Chapter 23: The Flame of Resistance

  "Zhao Wu Xu 2014" again topped one, thank you! Also "Fat Wang Zi", also thank you.

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  Boom! A dazzling flame burst forth in the darkness.

  As flames soared, arrows of fire shot from all directions towards the felt tents. Flames danced wildly, human figures ran frantically, horse hooves shattered dreams, and sword lights seized souls.

  The Wumaren tribe under Mount Baidan was suddenly and brutally attacked. The attack focused on the main tent of the tribe, where the tribal leader, Gumar, his wife, and other young men were gathered with their families. The surrounding tents, which were usually occupied by slaves and the elderly, could have served as a buffer to protect the main tent in case of an enemy attack. However, tonight all logic would be turned upside down.

  When the eldest and second sons of the Bone Force pushed away the female slaves beside them, they rushed out of the tent with their bodies exposed, and the scene in front of them made them furious.

  Veterinarian Muji, guards Tangnu, silversmith Yu De, accountant Tao Liang, and a group of Han slaves... Among them were escaped slaves who had fled for more than ten days, as well as slaves who lived in the outer auxiliary tents. No wonder these lowly escaped slaves could quietly enter the main tent, it turned out they received help from internal traitors.

  What shocked the two sons of Guli even more was that many Ulan young men who rushed to horseback with bows and arrows were shot and killed mercilessly before they could even counterattack.

  That was a Han Chinese archer in an outfit they had never seen before, riding a rare white horse, holding a huge bow, galloping like the wind in the flames, every arrow shot must have a Wuhuan young man falling down. The strength of drawing the bow, the speed of shooting, the power of the arrows, and the accuracy of hitting the target were simply like a devil riding out of hell.

  While Tan Nu and dozens of Han slaves shot fire arrows at the tents and fleeing Wuhuan people.

  "You damned cheap slaves! I'll skin you alive and make lanterns out of your hides!"

  Two sons of Bone Force shouted loudly and rushed towards Mu Ran with a group of people standing between the main account and the deputy account, with an extremely resentful and poisonous attitude.

  Two men had just rushed halfway when a sharp whistle pierced the air, and Gu Li's second son was shot through the forehead by an iron arrow, with fresh blood and bone fragments splashing everywhere. Gu Li's eldest son had just let out a loud roar when he saw a white shadow flash past his side, followed by a massive force that sent him flying into the air. The last words he heard were: "Go accompany your father and brothers, don't let them be too cold underground."

  The next moment, the figure danced wildly and plunged into the blazing tent, flames soaring several feet high.

  The two sons of K?lük were killed, and more than half of the ?tüken tribe was either shot or burned to death, demonstrating the complete annihilation of the K?lük clan.

  When the first rays of sunlight shone on the top of Baideng Mountain in the early morning, the big fire that had been burning all night had subsided. Everywhere could be seen charred tents, broken corpses, scattered cattle and sheep, as well as nearly a thousand slaves and Wuhuan captives, women and children who were frightened and restless.

  With the explanation and persuasion of Mugiji Lao Han and Tang Nu, all the Han slaves, including some other tribes' Hu slaves, accepted Ma Xian as their new master. Meanwhile, hundreds of Wuhuan people who had been turned from masters to slaves were filled with sorrow, kneeling down under the fierce gaze of the former slaves who had now become their masters.

  No one struggled, no one resisted. On the grassland, a powerful tribe swallowing up a weak one was just normal. The survival of the fittest and the law of the jungle were the ultimate principles that all grassland people had followed for thousands of years. Today I am the butcher's block, tomorrow I am the fish on it - this is the awareness that every grassland person was born with.

  Looking at or sitting or kneeling or standing, the dense and dark Han slaves, what he came into contact with were numb faces, shrinking eyes, and hunched backs... Ma Xun smiled bitterly. Can these people really be relied upon? What he needed was not Han slaves who had been domesticated like sheep, but Han men as fierce as wolves, like the Wuhuan people.

  "How many people meet the requirements?" Ma Huan asked Tang Nu, who was selecting warriors for himself.

