Chapter 18: The Prisoner

“Who? Exactly who is messing with me?!”

That night, while the people of Wang Family Village and the Han soldiers’ camp were immersed in joy and victory, not far away in the Xiongnu grand tent, Tatara, the commander of a thousand cavalry, was furiously stomping in rage.

Last night, he had discovered that one of the hundred-rider squads had gone missing. At first, he thought it was just a minor setback and expected news today. But what came instead were reports of several more units suffering mishaps.

“The deserters say it was the Han soldiers; others claim some of our own people rebelled…”

“Some say it was just a few dozen…”

“Others say over a hundred…”

“Some even speak of a terrifying demon with a blue face and fangs, two heads and four arms, riding a three-headed horse, wiping out entire squads single-handedly…”

“(Xiongnu curses) *2.”

Tatara kicked away the babbling soldier.

“Do you really believe such nonsense? Ridiculous!”

“But those people…”

“They’re all frightened cowards! In just two days, they’ve cost me hundreds of men!”

Tatara kicked the table over again.

“(Xiongnu curses) We don’t even know who the enemy is or how many there are!”

They had clearly crushed the last elite Han troops in Bingzhou, yet this looting mission, which he begged his uncle to assign to him, had turned into a fiasco costing countless soldiers.

The deadline his uncle set for their return was fast approaching. How could he face him now?

Faced with such wrath, Tatara’s subordinates fell silent, no one dared to speak.

No—there was one who dared.

“Commander of the thousand cavalry, according to the reports from those two broken units, the enemy should be Han elite cavalry disguised in our Xiongnu armor, attacking stealthily. Their numbers cannot be many—at most twenty.”

The one speaking with confidence was Jin Fangyan, a skilled archer who had first spotted the panicked deserters during his afternoon watch.

He had later found each of the deserters, questioned them carefully, and after cross-verifying their accounts, reached this conclusion.

Tatara merely snorted coldly.

“You mean a dozen or so cavalrymen dressed like us could annihilate several of my hundred-rider units, leaving only these few cowards to escape?”

“No, they’re not cowards. On the contrary, they’re clever,” Jin Fangyan frowned and said, “Those Han might be extraordinary…”

“Silence!” Tatara snapped.

“The Han are cowards! Haven’t you seen these years? They can’t even handle peasants and have to beg our Xiongnu for reinforcements.”

“If the Han were truly cowards, why did King Xiutu change a Han’s name? Why would our Xiongnu have been trapped in this small Western River land for over a hundred years?”

“Jin Fangyan!” Tatara grabbed the collar of Jin Fangyan and lifted him up easily.

“This is blasphemy! If you weren’t an archer, I’d have cut off your head right now.”

Jin Fangyan fell silent.

“My uncle changed the Han names merely to rule over those sheep. My uncle will not only lead us to rule the steppes but also to gallop through the Central Plains, grazing on Han farmlands, feeding our children with their daughters’ milk. Do you understand?”

“Rule the steppes…” Jin Fangyan suddenly looked up, staring at Tatara. “So you intend to raise your blade against our Chanyu?”

Tatara shoved him away with a cold sneer.

“So what if we do? Can a sheep lead a pack of wolves? Only the strongest man deserves the title of Chanyu, only the strongest tribe can guide the Xiongnu. Isn’t it my uncle and our Xiutu tribe who should bear this great responsibility?”

Jin Fangyan was silent again. He had his answer.

So that was it.

He had felt something amiss before. Why was King Xiutu so eager after defeating the Bingzhou army, only sending a mere few thousand cavalry for the usual plundering, despite already having entered the Jinzhong Basin?

Hmph. It’s rebellion—power struggle all along, yet they still claim to act for the Xiongnu.

He wondered how Qiangqu Khan and You Fuluo fared…

“I remember your archer title was granted by Qiangqu Khan, and you had a good relationship with the Right Wise King You Fuluo, right?”

“…So what?”

“Guards, take Jin Fangyan away!”

“On what grounds? I’ve never betrayed our Left Tribe!”

“One of the missing hundred-rider units belongs to your tribe. The deserters said they were attacked by traitors among us.”

Tatara’s face darkened.

“Until your suspicion is cleared, stay quietly in the prison.”

Jin Fangyan closed his eyes, knowing nothing he said would help.

How ridiculous—he, the kingdom’s top archer, was locked in a cage without firing a single arrow, betrayed by his own people.

Trembling, he touched the shackles on his hands as two guards escorted him step by step into a small, cramped tent—his place of confinement.

…

Meanwhile, in another place of confinement, one side was cold and desolate, while the other was lively and noisy.

“I can’t get in, really can’t…”

“Stop pushing, or someone’s going to get hurt!”

Prisoners inside the dungeon of Wang Family Fort shouted in chaos.

“This dungeon of yours is no good!” Su Yao pinched his chin, his expression darkening.

“Benefactor, our fort was never built for rebellion. Who knew it would one day hold so many people…” Wang Ling hung his head in shame.

The small dungeon was divided into four cells; three were packed full with Xiongnu captives, and the last one’s door couldn’t even close, with four Han men being pushed inside continuously.

At that moment, a man squeezed in like a sandwich suddenly yelled,

“There are dozens of us here, and only four of them. Rather than get crushed to death, we should revolt and fight our way out!”

“Revolt?”

“Yes, revolt!”

The prisoners stirred, eyes fixed on the guards by the cell door.

“What do you want to do?”

A Wang Family villager, temporarily acting as guard, stepped back, drawing his sword and shouting in panic.

“Captain, they want to rebel!”

“Is that so?” Su Yao leapt down from the steps, blades in hand, eyes gleaming with excitement at these useless captives.

Yes, useless! Completely useless! These prisoners were nothing but a burden.

Back in the village, Su Yao found no slave traders; the village chief of Wang Family Village refused to accept any captives.

If they couldn’t be sold, recruiting them was the only option. After all, his unit was short by forty men.

Yet recruitment went nowhere—not just slowly, but utterly stalled.

It wasn’t that the prisoners refused to cooperate; the idea simply never got off the ground.

Neither the rescued villagers nor his own troops wanted these captives to be armed again.

Even Zhang Yang said bluntly,

“How can you ensure these Xiongnu won’t stab us in the back as soon as they’re armed?”

Thus, these hundreds of captives became a black hole, wasting food and resources, gnawing at Su Yao’s patience.

If it weren’t for the loss of credibility from killing prisoners unnecessarily, he would have executed them long ago.

Now that they were openly talking about rebellion, it was the last thing he wanted.

“Come on! Are you going to rebel or not?”

Before the eager Su Yao, the prisoners’ earlier clamor deflated like a burst balloon. They stared blankly at each other, none willing to take the lead.

Goodness, every one of them had seen that grim reaper in battle.

So, how come they dared not fight when fully armed on the battlefield, but now, dressed in prison garb and unarmed, they suddenly thought they could take a knife to the head?

Impossible. Absolutely impossible.

At this moment, all the captives silently thought the same thing: let whoever wants to fight fight—I’m not getting involved.

“???” Su Yao was furious.

“Don’t you have any fighting spirit? Come on!”