Chapter 159
Chapter 159
Jiang Yunsui obediently let herself be carried, her little lips stuck out and tears clinging to her curled lashes.
Centurion Lin sighed.
They were useless. A group of grown men had to rely on a child to find food for them.
But he was truly grateful to her.
“If we ration this, it will last us a long time.”
Centurion Lin’s voice was hoarse. “If you can bring this much past the Barbarians without being seen, you should be able to leave safely, too. Go back, little one. Find the Young Master and have them take you home. Don’t worry about people like us.”
The word home came out with painful weight.
It was their obsession.
Yet they knew better than anyone how little hope they had of ever returning.
“Defend Mobei. Don’t let more people of Great Liang end up like us.”
Jiang Yunsui hugged her knees and muttered, “But I don’t know how to get back.”
Her voice still held a childish softness. “And I don’t even know whether they’re still where I left them.”
If she ran out alone, she would not know the way and would wander everywhere.
That sounded even more dangerous than staying here.
The Barbarians could not see her in the camp, and whenever she got hungry, she could steal something to eat.
Outside, all by herself, she would have nothing but raw mushrooms.
Centurion Lin had to admit that was a problem.
The two stared at each other for a moment. At last, Centurion Lin could only say, “Go to sleep. It will be warmer beside the haystacks.”
Then he woke several companions and began hiding the food.
They had survived here long enough to develop their own methods. Hiding things was one of the skills they had mastered.
They dug a pit quickly and quietly, stored everything inside, and covered it again with hay.
The excavated dirt was easy to dispose of.
This was a sheep pen, after all. The animals produced plenty of manure in a single night. A little dirt scattered among it would never attract attention.
At daybreak, the slaves had to work, and cleaning the pen was one of their duties. The dirt would be removed along with everything else.
“Centurion, that kid is incredible. Where did she get us all this food?”
“Why think so much?” Centurion Lin said. “Keep your mouths shut, or all of us will die.”
“We know, we know. Don’t you trust us?”
The seven men were comrades who had entrusted their lives to one another.
There was no fear of betrayal.
Every one of them hated the Barbarians to the bone. They had seen slaves try to win a better life by defecting to the Barbarians, but in reality, the Barbarians only treated those people like fools. Every one of them met a miserable end.
Besides, the men did not speak the Barbarian language. They shared only one goal.
To return home alive.
Many more had been captured at first. By now, only these few remained.
Even slaves formed their own small groups. When everyone was starving, human nature could not withstand much testing.
The stronger slaves stole food and clothing from the weaker ones.
These seven stayed together. They had been soldiers and were stronger than most, so they had claimed this haystack. Other slaves rarely dared approach.
That made this area relatively safe for Jiang Yunsui.
Without a word, the seven men placed her in the very center of their group and hid her among the haystacks.
Dawn came quickly.
The sky had barely brightened, and Jiang Yunsui was still half-asleep when she heard noises outside.
The Barbarians’ whips struck slaves without mercy. A scream rang out, and every slave rose to work.
Their faces were sallow, their bodies reduced to skin and bones.
Some went to herd livestock, some cleaned the sheep pens, and others cut grass…
Nearly all the hardest, most exhausting work was given to the male slaves.
Of Centurion Lin’s seven men, only Shuanzi was left behind to clean the pen.
Once both the slaves and the Barbarians had gone, Jiang Yunsui crawled out of the haystack.
Mm. Little Mushroom was going to explore a new map today!
Jiang Yunsui gave herself a pep talk, then marched off with her head high and chest out.
If she explored the map first, she would not get confused when it was time to escape.
Elsewhere, Song Jin and the others, disguised as Barbarian Army soldiers, finally rode up to King Huxie’s camp.
Their faces had been subtly altered to resemble the Barbarians more closely.
That was Shen Qingzhu’s handiwork.
He had made human-skin masks for them.
However, Song Jin was the only one who could speak the Barbarian language.
They did not dare enter rashly.
Song Jin first selected an inconspicuous target, killed him, assumed his identity, and infiltrated the camp alone to gather information.
He was gone all day and did not return until nearly evening.
“How did it go?”
Looking constipated, Song Jin produced several portraits.
“The Barbarians are loosely organized, and small groups leave the camp all the time. We’ll pose as one of their hunting parties when they return, but first we need to bring back some game.”
“I also learned that King Huxie’s treasure vault was robbed last night. He lost a great many precious medicinal herbs.”
He suspected Jiang Yunsui was responsible.
After all, besides her, who could appear and disappear so mysteriously without ever being discovered?
But why had the thief taken only medicinal herbs? The little girl had never shown any interest in them before.
He shared his suspicion with the others.
They all found it convincing.
Knowing that Jiang Yunsui was not only safe but already raising havoc inside the Barbarian Army camp, everyone relaxed.
“What are these supposed to be?”
Fat Chef took the sheets of paper.
Song Jin smiled with unmistakable malice. “Come look. They’re our wanted portraits.”
The others crowded around.
One look silenced every one of them.
Fat Chef in particular took it as a personal attack.
“Do these people have no decency? If you’re drawing a portrait, draw the person! Why did they draw my bare ass?!”
Everyone else’s portrait showed only the head and shoulders.
He alone had received special treatment with a full-body drawing.
He held a cleaver and carried a wok on his back, making him look like a fat turtle. A huge hole gaped in the seat of his pants, exposing his red underwear.
“Pfft…”
Song Jin burst out laughing.
The others followed.
Fat Chef stared at them in offended silence.
“You’re laughing at me? Look at yourselves. Not one of you hidden guards even has a face.”
“Isn’t that a good thing?” Ji Lu muttered.
The hidden guards who had come this time were Numbers Four, Six, Eight, and Nine. The rest remained with Ji Yan’an.
Their main objective was to infiltrate the enemy, find Jiang Yunsui, and flee at the first opportunity.
That was why the rescue party was small. More people would only increase the risk of alerting the enemy.
Song Jin’s portrait was no better. Whoever had described him had turned his perfectly good phoenix eyes cross-eyed.
Not one portrait looked remotely accurate!
Fat Chef snorted. “And they think they’ll catch us with these? Dream on. That King Huxie is an idiot!”
His words carried a deep grudge against King Huxie.