chapter 33

chapter 33 The Experience of A Warrior

[Huang Jun]: General Zheng,
{Yuan Shao’s subordinate officer, Huang Jun}

[HJ]: what is life?
[HJ]: Has the thought ever filled you with regret?
(not sure)

[Zheng Jie]: Aging, ailing, and death.

[HJ]: No, I meant the life of a warrior.

{Ma Hong}
[Ma Hong]: My old man once said…
(“…[while] he lived…”)

[MH]: enlisted at fifteen, and finally returning at eighty.

[HJ]: Returning? Only as a corpse, right?

[MH]: Endless affairs of war await you when you win.

[MH]: Grievances and punishment await you when you lose.
(“[if] defeated, dead people’s family will curse you, military law punish you”)

[MH]: Historical text will belittle you when you pull back from a fight.

[MH]: And then your descendants shall forever carry that shame.

[MH]: If you’re lucky enough to survive to your eighties,
[MH]: watching the younger generation fight while you’re too weak to join them- that feeling is worse than death.

[ZJ]: Right. A warrior’s life is just so helpless and absurd.
[ZJ]: Since you’ve chosen this path, there’s no room for regrets.

[HJ]: Thank you both for your advice!
[HJ]: I feel more at ease now!

Our warrior’s path will come to an end today.
If so, we should finish it with dignity.

[?]: They’re here! Yuan Shao’s Vanguards are here!
[?]: Aren’t these three the famous officers Zheng, Ma and Huang?

Fortunately some people still remember our names.

[?]: Let them pass!

Fortunately we get to have such a magnificent grave site.

The only thing missing is a spectacular death!

[?] Ge…
(“wen”)
[?]: General Wen Chou is still alive?

{sfx: ta~ ta~}

…Does he know what I’m thinking about?

[ZJ]: This guy…
[HJ]: Who knew such a fierce fighter exists in Dong Zhuo’s army…

[Lü Bu]: Three more have come to die.

[ZJ]: Huang Jun, you first.
[HJ]: My thoughts exactly.

[HJ]: Farewell, brother Wen Chou.

[MH]: Brother Wen Chou’s body is shaking, because he hasn’t decided between life and death.
[MH]: Us vanguards welcome death like homecoming. Struggling through that decision is a luxury we never had…

{sfx: ta~}

[HJ]: Enemy officer! State your name!

[LB]: Lü Bu!

{clang~}

Lü Bu…

It’s really Lü Bu!

{slash~}

God of War, a name that rings like thunder in my ears!

To die by this man’s halberd…

I… died spectacularly!

[ZJ]: Killed in battle at merely twenty years old.
[MH]: But he died with dignity.

That’s the cruelty of war.

And this man…
is the real Lü Bu!

In the face of such a monster, I couldn’t help but feel a trembling deep within me!

Not out of fear…

but that my will to fight is coursing through my veins!

It pushed through all doubts and surpassed the boundaries of life and death…

All I want in life is one good fight!

One that won’t leave me with regret even if I die!

{clang~ clang~ clang~}

Exhilarating!

So exhilarating!

My body is filled with excitement…

as if it’s about to burst…

My glaive

swings wildly without a care in the world!

That’s the thrill of invincibility!

Except that a brief moment of invincibility…

costs me the calm composure needed in battle.
When I look back at this man…

he seems to be telling me…

that life shouldn’t be spent so recklessly.

{clang~}

The deafening boom pulled me out of my trance!

What is the value of life? Should one be stingy or spend it lavishly?

{thump~}

He has finally decided!

[LB]: Wen Chou, how many strikes should I spot you this time?

Huff…

But his answer sounds hopeless…
[Wen Chou]: Thirty, please. There are three of us.

The fear of Lü Bu
stems not from his fighting prowess…
but his psychological warfare!