al_squad
patreon
Finest Servant Chapter 546
🕑 Added 2023-10-10 11:36:19 +0000 UTCChapter 546 Fate Decided by Heaven
"Charge!" With his resounding war cry, five thousand soldiers burst forth like unleashed tigers, galloping their horses wildly toward Dalanzha. Their gleaming battle blades shimmered with icy radiance in the setting sun.
Burning the fields of the Turkic people had been a dream of the Great Hua soldiers for centuries—a chance to avenge their past humiliations. A fervor blazed in their eyes, reddening their faces. The excitement was palpable, as the hooves of their steeds kicked up enough dust to obscure the horizon.
The thundering hooves woke the returning Turkic shepherds. Standing beside their tents, they squinted to get a better look at the oncoming troop. These warriors, dressed in tattered robes, looked incredibly ferocious. Suddenly, the men, women, and children of Dalanzha broke into excited cheers, rushing toward the soldiers. Exuberant shouts and cries echoed across the plains.
Clearly, the Turks, who had never been raided before, mistook these invading Great Hua soldiers for triumphant warriors of their own tribe. They couldn't fathom that people from Great Hua would dare set foot in their plains, and certainly didn't expect such ferocity from what they considered a frail people.
Having covered almost a mile and with only a few hundred yards separating the two parties, it was the Turkic sentries who first sensed something amiss. The menacing troop advanced with blades shining as if slicing through the cold light of the sky, exuding an aura of deadly intent. The knights had yellow skin and black hair, and their eyes were as cold as winter ice.
"Damn it, it's the Great Hua—Ah!" The alarm cry from a Dalanzha sentry was cut short as a swift horse charged at him. A razor-sharp blade flashed by like a streak of white silk. In a shower of blood, the Turkic man was sliced in half, tumbling off his horse. His protruding eyes bulged with shock, a melancholic light clear within. Clearly, he had never expected to meet his end at the doorstep of his homeland, under the blades of Great Hua.
Gao Qiu spat viciously on the Turkic corpse and swung his blade, flicking the blood off its edge. "That's right, I am your grandpa from Great Hua. Those who dare cross mighty Great Hua will be punished, no matter the distance!"
"Those who dare cross mighty Great Hua will be punished, no matter the distance!" Hu Bugui and the five thousand soldiers echoed, their swift figures like shooting stars, charging toward the sprawling tents of Dalanzha.
The cheering Turks, filled with excitement, had been rushing to meet their "returning warriors." But when they saw Gao Qiu's blade flash and slash the sentry, splattering blood across the grass, they faltered. It was then that they saw the faces of the "tribal warriors"—yellow-skinned, black-haired, and black-eyed. A different visage from their own.
"Ah—it's the Great Hua people!" Someone shouted first, and countless Turks abruptly halted. Staring at the bloody blades of the Great Hua soldiers, they seemed to be paralyzed with a kind of fear they had never known. No one could have anticipated that these fierce warriors from Great Hua would actually infiltrate the plains, setting fires and causing havoc in what the Turks had always believed to be an impregnable homeland.
The stark contrast left all the Turks stunned, even forgetting to flee.
"Charge!" Hu Bugui's eyes were bloodshot, ferocious like a wild wolf on the grasslands. He spurred his horse alongside the Gao Qiu and led the charge at the forefront. With a swift motion, his blade fell, and a spurt of blood shot skyward. The severed head of a bearded Turk flew high before landing on the grass. The Turk's eyes were wide open, incredulous to his last breath that the people of Great Hua had actually come to kill them.
Amidst the sky filled with the crimson mist of blood, the Turks finally came to their senses. "Run!" they screamed in terror. Countless Turks sprinted back in fear. From a distance, they looked like boiling dumplings in a pot.
The Turks, panicked and helpless, instantly became living targets for the Great Hua cavalry. The soldiers thought of their kin—elderly, women, and children—who had perished under the Turks' iron hooves, their eyes filled with despair and helplessness. These haunting images fueled the soldiers' rage.
Five thousand Great Hua warriors were consumed by bloodlust, their wolfish ferocity erupting from within. Their expressions were ice-cold as they slowly drew their longbows. They relished the sound of arrows piercing the chests of robust Turks and the shattering of breastbones, as if all their sorrow had been released in a bloody catharsis.
The Turks, now alert, finally began to struggle. The few thousand remaining Turks hastily mounted their horses and charged at the Great Hua cavalry with howls. In their rush, they were unprepared and had even forgotten their bows and arrows. Brandishing large blades, they charged, but they were no match for the well-prepared Great Hua soldiers.
