Chapter 33: Ransom

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“After doing something like this, do you really think you can get away?”

Huyan Jun was pinned on horseback by Jin Fangyan. As he threatened them in halting Han Chinese, he racked his brains for a way to escape.

Su Yao and the others had now successfully passed through the nomads’ formation, but at least three hundred mounted nomads were still clinging tightly to their heels. They did not dare fire their arrows, fearing they might kill their commander, but they certainly could not simply turn around and leave him to his fate.

And so the two groups of cavalry had reached a stalemate.

After nearly two hours of pursuit, even Su Yao had to admit that these steppe nomads truly knew their way around horses. Both sides had three mounts per rider, yet the nomads were clearly better at conserving their horses’ strength.

Along the way, apart from Su Yao and a handful of exceptional riders, everyone else had already exhausted their mounts. To keep the warhorses from collapsing and dying of fatigue, they had changed horses once en masse. The men on the other side, however, had actually used their riding skills to make up the difference and had held out without changing mounts.

“Garrison Commander Su, we won’t shake them off by riding like this.”

Song Xian’s reminder was something Su Yao already knew. If they continued this standoff, there were only a few possible outcomes.

Either they would continue racing at this punishing pace until all three horses per rider were exhausted and the enemy caught up with them.

Or they could ease off and travel at a sustained, moderate-to-high speed, dragging this whole band of nomads along with them to Huanglu Fort.

Or, worse still, somewhere along the way they might run into another relocating thousand-rider unit and be attacked from both front and rear.

Every possibility was idiotic. None was acceptable to him.

“What are you afraid of? This is all they’ve got!”

Cheng Lian shouted.

“One Han soldier is worth three nomads, and we have Garrison Commander Su with us. Why don’t we turn around and wipe them out before moving on?”

Cheng Lian was not wrong. Su Yao had also considered turning back and slaughtering the lot of them.

But after entertaining the thought for only a moment, he abandoned it.

The main mission was right in front of him. Once it was completed, he would be able to take both thousand-rider units and all their treasure. There was no need to waste time on this side issue along the road. If they were delayed and allowed the other thousand-rider unit to escape, the loss would be enormous.

Moreover, the foundation of the saying that one Han soldier was worth three nomads lay in the Han troops’ superior equipment, morale, and battlefield skills.

At present, dressed almost entirely in nomad clothing and wearing virtually no armor, they would be fighting the nomads on horseback with bows. How much of their ability they could bring to bear was anyone’s guess.

If they ended up with an ugly casualty ratio, Su Yao would be humiliated.

Thus, when it came to fighting on the road, Su Yao’s attitude was simple: avoid battle whenever possible. If he could leap over the obstacle, he would. If he could not, he would overwhelm them with words. In any case, his true battlefield was Huanglu Fort!

Su Yao had no desire to fight and ignored Cheng Lian’s provocation. Huyan Jun, on the other hand, felt his heart sink at those words, for that was precisely the outcome he feared most.

If relations between the Han and the nomads broke down completely, Huyan Jun could not say who would win or lose. But one thing was certain: Huyan Jun himself would definitely die.

In a panic, he drew breath and shouted, “Release me, and I guarantee we won’t pursue you any further!”

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“Do you mean that?”

Su Yao suddenly turned his face toward him.

Huyan Jun was stunned. He had shouted the words only as a token gesture and had never expected these men to release him.

After all, he had spent nearly two hours alternating between coaxing and threatening them. He had exhausted every polite appeal and hurled every vicious threat he could think of, yet this utterly heartless group had ignored him completely.

But now… could it be? Was there really a chance?

Huyan Jun immediately seized that faint glimmer of hope and hurriedly agreed.

“We won’t pursue you! We won’t!”

As though afraid that would not be convincing enough, he added, “Your valor is unmatched, General. Why would I foolishly seek trouble? As long as you release me, we’ll turn around at once. Wherever you’re going, we’ll pretend we never saw you. We’ll cease hostilities and let each other go. How does that sound?”

“Fine.”

Su Yao raised a hand and led the others in gradually slowing to a halt. The nomadic cavalry following behind, wary of harming their hostage, did not dare act rashly. They stopped in the distance, maintaining a safe gap.

