The young child was not tied up. Along the way, he desperately clutched his mother's clothes and ran wildly, not daring to fall or fall behind.
Being whipped was a minor matter; if they couldn't keep up, the iron cavalry of the Quzhao soldiers would simply trample over them, regardless of whether they lived or died.
The child was so terrified that he didn't even dare to cry. He just held onto his mother's clothes for dear life with both hands, his body trembling with fear, "Mother, Mother..."
However, how could his strength compare to that of a military commander? He was directly lifted up by the collar.
The woman, her hands bound, watched helplessly as her child was dragged away, her eyes filled with despair.
Her knees buckled and she fell to the ground, kowtowing incessantly. "Please, I beg you, let my son go. He is just a child. If you must kill, kill me first. I beg you..."
Before long, her forehead broke open, and bright red blood streamed down her face, mixing with tears and dirt.
Yet, as if feeling nothing, she continued to bang her head against the ground, pleading for mercy without pause.
The commander laughed uproariously. Holding the child, he shouted toward the city tower, "See that? You Han people are all spineless cowards. You obediently kneel before me without me even having to say a word!"
Up on the city tower, Xie Nanxiao burned with fury. But before he could say anything, he heard a woman's angry curse.
"Bah! You barbarians are worse than beasts. You're only capable of bullying us commoners."
The one who spoke was a young woman, also with bound hands. She looked to be about seventeen or eighteen, standing straight and glaring furiously at the Quzhao commander.
Enraged, the commander stepped forward and kicked the woman, sending her flying two or three meters away. "You're courting death!"
The woman crashed to the ground and spat out a mouthful of blood. It took her a long while to recover her breath, lying there without the strength to get up.
Looking up at the gloomy sky, she suddenly smiled. Bright red blood trailed down the corners of her mouth, and her voice came in broken gasps. "Ha, ha, we're going to die anyway, so why kneel?"
"Get up, all of you, get up. Cough, cough... Since we're all going to die, absolutely do not die on your knees. If we must die, we die standing. I... I'll die lying down. Ha, ha, that's fine too. In a world like this, death is a relief."
Zhou Sui, Yao Ji, and a few others had already drawn their bows and nocked their arrows.
They could open the city gates and invite the enemy into a trap, but for them to ride out of the city was impossible.
They could not risk the lives of thousands of civilians and soldiers inside the city for the sake of these few hundred hostages.
A distance of 200 meters was nearly impossible for the strength and archery skills of ordinary soldiers, which was why the Quzhao people chose to stand at this relatively safe distance.
If they had good bows, this distance wouldn't be difficult for Zhou Sui and his group. Unfortunately, they only had ordinary bows now, and they had to be careful when drawing them, fearing they might accidentally snap the weapons.
Zhou Sui's lips were pressed tightly together, his eyes ice-cold, and his hands very steady. Yet, he hesitated to release the arrow.
Because he knew very well that if he struck first, the Quzhao people would instantly slaughter these hundreds of civilians to vent their anger.
Even though he knew in his heart that for these hundreds of Han civilians today, death was absolutely certain!
But these were just ordinary people. How innocent they were, and how tragic!
The young woman's voice was soft, only heard by the few nearby, but it struck like a thunderbolt, awakening them.
Yes, they were going to die anyway, so why die kneeling?
What had they done wrong?
They toiled day and night, yet the barbarians robbed them of the grain they had worked so hard to grow, murdered their loved ones, and burned down the villages where their families had lived for generations.
They had lost their homes and their country.
They scurried about in panic like rats; the world was vast, yet they were utterly lost with nowhere to go.
As if that wasn't enough, they were now being tortured and slaughtered like livestock!
A man roared, "If you barbarians want to kill us, then kill us! You only know how to bully commoners. What the hell do you think you are!"
An old woman joined in, shouting, "That's right! Don't beg them. Is begging them of any use? If begging worked, our food wouldn't have been stolen, and our families wouldn't have been killed. Why should we fear them? I've lived long enough in this man-eating world!"
The old woman seemed to have found an outlet for her frustrations, bringing out her usual street-cursing tirade. "Bah! You barbarians who only know how to piss and play in the mud! Pfft, you don't even have mud, only sheep dung..."
The veins on the commander's neck bulged with rage. He never expected that the usually meek, lamb-like Han people would suddenly rise up, unafraid of death.
Qu Chou sneered, "Heh, Han people are so naive. There are many ways to die. I'd like to see how you'll soon be kneeling and begging me to let you die, haha."
Qu Xiang looked toward a middle-aged man. "General, why don't we vivisect all these Han civilians?"
The middle-aged man was none other than the supreme commander of Liuxiang Commandery, General Wei.
His eyes were gloomy, but the corners of his mouth curled up. "Since they are so unafraid of death, they indeed deserve to be gutted. Later, when we breach the city, it will make a fine extra meal!"
The woman who had been kneeling earlier stood up shakily. The tear tracks on her face were still wet, mixing with mud and bloodstains, making her look both wretched and desolate.
She looked at her son, who was so frightened in the Quzhao commander's grip that he didn't dare to cry, and comforted him softly, "A'song, don't be afraid. It will be over quickly and it won't hurt. Mother will be right there with you."
With that, she charged headlong at the Quzhao commander, resolved to die.
The commander laughed out of sheer anger. These rat-like peasants actually thought they could resist him. He raised a foot and kicked the woman.
At the same time, he drew the saber from his waist and, with a thud, pinned the child to the ground. Yet, his gaze remained fixed on the woman he had kicked down.
He gestured with his blade over the child's body, a malicious smile on his face. "Tell me, where should I chop first? Cut off his ears? Slice off his fingers? No, no, I think it would be better to gouge out his eyes first!"
The woman's eyes nearly split open with fury. Her body was in agonizing pain, but it was nothing compared to the heartbreak she felt at this moment. She bit her lip to keep from crying out and struggled with all her might to get up, but she just couldn't.
The Quzhao soldiers jeered, "Haha, yeah, gouge out the eyes first."
"I think cut off the tongue first."
"Why bother with the tongue? Just gut him directly. The General said we're having an extra meal."
The commander's eyes lit up, thinking this was an excellent idea. Once, he had vivisected a Han person and pulled out their intestines while the person was still alive. It was incredibly amusing.
He raised his blade and laughed, "Haha, alright."
As he spoke, he looked up at the old woman and the man who had spoken earlier. "I'll let you all taste the feeling of being gutted in a moment. Don't rush, ha..."
Pfft...
A sound like something exploding rang out, and the few people closest to the Quzhao commander were splattered all over their faces and bodies with filth.
A Quzhao soldier wiped the warm liquid and unknown chunks of flesh from his face. His mind went completely blank, and he stared blankly at the commander, who was suddenly missing half of his body.
The woman was also splattered with gore. She stiffly raised her head to look at the commander pinning her son down. The commander had vanished—no, wait, all that remained of the commander was a pair of legs, still maintaining a squatting posture.
Thud.
The commander's head, blown apart with only half of the skull remaining, landed a few meters away.
Thud.
The commander's legs collapsed to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
