Yang Wenbao opened the path for his soldiers and Lieutenant Yang, finally managing to get inside the fort.
He looked around him and saw a number of barbarians. They were distinctly different from Great Wei citizens, possessing a bulky body and bronze tanned skin, easily a head or two taller than Yang Wenbao himself. There were no women in sight. But then again, in times of war, women were rarely involved in battlefields.
The barbarians surrounded them but did not attack. Yang Wenbao stood silent, himself and his men were in the middle of the encirclement. Great Wei soldiers, although the majority of them were young, had been tempered in battles and possessed courageous bearing. None of them looked anxious despite the current entrapment situation. A soldier saw Yang Wenbao carrying a round object in his arms. When he managed to get a closer look, he visibly stumbled.
Because the group of soldiers had grown close to Yang Wenbao, they had addressed him with familiarity since weeks ago. However, the soldier was still disgusted with what he had seen, "Brother Yang... . That... what...?"
What was Yang Wenbao thinking? Cradling a bloody Dafuq's head close to his chest with such care? Had this Young Master lost his marbles?
Yang Wenbao seemed to not have heard the soldier's concern and calmly scanned his surrounding. Only he himself knew about the raging storm inside his heart. He wished to obliterate everything around him at this very moment. But there was one person he would never forgive.
One of the barbarians wore richer attire than the others. When one said 'richer', it just meant the person wore more animal pelts than his bare-chested subordinates. When he opened his mouth to speak, one could smell his bad breath from a mile away, "I'd never thought Great Wei could give birth to such great warrior such as yourself." There was a hint of appreciation in his eyes, "Western Jia would love to welcome such a man. If you're interested... ."
Yang Wenbao did not want to have anything to do with this nonsense and sneered, "Haven't you already had a mighty man from Great Wei already? No one could be mightier than this mighty person. Although considering your poor comprehension of language, you probably mistook 'despicable' for 'mighty'."
The barbarian leader was not dumb and he laughed, shifting his gaze towards a certain person amongst the encircled Great Wei soldiers. Yang Wenbao did not wait for him to single this person out and walked towards the lieutenant who had been maintaining his silence, "Still feigning ignorance?"
As soon as he said this, while still holding onto the bloody head, he lifted his blade and hold it against his uncle's neck.
Lieutenant Yang was caught off guard and did not manage to get away, but he still bellowed furiously, "Are you crazy? Men! Yang Wenbao has decided to join the barbarians and has betrayed our Great Wei!"
The barbarian leader and his men did not budge and maintained their relaxed stance of watching a good show.
The soldiers from Great Wei were immediately split into two factions: Yang Wenbao's comrades who still placed faith in him, despite being confused; and Lieutenant Yang's men. The soldier who had noticed the head earlier walked closer to Yang Wenbao, only for the latter to pass on the head to him. The man flustered but did not dare to drop the hairy ball.
"Look carefully at the face behind the hair!" Yang Wenbao ordered him, inching the blade closer to Lieutenant Yang's neck, drawing a thin line of blood. The soldier frowned and did as told.
The face behind the dark hair had also grown hair on its own, but the hair was not as thick to mask the original facial feature. It was undoubtedly human. More so, it was a face he knew well.
"Xiao Tan... ." The soldier exclaimed in surprise mixed with anguish. The person named Xiao Tan was amongst the youngest in their group and everyone treated him like their little brother. However, just a couple of days ago, before they decided to attack the fort, Xiao Tan was amongst the soldiers who was declared as missing. It had only been a short time, yet Xiao Tan had actually changed to... one of those creatures they had been wantonly killing?
Then, the other Dafuqs everyone they had been killing... used to be humans as well? More over, there was high chance that some of their missing old comrades had also turned into the ugly hairy creatures.
Lieutenant Yang probably still wanted to feign innocence, but the barbarian leader was worse than a pig team-mate. More accurately, a barbarian was never a follower of ethical conduct and loyalty. Why would he care about a Great Wei's lieutenant when he had finally managed to catch a bigger fish?
The barbarian chuckled in a relaxed manner. Triumph was already in his expression, "Our part of the deal is over. You can either leave and give him to us, or stay around." He directed this sentence towards Lieutenant Yang, practically turning the latter's attempt in his innocence to moot.
The older man's initial angry expression gradually turned calm, his eyes now contained unconcealed contempt towards Yang Wenbao.
"You have to die," the lieutenant openly stated, "and you will die here."
Yang Wenbao did not really care about this so-called uncle. Lieutenant Yang was just from the second branch and at best, could only be called as cousin by the current Marquis Yang. However, Yang Liyuan had always been respectful towards this uncle, because of the lieutenant's contribution in wars. Thus, he had to ask, "Why?"
This simple word caused the older man to frown, not caring that the blade in Yang Wenbao's neck had pressed deeper. Just a flick of Yang Wenbao's hand, would cause his neck's carotid to be severed. Yang Wenbao had to admit, as a soldier, this person's bravery was worthy of praise. Perhaps Lieutenant Yang also was very certain of Yang Wenbao's impending death and did not care to hide things anymore.
"Because my son has to be the next Marquis Yang."
Yang Wenbao blinked. As far as he knew, this Uncle Yang was a military man and despite having concubines, he hardly had the time to sow his seeds. The second branch had no male offspring.