  "Reporting to the leader, there are thirty-two people, including me, who can ride horses and shoot arrows among the young and strong Han civilians." Tang Nu was very ashamed. Among more than 400 Han civilians, there were less than 100 young and strong men, but those who met the requirements accounted for less than one-third of them. As one of them, it's really shameful.

  "Thirty-two men, ah... a bit less, but for the short term, it's almost enough." Ma Han muttered to himself while tapping his boots with his whip, "With excellent armor and proper training, we can increase our combat effectiveness by one level in a short period of time. In that case, although it won't be enough to deal with the Wuhuan elite cavalry, it should be sufficient to handle the Wuhuan infantry."

  Tan Nu's eyes lit up, and he immediately said: "Report to the leader, there are four Wuhuan and Xianbei tribes nearby, all of which are small tribes with only a few hundred people. Their combat effectiveness is not even as good as that of the Bone Force Tribe. We can completely devour them, rescue the Han people, and expand our strength."

  Ma Hu looked at Tang Nu with a hint of surprise, nodded in approval: "Not bad, thought the same as me. Alright, gather everyone over here, I'm going to give them a lecture."

  On this piece of scorched earth and ruins littered with corpses, Ma Xun threw a question at the first batch of his king's conquest: "What do you want most?"

  What is it that you want most? Everyone was silent.

  Ma Hongpi cracked his whip and pointed: "A Su, speak!"

  A short figure stood up in the crowd, shrinking back to make a long bow: "In response to the leader's words, Ah Su thought... Ah Su wanted... Ah Su didn't want to die!" Next to him, a woman tightly hugged Ah Su, sobbing uncontrollably, this was his mother, a woman from Hebei.

  The simple words of the young man caused a stir among the Han people, and even the group of Wuhuan prisoners were shouting loudly about something. Suddenly, Tang Nu and other horse-riding strong men who were guarding them rushed over, shouting and cracking their whips in the air with a loud "pa pa" sound.

  Because he was speaking in Wuhuan language (i.e. Xiongnu language), Ma Xian couldn't understand, and asked Tang Nu, only to find out that the Wuhuan captive said that this behavior of killing their master would definitely provoke a crazy counterattack from all the Hu tribes, and none of them would survive.

  Ma Huan remained expressionless, and Pi Bian pointed again: "Mu Ji uncle, what is it that you want the most?"

  Mugui stroked the tight, clinging hair of his beloved Nianshao, looked around and sighed: "At my age, I'm already content. Only two wishes remain: one is that my precious Nianshao can have a good ending; the other is to be buried in my hometown. This is why I risked everything to escape, but instead put everyone in danger... Mugui's guilt is boundless..."

  The old man Mujiji spoke to the end, tears streaming down his face, ashamed and wanting to die. Whether it was the Han people who escaped with him or those who did not escape, they all came out to comfort him.

  Ma Xun glanced at Tang Nu beside him: "Tang Nu, what about you? What do you want?"

  Tang Nu heard this and laughed loudly: "Report to the leader, Tang Nu's life or death is of no consequence, only do not die with the humiliating identity of 'Han slave'."

  Crack! Ma Hong's long whip struck the air, and he shouted loudly: "Good! Don't want to die! Live like a human being! Die and be buried in your hometown! This is what you want! Good, as long as you want it, I will give it to you."

  "We will not die, for it is the enemy who will die! We will stand as warriors, while our enemies kneel before us! In the end, we will return home alive - not begging the enemy to spare our lives, but carving out a bloody path, and marching back home in triumph!"

  "I just want you to do one thing - follow in my footsteps, and everything will be achieved!"

  Ma Huan took down the leopard bow, strung it with an arrow, and pointed at a flying peregrine falcon circling continuously in the air: "If heaven's will is to pity the Han people, then let Ma Huan shoot through the falcon with one arrow."

  One arrow shot out, under nearly a thousand pairs of astonished eyes, the swift and powerful iron-headed arrow flew towards the red sun at the horizon, almost disappearing into the red sun when suddenly, a hawk's cry was heard, and a falcon dove down swiftly.

  Boom! Hundreds of Han people, even the Wuhuan people, all raised their hands and knelt down to worship. The direction they were bowing towards was the east where the sun rises, with a red sun as the background, a man riding on a strong and handsome horse, shooting an eagle with his bow.