[nsw-fic] The Legendary Zhuge Liang - IV

[christos200]

(The other parts:

 

The Legendary Zhuge Liang - I

 

The Legendary Zhuge Liang - II

 

The Legendary Zhuge Liang - III

 

I hope that you will enjoy the story. )

 

The Legendary Zhuge Liang - IV:

 

 

South bank of the Yangtze River, Zhou Yu's camp

 

Zhou Yu (courtesy name: Gongjin), knowing that if, during the fire attack against Cao Cao's fleet, the wind blows from the northwest instead of the southeast, the entire attack will backfire and the allied navy will be burned, has agreed to build an altar for Zhuge Liang (courtesy name: Kongming) to use Taoist Magic to pray for an Eastern Wind. Indeed, a few days later, a huge altar was constructed, in which Zhuge Liang, dressed in a black robe, bows before Heaven and shouts strange words that no one can understand, like "Yuiwang Zjiwaeng Klalee asthriga huangjuenswung!". This continues for two more days. In the third and final day, Zhou Yu calls his General Ding Feng to his tent. Ding enters the tent and bows before his Grand Commander.

 

"What are your orders, sir?" Ding asks.

 

"Well, I want you to kill Zhuge Liang when the Eastern Wind blows." Zhou Yu replies.

 

"But, sir, you said that you would execute Zhuge Liang if he failed to call an Eastern Wind, right? So, why kill him if he succeeds his mission?"

 

"If he fails, then I will indeed execute him. But if he succeeds, then I also want him dead, since I will have no further use for him and he will only be a future danger."

 

"I understand, sir!"

 

"By the way, except for your men, I have also hired a Kung Fu master, Hwang Jang Le, Master of the Seven Fatal Fists. If you cannot execute Zhuge Liang, he will!"

 

Meanwhile, Zhuge Liang prays in the altar. After praying for hours, he stops bowing to the Heaven, gets up and shouts "Eastern Wind!! I, Zhuge Liang, summon you to help the Han loyalists defeat the traitor and usurper (Note: he means Cao Cao)!! Come, Eastern Wind! Blow and let the flames of justice destroy the traitor and restore the glory of the Han Dynasty!!!". Indeed, the wind starts blowing from the southeast. Zhuge Liang managed to summon an Eastern Wind! But this is not magic. In fact, everything that Zhuge Liang said were words he created at the moment. Zhuge Liang knew that an Eastern Wind would come, since he knows how to read the stars and also knows the geography of the area. But, if he had told Zhou Yu about this, then he knew that he would be of no use to Zhou Yu, and so he would sent men to execute him. That's why he pretended to know Taoist Magic, in order to buy time for Zhou Yun, one of the most loyal and able Generals of Warlord Liu Bei, to bring a vessel with which he can escape from Zhou Yu's men.

 

Zhuge Liang, knowing that Zhou Yu will send men to kill him, once the Eastern Wind starts to blow, runs away from the altar as fast as possible, finds his horse and rides it as fast as it can. He has to find Zhou Yun and his vessel as soon as possible or else Zhou Yu's men will kill him. At the same time, Ding, seeing that Zhuge Liang has already left, takes the 200 fastest horsemen of the entire Southland army and leads them to pursue Zhuge Liang. Zhuge Liang rides outside the camp and in a dirt road. His pursuers follow behind. Zhuge Liang, seeing that his pursuers are too far away, thinks that he has managed to escape. But, suddenly, he finds out that the way to Zhou Yun's vessel is blocked by a carriage. "I will surely die now." he thinks.

 

"Come quickly inside the carriage!" a woman's voice says. Zhuge Liang finds the voice familiar, but does not know who the woman is. He has no choice but to ride off his horse and enter the carriage. When he enters, he discovers the identity of the woman: she is Xiao Qiao, the wife of Zhou Yu!

 

Zhuge Liang is very surprised about this. Why would the wife of his archenemy save him from her husband? Although Zhuge Liang does not ask this question, Xiao Qiao, understanding what he is thinking, decides to answer it anyway.

 

"You cured my husband." she says. "Thanks to you my husband has recovered and will be able to gain glory and achieve a great victory. So, in order to thank you, I have decided to help you escape from my husband."

 

"My lady, you are just and know how to repay kindness. If only your husband had those two traits......."

 

As Zhuge Liang and Xiao Qiao speak, Ding, along with his 200 horsemen, arrives in front of the carriage. "Who is in this carriage?!" he shouts. "Come out or I will use violence!"

 

Xiao Qiao comes out of the carriage and asks with a sweet voice: "What is it, General Ding?"

 

Ding, embarrassed to have talked in such a manner to the wife of his Grand Commander, apologizes: "I am terribly sorry, my lady. Please forgive me."

 

"It's alright, General."

 

"By the way, have you seen Zhuge Liang riding a horse towards this way?"

 

"Zhuge Liang? I have not seen Zhuge Liang since he came to find out my husband's illness."

 

"Alright. I will take my leave, madam."

 

Ding leads his men towards an other path. At the same time, Zhuge Liang is taken by Xiao Qiao near to the place where he had agreed to meet with Zhou Yun. Once they arrive there, Zhuge Liang comes out of the carriage and continues on foot while Xiao Qiao returns back to the camp.

 

Zhuge Liang walks for around ten minutes in a dirt road when a man appears almost out of nowhere. That man is of old age, with long white hair and beard, blue eyes and dressed in black clothes. Zhuge Liang continues walking towards the location where he has agreed to meet Zhou Yun, the White Monkey, which is beside the Yangtze River, ignoring the old man. However, the old man continues to follow him. This continues for a few minutes, until Zhuge Liang asks the man where he is going.

 

"Sir, if you are kind enough, can you tell me where are you heading?" Zhuge Liang asks.

