Chapter 1129 - 1072. Meeting The Heavyweight Wei Generals Pt.1
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(A/N: Don’t forget to give those power stones to Skyrim everyone!)
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Lie Fan reached out, resting his hand lightly on the pommel of his unadorned iron longsword. His eyes darkened with the absolute, grim reality of what lay ahead. "Now," Lie Fan murmured, the chilling weight of a conqueror settling fully over his features. "We descend to the third level. Prepare yourselves, my generals. It is time to speak with the wolves."
They walked toward the heavy, iron bound doorway at the end of the second corridor seemed to swallow the flickering torchlight.
As the guards stepped forward with a massive ring of iron keys to unlock it, the damp, frigid air of the third subterranean level seeped upward, carrying the unmistakable chill of absolute confinement.
Huangfu Song, stepping carefully down the first few uneven stone steps, paused and looked back at his Emperor. The veteran commander’s face was etched with a profound, pragmatic skepticism.
"Your Imperial Majesty," Huangfu Song began, keeping his voice to a low, respectful murmur so as not to echo down the stairwell. "You have performed a miracle on the second level. But as we descend to face the likes of Xu Chu, Xiahou Dun, and the blood relatives of the Cao Clan... what is our recourse if they simply say no? Are they to be executed immediately?"
Lie Fan paused on the landing, his hand resting lightly on the pommel of his longsword. He met Huangfu Song’s gaze with a look of cold, uncompromising clarity. He nodded his head slowly.
"Yes, Grand General. If they refuse, they will meet the executioner’s blade," Lie Fan confirmed, his voice devoid of any hesitation. "I harbor no illusions about what lies down there. They will be incredibly hard to persuade. Their loyalty exists on an entirely different spectrum compared to men like Zhang He or Yu Jin."
"The men we just recruited were loyal to the state, to the law, or to their own professional pride. But the men on the third level are loyal to the blood. They are tethered to Cao Cao by familial bonds and decades of unbreakable brotherhood."