Volume 1, Chapter 503 – Death Anniversary

After Cao Cao left, Shi Lan had intended to depart directly, but Dong Zhuo’s army blocked her way.

“May I ask what official post the general currently holds?”

Dong Zhuo rubbed his palms together. On his somewhat rough-featured face was a faintly strange smile.

“I hold no official rank. The battle situation changes by the instant and opportunities vanish in the blink of an eye. I ask the Administrator to clear the road.”

Shi Lan’s brow furrowed slightly. The impatience in her heart was surging upward. Her temper had never been particularly good to begin with, though in recent days she had cultivated her mind and nature and calmed somewhat.

The killing aura of the battlefield was stimulating her nerves at every moment. The baleful qi she had accumulated on battlefields in years past had almost been worn away, but now it was showing signs of reviving.

“To win merit on the battlefield is nothing more than a path to rank and title. With looks such as yours, miss, why go to such trouble?”

Unbothered by the increasingly impatient look on Shi Lan’s face, Dong Zhuo waved a hand and smiled.

“My army happens to be lacking a Commandant. Why not follow me? I can grant you an official fifth-rank post in the Great Han. You need only remain at my side in attendance, and you will not have to suffer the hardships of sleeping in the open and eating in the wind.”

The moment his words fell, a few muffled laughs and whispers rose from the army formation behind him.

“Insolence! Put away your filthy thoughts. You are a defeated general, yet you still dare spew foul obscenities here. Clear the road at once, or today I’ll chop you into pieces and feed you to the dogs!”

Before Shi Lan could speak, Guan Yinping had already ridden forward at her side and shouted sharply, her riding crop pointing straight at Dong Zhuo. As Guan Yu’s daughter, she had always been proud and overbearing by nature. She had dared to go into the sea alone to capture and kill a flood dragon, and her arrogance towered over others. Earlier, in front of Cao Cao, she had shown restraint only because two exceptionally vicious figures rarely seen in the world stood at his side.

Dong Zhuo was nothing more than a defeated general, a thing like a stray dog, yet he was still so arrogant. Even though his official rank stood at the fourth rank, she still dared to scold him to his face.

“And who might you be?”

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Dong Zhuo glanced at Guan Yinping, his expression turning cold.

“I am Guan Yinping, Deputy General under General Who Conquers the North Liu Xuande. Clear the road at once!”

The moment he heard the three words Liu Xuande, Dong Zhuo heard a transmission from one of his subordinates at his ear:

“Administrator, in recent days this subordinate has heard quite a bit about this Liu Xuande. His influence in Youzhou is immense, and fierce generals gather under him like clouds. He does not seem someone easy to offend lightly.”

“She is nothing but a mere commoner. Can I not even take down someone like her?”

Dong Zhuo sneered inwardly. Without official rank, she would not be protected by the Great Han’s national fortune. Even if he killed her on the spot, at most he would suffer some punishment and a reduction in salary. Such a little pay meant next to nothing to him.

…

“Yinping, take the army and leave first.”

Looking at Dong Zhuo’s utterly unmoving figure, Shi Lan lowered her eyes, hiding the emotions in her pupils, and swung herself down from her horse.

When Dong Zhuo saw Shi Lan dismount, he let out a light laugh and slightly raised an arm. The encircling army behind him opened a path. If Guan Yinping had not already held official rank, he would have liked to keep her as well, to complete the beauty of having both.

“Sister Lan, this…”

Guan Yinping froze for a moment, then seemed to think of something, and her expression changed slightly.

“A fourth-rank post already makes him an important minister of the Great Han. If you…”

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“Be good.”

Shi Lan cut off Guan Yinping’s words and waved a hand.

“Go quickly. Do not look back.”

Guan Yinping unconsciously tightened her grip on the reins. After hesitating for a moment, she stepped forward, took hold of Shi Lan’s mount, and gritted her teeth as she gave the order:

“Move!”

A stir ran through the light cavalry. They were not without the strength to fight Dong Zhuo’s remnant army of more than three hundred thousand. To leave just like this was undoubtedly a difficult humiliation to bear.

But military orders were as weighty as a mountain. The small disturbance quickly subsided, and the army slowly followed Guan Yinping as they gradually went farther away.

Dust and sand filled heaven and earth. The thick smell of blood had not yet dispersed. Every current of air drawn into the body was like a blade scraping across the nerves.