 

"I cannot tell you where I am heading." he replies. "But I can tell you where you are heading."

 

"Where am I heading?"

 

"To your grave!"

 

Suddenly the old man tries to hit Zhuge Liang with his right leg. His movement combines speed, force and agility. Zhuge Liang is barely able to dodge the kick.

 

"Impressive!" Zhuge Liang shouts. "May I know your name, sir?"

 

"I am Hwang Jang Le, Master of the Seven Fatal Fists."

 

"I am no pugilist, I am just a scholar. So, it is not fair to fight without setting some rules, right?"

 

"I agree. Tell me what rules you want me to follow! If they are reasonable, I will agree."

 

Zhuge Liang, using his hand fan made of crane feathers, creates a large cycle on the dirt road.

 

"We shall fight inside this cycle. If you get out of this cycle, you will have to promise me not to pursue me or attack me."

 

"Of course! I am an honorable man and I always keep my promises."

 

"Good. Let us fight!"

 

Zhuge Liang and Hwang Jang Le enter the cycle. Hwang attacks first by kicking twice Zhuge Liang on the stomach and then punching his right fist on Zhuge's head. Zhuge Liang vomits some blood and falls to the ground, but he quickly gets up and runs away from the cycle. Hwang pursues him away from the cycle until Zhuge Liang stops and says "You said you are an honorable man. So, why do you chase me since you got out of the cycle?"

 

"You got out of the cycle first! So, you lost the duel."

 

"You are wrong." Zhuge Liang, laughing, replies. "We've only agreed that if you leave the cycle, you will have to let me get away. We never agreed that I cannot leave the cycle. So, you lost and, if you are an honorable man, you will have to allow me to escape."

 

"Alright. Leave!" Hwang, angry at how he had been tricked, sighs.

 

Zhuge Liang indeed leaves. But as he walks towards the White Monkey, he vomits some more blood. Zhuge Liang, knowing that the kicks of Hwang had injured him badly, decides to head towards a nearby village, Red Tiger, which is only thirty minutes away from White Monkey. Once he gets some medicine, he will go to his destination and meet with Zhou Yun.

 

Cao Cao's camp

 

Meanwhile, General Wang Jong enters Cao Cao's tent. He finds Cao Cao reading some military reports. Wang bows before Cao Cao.

 

"Sir." he says. "I have some news to report."

 

"What is it?" Cao Cao replies while continuing reading the military reports.

 

"Our spies bring news about Huang Gai."

 

Wang is talking about the Southland General Huang Gai. An old and respected General, he criticized and insulted Zhou Yu four days ago, which led to being punished with 100 strokes. Angry over this punishment, which almost crippled him, Huang Gai send a letter to Cao Cao, expressing his willingness to defect over to Cao's side. Cao Cao suspected a ruse, and so he send Cai Zhong and Cai He, two spies, in Zhou Yu's camp.

 

"What news?" Cao Cao asks, throwing away the military reports.

 

"He will indeed defect to your side, sir. It is not a ruse."

 

Cao Cao starts laughing and clapping.

 

"Excellent! Excellent!" he shouts. "With such an old and respected Southland Commander joining my side, the faith of the Southland army to Zhou Yu will shrink and his army will collapse! Victory is guaranteed."

 

Zhou Yu's tent

 

Meanwhile, Ding returns to the Southland camp and heads towards Zhou Yu's tent. When he enters the tent, Zhou Yu embraces him, laughs and shouts "Zhuge Liang is dead! Zhuge Liang is dead! Zhuge Liang is dead!"

 

Zhou Yu has never been so happy in his entire life. At last, he has proved that he is smarter and better than Zhuge Liang. At last, he has outwitted him. At last, he has taken revenge for his previous humiliations. At last, he has succeeded in his quest to kill his archenemy. At last, he can have peace in his heart.

 

"Sir......." Ding says slowly, afraid of Zhou Yu's reaction.

 

"What is it?" Zhou Yu, smiling, says.

 

"Zhuge Liang....is....is"

 

"Is dead!"

 

"Not exactly...."

 

Zhou Yu becomes enraged and shouts "What?!"

 

"He....somehow managed to escaped."

 

Zhou Yu starts crying and shouts "Why can I never outwit this man? Why? Why? Why, O Heaven, do you punish me in such a way? Why?!"

 

Zhou Yu, because of this emotional shock, vomits blood and collapses to the ground. At the same time, Xiao Qiao, who has returns to the Southland Camp, enters her husband's tent. Seeing him lying on the ground, she rushes towards him.

 

"How are you?" she cries.

 

"I....I...Zhuge...Liang!" Zhou Yu, barely able to speak, says.

 

"Can you not just forget about him and move on?"

 

Ding, seeing that Zhou Yu has regained his senses, reports to him of an other issue, mainly because of his fear of being punished. "Sir." he says. "When I was pursuing Zhuge Liang, he disappeared in the same road where lady Qiao's carriage was."

 

"What?!" Zhou Yu shouts, realizing what Xiao Qiao did. "Did you betray me!? Did you?! Did you?!"

 

"My husband." Xiao Qiao replies. "Zhuge Liang saved you from your illness and brought the eastern wind you asked for and--"

 

Before she can finish her sentence, Zhou Yu slaps her and shouts "How dare you betray your husband?! You will go back to our home!"

 

"Please.."

 

"No! You will leave the camp! If I did not love you so much, I would have killed you for your betrayal."

 

Xiao Qiao leaves her husband's tent, crying and devastated. Zhou Yu then shouts "That's why Zhuge Liang escaped my perfect trap! He had inside help! This is why my brilliant plan failed! It is not that Zhuge Liang is better or smarter than me. It is because my own wife betrayed me!"

[machievelli]

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