Summer, Twentieth Year of the Xin Zhuo Emperor

As the rebel force flooded into Anping, a large shadow broke away from the crowd and set off on its own, heading up a large avenue strewn with the debris of battle and surrounded by charred and smoking buildings.

The climactic end of the battle was coming, but Morha had one more thing to do before joining in the fight for the Imperial Palace.

Anping had once appeared to be a great, incomprehensible maze to her, stretching as far as the eye could see. The capital city remained a maze, perhaps now more helped by the sheer destruction that had occurred in the ensuing period, but now the mušḫuššu had broken the code; she knew that the main streets followed a rigid grid pattern, that the alleys all radiated from the densest communities to the nearest major paths, and that the greatest lords resided in hillside palaces to the East, closest to the rising sun.

And a certain manor was where Morha was headed.

She had heard about what happened, but she needed to see for herself.

Lord Buzhong’s Palace had been devastated by the siege, and as the purple dragon moved her way through the familiar front gate, she was stunned by how much the once-meticulously kept grounds had fallen into ruin. No one was visible: no watch, no servants nor guards, whether human, long or mao gui. Buildings were not only flaking paint, but visibly sagging, weeds were cropping up among the manicured gardens. A creek was even running through the paths, which would have horrified Eshank. As the mušḫuššu continued onward, she noticed that the two chimeric guardians remained standing at their duty by the doorway, though one had lost its head. Morha put a paw upon the fallen head. Inanimate creatures, these protectors had clearly failed in their task.

There was a certain sadness to this: here was everything that Morha had experienced in Jiangshan for five years, the place she lived, the individuals she interacted with, the small things-Suna’s meticulously heated rooms, Mingchao’s savory soy and rice wine sauce and Eshank's evening tunes. Now they were gone.

Now she didn’t miss it, the dragon quickly scolded herself. She had been a prisoner. She had been kept as a slave, a pet. The system deserved to be destroyed.

But, a part of her still nagged, some things were perhaps better left alone than brought to ruin beside those detestable.

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Total War: Three Kingdoms Soundtrack (Tao Te Ching Chapter -18)

From  thefiredrakoshka!

Original: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/57638498/