A fire in his navel

Chapters 8-9

Great stuff here. These chapters belong to Diaochan. She is the woman who seduces both Dong Zhuo and his general Lu Bu, causing Dong Zhuo’s death. Diaochan is among the most well-known of the Magic cards from Portal: Three Kingdoms. As one of the only female characters in the story so far, she is a welcome delight.

Last post, I mentioned that Sun Qian felt like the real first major death. We’ve got another one here with the end of the tyrant Dong Zhuo. Only a few opportunists mourn him, causing some problems near the end of the chapter that make it look like the Emperor will be killed and the whole Empire will collapse. We already know the author’s opinion about Dong Zhuo. He reiterates one last time after he is killed: “There was so much fat in his body that the guards lit a fire in his navel as it burned, and grease from the corpse ran over the ground.”

So far those that killed Dong Zhuo aren’t doing well. Diaochan is quickly swept up by Lu Bu (is that what she wants? Who can say?). Li Su, who helped set the trap for Dong Zhuo and is the one to behead him, is himself beheaded only four pages later. Wang Yun, who planned the scheme with Diaochan, is killed along with his whole clan. Lu Bu survives, but has suffered heavy losses among his forces. Finally, the Emperor is in the hands of lesser men: Li Jue and Guo Si, who want to kill him and start their own dynasty. It’s a good cliffhanger ending.