A few thousand Great Hua horsemen charged forward, only several hundred yards away from Dalanzha's expansive tent. Gazing coldly at the poorly equipped Turks rushing towards them, Gao Qiu sneered and raised his hand. "Crossbows, fire!"
The Great Hua soldiers on horseback unleashed their powerful crossbows in unison. A thick swarm of arrows, like an endless wave of stinging bees, instantly transformed the grassland into a hellish battlefield. Countless Turks screamed as they fell from their horses, only to be trampled into mush by their comrades.
After three volleys of arrows, fewer than half of the thousands of Turks remained. Five to six hundred lay on the grassland, most dead with arrows lodged in them, while a few struggled for breath, bodies filled with arrows.
The blood of their comrades dyed the eyes of the Turks red. Their ferocity was fully unleashed at this moment. Howling, they reorganized and charged, stepping over the bodies of their fallen companions, even treading on the chests of those who were still moaning. They charged like the wind.
The differences between the Turkic people and the people of Great Hua were truly stark. Lin Wanrong shook his head in dismay as he looked on. Trampling over fallen comrades—such a merciless act was something no honorable soldier from Great Hua could ever commit. Furthermore, for the soldiers of Great Hua, preserving the remains of their fallen brethren was as important as protecting their own lives. The beliefs of the Turkic people, however, were entirely opposite; they respected only strength and were willing to sacrifice anyone for victory, even comrades-in-arms who had stood by them through life and death. In this moment, the stark contrast between human nature and wolfish instincts was vividly displayed.
Staring at the charging remnants of five hundred Turkic men, Hu Bugui pointed his bloodstained blade forward, drops of red trickling down its tip. Laughing uproariously, he shouted, "Excellent! Men, let the Turkic know the taste of pain. Follow me—charge!"
Hu Bugui and Gao Qiu led the charge, and five thousand elite cavalry followed closely behind, shouting, "Charge! Let them taste the agony!"
The thunderous sound of galloping hooves filled the vast plains, making them uncharacteristically noisy. Amidst the descending dusk, two dark masses of cavalry clashed on the field, their anguished cries tearing through the sky and drifting far away. The ground was soaked red with blood, staining the green grass and red flowers.
Five thousand against a few hundred—it was a lopsided slaughter. The Turkic men had probably never dreamt that the very tactics they were so proficient in would be used against them by the people of Great Hua. Even if these remaining five hundred were the bravest warriors of the plains, they were no match for the ferocious elite soldiers of Great Hua.
The chance to rout the Turkic forces on their own plains was a rare opportunity that filled everyone with indescribable joy. The days when the Turkic could wantonly oppress Great Hua were gone, never to return.
The five thousand soldiers channeled all their suffering and hatred into their sharp blades, meting out their wrath on the encircled Turkic men. At this moment, these five hundred enemies were nothing but live targets for the Great Hua soldiers; each strike elicited a new wail of agony.
The fighting prowess of the Turkic was formidable, indeed. Even though they were hopelessly surrounded and facing certain death, they still struggled fiercely. Their blood-soaked faces seemed like the visage of Satan himself. "Kill!" roared dozens of Great Hua soldiers in unison, their long spears piercing from all directions into a Turkic warrior. A flood of fresh blood spurted out, and the man, who now resembled a hedgehog, wobbled a few times before finally collapsing.
Seeing that the remaining Turkic men were on their last legs, teetering on the edge of collapse, Hu Bugui signaled with a flick of his wrist. Thousands of soldiers withdrew from the formation and closely followed him, heading towards the expansive white tents of Dalanzha.
Throughout their journey, they had encountered sporadic resistance, but the ones who stood against them were merely the elderly, the frail, the sick, and the injured from the tribes. They were hardly a match for Hu Bugui and his warriors. These remaining defenders were all that was left of Dalanzha's resistance force. Most were aged or frail, and the others were injured Turks who had withdrawn from the battlefield, practically lacking any fighting capability. Despite being fully aware of the chasm in strength between them and their enemies, they put up a fierce fight, standing their ground before the advancing cavalry of the Great Hua. The scene was both awe-inspiring and tragic, awash in a sea of blood.
After fighting all the way, they finally drew near the vast sea of tents that was Dalanzha. Unlike typical military tents, these were larger and sturdier, spacious enough to comfortably house a family. For the Turks, these tents were home.
