Chapter 136: A Turk’s Body, A Xiao Kingdom’s Heart

Chapter 136: A Turk’s Body, A Xiao Kingdom’s Heart

The group of surrendered Turks looked confused.

Da Lei did not explain. He changed the subject. “Alright, now it’s up to you! Outside are people from the Tiesa Tribe. See if you can disguise yourselves as them.”

The surrendered Turks nodded and said, “Sir, no problem. People from one tribe don’t necessarily know those from another tribe. As long as we can speak the Turkic language, there won’t be any issues.”

Da Lei nodded and let them go do it.

“Do we need to do anything besides poisoning them?” asked the leader of the surrendered Turks.

Da Lei waved his hand. “Right after that, you just need to hide. Wait for us to come find you.”

The surrendered Turks nodded. Da Lei did not stay there any longer.

Since the task was just to poison, even among the surrendered Turks, only the smarter ones from this group were sent.

They wore Turkic clothing and walked openly on the streets.

They did not arouse suspicion.

They observed several water points, scouted the locations, and then hid first.

It wasn’t until just before the evening meal preparation that they poured packets of powder into the water sources.

…

Night fell. Xiao Ce appeared with the Ghost Cavalry and an army he had formed in Turkic lands, ten li outside the city.

Xiao Ce had Yan Jia wait there. Then he told Wei Wuji to pick two thousand elite soldiers from their army to follow him.

Wei Wuji was excited to hear he could take the vanguard.

However, at this moment, he was very tactful.

“What about General Yan Jia and you all…”

Before Xiao Ce could answer, Yan Jia spoke up. “The Prince wants to train you! We veterans have seen many battles. You need this opportunity more than we do. We will provide support for you from the outside.”

Xiao Ce said with a smile, “Right! And there’s not much danger this time. They don’t even need to step in. Unless… you don’t want to?”

Wei Wuji waved his hands and said very firmly that he was willing, that they really needed this chance.

Xiao Ce glanced at the night sky and told Wei Wuji to set off with the two thousand men.

In the darkness, their group rode horses quickly towards the city wall.

Seeing this, Wei Wuji first asked Xiao Ce if they needed to provide some cover.

But then Xiao Ce, riding ‘Iron Egg’, charged forward the most fiercely.

They had no choice but to chase after him.

When they reached the base of the city wall, Wei Wuji asked Xiao Ce with a surprised face, “Prince, how did you know there wouldn’t be a single guard on this section of the wall?”

Xiao Ce took out a telescope from his hand and shook it. “I saw it just now through this thing.”

Wei Wuji looked at this object resembling a copper tube, a hint of doubt on his face.

“Prince, could this be the ‘Thousand-Mile Eye’ captured from the Ashina Tribe?”

Xiao Ce was a bit surprised that Wei Wuji recognized it and nodded. “You know its origin?”

Wei Wuji nodded. “This was Mosi Ashina’s congratulatory gift to the Ashina Khan. They say you can see distant things through it. But its exact origin is unknown. According to Mosi Ashina, this treasure was brought by people from across the distant oceans and is worth ten thousand pieces of gold!”

Even though Xiao Ce had some mental preparation, he was still shocked.

“Fools’ money is so easy to earn! A magnifying glass and a concave lens sold for ten thousand gold! He thought the white sugar and fine salt he made were already scams. But this telescope is an even bigger scam. Once things are stable here, I must get those reproducible things from later eras made and sell them to these ancient people, scamming their money, one silent scam at a time.”

Xiao Ce muttered to himself.

Earlier, through the telescope, he saw there was no one on the wall at all. He figured Da Lei’s plan to have those surrendered Turks poison the water must have succeeded.

By now, they were probably running all over the place.

“Did you all bring the ropes for tying people up as instructed?”

Wei Wuji nodded. “Prince, each man carries one bundle.”

Xiao Ce then directed them. “Search along the outside of the city wall. Wherever you find this symbol at the base of the wall, look for an entrance about three meters outward. There are tunnels there. All of you, enter separately. Inside, those people should all be having the runs. Capture them alive if possible. Kill any who resist.”

Wei Wuji clasped his hands and agreed.

Xiao Ce then found the nearest underground passage and crawled in.

Within minutes, he had entered Yanbei City through the tunnel.

Even though this vast city once had several thousand defenders.

Inside the city now, they were nothing.

Xiao Ce’s guards, holding repeating crossbows, walked with him on the streets.

They walked for quite a while without seeing any Turks.

The soldiers following Xiao Ce were about to ask.

Before they could speak, Xiao Ce made a silencing gesture towards them.

Faintly, they could hear a series of pained groans and moans, along with the sound of splattering and crackling.

“Follow the sounds. You’ll definitely find something.”

As Xiao Ce spoke, the new recruits behind him rushed forward.

