It turned out that David Clark had just found Lady Green as well, and before he could speak, he saw from afar two riders galloping past in the crowd. At first, David Clark thought they were soldiers of Cao’s army and was about to seize a warhorse for Lady Green to ride. But upon a closer look, he saw it was Ethan Brooks and Stephen Collins, so he called out to them loudly.

At this moment, the three stood before Lady Green. David Clark anxiously asked, “Do you know where Lady Collins is?”

Lady Green replied, “Lady Collins and I were driven away by the chaos of the army, so we abandoned the carriage and mixed in with the common people. Unexpectedly, we encountered another troop along the way and got separated. I don’t know where Lady Collins and A’dou are now; I escaped here alone.”

Upon hearing this, David Clark said to Ethan Brooks, “Let’s first escort Nicholas and the madam out of here!” Ethan Brooks nodded and said, “That’s best!” The two then invited Lady Green to mount a horse. David Clark and Ethan Brooks, one leading and one covering the rear, protected Stephen Collins and Lady Green as they fought their way out. With Stephen Collins familiar with the roads, they soon broke through the encirclement. In the distance, they saw a bridge ahead, and on the bridge stood a man holding a spear, blocking anyone who tried to cross.

“Zilong! Why did you betray my brother?” This man was none other than Michael Bolton. Apparently, he had misunderstood that David Clark had defected to Cao Cao, so upon seeing him, he immediately began to question him.

David Clark nearly fell off his horse in anger and replied, “I couldn’t find the madam and the young master, so I fell behind. How can you say I’ve betrayed you?”

Michael Bolton said, “If Adam Wright hadn’t come to tell me first, I would have already thrust my spear at you!”

David Clark didn’t want to argue nonsense with Michael Bolton and urgently asked, “Where is the lord?”

“Just up ahead!” Michael Bolton answered, then turned to Ethan Brooks and said, “Andrew, how come you’re only just getting out?”

Ethan Brooks gave a wry smile and said, “I got lost in the chaos. If I hadn’t run into General Clark, I might not have made it out at all!” Michael Bolton was stunned and didn’t know how to respond. At first, he’d heard that David Clark had led dozens of riders toward Cao Cao’s army and thought David Clark had betrayed Liu Bei. Later, hearing that Ethan Brooks was also missing, he assumed Ethan Brooks had defected as well. He hadn’t expected things to turn out like this, and for a moment, he didn’t know what to say, just stood there in silence.

At this moment, David Clark spoke to resolve the awkwardness: “Nicholas, escort the madam to find the lord first. I’ll go look for Lady Collins and the young master!” With that, he turned his horse to head back.

Ethan Brooks, hearing this, also turned his horse and said to David Clark, “I’ll go with General Clark!” David Clark looked at him and smiled, “That’s for the best!”

Michael Bolton stood on the bridge and, seeing the two about to fight their way back, shouted, “William and Andrew, go quickly and return quickly! Old Zhang will wait for you here!”

David Clark and Ethan Brooks turned their heads, glanced at Michael Bolton, then looked at each other. In that exchange, Ethan Brooks felt that David Clark’s face was full of heroic spirit, without a trace of fear!

“Let’s go!” David Clark shouted, spurred his horse, and charged toward Changban again. Seeing David Clark’s demeanor, Ethan Brooks was filled with heroism as well and shouted, “Hyah!” following closely behind David Clark. Michael Bolton stood on the bridge, watching the two riders slowly disappear over the horizon, and softly muttered, “Take care!”

------------

Chapter 10 Changban (2)

Ethan Brooks followed David Clark as they fought their way back to Changban. As they galloped forward, they suddenly saw a general ahead, holding a long spear and carrying a sword on his back, leading dozens of riders toward them. Without a word, David Clark raised his spear and charged. As the two horses met, David Clark struck with a single thrust, killing the sword-bearing general and knocking him off his horse. At the same time, Ethan Brooks charged into the group of riders, fought fiercely, and with his spear drove them all back. When the enemy cavalry had retreated, he returned to David Clark’s side.

At this moment, David Clark was examining the sword he had seized. He drew the long sword, and a cold gleam flashed. Looking closely, he saw two characters engraved on the blade and softly read, “Qinggang!” Seeing Ethan Brooks return, he smiled and said, “I didn’t expect to seize a precious sword as well!” Ethan Brooks just smiled without speaking, glanced at the sword in David Clark’s hand, then at the fallen general on the ground, and thought to himself, “So this is Cao Cao’s sword-bearer Louis Foster. In Romance of the Three Kingdoms, he only appears to deliver the sword to David Clark! What an unlucky fellow!” With that, he looked at Louis Foster’s corpse with a hint of pity, then followed David Clark to continue searching for Lady Collins.

Along the way, the two saw corpses strewn everywhere, most of them ordinary people. Most had died in the chaos, trampled by others or killed in the confusion; only a small number had actually died at the hands of soldiers. But Ethan Brooks had no mind to care how these people had died. Whenever he and David Clark saw commoners, they would ask, “Have you seen Lady Collins?” without caring whether these people actually knew her. There was no other way—finding someone on a battlefield was like looking for a needle in a haystack. Other than this, the two really couldn’t think of a better method.