Hu Bugui sat on his horse, eyes flashing with icy intent. With one swing of his sword, he took down a Turk who had attempted a sneak attack from the side. In his left hand, he held a blazing torch aloft. The crackling of the flame was drowned out by the wails and screams of the Turks.
Gao Qiu, having taken down the last of the Turks, waved his blood-dripped saber and let out a hearty laugh. "What's killing without setting fire? Old Hu, what are you waiting for?"
"A fine point about killing and setting fires. Let's let these Turks taste this bitter experience themselves," Old Hu laughed heartily. Scanning the endless array of tents, his eyes shone with a sanguine light. With a flick of his wrist, he tossed the torch onto the nearest tent.
The oil from the torch splashed across the tent's fabric. With a soft 'boom,' the fire spread rapidly, consuming one tent after another, as if stars had fallen and set the vast plains ablaze. Within moments, the tent was swallowed by roaring flames, which, fanned by the wind, leaped onto the adjoining tents. One by one, tents ignited like matches struck in succession.
Ten tents, twenty tents, a hundred tents— the flickering flames grew brighter and fiercer. When thousands of Dalanzha tents were ablaze under the sky, they resembled bursting fireworks that scorched the night, casting a bloody glow over the expansive horizon.
There was no doubt that they had won this battle. It was perhaps the most unexpected and yet the most exhilarating victory in the centuries-long feud between Great Hua and the Turks. The thought of trapping and annihilating the Turks on the plains made everyone's blood boil with excitement, as if in a dream— yet this dream had become a brutal reality.
As the tents burned and the towering flames lit up their faces, countless soldiers galloped on their horses, brandishing their sabers and letting out triumphant cheers. Their faces, young yet aged by the trials of life, were full of fervor.
Lin Wanrong intentionally stayed at the rear. Although he had only been in this unfamiliar world for less than a year, watching Old Gao and Old Hu lead five thousand warriors in wolf-like ferocity deeply touched him. Hidden behind their bloodshot eyes and excited faces were layers of sorrow and gravity. Lin Wanrong understood their emotions very well; this battle was for them, for all their suffering compatriots who had lost their lives.
He sighed and stepped onto the carriage, his gaze falling on the crimson eyes of the Turkic young woman. Rolling teardrops, deep-seated hatred, and helpless sorrow mingled in her gaze.
"It hurts, doesn't it?" Lin Wanrong removed the rag from her mouth without even looking up, speaking indifferently.
Biting her lip until it bled, she roared like a she-wolf, "Vile butcher of Great Hua Empire, just kill me!"
"Kill you? Unnecessary. I don't need to repeat myself," Lin Wanrong said, waving his hand casually. "Think about when your Turkic people raised their blades against my compatriots. Only by living can you truly feel this soul-cutting pain. Miss Yujia, you will come to understand this in time."
She closed her eyes slowly. Two crystal-clear tears hesitated at the corners of her beautiful eyes before finally falling.
"The ground is soaked with the blood of my people. Why, why is it like this?" she murmured, her voice tinged with an indescribable sorrow.
"You've probably only grown accustomed to seeing the blood of my Great Hua compatriots," Lin Wanrong said with a cold laugh. "If you want to understand this, it's simple. Just ask your esteemed Khan. From the moment he started the war, he doomed himself to be an executioner. This is what your Turkic people deserve."
Her eyes grew icy. "You people of the Great Hua Empire, living in your fertile lands, will never understand the thinking of our Khan. Our Turkic people have roamed these barren steppes and deserts for generations, braving cold winds and harsh rains. How could you possibly understand if you haven't lived it? Why is it that only you Great Hua people, who seek comfort and have no ambition, get to exclusively enjoy the riches of the land? Why must my hardworking and brave people live in tents and survive on horseback? Is that fair? Was our Khan wrong to lead his people in search of a better life?"
Her words were sharp, her eyes filled with tears, yet she stared at him defiantly, as if seeking answers.
From the perspective of her time, her thoughts were indeed unconventional. She acknowledged the prosperity of the Great Hua Empire and dreamed that her Turkic people might one day enjoy the same. But the more intelligent a person, the easier it is for them to become myopic. And she was no exception.
Lin Wanrong shook his head and laughed, "Fairness has never existed in this world. What the heavens give you in one respect, they take away in another. For example, you Turkic people are tall and strong, having a natural advantage in warfare, while we in Great Hua are relatively weaker. Is that fair?"
She thought for a moment but did not answer.
