The barbarians were desperate.
First had come the sight of those impassable walls—a first shock to the soul. Now came the wolf soldiers charging forward without a shred of hesitation, their momentum so overwhelming that it delivered a second shock to the soul.
They had never imagined the enemy would be so audacious, and so they had made no preparations for it.
Their only thought had been to march up to the city walls and apply psychological pressure through sheer numbers.
But the enemy refused to play by the rules!
The barbarian vanguard, facing the wolf soldiers' assault, fell back in a steady retreat.
Yet how could they possibly retreat faster than the wolf soldiers could charge?
"Loose!" The bolts from the steel crossbows arced hundreds of meters and rained down into the barbarian encampment. Bodies fell in swaths.
A second volley.
A third—
The third wave of psychological pressure arrived, and it brought physical damage along with it.
The wolf soldiers had not even reached close quarters before the barbarian vanguard collapsed entirely, scattering in every direction, as if deliberately opening a path for the charging wolves.
"Keep shooting!"
Since the enemy ahead had already scattered, there was no need for blades. Just keep the arrows flying.
And so the arrow storm reached the central command tent itself!
Aguda's face went white as paper. He could not fathom that such a fearsome enemy existed in this world.
So they weren't lying to me after all.
Ming Wu led the wolf soldiers in their thundering advance and saw that the barbarians' morale had broken.
An opportunity like this could not be wasted. Time to shatter them completely.
He flicked a hand signal, and the five thousand cavalry—with reckless boldness—split into ten groups, fanning out in all directions at once to press the advantage as far as it would go.
Among them, the two groups Ming Wu commanded himself rode side by side, driving straight toward Aguda's central command tent.
Aguda's face went whiter still. They don't even consider me a threat.
And indeed, Ming Wu didn't think much of his army at all!
The original plan had been to strike without warning, reach the central tent, and take Aguda prisoner. If things went sideways, the wolf soldiers' momentum was enough to sweep a full circuit and pull back.
The gate had never been the real concern—if ten horses could ride through abreast, could the wolf soldiers not hold that passage? And there was still the Dragon-Sealing Stone in reserve as a last resort.
Who could have known it would go almost too smoothly? A battle's window of opportunity passes in an instant. Ming Wu couldn't restrain himself, and split the force outward to press the kill.
Aguda, though his face was the color of paper and his whole body was trembling, refused to let his composure crumble entirely. "I am the Emperor of the North. If you release me, I will give you—ah—?!"
Crack!
Ming Wu's whip lashed across Aguda's face. The skin split open at once.
Whatever composure remained, Aguda could not hold it. He clutched his face and writhed on the ground, screaming.
"So you're the one who sent assassins after my Sister Jinyi?"
Crack! Another stroke, this one across the backside.
Ming Wei gripped his hand. "Third brother, the master is still waiting. What if you kill him?"
"Tie him up. Take him."
Ming Wu swept a glance across the cowering figures in the tent. Many of them, at a single look, were obviously Han Chinese.
There were probably former court officials of the second and third rank among them.
With a contemptuous snort, Ming Wu turned and walked away.
Ming Xin had said: bring back only Aguda. Leave the others. Bringing back too many would cause problems. What kind of problems, exactly, he hadn't said.
The pursuit and killing on the battlefield continued, but that no longer required Ming Wu's attention. He led his men back into the city personally.
Inside the city, the common farming folk huddled and trembled, waiting on fate's judgment. They had grown up in the north, weaned on tales of the barbarians' ferocity, and that deep-rooted fear left them unable to believe the wolf soldiers could win.
Only when word arrived that the barbarian emperor had been captured did they dare lift their heads—faces filled with disbelief.
At the city lord's manor, Ming Xin sat with one leg crossed over the other, drinking tea, a book open in his hands that he was reading with evident pleasure.
Then Ming Wu dragged Aguda inside.
"Second brother, your nerves are something else. Weren't you afraid we'd get cut down out there?"
"What was there to worry about? A gentleman acts with decisiveness. I had already foreseen the outcome."
"If it had gone wrong, you'd have truly failed the master's teachings. You might as well have died out there."
"With the Dragon-Sealing Stone dropping on one side, and another five thousand wolf soldier auxiliaries inside the city, they couldn't have broken in even if it killed them."
Ming Wu had no answer for that. He gave Aguda a shove that sent the man sprawling on the floor.
"This is Aguda."
Aguda shot Ming Wu a look of pure hatred, then turned his gaze to Ming Xin.
"I am the Emperor of the North. If you release me, I will give you—"
Ming Xin wasn't listening to a word Aguda was saying. He leaned forward, studying the whip marks on Aguda's face with genuine curiosity.
"Tsk, tsk. Ming Wu, how many times have I told you—we are civilized people."
"Ahh—?!"
Aguda screamed and rolled across the floor in agony, but the scalding stream followed him wherever he rolled. Wisps of white steam rose from his skin. In some places, things had probably gone past scalded.
It turned out Ming Xin had been holding that teapot in his hand all along.
He poured it in a long, unhurried stream. Everyone watching felt the hair rise on their skin.
The servant attending in the room was more terrified than anyone, because only he knew the truth: Ming Xin had told him to boil a large pot of water and replace it with freshly brewed tea every minute or two.
He had wondered what that was about. Now he understood—it had all been for this very moment.
"Civilized people must use civilized methods. When receiving a guest, one offers tea. Have you learned that?"
Ming Wu's hair was standing on end. He nodded hastily. "Second brother—lesson learned, lesson thoroughly learned."
His mouth had even gone crooked.
This time Ming Jian did not step forward to say anything like "what if he dies." He was afraid that if he tried to stop it, his second brother would simply pour what remained of the pot on him instead.
"Oh dear, Master Aguda, I do beg your pardon—my hand slipped and I've gone and scalded you. Quickly now, bring medicine—the finest medicine. This is the first time the master has ever extended so sincere an invitation to anyone. We must take the very best care."
"Please, escort Master Aguda to his rest."
The look Aguda gave Ming Xin was the look one gives a devil.
He scrambled and crawled his way toward the door.
Of all the people to provoke, why had they gone after Jinyi?
Among the twenty-three youngsters raised under the Zhao household, the master stood first in everyone's heart—and Jinyi held a second place that no one could shake. For it was Jinyi who had pulled them out of the abyss, who had shown them hope for the first time.
So even the boys who were older than her called her Sister without a second thought.
You dare touch our hope?
Then let us show you despair.