Waiting and waiting, the idle Ethan Brooks actually started observing David Clark’s side. However, after searching for quite a while, he still couldn’t figure out how David Clark managed to hide his troops, as he couldn’t spot a single flaw. Time passed as he let his thoughts wander. By the time Ethan Brooks snapped back to reality, chaos had erupted in Xinye City. Even from outside the city, he could clearly see the towering flames rising within. Hiding outside the city, Ethan Brooks could distinctly hear the shouts, screams, and even the crackling sound of houses burning coming from inside.

At this moment, the sounds of battle cries erupted from the west, south, and north gates of Xinye City. The Cao soldiers inside the city, upon hearing the noise, became even more chaotic. Soon, small groups of Cao soldiers began to rush out from the east gate, and their numbers gradually increased. After about a quarter of an hour, when the Cao generals started leading large numbers of soldiers out of the city, Ethan Brooks knew the time had come. He pointed his spear forward and shouted to the soldiers beside him, “Attack!” The surrounding soldiers, as if infected by his cry, passed the shout along in turn. Five hundred soldiers seemed to appear out of nowhere, led by Ethan Brooks as they charged forward.

At the same time, David Clark on the other side also led his troops into the fray. The Cao soldiers who had just escaped with their lives from the burning Xinye City had no time to rejoice before the waves of battle cries sent them into even greater panic. Most of the soldiers, in their haste, knocked over their own comrades, and many were trampled to death by their own side in the chaos. When Ethan Brooks led his men in, the Cao army was completely unable to organize any effective resistance and simply couldn’t stop Ethan Brooks’s troops. Ethan Brooks charged at the front, and these five hundred soldiers pierced straight into the Cao army like a sharp blade. The Cao soldiers were only concerned with fleeing for their lives, with hardly anyone resisting. Ethan Brooks, riding on horseback and constantly swinging his spear, had no idea how many he had killed. Besides Ethan Brooks, David Clark’s troops also charged in. Out of the original hundred thousand-strong army, many had already perished in the fire, and now, under attack amidst the chaos, the scene was one of utter carnage, with men and horses thrown into disarray and severed limbs flying everywhere. If not for the fact that Ethan Brooks and David Clark had too few troops, it’s likely that the tens of thousands of enemy soldiers would have all perished here.

After fighting for a while, Ethan Brooks and David Clark realized they hadn’t captured a single general; all the prisoners were just ordinary soldiers. Moreover, since the enemy was simply too numerous, they couldn’t kill them all, and about half managed to escape.

David Clark rode up to Ethan Brooks and said with a smile, “It’s a pity we didn’t catch a single general! What about Andrew’s side?” Upon hearing this, Ethan Brooks laughed and replied, “Not only did I not catch one, I didn’t even see a single one!” All the way through the charge, all Ethan Brooks saw were common soldiers—he didn’t even spot many cavalry, let alone any generals. At this, Ethan Brooks could only sigh inwardly: “Luck like last time really doesn’t come every time!”

“In that case, let’s call it a draw!” David Clark said to Ethan Brooks with a smile. Ethan Brooks also laughed and replied, “That’s for the best!” Then he joined David Clark in gathering the troops to meet up with Guan and Zhang.

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Chapter 8: The Persuader

After Ethan Brooks and David Clark gathered their troops and met up with Guan and Zhang, they all went to Fancheng together. Unfortunately, they had only stayed in Fancheng for a few days before they had to leave.

Cao Cao sent Paul Morgan to persuade Liu Bei to surrender. At the time, Liu Bei tried his best to keep Paul Morgan, urging him not to return to Cao’s camp, but Paul Morgan flatly refused. Ethan Brooks was present then, and seeing Paul Morgan refuse, he secretly cursed, “Stubborn fool!” When he had read about this in books before, he had cursed Paul Morgan as an idiot. What’s this about “if I don’t return, I’ll be laughed at”? Laughed at by whom? It’s just Cao Cao’s men spreading rumors, and the impact would only be within Cao Cao’s sphere of influence. But Paul Morgan was working for Liu Bei—if he stayed, offered some brilliant strategies, and won a few battles, wouldn’t Liu Bei help restore his reputation? Who would care about this minor issue of defecting at the last minute? At worst, they could publicize the fact that Cao Cao was holding Paul Morgan’s mother hostage. Once his filial piety was broadcast, Paul Morgan’s reputation would probably rise even higher.

Watching Liu Bei reluctantly escort Paul Morgan out of Fancheng, Ethan Brooks quietly walked up to Liu Bei and said, “If you truly can’t bear to let Mr. Patrick leave, why not have Andrew go and bring Mr. Morgan back by force? That way, it’s not that Mr. Morgan won’t return, but that he can’t!” Liu Bei’s eyes lit up at these words, but then dimmed again as he said, “If I did that, I’d be harming Mr. Patrick! This must not be mentioned again!” With that, he turned and went back to his room, leaving everyone else in the hall.

Ethan Brooks looked left and right, seeing everyone shaking their heads in silence, and sighed inwardly: “I really am not a person of this era—I just can’t understand how these people think!” As he was thinking this, he turned and happened to see Benjamin Reed, who was signaling to him with his eyes, as if telling him to follow. Then Benjamin Reed turned and left the hall. Without thinking further, Ethan Brooks immediately followed him out.

After leaving the hall and arriving at a side courtyard, Ethan Brooks immediately saw Benjamin Reed waiting for him in the courtyard. He walked over, clasped his fists, and said, “Advisor, you called for me—what are your instructions?” He knew that Benjamin Reed was not the type to summon someone for no reason; if there was nothing important, he wouldn’t have called him over alone.