Dong Zhuo narrowed his eyes as he looked at Shi Lan drawing slowly closer. His brows twitched. He did not step forward. Instead, he retreated two steps. Four generals in black armor stood before him, each taking out an iron chain wrapped in silver divine patterns.

“Miss, you are a heroine among women. You must be highly skilled in riding, archery, and mounted warfare, and your strength must be extraordinary. Though I have some martial ability myself, alas, I never mastered it well.”

Standing behind the generals, Dong Zhuo felt considerably more at ease and let out a chuckle.

“I ask that you first put on these shackles, lest some misunderstanding arise.”

Shi Lan raised her head and glanced into the distance. No figures could be seen anymore. Between heaven and earth, only she and the more than three hundred thousand Han troops before her remained.

Guan Yinping had, after all, already entered the court. If she were dragged into this, it would inevitably bring trouble to Liu Bei and the others. With things as they were now, it was actually easier.

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After a while, she reached a hand into the void and drew out a black war halberd. Before the halberd’s edge even gleamed, heavy deathly yin baleful qi was already surging straight into the clouds.

“I am a fourth-rank frontier official of the Great Han. You are a mere commoner. If you kill me without cause, then whether you succeed or not, it will be the grave crime of extermination of three clans. Ruin upon your household and a bright future ahead. Consider carefully which of the two you wish to choose.”

There was no surprise in Dong Zhuo’s expression. A sneer hung at the corner of his mouth, while the silver-patterned iron chains in the hands of the four generals before him lit up at the same time with a faint glow.

Hummm…

Before the four generals could step forward, a blood-colored halberd shadow swept through the air and tore apart the four generals together with the iron chains in their hands. The divine pattern light that had just risen exploded, carrying blood with it as it splashed all over Dong Zhuo.

“This day next year will be your death anniversary.”

Words cold as ice frozen over ten thousand years echoed at his ear. Dong Zhuo’s heart turned cold, and without the slightest hesitation, he twisted around and plunged into the army formation.

Boom!

The instant Dong Zhuo met with danger, a tremendous crash exploded at Shi Lan’s side. A burly figure fell from the sky, long hair loose, with the body of a tiger and the waist of a wolf, his aura like a bloodthirsty savage beast. He held a long saber in hand, and killing intent spilled from him in all directions.

Almost at the same moment, two eighth-order auras appeared in the sky and dropped into the army formation, shielding Dong Zhuo behind them.

“Hua Xiong! Cripple her four limbs! I want her to beg for life and be unable to live, beg for death and be unable to die!”

Hidden within layer upon layer of army formations, Dong Zhuo let out a shrill roar.

A dazzling blade light like an inverted river of stars came howling over in an instant, splitting apart yin and yang qi and slashing with perfect precision at Shi Lan’s four limbs.

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Shi Lan stood where she was, staring at Hua Xiong, her figure utterly unmoving.

As a frontier official ruling one region, it was only natural for him to have fierce eighth-order generals under his command. Someone like Hua Xiong might be unable to withstand a single blow before Guan Yu or Zhao Yun, but to Shi Lan he was an overwhelmingly powerful enemy she could hardly defeat.

But now, she was here to kill, not to duel.

Wuuuu…

Heaven and earth let out a wail. A gap more than a hundred thousand li across appeared in the sky, and from it a giant claw covered in snowy white fur extended and slowly descended.

The dazzling blade light vanished into nothing. Before the giant claw even arrived, the invisible pressure had already pinned Hua Xiong and the more than three hundred thousand Han troops firmly to the earth, leaving them unable to move.

Hua Xiong’s eyes nearly split apart, his face flushed red. No matter how his immense blood and qi surged, he could not shake the pressure on him, which was like an ancient divine mountain.

Shi Lan advanced with halberd in hand. The blade fell casually and cut off Hua Xiong’s head. Gushing blood burst out in fury, splashing in all directions and staining a wide stretch of dust red.

Stepping through the blood-mud beneath her feet, Shi Lan walked forward once more until she reached Dong Zhuo.

“Hhh—”

Dong Zhuo’s eyes were bloodshot, and a pleading expression showed on his face.

Hummm…

A soaring pillar of blood dyed the halberd light red. A head flew into the air, then rolled to the ground.