Lieutenant Yang, "If you die, my son will be the only heir of my foolish cousin. My son is so great and has a Bei Sui royalty as his backing. He won't care about losing an incompetent younger brother like you!"
Yang Wenbao only stared blankly. One really did not know if Yang Wenbao was clever or dumb. Previously, when he saw the fort in the middle of the desert, he immediately knew it was going to be a trap most likely set up by his supposed blood-kin. However, now, he was at a loss. Why was he an 'incompetent younger brother' to Uncle Yang's mysterious son?
Fortunately, one of the soldiers inadvertently gave him a clue by stuttering out loud, "... No, that can't be. You mean... the Marshal is... . Madame Yang and you ... ? Brother Wenbao and the Marshal... are not real brothers?"
If Yang Wenbao were still clueless after such a clear statement, one must hit his head with a hammer! However, perhaps he could not be blamed. This was someone who had been in the dark and wore a green hat for years in his life as Park Jeong Hyeon. Park Jeong Hyeon's wife and best friend hid his illness for years, Park Jeong Hyeon raised two children that were not even his while the two people who were their real parents laughed behind his back and cultivated their romance.
In normal people's terms, those wary of the good and bad of the world would call Yang Wenbao as stupid.
But in Tian Lei and YuLan's terms, they would endearingly call Yang Wenbao as dense, or perhaps foolishly kind. Yang Wenbao usually would never think that a human being would scheme to such an extent.
Yang Wenbao's mind churned and turned a million miles, but it was only a second of silence before he gritted his teeth and asked, "Does Yang Liyuan know?" If this eldest brother was aware of it, had Yang Liyuan and Lieutenant Yang been hiding this fact behind Yang Wenbao's back? Lieutenant Yang might have unfavorable intent, but what about Yang Liyuan? Should Yang Wenbao trust him in the future?
Lieutenant Yang gloated again, "A-Yuan is clueless. From how the Marquis has been raising him and you, both of you are upright and as straight as an arrow... . But one day, when he matures more, he'll know everything I've done was for him."
Yang Wenbao could not help but interject in his mind, "Actually... we are both bent... ," Despite knowing Lieutenant Yang meant 'straight' differently. Did Lieutenant Yang still not know Wu Li and Yang Liyuan had been cultivating bedroom feelings for years? In this sense, Yang Liyuan was indeed the blood offspring of this Uncle Yang. He was so good in hiding his private activities!
And why was Yang Wenbao not surprised about the revelation that Wu Li was actually a Bei Sui royalty?
"How self-righteous you sounded," Yang Wenbao smiled, but his eyes remained indifferent, "You did everything without caring how and what eldest brother might feel."
Yang Liyuan and the Marquis had a close relationship like that of a son and a father, and Yang Liyuan had always believed Yang Wenbao was his true younger brother. Now, Uncle Yang said he would reveal everything in time and believed Yang Liyuan would just accept it?
"A-Yuan will understand. Blood is thicker than water," Lieutenant Yang stated, "And you don't have the right to call A-Yuan elder brother, you incompetent boy!"
The barbarians actually let the show continue on, the leader was more than happy to watch this feud between the two Great Wei leaders tasked to invade their very fort. Of course, one of them was their ex-accomplice... .
The soldiers exchanged glances with each other.
Yang Wenbao, "Whatever you're planning, I don't really care. But why did you sacrifice your own people?"
Xiao Tan and countless other missing soldiers had turned into monsters and the soldiers were once again reminded they had most likely killed their old comrades with their own hands.
At this point, the barbarian leader intervened, "Ah, but you don't need to worry too much about that, Young Master Yang. I assure you, you have not killed only your friends. You have killed plenty of our own people as well."
Lieutenant Yang barked at the leader, "Still wasting time? I'm telling you, if you let Yang Wenbao and his men live after today, you won't have any good days!"
Some of the barbarians shifted their positions to get closer, revealing some cages previously hidden behind their bodies. Yang Wenbao and the soldiers could see the black haired creatures held inside them. However, some of the Dafuqs inside had not fully transformed into the monsters they had often faced before.
One could see some of them still possessed their human features. More over, from the bodies and the facial features, they were all either women, or the elderlies.
Noticing their stunned expressions, the barbarian leader laughed, "Do you understand what I've just said before? You might call us barbarians, but we've found a way to make these wastes to be useful. Just give them some monster's blood, even the weakest of a grandpa can be a strong creature."
The creatures inside, completely or only half-turned, scratched on the cages' steel bars. The ones still retaining their human features howled sounds mixed between beastly growls and human cries.
One of his subordinates was also emboldened with the favorable situation and added, "The women who can no longer give birth can also contribute to our people. When turned, they wouldn't be useless mouths to feed as these creatures don't need fo... ."
The person did not manage to finish his sentence as he suddenly felt weightless, his line of sight formed an arch and plummeted to the ground. Before death completely claimed him, he just managed to see his body falling to its knee.
The leader, who had just seen his subordinate be decapitated in front of his eyes was stunned. Just a split second ago, Yang Wenbao was still holding his blade against Lieutenant Yang, and was a few feet away. He blinked the the blood splattering on his face, but before he could draw his large cleaver or signal his men to attack, he saw another curtain of red.
His brain registered a tiniest moment of pain from something sharp against his neck, then his own blood sprayed all over, blinding his line of sight.
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