Talking about Fate

It took Lu Bu's army two weeks to reclaim the center of the Xu Province by splitting up the army in five with Yun and Lu Bu attacking Pengcheng and Tan while Hua and Gao Shun went for Kaiyang and Licheng.

Zhang Liao was left in Xiapi to hold the city until the main army caught up with them which he could see in the distance as they created dust clouds behind them while marching toward Xiapi.

"They should be here soon," says Zhang Liao to himself seeing the panorama before him then he turns around and looks to the north finding a similar cloud of dust rising from there just a bit smaller.

"My Lord should be there with Gao Shun and Zhao Hua," says Zhang Liao before he turns west seeing nothing but some pillars of smoke rising in the distance showing him that someone was camping out there with their army.

In the meantime in the west, Yun was resting with the army letting them rest after marching nonstop to Pengcheng to take the whole Commandery back over the last few days.

Yun was still energetic but the soldiers following him were exhausted from all the marching and fighting as they all looked at him as if he was a monster that didn't need to sleep or eat as he cleaved his sword through his enemies the last few days.

Yun was right now a man of focus and dedication to the current goal which was to stabilize the Xu Province so Sun Quan would have a foothold to the north not having to rely on Jing to get to Cao Cao which would also serve to evade a misfortune battle from Sun Quan's side.

Cao Cao was weakened at the moment and Yun could take even the Qing Province if he really dared to do so but he wasn't a fool knowing that he would expose himself further by defending more landmass from Cao Cao's future invasions trying to reclaim the Qing and Xu Province.

Yun would rather just defend one Province than two since he could move his troops around swiftly when defending only one Province instead of two.

He would also have to recruit more troops to defend both Provinces and he didn't have the money to do so since more than half of his current income is used to maintain his army and the supplies that are needed to feed them.

And now his income will come from the people of the Xu Province alone and not from a rich sponsor like before. He was looking at the grim future with both eyes while seeing a spark of light at the end of the tunnel which was still far away but still in comfortable distance.

"At least I won't be involved in another war for now until some years pass," says Yun to himself as he bites into his rice ball trying to finish his lunch before they begin to march again to reach Xiapi.

'Do you believe in fate?' asks Ythyleit curiously as she looks back at Yun's actions over the last few weeks.

'No, fate has already pronounced me dead a long time ago with Shura giving me another shot at life,' says Yun seriously as he takes another bite out of his rice ball.

'What if it was your fate to meet Shura and be reborn,' says Ythyleit playfully when she hears someone laugh beside her.

'Fate can bite our ass. We won't be able to do anything about it anyway,' says Ysmrgra from behind Ythyleit after he stopped laughing.

'If it was fate for all of us to meet then we will only find out when Arthur liberates the Eighteenth Dragon, Yram, the Eternal One,' says Ysmrgra seriously knowing what he was talking about since Yram was also known as the Dragon of Time and Space as well as Fate that's why he was called the Immortal One.

'There was a quote from one of my favorite characters that says 'There are men who struggle against destiny and yet achieve only an early grave. There are men who flee destiny, only to have it swallow them whole. Then there are men who embrace destiny and do not show their fear. These are the ones who change the world forever.' That is what she always said I remember those words vividly from that old witch of the wild,' says Yun remembering that quote from a Dragon Age 2 trailer a video game he wanted to buy but never could.

'It is deep but at the same time, it isn't,' says Ythyleit thinking about what Yun just said while Yun finished his food.

'Well it was a game character after all the quote was made by a writer for that specific character in the end,' says Yun standing up before looking at the soldiers who were almost ready to march again.

'But if you ask me about Fate I would say 'Fate can always be changed if you have the will and guts to do so.',' says Yun as he mounts Thunder and orders the army to continue marching comfortably east since Xiapi is only a day away from where they are.

'I think that overconfidence is talking there since you changed your granddaughter's fate,' says Ythyleit making Yun smirk.

'I didn't change her fate. One day in the future she will meet Death one more time as anyone else walking on this earth. I only changed the when never the outcome of said fate,' says Yun as he passes his hand through Thunder's wild mane.

They stopped marching again when the sun set in the west giving them its last rays of light for the day as they started to open camp again.

Yun was meditating in his tent while the people were resting when he felt something out of the ordinary lurking near the camp. Yun ran out of his tent without alerting the soldier while walking over to where the presence he felt was.

Yun walked and walked but it seemed like he wasn't getting from the spot when he heard, "It seems, we meet again, Spartan Deon."

"Deon?" asks Yun confused as the voice comes from every direction at him making it impossible to pinpoint the position of the person talking to him.

"Yes, back then you gave me quite the scare appearing before my mortal self while I was attaining enlightenment," says the voice when the ground shakes wildly when suddenly Yun found himself standing not on earth but a palm.

"But I can feel that you aren't the Deon that I met all those years ago. He was more attuned with himself and in balance with the world surrounding him," says the voice as Yun followed the hand before following the arm finally seeing the person who was talking to him.

"You are Buddha better known as the mortal, Siddhartha Gautama," says Yun shocked from seeing the first God in such a long time which wasn't Shura or Lorena.

"That is right, but Deon always called me Big-Ears. I don't know why but he seemed to find pleasure in testing my patience just like a monkey we both know," says Buddha taking a closer look at Yun seeing the differences between Yun and Deon clearly now.

"But that explains why he got me by surprise back then. It's because he wanted revenge against me for doing this to you now. You are quite a vengeful man," says Buddha summarizing everything together in some sentences.

"How come the others haven't noticed us yet?" asks Yun the obvious since Buddha was massive making him seem like an insect compared to him.

"It's because I am in your head right now and not in reality. I still like my life of freedom," says Buddha pointing at the obvious again which was Shura.

"Still, you are quite weak compared to Deon who could muster at least half of my real strength if not even more. He even had stronger people beside him back then or at least better-trained men who lived for war," says Buddha remembering Deon's little escort which could easily cut down Yun's current army.

"Who would be stronger the monkey or Deon?" asks Yun curiously which Buddha noticed immediately.

"The Monkey could never escape my palm while Deon succeeded thrice out of four tries. This should tell you how strong Deon was and that you are resting on your laurels instead of training to become stronger to face the shadow that is always haunting you over all your lives," says Buddha seriously thinking that Yun was slacking on his training because of some worldly desire of his but he couldn't take it against him since the person before him was still young compared to his friend who was older and had experienced far more which helped him in a way to find enlightenment.

"Anyway, I should give you some advice from a friend to a friend," says Buddha as he extends his free hand and places his index finger against Yun's head before something enters his body making him feel light.

"What did you do?" asks Yun surprised by this lightness.

"I imparted some knowledge upon you which is far greater than what you learned from the Monkey and the Three-eye with a stick in his ass," says Buddha trying to joke at the end.

"Jokes aside, I just gave you a far stronger sparring partner who will also teach you the art of balance," says Buddha talking about himself since he is the strongest in the Buddhist Pantheon.

"I hope when we meet again and that you made some significant progress by then," says Buddha when he remembers something important and he says, "Also, don't give me a heart attack when you meet me as Deon."

"We will see about that," says Yun with a smirk on his face knowing that the past can't be changed or the future would never come to pass as it did right now.

"See you soon, Arthur Faust," says Buddha surprising Yun since he never revealed his full name to anyone not even to Shura when he suddenly awakens drenched in sweat inside of his tent.

'Was I only dreaming?' asks Yun himself when he suddenly feels the lightness come over him again when he sees a copy of a normal-sized Buddha standing across from him ready to spar with him.

"Nop, it was all real," says Yun to himself after seeing the impossible before him as he needed to sort out all this newfound information.