"Your lands may be barren, but your people are robust and not easily bullied. You always like to compare your disadvantages with others' advantages, ignoring the benefits you already have. Is there really such a thing as having the best of both worlds?" Lin Wanrong's eyes blazed as he locked onto her face.
Yujia was stunned for a moment before she clenched her teeth and said, "If what you say is true, then should my people be doomed to remain on these plains forever, subjected to the harsh winds, cold rain, and the misery of disease?"
Lin Wanrong was infuriated. "That's your own narrow-mindedness," he retorted. "Do you think these plains are barren and harsh? You're wrong, gravely wrong. These vast Alxa grasslands hold countless treasures. In a thousand years, it will become a goldmine that many will vie for. To the north of the Alxa grasslands, an immense nation will stand—one so grand that you cannot even begin to imagine—"
"What nation? How do you know this?" Yueya interrupted, full of doubt.
Lin Wanrong paused, annoyed. "Don't interrupt me when I speak—I'm intelligent; I'm speculating. Is that acceptable?"
Yujia glanced at him, her lips curling disdainfully as she turned her head away, muttering under her breath.
"True, our Great Hua is very prosperous," Lin Wanrong continued. "However, there are matters that prosperity alone cannot resolve. Your learning of our Great Hua's script, medicine, and art—does that have anything to do with being prosperous? These are the accumulated cultural assets of a civilization, the crystallization of collective wisdom, which have nothing to do with where one lives. If you want your people to have a good life, it's not achieved by invading and seizing others' resources. It's created by your own industrious and intelligent hands. You can engage in diplomacy, commerce, and intermarriage with neighboring nations. Learn their advanced technologies in textiles, metallurgy, animal husbandry, mining, and tourism. You possess natural advantages; there are countless ways to thrive. Why must you stifle the living space of other ethnic groups? I tell you, any nation that gains wealth through invasion won't last long. Do you understand what I'm saying?"
He spoke with such fervor, as if delivering a speech. Saliva sprayed everywhere, his mouth even cramping up from the effort.
After a long contemplation, Yujia finally spoke. "Your words sound good, but those technologies—textiles and metallurgy—are they not the treasured skills of your Great Hua? Would you so selflessly impart them to us? How laughable."
Annoyed by her lukewarm attitude, Lin Wanrong snapped, "You haven’t tried. How do you know it won't work? As long as you're willing to pay a certain price, nothing is impossible in this world."
Yujia evidently misunderstood his point, her cheeks flushing in anger. "Don't even think about it. Ferocious wolves can never insult the daughters of the plains—"
"Alright, alright, stop reciting your Turkic curses," Lin Wanrong said, waving his hand dismissively. "You're not the Khan of the Turks; what am I even doing, talking to you? It's like playing a lute to a cow!"
Fuming, Yujia snapped, "Exactly, playing a lute to a cow!"
‘Incredible! This girl actually knows how to use idioms appropriately,’ Lin Wanrong thought, bursting into laughter.
Yujia's face turned a shade redder as she shot him an angry look. "You shameless butcher of Great Hua. Your hands are stained with the blood of my people. What's the point of saying all this now?"
Indeed, she was right. They were at war. What use was there in having this frivolous conversation with her? ‘I'm truly failing my comrades,’ Lin Wanrong thought, filled with self-reproach.
Hu Bugui's voice resonated from outside the carriage, "General, the battle has concluded. We've lost eighteen soldiers, with thirty injured. All the adult men of the Turkic tribe in Dalanzha have been annihilated. What remains are over three thousand women, children, and infants—awaiting your orders, sir."
Upon hearing Hu Bugui's report, Yujia's face turned ashen. She anxiously glanced at Lin Wanrong, seemingly struggling to say something but unable to find the words.
Lin Wanrong grunted in acknowledgment, about to disembark from the carriage, when Yueya'er suddenly spoke, "Master Lin—"
Lin Wanrong looked up at her. With a pale face, Yujia weakly said, "They are all women and children. Could you possibly—"
Lin Wanrong's eyebrows twitched, and he snorted coldly. Yujia's face darkened even more; her body trembled slightly, and tears welled up in her eyes. In a furious voice, she declared, "We, the Turkic people, shall never bow our noble heads. One day, I'll make you pay a hundredfold for what you've done—"
Before she could finish venting her rage, Lin Wanrong had already leaped down from the carriage. All that remained was the subtle shaking of the curtain, while Yujia's delicate voice lingered within.