Xiao Ce followed. Soon after, they found a line of people at a corner latrine pit.

They seemed unable to hold it in. They formed a line and relieved themselves right there on the spot.

The new recruits beside Xiao Ce raised their weapons and shouted sternly, “Don’t move!”

Hearing the noise, these Turks snapped back to their senses.

Seeing Xiao Ce and his group, they thought they were hallucinating from exhaustion.

They instinctively rubbed their eyes.

Before they could react, the new recruits rushed forward and kicked them over with their feet.

They were squatting. A kick…

Sent them falling back directly onto their own excrement.

Xiao Ce didn’t even want to watch this scene. Although these new recruits were once slaves.

But after being liberated by Xiao Ce in the Turkic rear, they gradually regained their confidence!

They hated these Turks to the bone, so their actions were naturally not gentle.

Xiao Ce stopped looking. He took a dozen or so men and walked to the city gate.

Looking at this concrete door, it was indeed sturdy. This concrete gate had many mechanisms, so opening it wasn’t difficult.

As Fu Niu turned a millstone, the concrete city gate slowly opened.

Once the gate was wide open, they heard the sound of hooves approaching from the distance.

And at that moment, shouts erupted from within the city.

Xiao Ce had someone light the bonfire on the gate tower. He found an Official’s Armchair and sat down to wait.

In less than half an hour, the new recruits herded a group of Turks. These Turks had not had time to put on their pants and were tied up securely.

Splattering and crackling sounds still came from behind them continuously.

Hearing this commotion, Xiao Ce quickly told them not to come closer.

“Who are you? Have you Xiao Kingdom people been hiding here all along?” one of the men shouted at Xiao Ce.

Wei Wuji stepped forward and kicked the man in the knee.

“How dare you speak to the King of Northern Desert like that? How presumptuous! Kneel!”

The man fell to his knees with a thud.

Wei Wuji said to Xiao Ce, “Prince, this man is Wanyan Tiesa. He is the third prince of the Tiesa Tribe.”

After being kicked to his knees, Wanyan Tiesa tried to struggle back up.

But two new recruits pinned him firmly to the ground.

“You… you are the King of Northern Desert? Xiao Ce? You never left?”

Xiao Ce sat in the Official’s Armchair, a faint smile on his face. “What do you mean never left? I just arrived! Came from your Turkic rear…”

Wanyan Tiesa’s face turned ashen. “Nonsense. That’s impossible. I don’t believe it!”

Xiao Ce shot Wanyan Tiesa a look. “Believe what you want. Now, tie all these people up and guard them. How they treated you before, treat them the same way now.”

Wanyan Tiesa’s eyes widened. “How dare you…”

Xiao Ce’s face darkened. “Gag his mouth. Too much nonsense!”

Wei Wuji said, then picked up a large, warm lump of ‘Iron Egg’s’ horse manure from nearby and stuffed it into Wanyan Tiesa’s mouth.

Xiao Ce waved his hand. “Quick, take them all away. The stench is killing This Prince.”

Seeing this, Wei Wuji gave a big wave and prepared to take them away.

Xiao Ce said to Wei Wuji, “Before locking them up, make them clean up their own excrement first. We’re creating a civilized city, after all…”

Wei Wuji didn’t quite understand the latter part, but he got the first part. He clasped his hands and agreed.

They watched as these people were led away.

Just as Da Lei arrived with the surrendered Turks, Yan Jia also led the main army entering through the wide-open north gate.

They were all dumbfounded.

The north gate led to their Turkic lands. And indeed, this army had come from there.

Apart from Da Lei’s talk of a ‘heaven-sent army descending’, they could think of no other possibility.

When they saw Xiao Ce, they even slid onto their knees in reverence.

“We pay our respects to the King of Northern Desert.”

Xiao Ce glanced at them. “You are probably the smartest batch among the Turks. How many are in your group?”

The leading Turk clasped his hands. “Reporting to the King of Northern Desert, our group is two hundred and thirteen people!”

Xiao Ce looked at this middle-aged Turk who spoke quite methodically and wasn’t as subservient as the others.

“What is your name?”

The Turk clasped his hands and said, “Reporting to the Prince, about ninety percent of us here are Ashina, and about ten percent are Ashide. I am Bond Ashina. However, Prince, ever since the Ashina leader sent his son to shoot at us, I am no longer Ashina. I am just Bond!”

“That’s right, Prince! Our bodies are Turk, but since General Han Da gave us a way out, our hearts are Xiao Kingdom hearts!”

Listening to these Turks, Xiao Ce said with a smile, “Alright, enough of all that talk. I’ll give you a choice.”

“Do you want to follow us to conquer all directions, to atone for your past sins? Or do you want to go back and join the captives I took, to help build a new homeland for your Turkic people?”