Chapter 17: The Escape of Han Slaves (Part 2)

  (Thanks "Zhao Wu Xu 2014" for rewarding again, three times in a row! Thank you!)

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  "Brother Tan Nu!" Ah Su called out hastily, urging his horse forward. He came to a stop in front of a sturdy young man with a thick beard and mustache, who was about 25 or 26 years old. The young man's fierce gaze and the arrow he held locked onto Ma Xun until Ah Su had safely run over, at which point he let out a quiet breath and exchanged a glance with his three companions before they all closed in together.

  "Who are you? Why have you come here?" The young man named Tang Nu asked loudly.

  "These questions, you can ask Ah Su, he will tell you - but I warn you, don't point arrows at me, I react excessively easily." Ma Huan did not touch his bow and arrow, as other weapons were more effective at such close range. His hands secretly grasped a short axe and a short knife, his eyes slightly moving, taking in the positions of the four riders, quietly calculating the rhythm of their horses' movements and the distance to strike.

  "Azhu quickly explained: 'Tangnu big brother, this big brother is invited by me, he has excellent bows and arrows, I want to let Muji old father buy from him.'"

  Tang Nu and his companions also noticed the equipment and supplies carried by the three horses, exchanged a surprised glance, and the guard on their faces finally relaxed.

  Tangnu urged his horse closer to Asu's warhorse, reached out and pulled out an unstrung bow from the quiver. This was a composite bow, much stronger than the simple bow in his hand. Tangnu's face lit up with joy, but suddenly changed color, blurting out: "This is the Wusun people's horsebow! Who are you?"

  Three riders instinctively raised their bows and aimed at Ma Yuan.

  Ma Yun did not care to say: "That's right, with eyesight, this is the bow of Wuman. To be precise, this is the bow of the elite riding guard under the command of Khanluo Wang Wu Yan."

  "Sweat... Sweat Lu Wang's mounted guard?"

  These several Hanlu King's escaped slaves, upon hearing this name, immediately changed their expressions. One of them shook his hand, relaxed the bowstring, and an arrow flew past Ma Hong's side, almost hitting Asu.

  Ma Huan's face turned gloomy: "Everyone, is it necessary to be so startled and nervous? You're always drawing your bows. To tell you the truth, I only came this far because this young brother begged me repeatedly. Your attitude is also too insincere. Alright, you can continue to indulge in your own affairs, I'm leaving, Asu, get off the horse."

  Almost hurt someone else, Tannu and his accomplices were also somewhat embarrassed, wanting to apologize but couldn't swallow their pride.

  At this time an old voice came from the valley: "This young man is slow, the children are rude, and the old man wants to apologize for them."

  As the voice faded away, a rustling sound of footsteps echoed through the valley, and a group of herdsmen with worn-out robes and dusty faces emerged at the entrance of the valley, surrounding an old man in his sixties with white hair and beard, and a face weathered from the wind.

  Tang Nu and his three companions, as well as Ah Su, dismounted their horses and bowed: "Greetings, Old Master Mu."

  The old man, also known as Mujilao in Asu's words, walked forward with the support of a little girl and bowed deeply to Ma Xun: "Noble guest, you are willing to help us, but the young men were rude to you. Mujil is extremely sorry, please accept Mujil's sincere apology."

  As Mu Gui bowed his head, a crowd of escaped slaves, including Tang Nu, also bowed their heads to Ma Xian.

  Ma Xun looked around at the gloomy and miserable faces in front of him, remained silent for a moment, then pressed his chest to return the courtesy: "I accept your apologies."

  ……

  This is a spacious cliff cave, with more than ten tents set up inside, and around it are scattered all over the place earthen jars, pottery pots, wooden bowls, dry cow dung and other living materials. In one corner of the cliff cave, seven or eight old two-wheeled carts were parked, and next to it was a pen for livestock, where more than twenty sheep were being raised, and the air was filled with a strong smell of mutton and manure.

  A fire had been lit in the cave, and Mahan was sitting in the east position, while Muzi, the old man, sat in the west (according to the Wuman custom, east is revered, and the tent door must face east). Surrounding them in a circle were young men like Tangnu, and on the outer ring were the elderly and women and children.

  At this moment, old Muji was holding up a bowl of sheep's milk wine and apologizing to Ma Xun.

  What they called "goat's milk wine" was actually fermented sour goat's milk, which smelled slightly of alcohol and tasted very gamey. Ma Yun, however, drank it down as if it were nothing, even smiling as he did so - in his half-life on the run, he had drunk things ten times more disgusting without batting an eyelid.

  Mujiao Laohan stroked his beard and smiled, using a knife to cut off a large piece of mutton, placing it on a wooden plate, and respectfully presenting it to Ma Xun.

  Ma Xun took it with both hands and nodded in thanks.

  On the other side, young people were staring at the golden ring, occasionally looking at Ma Yun, with a look of astonishment. After a while, Tang Nu couldn't help but ask: "Did you really kill Wuma?"

  Ma Xun was already a bit tired of this question and replied calmly: "Is it that hard to kill Wuma?"

  Tan Nu slowly raised his head, gazing at Ma Hao, saying: "Wu Ma is the second most courageous warrior in the Bone Force Department, next only to the Bone Force Chief. I've seen him knock down a cow with his bare hands, and he has more than ten followers..."

