Chapter 111: No Escape

Chapter 111: No Escape

After the Turks finished shouting, they found that the tribe before them had turned into a sea of fire.

Many Turks ran out from their tents.

They watched their tents being set ablaze, their faces full of despair, shouting something.

Xiao Ce, watching from nearby as these Turks ran out in panic, continued to give commands.

“Shoot another volley of Flaming Arrows! This time, aim at the people!”

As these Turks scrambled out, they seemed to have forgotten the initial shouts warning of an enemy attack.

Their first reaction was to put out the fire.

However, before they could take any real action.

They saw the sky turn red once again.

A rain of arrows appeared right above their heads. Their expressions changed rapidly.

Panic, surprise, terror, despair…

And everyone realized the arrows were aimed at them.

Some of the Arrowheads missed, but a large number hit their mark.

Some died on the spot, most were seriously injured.

“Quick… go quickly… bring out the slaves. Have them form a human wall to protect us!”

Some Turks, noticing that the slaves locked in the horse pens and cattle sheds were not under attack, started shouting.

The slaves around the horse pens and cattle sheds, seeing this, were so scared they all curled up into balls.

Xiao Ce on one side did not give them a chance. A third wave, a fourth wave, a fifth wave.

Three consecutive waves of rapid shooting left no Turk in the tribe standing on their feet.

The slaves who had come with Xiao Ce were dumbfounded by the sight.

Because they never thought those invincible Turks could be so weak.

They didn’t even have time to fight back before being utterly defeated.

And this real battle, from start to finish, took less time than it takes to drink a cup of tea.

And these slaves, from beginning to end, spent the time in shock.

Each of them held a stiff bow, not having fired a single arrow.

Xiao Ce didn’t waste words. He glanced at the bodies of the dogs beside him.

These dog corpses were from the ones that had charged at them right at the beginning.

However, they had simply used Repeating Crossbows to take care of them all!

“All of you, prepare the Repeating Crossbows! Kill anyone who resists! Tie up those who are alive and don’t dare to resist! I have a use for them!”

As soon as Xiao Ce finished speaking, the encirclement instantly tightened.

By now, these elite Cavalry soldiers were well-practiced. After they appeared,

the surviving Turks were terrified when they saw them approaching.

“Ghosts! Ghosts!”

After all, they wore Camouflage Uniforms, their faces smeared with various paints. In the night, they approached silently, grabbed the left ears of the dead, and sliced them off very neatly.

No one wanted to resist at all. Some injured Turks tried to run.

They got an extra arrow in the leg!

Then, the soldiers walked up and yanked the Arrowheads out.

Xiao Ce did not go to the area where the Turks were gathered. Instead, he led Wei Wuji and a group of slaves to the place where the slaves were housed.

These slaves were all in cattle sheds and sheep pens, huddled together with the animals for warmth.

Seeing Xiao Ce and his men approach, even though they outnumbered them, these slaves did not dare to resist. They just burrowed into the sheep piles, trying to hide themselves!

Seeing this, Xiao Ce, as before, called out: “Everyone, don’t be afraid. I am the King of Northern Desert. I am here to save you!”

Not a single person present spoke.

Wei Wuji, seeing this, said: “Prince, should I help say a few words?”

Xiao Ce nodded, looking slightly helpless. He was good at giving ‘speeches’ and ‘painting a rosy picture’.

But he was not good at giving ‘speeches’ to these people.

After all, to give a ‘speech’ that stirs people’s hearts, one needs to empathize.

He had not experienced what they had experienced, so he could not speak words that would give them hope.

On the contrary, Wei Wuji, who also came from slavery, would surely do a better job.

After receiving Xiao Ce’s permission, Wei Wuji began to speak.

“Everyone, I am from the neighboring tribe…”

This Wei Wuji, though not a skilled orator, was valuable for his sincerity. He first mentioned his own identity, then introduced Xiao Ce’s identity, and talked about the earth-shaking changes in the Four Northern Desert Prefectures.

For example, the common people had become their own Masters, being given houses and land, and a series of such deeds.

He also talked about what happened after Xiao Ce arrived!

After finishing, Wei Wuji said with great emotion: “There was a time when I always hoped for a savior to come! Now, our savior has come! Our King has come!”

“Those fierce Turks, in front of our King, were no match at all! Listen…”

As he spoke, a series of miserable howls came from the Turkic residential area.

“If you want to be human again! If you want to return to your homeland! Then stand up and follow our King!”

After Wei Wuji’s speech, Xiao Ce saw a glimmer of light flashing in these people’s eyes.

He knew it was his turn to speak: “If you want to take back what the Turks took from you, rise and follow me!”

“If you want to pay back double the pain and humiliation the Turks inflicted upon you, rise and follow me!”

“If you want revenge for your relatives and friends killed by the Turks, rise and follow me!”

“This Prince will lead you to take back everything you lost!”

Xiao Ce’s voice rang through the night sky. From the cattle sheds and sheep pens, people began to stand up—bare-chested, covered in filth, and emaciated…

Xiao Ce said: “Come!”

From a large sheep pen, a dense crowd of people emerged.

Xiao Ce estimated there were at least nearly twenty thousand people.

By now, the tents had been burnt to ashes, and the ground was covered with the corpses of Turks.

These corpses all shared a common feature: their left ears were cut off, and their faces bore expressions of sheer terror.

The slaves looked at these once overbearing Turks lying dead. They weren’t afraid; they had seen death more than anything else on their journey.

Looking at these bodies, they felt a certain satisfaction, and they believed a little more in what had just been said.

On one side of this Gesa Tribe, there was a similar altar and Bronze Cauldron.

