Wu Kuang was startled at first, then closed his eyes in resignation.
He opened them.
He closed them.
He opened them again.
Dong Zhuo was still standing there, his face wreathed in a smile like a chrysanthemum.
"Holy crap!"
Wu Kuang's eyes widened. "Ch-ch-ch-ch-ch... Chancellor?"
Dong Zhuo actually came?
Fear gripped Wu Kuang's heart, and he deeply regretted not listening to Xu Huang.
"Military Officer Wu, it's been a long time."
Dong Zhuo chuckled, "We parted ways in Chang'an; how have you been lately?"
Wu Kuang looked at Dong Zhuo's smile and trembled like a sieve.
Everyone in the world knew what kind of person Dong Zhuo was.
First, he had raised an army against him, then he had led troops to follow Zhang Xin and flee...
Now that he had fallen into his hands, how could he have a good end?
"Chancellor... no, Lord Dong! Lord!"
Wu Kuang was incoherent with fright, begging for mercy repeatedly.
Dong Zhuo burst into laughter, thoroughly enjoying the sight of Wu Kuang begging for mercy.
"Alright, alright."
When it was about time, Dong Zhuo spoke, "You, a useless wretch like you, would stain my precious blade if I killed you, so I'll spare your life."
"When you go back, tell Zhang Ziqing that I've come for his life."
"Thank you, Lord, thank you, Lord."
Wu Kuang was overjoyed.
"Don't thank me yet."
Dong Zhuo smiled, "You rebelled against me earlier, so it's not right to just let you go back. Men!"
"Here!"
A personal guard beside him responded.
Dong Zhuo pointed at Wu Kuang, "Cut off this man's nose, and then tattoo his face. Hmm... tattoo 'Longmen Drunkard'."
"Understood."
The personal guards dragged Wu Kuang away.
Wu Kuang breathed a sigh of relief.
Tho cutting off his nose and tattooing his face was painful, at least he could keep his life.
Given Dong Zhuo's cruelty, which often involved gouging out people's eyes and chopping off their limbs, this was already considered very merciful.
"Ah!"
A series of screams rang out, and Wu Kuang, covered in blood, was brought back.
"Thank you, Lord, for your grace, thank you, Lord, for your grace..."
Wu Kuang kowtowed repeatedly.
Blood flowed into his nasal cavity, and his mouth was full of blood, making his speech unclear.
Dong Zhuo looked at him and suddenly felt very angry.
That man, who had defeated him honorably several times, had his reputation sullied by someone like this?
"Zhang Ziqing trusted you, which is why he entrusted the rear to you to guard, but you got drunk and messed up, losing Longmen Ferry..."
Wu Kuang's face was filled with shame upon hearing this.
Fortunately, his face was covered in blood, so it wasn't visible.
"Given your crime, even if you returned, he would probably kill you."
Dong Zhuo paced back and forth, "Though he is my enemy, I respect him. A person like you is not worthy of staining my precious blade, nor his precious blade."
Wu Kuang's heart sank upon hearing this.
"Hmm... you like to drink, don't you?"
Dong Zhuo waved his hand, "Men, drown this man in a wine vat."
"Understood."
The personal guards stepped forward and grabbed Wu Kuang, leading him away.
"Lord! Lord!"
Wu Kuang struggled desperately, shouting loudly, "Lord just said you would spare my life! Lord, you cannot go back on your word..."
Gurgle gurgle gurgle...
Gulp gulp gulp gulp gulp...
Hiccup.
Dong Zhuo looked at Wu Kuang's corpse and found it tasteless, so he ordered his soldiers to kill all the surrendered Luoyang soldiers.
The smell of wine in the camp was quickly covered by the smell of blood.
Just then, a soldier reported that Li Que had led two thousand cavalry across the great river.
"Attack!"
Dong Zhuo waved his hand and looked eastward, "Tell Li Que to bring me Zhang Xin's head!"
"Understood!"
Li Que received the order and, without any hesitation, led his cavalry at full speed eastward.
About two hours later, Li Que's army caught up with Xu Huang near Jiting.
Xu Huang's army consisted entirely of infantry, and they had already fought a battle earlier.
Their numbers were already small, and after breaking thru the encirclement, only about two hundred remained. Having run all this way, they were already exhausted.
Facing Li Que's two thousand cavalry, the two hundred-plus exhausted infantry were powerless to resist.
Seeing the unfavorable situation, Xu Huang disregarded his soldiers and frantically spurred his warhorse, fleeing under the cover of nite.
It wasn't that he was afraid of death.
Rather, someone had to return and report the situation at Longmen Ferry so that Zhang Xin could prepare.
Otherwise, if two thousand iron cavalry charged into a crowd of civilians without warning, it would be like a tiger entering a flock of sheep.
Xu Huang galloped all the way and finally reached the Jiangyi Grand Camp at dawn.
"Hurry and report to Lord, say that Military Officer Xu Huang requests an audience!"
Wang Meng had just woken up when he heard that Xu Huang had returned, and his heart skipped a beat.
"Quickly let Military Officelamation of alarm!"
Li Que looked up, "Zhang Xin wants to take a small path to escape! Quick! Follow me to pursue!"