  Ma Xun nodded: "That's right, he had twelve followers, and they all died with him. Maybe he could knock down a cow, but he couldn't block an arrow."

  "You killed thirteen Wuluan people, yet there's not a single drop of blood on you?" Tan Nu's eyes were full of mockery.

  Ma Huan replied naturally as if he didn't notice, "Some were shot from a distance, others had their heads twisted off from behind. I also don't want to get stained with blood."

  Tang Nu and the young men were almost laughing, but fortunately remembered their previous rude behavior and were scolded, so they didn't dare to do it again. But those faces were full of contempt.

  Ma Xian didn't bother to respond either, he had no obligation to prove anything, he was just here to sell things.

  Tan Nu and the other young men were disdainful of this boastful young man, but they greatly admired the bows, arrows, knives, and axes he brought, as well as the helmets, shields, and armor, which were all excellent weapons that only the Khan's personal army was qualified to be equipped with.

  "Wooden old man, if we equip these weapons, even if Wu Ma or Bone Force come out in person, we won't be afraid!" Tan Nu was so excited that his face turned bright red, tightly grasping a composite bow and refusing to let go, while the other hand held a ring-headed iron knife, slashing and chopping at the empty air.

  A Su also happily put on a crimson leather armor and compared it with his thin body.

  Mujiao Lao Han was not so optimistic, he was the head of the household, most clearly aware of their family's financial situation, and more importantly, understood what a fine weapon would be worth in the lawless grasslands of Saiwai.

  The old man Muji said bitterly: "Noble guest, you see, we only have more than 20 sheep, our food and salt are not much. I don't know how many bows and arrows these sheep can exchange for?"

  Ma Xun shook his head: "I don't want many sheep, if you don't have money or grain and salt to exchange for them, I can only give you two bows and ten iron arrows at most - to be honest, this is half-selling and half-giving away, your sheep are not worth that much."

  Mu Gui Lao Han nodded repeatedly, thanking him again and again. The old man knew in his heart that Ma Xun was right, this composite mulberry wood hard bow, even under the hands of a master like Guo Jing, there were only a few who possessed it, it was truly priceless, how could it be exchanged for just a few sheep?

  "Only two bows? That's too few, we have twelve warriors who can draw a bow." Tanu was anxious and knelt down to old Muji, "At least six bows and sixty arrows are needed. This concerns whether our fifty-six people can escape from the Wuhuan people, old father, please think of a way."

  More than fifty escaped slaves stared, Mu Gui's old man painfully lowered his head. Facing Ah Su's pleading eyes, Ma Xian could only helplessly shrug his shoulders.

  Ma Xian has been struggling in the West for many years, and his values have been deeply influenced. Buying and selling are just buying and selling, business is just business, if you want to get something, you have to pay for it, there's no free lunch in this world.

  After a long time, old Mu Gui's eyes seemed to flash with determination, his lips trembling as he called out a name: "Nian Nu, come here."

  A girl stood up from the crowd of women and children on the outskirts, walked to Old Man Mugiji's side with her head down, and said in a low voice: "Grandpa."

  The old man Mu Gui stretched out his wrinkled hand, pulled over the girl's slender white palm, gently stroking it, filled with reluctance, and slowly turned his head to Ma Huan, saying word by word: "This is my granddaughter, my eyeball. Now, I want to use her in exchange for six bows and one hundred arrows."

  The whole audience was shocked.

  Ma Huan vaguely remembered that this girl was the one who had helped the old man, Mu Gui, at the valley entrance. At that time, there were too many things to pay attention to, and he hadn't noticed. Now, taking a closer look, he found that she was a remarkably beautiful young girl.

  She was about twelve or thirteen years old, with very white skin, a head of curly brown hair, fine and slender eyebrows, big eyes, long and dense eyelashes, irises in the color of lotus flowers, a straight nose, full and ruddy lips, although her face was young, the two mounds on her chest had already taken shape.

  This is actually a beautiful girl with Central Asian ancestry.

  "No way! Old Man Mu Gui! Can't be exchanged!"

  "Mu Gui old man, Nian Nu is your only granddaughter, your last relative, and our relative. We can't let her leave!"

  "Old Man Mu Gui..."

  The young girl, Nian Nu, quietly leaned against her grandfather, pressing his rough palm against her smooth cheek. Amidst the heated atmosphere, she suddenly stood up and said in a voice that was not loud but shook the entire scene into silence: "It was I, Nian Nu, who brought harm to everyone. Now it's time for me to atone for my sins. I, Nian Nu, am willing to be a slave to Master Ma."

  Ma Xun finally traded four bows made of mulberry wood, one hundred iron arrows, four ring-headed knives and two sets of leather armor for Nianslave.

  Nian Nu was indeed beautiful, but she was only thirteen years old this year, and it was a bit too early. Ma Xun wasn't that unscrupulous — although in Guatemala, he had seen many twelve- or thirteen-year-old brides.

  If it were three to five days ago, when Ma Xun was being hunted down by the whole world, he would not have wanted this burden. But now that he is safe, he urgently needs someone who is familiar with this area, a guide.

  If possible, why not have a beautiful tour guide? Even if it's a little beauty. It's pleasing to the eye and has practical value. This is the reason why Ma Xian finally agreed to exchange.

  After selling some equipment and clearing the load of a horse, it was just enough to let Nian Nu ride. As the crowd of slaves bid farewell with tears in their eyes, the two of them rode off into the distance on four horses.