Meeting New Allies...or New Enemies(Ma Chao)

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"Hmm, peace. It's what most of us really want. But to be honest, even a short peace... never truly exists. But we call it peace. Just because the majority of the land doesn't collide, it's called peace. But as long as this world exists, true, genuine cooperation and coordination of the people and society will most likely never happen, no? And that's what makes the world livable for all of us in our own part, while we strive to find the peace in our own class, our own way of living. Such as for us, we fight for settlement in war, but somewhere in the land there will be strife, unknown and uncaring to our beliefs."

[Cao Cao]

"I am not sure what to say. That is very true."Ma Chao is a very wise man, and by looks, he seems like a very strong warrior. This man seems different from all the regular soliders and officers of armies. This man knows exactly what he is talking about. Zhi was amazed by this man, this great man."So how long do you plan on staying here in Xia Pi?"

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"Maybe one or two days at the most, I guess," Ma Chao replied. "I must return to my duties in Xin Ye, and I do not wish to let Lord Liu Bei down in my work. Failure is something that I have experienced numerous times in my life, and another one in major will just not be acceptable in my limited natural tolerance. How long are you planning to stay in Xia Pi yourself, General Zhi Fang, before you return to your own lord?"

[Cao Cao]

"Of course, that is understandable. I plan on staying her for atleast three more days. Before, you said that Cao Cao did something that you will have vengance for. Do you mind me asking what excatly he did? I understand if you don't want to talk about it though."Zhi thought about what Cao Cao did to Zhi, and his village, and all Zhi could think of is how badly he wanted to get back at him."One day!"Zhi thought to himself.

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Talking about the matter was of no big deal to Ma Chao. Sure, it brought back memories, and, of course, rage, but wasn¡¯t that what he lived on with daily anyway? Nodding his head to signify that he will, Ma Chao said: "It does not really bother me to speak of the matter. Cao Cao massacred the near entirety of the Ma clan situated in Ye, due to his foolish rage against me in Xi Liang. For some reason, the bastard found misconceptions, fault in me and used to the pesky blame to kill off my family, to get rid of a great threat to him. Only my cousin escaped and returned to me in Xi Liang, and now I swear vengeance to kill him.

"What did he do to you in detail?"

[Cao Cao]

"He did not get what he wanted, which is something I am still not sure what he really wanted, and he burned down my village because of it. He killed innocent poeple and for that, he shall pay!!"Zhi slammed his fist down onto the bench. He showed anger, which was rare for Zhi because he usually keeps his emotions inside and rarely lets them out.

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"Hmm." Apparently, and quite expectedly, Cao Cao had shown other acts of villainy in other places as well. Well, it suits the man to cause crime everywhere he went for his own lustful good. "May I ask, Zhi Fang... If you yourself find justice a necessary thing in your life? Is it due to justice that you wish to take vengeance upon Cao Cao, or is it because you simply wish to murder a man who did you wrong? Do you wish to bring the criminal to justice, or do you want to kill one who wronged you?"

[Cao Cao]

Zi pondered the question. He wanted to use the right words, so as to not make it sound like he wanted something different than he really wanted. Zhi, after a few seconds of thinking , said,"Well...it is a little of both. A part of me wants to show this man the errors of his ways, being him to justice. Though the other part wants to kill him...though to show him the errors of his ways and to make sure he never does anything evil like that to anybody else. They are almost similar, yet both different at the same time. If I ever get to that point, there will be a crossroads that I will need to choose a path to go down. And I pray that when I get there, I choose the right road."Zhi waited a minute, to try and let it sink in. Then he asked Ma Chao,"May I ask you the same question you ask me?"