And next to this Bronze Cauldron, there were over a thousand mutilated corpses, some missing legs, some missing arms…

Something was still boiling in the Bronze Cauldron, and a strange smell of cooked meat wafted from it.

Xiao Ce knew their sacrificial method and knew what was cooking inside…

His expression was not good!

Yan Jia stepped forward and said to Xiao Ce, “Prince, more than one hundred people are still alive in total. They have all lost the ability to fight back!”

Xiao Ce nodded.

He turned his head to look at the dense crowd of slaves following behind.

Then he loudly said to them, “There are more than one hundred Turks here! If you have grievances, seek revenge! If you have grudges, settle them! Each person gets one stab.”

A Turkic woman on the altar shouted at this moment, “Who are you… Do you know who we are? I am Wuqimu Gesa. The great wife of Khan Helu! When my Khan returns and learns of your actions, he will grind your bones to dust and scatter your ashes!”

Xiao Ce listened and gave a cold laugh, “You are the rightful wife of Wuqimu Gesa, right?”

After hearing Xiao Ce’s words, Wuqimu Gesa snorted coldly and said, “That’s right. Now you know fear. No matter who you are, you have attacked my tribe and slaughtered my tribal people. If you surrender now, when my Khan returns, I can let them give you a quick death! Otherwise…”

“Do you still dare to act tough when death is upon you! This Prince is the King of Northern Desert, Xiao Ce! This time I came to kill you first, then go kill that dog Helu. This Prince will not only kill that dog Helu. I will also kill all you Turks!”

After hearing Xiao Ce’s words, Wuqimu Gesa’s face changed dramatically, “No… that’s impossible… The Mobei-Tujue Border is filled with our people, your army…”

Xiao Ce snorted coldly, “You Turks have defied the way of heaven! Created too much slaughter! The Celestial God helped me, lent me one thousand Heavenly Soldiers, just to slaughter you Turkic devils and cleanse the world!”

After Xiao Ce finished speaking, Yan Jia and the group of soldiers wearing Camouflage Uniforms understood immediately, “Kill! Kill! Kill!”

Hearing the earth-shaking shouts of these people.

Some cowardly Turks were scared and kowtowed repeatedly. Clearly they believed their words and kept kowtowing.

Xiao Ce had Wuqimu Gesa captured. After all, she was the great wife.

Many of his sons were on the battlefield; they would certainly be useful!

After capturing Wuqimu Gesa, he had Da Lei treat her so she wouldn’t die!

Xiao Ce looked at the female slaves with their upper bodies exposed; it was not very decent after all.

He had his soldiers strip clothes from the corpses for them to wear.

Although these slaves had all followed, when it really came to taking up knives and killing, they were still afraid.

Seeing this, Wei Wuji took the lead and set an example, taking a small knife and stepping forward to stab.

Soon, the young men who came with Wei Wuji stepped forward one after another.

After all, they were inspired by watching Xiao Ce’s fight.

Xiao Ce watched from the side and said to the watching slaves, “If you want to go, hurry up, otherwise you won’t get a chance later.”

Soon, there was a first young man.

This young man looked awful, skinny as a rail, holding a knife, trembling as he stepped forward.

Those Turks were afraid of Xiao Ce’s group, but when they saw these slaves, they showed fierce expressions again.

“You beast, dare you chop me? Kneel down!”

With just this one shout, the slave was frightened and dropped his knife on the ground.

Wei Wuji comforted him, “Don’t be afraid of him… he is now a dog with all its teeth pulled out! He can only look like he wants to bite, but he can’t actually do it!”

The young slave’s whole body trembled.

“Think of your family that they slaughtered… before you had no power, now the Prince has given you a chance! If you still dare not take revenge, that is your own weakness, you deserve to be like this!” Wei Wuji said from the side.

“No… Ah! I want to kill you! You beasts murdered my father, cooked my sister! And made us eat their… beasts! Beasts!”

Stab… stab… stab…

As he spoke, the young man grew agitated, taking the knife in his hand, stabbing it again and again into their bodies.

The Turks widened their eyes, faces full of disbelief that they dared to do this.

After the first one, many people stepped forward.

But there were nearly twenty thousand slaves, and only about one hundred Turks.

Xiao Ce said each person gets one stab, but in the end, almost as soon as someone came up, they would lose control and stab the Turks into sieves!

For the dead Turks, this was a release, but for the living, it became torment.

A full half-hour later, the events on the altar finally ended.

Xiao Ce had Wei Wuji organize everyone, gather the cattle, sheep, horses, as well as provisions, fodder, and treasures.

Wei Wuji began to command in an orderly manner.

And Wuqimu Gesa, this woman in her forties, stared fixedly at Xiao Ce with a fierce expression.

Seeing this, Xiao Ce walked up and said, “What is it, you seem unconvinced?”

Wuqimu Gesa showed a fierce look, “Are you really that so-called useless King of Northern Desert from the rumors?”

Xiao Ce looked at her appearance, “What is it, am I not useless, does that disappoint you?”

Wuqimu Gesa sneered, “Although I don’t know how you sneaked over here! But, do you think by ambushing us, these old, weak, women, and children, you have won a victory?”

“I tell you, if you have the ability, go fight our Turkic cavalry! You’d better not run, because when you attacked, I already sent Message Crows to people in various tribes! Before dawn, our Turkic tribes will receive my call for help! Although our main forces have gone to attack your Northern Desert! But we left reserve troops; when combined, there are tens of thousands! They will soon join together and wipe you out! I tell you, even if you grew wings now, you couldn’t escape! Hahaha…”

Wuqimu Gesa became more excited as she spoke, laughing very ferociously.