Liu Bei or Yuan Shu sending troops to cut off his return path.
When Cao Cao passed by the broken temple on the border between Pengcheng State and Lub Kingdom, where Cao Song had died, he couldn’t help but wear a sorrowful expression and burst into loud weeping. Hence, he prepared the three offerings and six livestocks, leading Cao Ren, Cao Hong, Cao Chun, and Cao Xiu—members of his clan—to personally worship Cao Song and Cao De in front of the earthen slope, followed by the entire army dressing in mourning clothes.
Seeing the mutilated corpses in front of the small temple, Cao Cao realized that Xiahou Yuan and Xiahou Dun had already performed a worship ceremony when they passed by—an alive worship, cruel yet devout. Staring at the dozen or so corpses, Cao Cao felt a tinge of pity, but the thought of his father’s death instantly erased that mercy. His eyes bloodshot, he stared in the direction of Xuzhou—he was going to kill, he was going to bloodbath Xuzhou!
After Cao Cao had finished worshiping his father, the envoy from Xuzhou had already arrived outside Cao Cao’s camp, requesting an audience.
"An envoy from Xuzhou? Just kill him directly," said Cao Cao, his murderous intent unmasked as he directly issued the Annihilating Kill Order. His enmity with Xuzhou could not be washed away, even with the waters of the Three Rivers and Five Lakes.
"Pass down my military order, bloodbath Xuzhou. Tao Qian claims to be benevolent and righteous, doesn’t he? Let him confess his sins in the Underworld Office," Cao Cao said with a cold laugh as he looked upon the severed head of the envoy from Xuzhou.
"Lord!" Xun Youi was completely dumbstruck, even forgetting to maintain his usually impassive state, and stood up directly.
"Gong Da, what do you want to say?" Cao Cao’s cold gaze fixed on Xun Youi as he asked.
In that moment of icy chill, Xun Youi’s entire back was soaked with cold sweat, "Lord, I am not feeling well and cannot accompany you."
At that moment, Xun Youi suddenly had the thought that following Cao Cao might have been a mistake.
"Wen Lie, take Gong Da to rest in the rear camp, and ensure Gong Da’s safety," Cao Cao ordered Cao Xiu, a member of his family lineage.
Xun Youi sighed silently, bowed in silence to Cao Cao, then followed Cao Xiu to the rear camp, walking step by step, ever further from Cao Cao.
"Lord, Gong Da is just momentarily unable to see the bigger picture," Cheng Yu rose to his feet and spoke out.
"I know," Cao Cao said, his anger surging, but he was very clear about the importance of Xun Yu and Xun Youi to him.
From then on, Cao Cao’s army, as if all the shackles of humanity were undone, began to show its most despicable side on the lands of Xuzhou. Killing, burning, looting, desecrating graves, damaging ancestral temples, and destroying shrines, they massacred city by city. In just over ten days, hundreds of thousands of people in northern Xuzhou were slaughtered, even staining the earth with blood, and clogging rivers and streams.
Upon receiving the news of Cao Cao’s bloodbath in Xuzhou, Tao Qian spewed out blood in one gulp, aging more than a decade instantly as tears streamed down his face uncontrollably. "Why, why, Cao Cao, why do you do this! I would give you Xuzhou! Cao Cao, I will not let you go even as a ghost!" he wailed.
"Summon the officials of Xuzhou to come quickly," Tao Qian wiped the fresh blood from the corner of his mouth, discarded his handkerchief in silence, and with such a nature from Cao Cao, he would not hand Xuzhou over to him.
Soon, the officials of Xuzhou all arrived, each with a gloomy countenance, for they too had received the news about Cao Cao.
"Cao Bao, where are you!" Tao Qian did not attempt to hide the fact that he had coughed up blood. Everyone saw the pool of blood on the ground and the bloodstains at the corner of his mouth that were not wiped clean. The officials of Xuzhou could not help but submit to Tao Qian’s mad yet icy gaze.