“You can go. But as my spoils of war, you can’t simply arrive empty-handed and leave empty-handed, can you?”

A gleam shone in Su Yao’s eyes. He had already decided how to deal with this man. Now the moment had come.

Under Su Yao’s piercing gaze, Huyan Jun instinctively shuddered, sensing that something was wrong.

“What does the general mean?”

“You’ve made us work hard escorting you all this way. Those two hundred horses can serve as your ransom.”

“What?”

“What? Surely a thousand-rider commander is worth more than two hundred horses?”

Su Yao smiled.

Was that any way to make a comparison? Huyan Jun felt bitter. He knew he had been fleeced, and that he had probably also helped these Han soldiers solve their pursuit problem in the process.

“By the way, don’t even think of taking the opportunity to change horses. I have no desire for the stinking mounts ridden by your nomad horsemen.”

Damn it! As expected, that scoundrel had waited until their horses were nearly exhausted before making this demand!

Huyan Jun understood it perfectly, but nothing mattered more than his life. Fortunately, he could also see that these men, like himself for the moment, had no desire to start a fight.

Indeed, Huyan Jun had never wanted to fight either.

Their more than three hundred mounted archers might have been able to handle nearly a hundred elite Han cavalrymen. But with that scar-faced man of extraordinary strength added to the equation, Huyan Jun himself was no longer confident.

Since ancient times, armies had gone to war to win. Unless absolutely forced into it, no one willingly entered a battle with only even odds.

Besides, he had gained a great deal from this raid. Why create complications on the journey home? If he lost, he would forfeit both his men and his wealth, and might even lose his life. If he won, he would still pay a heavy price. What would be the point?

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Fewer than a hundred Han soldiers, wearing such poorly disguised nomad clothing—what kind of waves could they possibly make?

Having made up his mind, Huyan Jun continued cursing them, throwing around words like “extortionist” and “scoundrel.” In the end, however, he agreed to the humiliating settlement.

After the two sides discussed the details of exchanging the hostage and the horses, Huyan Jun finally returned to his own ranks.

“Chief, are we really just going to let them go?”

The nomads watched as Su Yao and the others calmly changed horses and rode away in a cloud of dust. Resentment was unavoidable.

“All you know is how to fight and kill. How many times must I tell you? War gets people killed. Our tribe has little to spare, so we must be cautious—cautious, and then more cautious still.”

Huyan Jun’s expression was hardly pleasant either, but he was clearly willing to accept the outcome.

“When we get back, keep a close eye on those slaves. We must squeeze the value of those two hundred lost horses back out of them!”

His men nodded and voiced their agreement. At that moment, a hundred-rider commander stepped forward and asked hesitantly, “Commander, where do you think that group is rushing off to? We’ve let them go just like that. What if something serious happens?”

Huyan Jun snorted.

“They’re wearing our clothes. They’re obviously planning some sort of surprise attack. Since they didn’t strike us, they’re either heading for Buye, or…”

“Huanglu Fort?!”

The hundred-rider commander was shocked. Everyone knew what it would mean if Huanglu Fort fell. If things went badly, they might not even make it home!

“Stop shouting nonsense!”

Huyan Jun cast an annoyed glance at the agitated commander and spoke slowly.

“Why are you worrying about Huanglu Fort? There are two hundred men stationed there, including General Lan, personally sent by King Xitu, along with an Eagle-Shooting Archer and fifty guards of the royal encampment. Even if the Han sent ten thousand men, they would struggle to take it. These eighty-odd men are merely going there to die. Let them go. They truly have no idea how high the heavens are or how deep the earth.”

“General Lan? Guards of the royal encampment?”

The hundred-rider commander was startled. Those were the strongest armored troops under King Xitu, each capable of taking on ten ordinary soldiers by themselves. And there was also the Eagle-Shooting Archer, a marksman with the eyes of a hawk. With them there, Huanglu Fort was indeed as secure as a fortress of iron.

“Still… just in case, we should warn them.”

With that, the cautious Huyan Jun ordered his men to burn horse dung and dry grass. A column of black smoke slowly curled into the sky.

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