Chapter Thirteen: Perseverance (III)

Women, children, the old, and the young screamed, howled, and cried, but they could not escape their fate of being slaughtered. Their hands and feet were tied, leaving them completely helpless to resist, forced to endure the pain in silence.
As the agonized screams echoed, Hubei felt an overwhelming sense of satisfaction. These Tang people were inherently cowardly, lacking any spirit of the nomadic tribes—deserving death! A while ago, he had received orders to gather military provisions, but in the bitterly cold weather of Tangzhou, the grain was either hidden or burned to ashes by that traitorous governor. Where was he supposed to find food? Trying his luck, they rode down along the Ling River and finally discovered this small village at its end.
He thought looting the village would suffice to gather enough food for the army, but to his surprise, not even a single grain of millet could be found in this desolate place. These damned wretches even lied, claiming they had handed over all their harvested grain to the authorities.
Nonsense! If they had given away all their newly harvested grain, what would they eat through winter? Would they drink the northwestern wind?
They clearly thought they were a different race, working hard to help the Tang court!
“Kill them! Kill all these two-legged sheep! Use them as military provisions. Haha, haha!”
Hubei laughed wildly, believing this to be the greatest pleasure in life.
A Tongluo soldier wielding a spear thrust forward, lifting a crying baby off the ground. The sharp tip of the spear pierced the baby’s back, and blood quickly soaked through its cotton jacket. The baby’s cries ceased instantly.
“Guinián! Guinián, give me back my Guinián! You bastard! I’ll fight you to the death!”
A disheveled woman rushed forward, knocked the Tongluo soldier to the ground, and bit hard into his neck.
“Ahh! You bitch!”
The soldier screamed in pain, beating the mad woman while calling for help from his comrades. These two-legged sheep were actually resisting!
“Kill him! Kill him now!”
Blood gushed from the soldier’s neck as he struggled desperately, kicking and thrashing, refusing to give up. Countless curved swords were thrown at the wild woman, but they couldn’t make her stop talking. The soldier’s breath grew weaker until he finally passed out.
“Haha, haha…”
The mad woman laughed wildly, closing her eyes in triumph…

Another young lady from a local family screamed as three or five barbarians dragged her to a millstone and slapped her hard several times. A Khitan man winked at his companions, who immediately understood and stepped forward to hold down the woman’s limbs. Though she continued to struggle, her limbs being restrained left her completely immobile, with only faint sobs escaping her.

The Khitan man tore at her clothes without any hesitation. First, her padded jacket and cotton clothes, then her patterned satin robe. Finally, his lustful eyes fixed on her full breasts.

“Sss!”
It would be a shame to let such a beautiful woman die without him having her—she was simply too precious! The Khitan man laughed wildly and ripped off her corset, exposing her full breasts completely to him.

“Haha, haha! Serve me, little Tang girl! I’ll make you experience ecstasy!”
The Khitan man swallowed his saliva and laughed loudly. The women of the steppes were all dark-skinned and thin—how could they compare to this delicate and beautiful girl? Truly, it was the blessing of the Eternal Heaven that allowed him to enjoy such beauty.

But he was speaking in Khitan, so how could the woman understand? All she knew was that she was about to be humiliated, and she kept sobbing.

Ignoring the gazes of his comrades, he quickly stripped off his own clothes and straddled her. Just as he was about to indulge in the most wonderful pleasure in the world, he felt a sharp pain at the back of his head and collapsed unconscious.

“Brothers, fight these bastards to the death! Death is inevitable anyway. Rather than die in shame at their hands, let’s fight to the end!”
A man in his thirties, with his upper body bare, shouted fiercely while holding a hoe. Earlier, he had already killed one of the barbarian soldiers with his hoe. It turned out these barbarians weren’t invincible—if everyone worked together, there might still be a chance to survive.

He had just returned from herding cattle in the west with a dozen friends. As soon as they reached the village entrance, they saw the barbarians committing such atrocities. Angered, he almost rushed forward. But since he had no weapon, charging in would only mean certain death. Fortunately, his friends pulled him back, persuaded him to return to the village, and he came back armed with numerous farming tools and kitchen knives, determined to fight these barbarians to the death.

“Yes, Brother Lin is right! Let’s fight these bastards!”
“Fight to the death!”
“Fight to the death!”

It stirred up a storm instantly. Lin Erhan’s words completely ignited the villagers’ fury. Their strong will to survive drove them to push back the Hu soldiers and charge at Lin Er and his friends. Lin Er and his companions quickly cut the ropes that bound the villagers. Already filled with hatred, the villagers grabbed the hoes, kitchen knives, and plows scattered on the ground and swung them fiercely at the nearby Hu soldiers.

“Ah, ah!”

The Hu soldiers thought these weak Tang people were easy prey and had completely relaxed their guard. To their surprise, a few survivors suddenly emerged and turned the situation around through fierce combat. A strong man swung his hoe, creating a deep wound in a nearby Shiwei Hu soldier; intestines spilled out from the wound, but the soldier didn’t die right away, screaming and cursing.

“You filthy dogs! Prepare to die at my hoe!” An old man with gray hair spat out phlegm and charged forward, swinging his hoe hard at the soldier’s head. The soldier let out agonized cries before falling to the ground, covering his face.

“Pfft! Pfft!”

More villagers drew their kitchen knives and slashed at the fallen Hu soldiers. More and more villagers broke free from their bonds, venting their anger on these damned invaders. They were the ones who destroyed their homes and killed their loved ones. All the sins were theirs!

“Kill them! For ourselves! Kill them! For ourselves!”

Lin Er grabbed a hoe and charged at Hubi’er, realizing he was the leader of this group of Hu soldiers. The Hu soldiers outnumbered them greatly, and they had only lost their composure due to the sudden turn of events. If things continued like this, they would all die once the Hu soldiers regained their senses. The only chance now was to capture or kill the leader so as to take control of the rest of the Hu soldiers!

Heaven’s misdeeds may be forgiven, but one’s own misdeeds lead to death!

“Die!” Lin Er stepped on a clod of earth to gain momentum and leaped high, swinging his hoe with all his strength at Hubi’er.