Sima Zhao also came toddling over, clinging to Sima Yi’s leg and crying loudly.
Sima Yi felt that things were even worse than he had feared, and he grabbed Sima Jin in panic.
“What happened, Sima Jin?
How did our Sima family become like this?” “Where is Father?
Where are Elder Brother and the others?
Where is your sister-in-law, and where is Shi’er?” Sima Jin wiped away his tears and cried out in grief, “Second Brother, while you were away, our Sima family was exterminated!” It struck Sima Yi like a heavy hammer to the head.
His mind rang, his legs gave way, and he dropped to the ground in shock.
Exterminated.
Those two words hit him like thunder and left him dizzy, almost out of his mind.
After taking several sharp breaths, Sima Yi recovered a little and struggled back to his feet.
He grabbed Sima Jin and roared like a madman, “How could our Sima family be exterminated?
Explain it clearly.
Explain it to me clearly!” Sima Jin let out a long sigh and said with grief and rage, “In broad daylight, a military officer about sixteen or seventeen years old suddenly led eight hundred cavalry into our estate.
That dog killed Third Brother first, then killed Sister-in-law, and after that he led his troops into the manor and killed everyone they saw.
Father, Elder Brother, Fourth Brother, all of them were killed, and nephew Shi’er also died in the chaos.” “Our uncles, cousins, and every clansman who was in the estate were slaughtered completely.
I only survived because I hid with Zhao’er in the cellar.
After they finished killing, they set a fire before leaving and burned our Sima estate into bare ground.” When he finished recounting what had happened, Sima Yi stood frozen in place.
His mouth hung open, his face twisted out of shape, and his eyes looked as though he had just heard the most horrible and unbelievable thing in his life.
In a single night, his father and brothers were dead, his wife and child were dead, and his clansmen had been butchered.
His brothers and sisters, the uncles who had watched him grow up, his wife Zhang Chunhua, his eldest son Sima Shi…
all of them had been killed cleanly.
They had even perished in the flames, leaving behind not even a body.
Sima Yi stood there in a daze.
He refused with all his heart to believe that this cruel truth had really happened.
He would rather believe he was dreaming.
Everything before his eyes and everything he heard was only a nightmare, nothing more.
But Sima Jin fell to the ground again and clutched Sima Yi’s arm.
“Second Brother, you must avenge Father, avenge our brothers, avenge our Sima Clan!” Only when Sima Jin’s cries reached his ears did Sima Yi suddenly wake up.
He realized he was not dreaming.
What he saw before him was cruel, but it was real.
The Sima Clan had truly been exterminated.
“Ah!” Sima Yi threw back his head and let out a miserable cry.
His blood rushed to his head at once, darkness filled his vision, and he swayed on the verge of collapse.
“Sima Jin!” “Father!” Sima Jin and his son Sima Zhao hurriedly caught him.
Sima Yi shut his eyes tightly, clenched his teeth, and gasped for breath again and again.
He used every bit of will he had to force down the rage surging into his head.
When he opened his eyes again, they were bulging, blood vessels spread across them, and he looked like a wild beast.
“Sima Jin, tell me, who dared to exterminate my Sima family in the heart of Great Wei?
Who was it?
Who was so lawless and so savage?” Sima Yi grabbed Sima Jin and roared, the veins on his forehead bulging out.
His terrible expression made Sima Jin shiver as if he were looking at a ghost.
After a while, Sima Jin finally steadied himself and answered in a trembling voice.
“I heard from servants who escaped that the enemy soldiers did not look like our Wei troops.
They seemed to be from the Chu Army.
That officer leading them also had a slight stutter, and I think he mentioned some order from the Grand Commandant…” Sima Yi’s thoughts raced, and his eyes darted wildly.
From those few clues, the truth was woven together in his mind in an instant.
Suddenly, his expression changed completely, and he cried out, “It was Xiao He!
That monster sent troops to slaughter my Sima family!” “Chu Army?
Xiao He?” Sima Jin looked utterly confused.
“Sima Yi, Henei lies deep in the heart of Wei.
How could Chu Army possibly fight their way here?
And that Xiao He, how do you know he was the one who sent troops to destroy our Sima Clan?” At this point, news of Chu Army’s strike on Luoyang had not yet spread through Henei, so Sima Jin naturally had no idea that Henei Commandery had already gone from the interior of Wei to the border between Chu and Wei.
Sima Yi had no choice but to explain it all to him.
“Sima Jin, you still do not know?
Chu Army came by water along the Yellow River, landed at Mengjin, and caught everyone off guard.” Sima Yi then told him how Chu Army had seized Mengjin, advanced on Luoyang, and forced him and Cao Pi to escort Son of Heaven north in flight, only to be intercepted by Chu Army.
He recounted every sudden upheaval that had taken place along the south bank of the Yellow River.
Of course, he could not possibly tell Sima Jin the truth about Cao Pi killing his ruler a second time and being mutilated.
He only said that Son of Heaven had died under the blades of Chu Army.
Sima Jin was so shocked that, for a moment, he even forgot the pain of his clan’s destruction.
“Chu Army is already besieging Luoyang?
Even Son of Heaven died under their blades?” he cried.
“Only that monster Xiao He could come up with a scheme like this.
I believe the one commanding Chu Army must also be him.” Sima Yi gritted his teeth.
“Mengjin and Henei are separated by only one river, and our Wen County is not far from the north bank of the Yellow River.
Chu Army had every chance to land in Henei Commandery.” “Wei has no Grand Commandant.
Only Chu has that post, and Xiao He is the one who holds it.
I also know that Xiao He has a disciple named Deng Ai, and he has a stutter.” “Put those clues together.
Who else but Chu Army could have destroyed Sima Clan?
And who else but Xiao He could be directing it from behind the scenes?” By the end, Sima Yi was forcing the words out through clenched teeth.
Sima Jin finally understood.
He sucked in a cold breath and stood frozen in place, his face full of shock and horror.
After a brief daze, he shouted angrily, “Sima Yi, even if you serve Wei and stand against Xiao He as enemies of different states, how could he be so vicious as to wipe out our entire Sima Clan just because of you alone?” The grief and rage on Sima Yi’s face gave way to a moment of confusion.
In this age of chaos, warlords fought everywhere, and heroes served different masters.
Even brothers of the same clan often followed different lords.