Jumping Over Board

Yun continues walking forward as he passes from ship to ship in search for Xu Chu while hearing screams of agony and pain. He closed his heart to the screams steeling himself since worse things are going to happen real soon.

Yun finally reached the last ship which was the ship manned by Cao Cao and Xu Chu. Cao Cao wasn't on the ship any longer as well as Xu Chu but someone else was there.

"Yun, why?" asks the person holding a bow and arrow pointing at him.

"Yuan, I should have known that he would run the moment things go awry. I wasn't even going after him but his bodyguard," says Yun calmly as he rested his blade on his shoulder.

"Why Yun?!" shouts Xiahou Yuan wanting an answer to his question.

He wanted to know why Yun betrayed them only for Yun to take steps from side to side not approaching Xiahou Yuan while saying, "It is hard to show loyalty to a man that is questioning everything you do at every given moment. I tried really hard but a moment came in which I had to decide between Cao Cao and Sun Quan."

"And you decide to join Sun Quan," says Xiahou Yuan still pointing at Yun.

"Yes, Sun Quan is the future while Cao Cao represents the past," says Yun as he drops his sword showing Xiahou Yuan that he didn't want to fight him.

"I even gave Cao Cao the chance to rectify his stance towards me but he was adamant to not listen to me. This all is his fault if he had listened his army wouldn't have taken such a big blow," says Yun as he sat down on the burning ship eyeing Xiahou Yuan.

"You were there, didn't I warn him not to tie the ships together but no he was blinded by his hatred towards me. If he was a real leader I could follow things would have been different but power has changed Cao Cao and I won't support someone that lost his way," says Yun seriously as he looked Xiahou Yuan in the eyes showing his determination.

"You should leave and retreat as fast as you can while everything is still chaotic. See it as the last favor from your friend. I wanted to get Xu Chu but I will settle with failing my personal assignment. Tell Ren that I am sorry and that he should look after himself. He is a great man as are you Xiahou Yuan. Look after yourself," says Yun before standing up while picking his sword up before turning his back to Xiahou Yuan and retreating into the flames.

Yun was standing on a sinking ship when a soldier ran into him making the soldier fall backward. He looked at the soldier seeing only a child in armor when Yun picked him up and removed his armor before jumping from the ship with the young soldier who wouldn't have survived if Yun hadn't jumped from the ship with him.

They were sinking and sinking until Yun began to swim upward with one arm and his feet while dragging the young soldier up with him who seemed to struggle.

Yun could see that the soldier didn't know how to swim just by seeing his form and once on the surface the soldier was in a panic trying to breathe while Yun did it effortlessly because he stayed calm.

"Boy be happy that I saved you or your father would have killed me," says Yun helping the boy calm down with his Light Qi while swimming toward a piece of wood so they could at least float until a ship or boat picks them up.

"Let go of me, Uncle Yun," says the young man who was a boy in Yun's eyes.

"Cao Tai, you won't leave my side until I sent you back to your father's side. Do you understand me. You are right now in enemy territory if they find out that you are Cao Ren's son they will kill you and hang you from the walls as a symbol. So keep your head down until I can get you to your father's side," says Yun seriously as he was thinking about what to do now.

'Cao Tai shouldn't be here in the first place,' thinks Yun as he paddles with his feet moving them away from the sinking ships and the chains that could drag them down again.

Yun saw a ship which he would recognize anywhere as it was a ship built under his instructions. He looked up and saw people ready to shot at them with arrows making Yun panic as he grabbed Cao Tai and pushed him under the water as well as himself.

It caught Cao Tai by surprise but the moment he saw an arrow hit Yun's armor before floating back up made it clear that the people thought that they were the enemy.

Yun looked at Cao Tai seriously before pointing up again and Cao Tai nods when Yun pulled him up and they saw people aiming at them when Yun shouts, "Have you all gone crazy!"

The man recognized the voice and now looked at each other in a panic as they were all Gan Ning's men that have served under Yun before.

