At this time, the sun was still setting in the west, its dying light bleeding across the horizon like blood. To the east, however, the great hand of night had already silently reached for the battered territory of the Han Dynasty. No one could stop it.
Suddenly, beyond the western mountain range, a column of black smoke shot into the sky, forming a stark contrast with the blood-red sunset at the edge of the world.
"Beacon smoke! It's beacon smoke!" A Dong Zhuo soldier atop a signal tower shouted, "Quick! Light the beacon smoke as a warning! Hurry!" Before long, a pitch-black plume rose from the top of that signal tower, piercing straight into the heavens. Shortly afterward, another plume rose from the east of the tower. One signal after another spread swiftly all the way to Tong Pass.
"Report! Beacon smoke has risen in warning from the west!" A messenger delivered the news to Zhang Liao and Jia Xu.
The west?
Jia Xu and Zhang Liao froze, then hurried to the top of Tong Pass's fortifications and looked into the distance. "Thirty-six beacon signals!" Jia Xu's face darkened. "Something has happened in Chang'an." Zhang Liao said, "How is that possible? What could have happened in Chang'an that warrants beacon warnings?" Since beacon smoke had been raised, war must have broken out. But how could war possibly have erupted within Chang'an? Jia Xu sighed. "I fear something has changed."
Just then, another messenger rushed over. "Report! Beacon fires have risen in the direction of Stone Rampart Fort!"
Zhang Liao opened his mouth, then asked Jia Xu, "What do you think, Mister Wenhe?" Should they save them or not? Jia Xu frowned as well. "Something is amiss." At that moment, thunderous war drums suddenly sounded from east of Tong Pass.
Cao