In a residential district of Feng’an County, several hundred Han Chinese had been dragged from their homes by a group of Quzhao soldiers and herded into the center of the street.
“Heh heh. Hand over five strings of cash per person, and you get to live.”
The soldiers had discovered that the Han Chinese loved hiding their money. They stuffed it into every crack and dug holes to bury it. There were places to hide money that no one could imagine—there was nothing the Han Chinese wouldn’t do.
That was why the soldiers enjoyed playing this game. They would make the Han Chinese hand over their money first, then kill them afterward.
After all, the entire city now belonged to the Quzhao. Their revelry had only just begun.
Among the surrounded Han Chinese were the old and the young, men and women alike.
“We—we’re just ordinary people. H-how could we possibly afford five strings of cash? Please, please let us go,” a thin, weak-looking man begged.
The Quzhao junior commander glanced at him and grinned before raising his saber and bringing it down.
“Ah…”
The civilians cried out in terror.
The junior commander shook the blood from his blade. “No money, no life!”
At last, someone among the civilians could no longer bear it. An old man asked in a trembling voice, “If we give you the money… will you really let us go?”
The junior commander looked him over. Seeing that he was dressed fairly well, he figured the old man was somewhat wealthy.
“Of course. But you’ll cost more—ten strings of cash,” the junior commander said with a wide grin.
The old man’s lips trembled as he looked at his wife, children, and grandchildren around him. His family had a little money, but there were more than a dozen of them. How could they possibly produce over a hundred strings of cash?
“What? You’re reluctant to pay?” the junior commander said as he grabbed a child standing beside the old man.
He patted the child’s cheek with the bloodstained edge of his saber, splashing blood across the boy’s face. “Tsk, tsk, such tender flesh. It’s my favorite.”
The child began to wail in terror.
A look of annoyance flashed through the Quzhao commander’s eyes. He hated the sound of children crying.
A malicious smile curled across his lips. “Why don’t I chop off one of his arms first? Little paws taste best when roasted. Hahaha…”
As he spoke, he slowly raised his saber and swung it toward the child’s flailing arm.
“Don’t! We’ll pay! We’ll pay!” the child’s mother cried out desperately as she lunged at the commander.
The commander kicked her away, sending her crashing to the ground. “Then hurry up and get the money.”
“Third Mother!” the woman’s husband hurried over to help her up.
The old man kept kowtowing. “Please, please! We’ll give you the money. We’ll go back for it right now. Just give us a little time, please. Please spare their lives!”
Only then was the commander satisfied. “Good. Very good.”
He pointed his saber at the old man. “You. Go back alone and get the money. If you’re not back within half a quarter of an hour, I’ll kill every member of your family!”
The old man’s lips trembled. He struggled to his feet and tried to walk home, but his legs went weak and he collapsed again, provoking loud laughter from the Quzhao soldiers.
“Han Chinese are as timid as rats! Hahaha!”
One of the soldiers even stepped forward and kicked the old man. “Move faster, or it’ll be too late! Don’t you want their lives?”
“Yes, yes, I do!”
The old man rolled and crawled toward the nearby house.
Anger and fear flashed through the man’s eyes, but he lowered his head and did not dare say a word.
The commander maliciously shook the crying child in his grasp. “You little Han dog, if you dare cry again, I’ll shove this blade straight into your mouth.”
Perhaps his expression was too terrifying, because the child only began crying harder. He kept calling out, “Mother! Mother!”
The woman’s heart shattered. Kneeling, she crawled forward several steps and begged, “Please don’t! He’s only a child. I beg you!”
The commander merely frowned. The child’s crying was giving him a headache. He really wanted to chop the boy into ten pieces.
With that thought, he raised the saber in his hand once more and swung it down at the child.
The old man would soon return with the money, and the whole family would die anyway.
“No!” The woman’s eyes bulged with despair as she threw herself forward.
Blood splashed across her face.
The thick, sticky warmth made her entire body turn cold. Her son!
She widened her eyes and saw a bloodstained arrowhead protruding from the Quzhao commander’s neck.
The child slipped from the commander’s grasp.
“Ah!” the woman shrieked as she caught the falling child in her arms.
At the same time, she heard the rapid whoosh of arrows. She saw blood spray through the air and heard terrified cries behind her.
Clutching the child tightly against her chest, she looked up.
A woman stood there, holding a repeating crossbow and bending slightly as she fired at the Quzhao soldiers ahead.
Behind her were men and women dressed just like her, each carrying a repeating crossbow.
Xia Chanyi cautiously watched the dozens of Quzhao corpses lying on the ground. Only after confirming that every one of them was dead did she turn to the civilians still kneeling in panic.
“We are the Jinyang Army. Return home immediately and make sure to lock your doors and windows. If any Quzhao soldiers enter your courtyards, shout for help.”
Qu Shilang stared at the empty, disorderly Sheng residence, his face dark with anger. “The aristocratic family escaped?”
Yu Cheng’s expression was equally grim. “It seems likely that the aristocratic families dug tunnels beneath the city long ago. They truly are cunning.”
The resistance put up by the aristocratic family’s soldiers throughout the city had not weakened at all. It had remained more or less constant, which showed that the family had not taken many soldiers with them. That was why no one had noticed.
Qu Shilang’s heart tightened. “Send another unit to the docks at once! Quickly! Don’t let the aristocratic family escape. If they resist, kill them all.”
The money and provisions were the most important thing. Judging by how thoroughly emptied the residence was, the aristocratic family had probably taken every valuable possession with them.
If so, the Quzhao had truly suffered a crushing loss. They had fought for so long and lost so many warriors, only to capture an empty city. How could he accept that?
A soldier immediately hurried off to deliver the order.
Yu Cheng sighed. “Since the aristocratic family prepared in advance, they’ve probably already left the docks by now.”
Qu San slammed the hilt of his great saber against the ground with a bang. “Damn it! The Han Chinese really are cunning!”
As they spoke, a soldier arrived to report, “General, all the Sheng family’s money, grain, bolts of cloth, and other valuables are gone. We didn’t find anyone either.”
“Report! The granary contains only two or three thousand shi of grain!” another soldier hurried in to announce.
Although Qu Shilang had already guessed the outcome, he still ground his teeth in fury, his voice filled with ruthless hatred.
“What an aristocratic family! To deceive us, they used the soldiers and civilians of the entire city as sacrifices. They’re vicious enough!”
However, if the aristocratic family had truly escaped, there was little the Quzhao could do. They had no ships, and even if they wanted to pursue them, they could not catch up.
Yu Cheng was about to speak when he heard the faint sounds of fighting outside. He could not help frowning. “What’s going on? Have the remnants of the aristocratic family broken in?”
Qu San looked toward the outside. “So many men can’t even stop a few remnants of the aristocratic family? Useless trash. I’ll go take a look.”
With that, he strode outside.
Qu Shilang’s expression grew even more unpleasant, a storm brewing in his eyes.
Although Ze’a Commandery had fallen into his hands, he could not feel the slightest bit of joy.
Not a single important member of the aristocratic family had been captured. They had not even found a single coin, and all they had obtained in grain was two or three thousand shi.
He closed his eyes. “Stop the slaughter in the city.”
The Han Chinese civilians were a form of wealth as well. There was nothing left in the city, but with these civilians, they could at least recoup some of their losses.
The two men were still speaking when a tremendous bang rang out.
A figure flew backward into the hall and crashed to the ground, splashing blood across the floor.
It was Qu San—but by then, he was already vomiting blood and had lost consciousness.
Qu Shilang tightened his grip on the broadsword in his hand and shouted, “Who’s there?”
