After a long time, the sound of arrows died down. Zhao Jun and I had escaped death for the first time. He patted my back to tell me it was safe now. I felt I had aged by years. I looked at Zhao Jun excitedly for the chance of survival, very appreciated that he tried to give me a safe world. I looked around. What a dreadful world it was! Everywhere was filled with dead bodies. The people who survived were groaning.

I was senseless. My face was pale, and my lips were trembling. Zhao Jun comforted me, “Never mind, we’re in a dream. When awake, we’ll be safe.” Suddenly, a loud cry came into my ears. I looked in the direction of the sound and saw a handsome tall man in smart clothes crying not far from us with a group of gentleman surrounding him.

“This man is Liu Bei. That dark faced, strongly built man is Zhang Fei. The handsome tall man is Guan Yu. The man who was standing in front of them with a unique air is councilor Zhuge Liang,” Zhao Jun introduced them to me successively.

“What a worthless person I am to make my beloved citizens suffer for me! I should be damned! I should be damned!”

Zhuge Liang comforted Liu Bei with a soothing voice, “My majesty, don’t be upset. We will win the battle if we reach the mountain and Jiang Xia. In order to survive, Liu Biao wouldn’t refuse our request of cooperation.”

“Brother, you shouldn’t be too upset. As the councilor said, we should find a way,” Zhang Fei also comforted Liu Bei with a hoarse voice.

Liu Bei straightened his backbone and consulted Zhuge Liang. “So what to do next?”

“As we can’t cross the river quickly with a huge number of people, we should leave some of the citizens here and take the rest to Jiangxia first,” Zhuge Liang said.

“If that’s so, wouldn’t the citizens here be in danger?”

“Some risks have to be taken to achieve success,” Zhuge Liang touched his beard and said gravely. “Even some sacrifices have to be made.”

Liu Bei looked greatly pained in his face. He looked back at the remaining citizens with love and concern. Then he stood up and said with a great effort, “My dear followers, I have to leave some of you behind, so that I can take the others with me to cross the river. But I promise I will be back as soon as possible after I reach Jiangxia. Believe me — Liu Bei.” Then he bowed deeply. After a long time, he rose.

“I hope he is not a showing man,” I whispered to Zhao Jun. Zhao made a silent laugh.

All the living citizens seemed to be overwhelmed by unexpected favor and they all knelt down. They gave their fate to God, and let God decide whether they were to live or not. Zhao Jun dragged my clothes and hinted at me to follow others’ gestures.

It was Zhang Fei’s turn to decide who would stay and who would leave. When he came to me, he said, “Unfortunately my lady, you have to stay, because you are a woman.” It suddenly occurred to me that females were not respected in the Three Kingdoms.

“Let her go. I will stay for her,” Zhao Jun came to the front, and begged Zhang Fei.

I looked at him in surprise. I didn’t know what kind of dream it was, but if we were wounded in this dream, we would never come back to the real world.

I hurried to say, “No, let me stay. Yes, I am a woman and I will delay the marching army if I go with you.”

Zhang Fei nodded his head, showing that he agreed with me. He said to Zhao Jun, “Judging from your figure, I think you are a great warrior. Men should live and die for a cause, like protecting the country, not to die for a woman.” Then he looked at me maliciously, “If a man is outstanding enough, he will be surrounded by beauties.” Very angrily, I gave Zhang Fei a stare. But for Zhao Jun’s safety, I would not have argued with Zhang Fei and even quarreled with him as a modern woman. But I said, “Yes, let me stay. General Zhang is correct.”

Zhao Jun looked at me in disbelief. “We have known each other since our childhood and my heart never changed since I met you. I want you to live. I don’t want to see you die here.” He looked at me decisively, making me blush. Then he turned to Zhang Fei, saying, “I can stay here to protect the remaining citizens and wait for our lord’s return.”

Zhang Fei, this big man, looked at Zhao Jun with disbelief and said, “You should think carefully.” Zhao Jun shook his head. Zhang Fei cursed a little, when Liu Bei came. He heard the whole conversation. “Can we take both of them with us?”

“Brother, that’s impossible. We can only take the man. That’s the rule.” Guan Yu said.

“The lady can go with us. The boy can fight against the enemy here. If we are quick enough, all will be safe.” Zhuge Laing had helped Liu Bei make the choice. I doubted whether this was his real reason. I guessed that Zhuge Liang had foreseen that Zhao Jun couldn’t be persuaded and any further delay would be dangerous. Then he made his quick decision.

Liu Bei agreed, and we started to go. Zhao Jun looked at me straight in the eyes before we left and said,“This maybe the last time we meet. After this parting, I don’t know if we are lucky enough to see each other again. Maybe yes, maybe no. Or maybe this is just a dream. In a sea of people, it is our luck to meet each other and to be tied together by the dream. I hope you will never forget me.” After saying this, Zhao Jun picked up the spear on the ground. Before I could say something, I was urged to go by other people. I looked back several times and he was still standing there and looking at me with a spear in his hands. The farther I walked, the dimmer his image became. Zhang Fei was urging us to walk fast. I walked as tears fell silently from my cheek.

Suddenly, I woke up, and all the vision was vanished. I didn’t know whether Zhao Jun and I both arrived in Jiang Xia safely and whether we joined each other again after that. I was conscious that I was still lying on my comfortable bed. When I got up, I was surprised there was a toy spear on my bedside cabinet which I’d never seen before. I didn’t know who’d put it there. I thought that perhaps the dream had been real. Then tears fell down my cheek again like pearls.