Thinking of Lin Wanrong's tactics, Yujia couldn't help but shudder. The faces of countless women and children flashed before her eyes; she could almost see the ground stained with blood in front of the guillotine...
When Lin Wanrong alighted, he saw Hu Bugui and Gao Qiu waiting for him. Their unsheathed blades still dripped with blood. He couldn't resist patting them on the shoulders in approval.
Destroying a tribe with such minimal casualties—it was nothing short of a miracle.
"This battle was a breeze," Old Gao chuckled softly, lowering his voice conspiratorially, "Actually, we captured quite a few able-bodied Turkic men. But they 'fortunately' found an opportunity to escape, and 'unfortunately' ran into our crossbow bolts— hehe."
Old Gao's antics didn't bother Lin Wanrong, who merely smiled in response.
Thousands of tents blazed in towering infernos, immense black flames clouding the sky. Five thousand warriors rode on horseback, torches held high, lighting up Dalanzha as if it were broad daylight. They surrounded a group of people, their eyes glinting ominously.
The encircled crowd was a dark mass of more than three to four thousand Turkic women and children. The oldest were no more than ten, the youngest still in swaddling clothes. Children clung to their mothers, their eyes displaying a complex range of emotions—fear, hatred. A few even held small bows; ineffective as weapons, yet aimed directly at the Great Hua cavalry. The captured Turkic women tightly held their children, staring at the cold blades and spears of the soldiers, their eyes filled with hopeless despair.
As Lin Wanrong walked through the crowd, he felt his scalp tingle at the sight of young bodies and eyes radiating hate. What was he to do with so many women and children? He frowned and sighed, "Brothers, what do you think we should do?"
Gao Qiu clenched his teeth, making a fierce gesture. "When the Turkic people captured the cities of Great Hua, they showed no mercy to my people, regardless of age or gender, and slaughtered them all! As the saying goes, 'Do unto others as they have done unto you.' How they treated us, we will treat them the same!"
Hu Bugui was clearly hesitating, but eventually clasped his fists and whispered, "I will follow the general's decision."
Lin Wanrong found himself in a difficult position, caught between a rock and a hard place. He had never encountered such a hot potato of a situation before, and he wasn't sure how to handle it.
As he looked at the torches burning fiercely in front of him, the hateful gazes of the Turkic women and children, and the expectant eyes of his own soldiers, he paced slowly, sweat soaking his back. Both Gao Qiu and Hu Bugui understood his dilemma and remained silent, watching his furrowed brow.
Time ticked away. The intense flames from the burning tents reddened everyone's faces. Countless Turkic women and children looked coldly at this dark-faced man from Great Hua who held their fates in his hands, in complete silence.
Suddenly, Lin Wanrong stopped pacing. He sighed deeply and glanced at Gao Qiu and Hu Bugui.
Hu Bugui was startled, "General, have you made a decision?"
Ignoring Hu Bugui's question, Lin Wanrong swiftly climbed to a higher vantage point. His face was as black as coal as he roared, "All Turkic people, look at my face—"
Hu Bugui quickly translated his words. As expected, the gazes of over three thousand women and children focused on him.
"It was me who killed your husbands and your fathers! Because they killed my kin, my fellow countrymen—among them countless women and children like yourselves! You can choose not to believe me, but your Khan would never dare swear to the God of the Plains. I'll say this only once and never repeat it. Remember my face in your Turkic tongue: San Ge Shi—Wo Lao Gong. If you harbor any grudges, aim them at me. If I fear you, then I might as well be your ancestor!" His howl was wolf-like, so terrifying that even babies nestled in their mothers' arms stopped crying. All the Turkic eyes were focused on him, filled with fear but mostly hatred.
He regained his composure, sweeping his gaze over all the Turkic people. Reaching into his robe, he slowly took out an object and displayed it before them. "Given your deeds, neither I nor my brothers should show you any mercy. But there's an old saying in Great Hua—Heaven cherishes all life. Since the old saying goes like this, I will give you one chance and let Heaven decide your fate—"
The Turkic crowd fell silent, as did the soldiers of Great Hua, who were anxious to know how their commander would decide the fate of these people.
Lin Wanrong chuckled coldly, "We in Great Hua have the fairest method of all time to settle this—flipping a coin! When this coin falls to the ground, heads means you can go freely. Tails, you will pay with your lives to atone for my countrymen. May Guanyin and the God of the Plains bear witness—Go—"
With a clenched jaw, he flung the coin into the air. It spun countless times before silently landing on the grass...