"We are sorry, General Zhao! We thought you were an enemy since we already pulled most of your men out of the water!" shouts one of the soldiers back.

Yun could see what they were thinking since only the enemy should be remaining in the water and not some allies when they throw ropes down to Yun and Cao Tai.

Cao Tai looked at Yun surprised when Yun looks at him and places his finger over his lips before moving his finger away to point up and then he moves his finger across of his throat telling Cao Tai about the danger of speaking his real name.

They were pulled up and Gan Ning's men apologized again and again while making the new guys who shot at them bow since they couldn't distinguish between their Lord from some enemy.

"It's fine, I wouldn't have expected that recruits would know my face or armor," says Yun accepting the apologies when he looked at Cao Tai.

"This is Tai one of my promising soldiers. Maybe one day he will make it to General," says Yun creating a facade for Cao Tai as they received blankets to warm themselves up because of the freezing cold wind.

Yun could see that they were heading for Cao Cao's camp since the ships had sunken to the depths of the river dragging the corpses with them while some still were floating on the surface.

"Many people have died today and Cao Cao won't be able to stand firm in the south thanks to his own arrogance. But anyway," says Yun before turning to Cao Tai and asking, "What were you doing on the ships? Your father never left the firm land."

"I was searching for glory," says Cao Tai seeing all the dead soldiers in the river imagining that he could have been one of them if Yun hadn't save him.

Yun saw a bit of Fang in him always chasing Glory and Reputation when he sighs seeing where it had led his son and he says, "Is Glory really worth the price you had almost paid boy. My son paid that price and let me tell you Glory is worth nothing compared to your own life."

"Once your life ends it is over and everyone will forget who you were except for those mourning your death. Your father and mother would have been the only ones mourning your death and nobody else. Think about that the next time you decide to put yourself on a death trap," says Yun lecturing Cao Tai not wanting Cao Ren to feel the same pain he felt when Fang died.

Cao Tai didn't know what to do right now as he was right now on an enemy ship while Yun was sighing while thinking about how to get Cao Tai to safety without Zhou Yu knowing it since Zhou Yu was his main antagonist in Sun Quan's camp because he left Sun Ce die.

They sailed for a while before they stopped beside one ship when the plank was extended between both ships and a man wearing bells around his belt came across it making Yun form a fist.

He punched the man in the abdomen before saying, "What have I taught you where I would shovel those bells on you again."

"It is nice to see you as well, Yun," says Gan Ning knowing that Yun went easy on him since he felt almost no pain when he felt Yun's arms around him.

"Thank you for looking after him," says Yun grateful as he let go of Gan Ning before placing his hands on his shoulders when he notices a young man behind Gan Ning and he asks, "And he is?"

"Ah, I forgot, this is Ling Tong. Lu Meng has outgrown his position of Commander and is right now a General with Guo Jia as his advisor and teacher. I heard that Lu Su wanted to groom him to make him his successor," says Gan Ning presenting Ling Tong a young man with long hair and a serious face.

"You must be Ling Cao's son," says Yun surprising Ling Tong since they have only met once and he didn't leave much of an impression back then.

"That's right, my father is General Ling Cao. He should be on land at the moment trying to get his man over the river near Yiling like General Gan suggested to him before the battle broke out," says Ling Tong not surprising Yun since passing the river near Yiling was what Gan Ning would have done in this battle while making sure his men wouldn't kill themselves before facing the enemy.

"I have heard what happened, if it wasn't for Sun Quan allying with Liu Bei, Zhang Fei would have been dead a long time ago," says Gan Ning seriously as Yun looked at him and Gan Ning could see the rage in his eyes.

"It would have been over too fast if you had just killed him," says Yun still in his usual tone when it turned completely dark and cold, "I want him to suffer for many years. Killing him would have been an easy way out."

Everyone could see Darkness Qi surrounding Yun which empowered not only the sentence but also cruelty implied in it reminding some of what happened to Yuan Shao as they regrouped with Zhou Yu.