"Here I am!" Cao Bao stood up, shocked, and spoke. The aura of vehement determination from Tao Qian at that moment made him feel as if the once feeble and idle man waiting for death had vanished, replaced by the re-emergence of the Tao Gongzu who had waged campaigns in Xiliang. Cao Bao silently put away his own little schemes and cautiously replied.
"Take 30,000 elites from Danyang and wipe out Cao Cao for me!" Tao Qian’s eyes were bloodshot as he spoke. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to go to the battlefield, but after coughing up that mouthful of blood, he had entered a state akin to a flickering flame in the wind. Although he appeared to be in good condition, Tao Qian was clear that his current state was no different from a last flicker of light before death. 𝔫𝔬𝖛𝖕𝔲𝖇.𝖈𝖔𝖒
"Acknowledged!" A trace of surprise slipped through Cao Bao’s eyes, then vanished as quickly as it appeared. He silently received the command talisman handed to him by Tao Qian. With this object, all previous calculations, even if unfeasible, would now succeed.
"Yuanlong, Bode, guard the city well and do not give Cao Mengde any opportunity to exploit!" Tao Qian said angrily.
"Acknowledged!" Chen Deng and Zhao Yu said, bowing their heads.
[Sigh, if Lord Tao were twenty years younger, he would indeed be formidable. It’s such a pity.] Chen Deng exhaled deeply.
In Xuzhou Langya, Zhuge Jin cleaved apart the table in front of Zhuge Xuan with his sword, "Majestic and grand is Cao Mengde! Cao Cao, you’ve slaughtered my hometown, I, Zhuge Jin, hereby swear eternal enmity against you! This oath shall hold till death!"
"Ziyu, what are you doing!" Zhuge Xuan watched, panicked, as the obedient and compliant Zhuge Jin slashed his recommendation letter to Cao Cao with a sword, then grabbed the weapon and headed outside. If Zhuge Jin decided not to approach Cao Cao and instead joined Liu Bei, then his Zhuge Family’s entire bet would crumble, a total loss!
"Xi Zhicai, I was wrong about you!" With bloodshot eyes, Zhuge Jin said. Cao Cao’s army that annihilated cities had arrived at Xuzhou Langya, and it was unknown how many civilians had already perished at the hands of Cao Cao.
Returning to his room, Zhuge Jin picked up his brush and wrote furiously on paper, venting all the rage in his chest onto the page.
"Deliver this letter to Cao Cao for me," Zhuge Jin told a Death Soldier of his family. This was the first time he had been so angry since he was a child.
In Chenliu, Chen Gong sliced the incense burner granted by Cao Cao into two halves, his eyes bloodshot as he looked towards Xuzhou, "Cao Mengde, very well, very well, I curse my initial blindness for misjudging you. Had I known this day would come, I would have never allowed you to take control of Yanzhou. You slaughter the unarmed civilians of the Great Han, and I shall leave you without a home!"
With his sword thrust into a roof beam, Chen Gong returned to his study to write a letter to Lyu Bu. He was determined to welcome Lyu Bu to rule over Yanzhou, make Cao Cao lose his home, and force Cao Cao to repent for the civilians of Xuzhou.
Cai Yan looked at the intelligence report Li Youu had handed her, as tears dropped. Only at this moment did she realize that Cao Mengde, who used to be proficient in literature, matchlessly knowledgeable, and full of ambition, had changed, becoming so unfamiliar.
"Uncle, could you deliver a letter to Cao Cao for me?" Wiping the tears from her eyes, Cai Yan asked Li Youu with sorrow in her gaze.
"Of course." Li Youu sighed, thinking Cao Mengde’s actions had gone beyond even those of Dong Zhuo.
"Thank you, uncle." Cai Yan gave Li Youu a bow, turned to pick up paper and pen, and quietly began to write. The transition from admiration to hatred for a rational woman takes but an instant, and Cai Yan was just such a rational woman, and furthermore, one who had truly witnessed the suffering of those at the bottom. (To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to vote for it at qidian.com, and your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read at m.qidian.com.)
