Huarong Trail · Canon
The fire at Red Cliffs has only just died. The north bank is burnt flags and broken armor. Cao Cao leads the remnant down the Huarong trail, men and horses spent, when the van reports: along the hill, five hundred blades, and at their head a man with the Green Dragon saber on Red Hare -- Guan Yu. The soldiers look at one another. Zhang Liao says low: My lord, this is Yun-chang's pass. We cannot win a fight; only feeling can move him. Cao Cao looks at the Han Shouting Marquis banner in the smoke, bitter in the throat. Xu Tian, the five passes, the old debts -- all of it is on this narrow road.