"Is this correct?" Murong Shengrui showed the drawing he had made to Wulana. Shock flickered in Wulana's eyes. To capture someone's likeness so perfectly based only on her description, had he met the mistress?
No, he hadn't. If he had met the mistress, he wouldn't be questioning her whereabouts like this. He had drawn this from imagination!
"Is it, or is it not?" Murong Shengrui frowned impatiently.
Wulana slowly nodded. "Have you met her?"
Murong Shengrui looked at the person in the drawing, his eyes filled with longing. Aman, you are still alive. I knew you were still alive. Don't worry, I will find you. Through hell and high water, I will find you!
Murong Shengrui carefully dried the painting, then put it close to his body. He returned to Wulana's side. Wulana flinched. "I... I've told you everything I should, and everything I shouldn't. What... what else do you want?"
Murong Shengrui smiled. "If I capture you, will she come to rescue you?"
Wulana subconsciously swallowed. She had a feeling that if she said no, the man before her would kill her without hesitation and then go find someone who could threaten Xiao Man!
"Yes, she will!" Wulana stated emphatically. "She cares deeply for her subordinates. If I am captured by the Northern Rong, she will definitely come to save me!"
"Then I am relieved," Murong Shengrui said cheerfully. "I will wait here for her to arrive."
When Xiao Man arrived at Crescent City, the city was in a state of devastation. The bodies of civilians killed by Northern Rong soldiers lay scattered on the streets. The cries of children could be heard intermittently.
"The Northern Rong are truly brutal!" Zhan Tianque's brows furrowed.
"Save the people first."
Zhan Tianque waved his hand, and the soldiers behind him entered the city in an orderly fashion. The surviving civilians, seeing more soldiers entering Crescent City, immediately hid in fear.
"Don't be afraid, we are here to help you."
The hiding civilians cautiously poked their heads out, as if to confirm if the soldiers were telling the truth.
A little girl knelt beside a man's corpse, weeping blankly. She had once had a happy family, but in the blink of an eye, her father was killed and her mother was abducted. She went from a child with a happy family to an orphan in an instant.
A soldier went to examine the body on the ground. Confirming the man was dead, he reached out and picked up the crying little girl beside him. "There, there, don't cry. Brother will avenge your father."
Seeing that the Red Feather Cavalry were not allied with the Northern Rong soldiers, the people finally emerged from their hiding places. Their food and valuables had all been plundered by the Northern Rong soldiers, and they hadn't eaten for several days.
Xiao Man ordered the food they had brought to be distributed to the surviving civilians. She left a detachment to care for the people and then, with the rest, set off quickly, heading straight for the nearest Moxie City.
The horses of the Red Feather Cavalry were all top-tier steeds. Xiao Man led her army in a forced march, and they reached Moxie City before dawn.
"Everyone check your weapons and equipment," Xiao Man's voice was cold.
"Checked and ready."
"The primary objective of this surprise attack is to rescue people."
"Understood."
"Vanguard team, open the city gates."
Several figures stealthily approached the city wall and climbed over it using grappling hooks. It was the hour of deepest slumber. The Northern Rong soldiers on the wall were still asleep when their throats were slit.
The city gates opened, and the cavalry roared in. By the time the soldiers of Moxie City were awakened, the enemy was already upon them. The Northern Rong shouted orders in their language, but the soldiers, their formation broken, could not regroup and scattered in all directions.
"Big brother, the Wu Yue Kingdom has invaded the city! What do we do?" a soldier burst into a room where Lu Haar was still sleeping with a woman.
Lu Haar rolled out of bed and quickly dressed. "Where is the general?"
"The general, along with the strategist and Wulana, went to Mokou City last night."
Lu Haar gritted his teeth. "Kill all the prisoners and retreat to Mokou City."
Xiao Man led her men into the Northern Rong camp and, seeing the slaughtered civilians from Crescent City, her expression turned utterly cold. It was one thing for the Northern Rong to steal food and valuables, but to slaughter innocent civilians and rape and brutally murder women of Wu Yue?
Xiao Man closed her eyes, then opened them moments later, her eyes blazing with killing intent. "Do not let a single person leave the city. Pass down my order: massacre the city!"
Lu Haar led his men, attempting to break out. However, Xiao Man had no intention of letting anyone escape when she attacked Moxie City. Both the east and west gates were heavily guarded. Unable to break out, Lu Haar and his men disguised themselves as ordinary civilians, hoping to slip through. Who would have thought that the enemy would order a massacre!
"Damn Wu Yue curs, to slaughter innocent civilians so despicably!" Lu Haar was furious, but he could not withstand the fierce fighting of the Red Feather Cavalry. They didn't want to be led to slaughter, so they could only fight back. However, they were quickly captured.
Lu Haar and his men, bound tightly, were brought before Xiao Man. Xiao Man was sharpening her knife; it had become dull and needed careful honing.
"You dog, you actually killed ordinary civilians!"
While sharpening her knife, Xiao Man said, "If the Northern Rong can kill my Wu Yue civilians, can't my Wu Yue kill your Northern Rong civilians?"
Lu Haar choked. "The Wu Yue Kingdom is but a small territory. When my Northern Rong cavalry arrives, we will surely crush the capital of the Wu Yue Kingdom."
"Is that so?" Xiao Man said calmly. "Chop off one of his hands."
Lu Haar's eyes widened. He hadn't expected the other party to be unfazed by his threat. "Stop! If you dare chop off my hand, Wulana's hand will not be safe either."
Xiao Man gave him a chilling glance and did not call to stop. Someone immediately pinned Lu Haar to the ground. With a swift stroke, one of Lu Haar's arms was severed.
"Ah!" Lu Haar cried out in agony. Yet, the attacker had stopped the bleeding after cutting off his hand, showing no intention of killing him.
"You bunch of..."
"If I hear you speak one more unnecessary word, I will chop off another hand." Xiao Man tested her newly sharpened dagger, which still seemed not sharp enough.
Lu Haar swallowed and fell silent, glaring fiercely at Xiao Man.
"Where is Wulana?"
Lu Haar snorted with a show of backbone, turning his face away, showing no intention of answering.
"Castrate him." Xiao Man was never a patient person. Her reputation in the court and on the battlefield was built on ruthlessness. Just as the Northern Rong soldiers were bloodthirsty, Xiao Man was no less so.
"General Fei Mo took her to Mokou City." Lu Haar's face turned green. If he were castrated, what pleasure would there be in his life?
"Why did you attack Wu Yue?"
"For food and beauties."
Xiao Man glanced at him, her whetstone hissing. Lu Haar couldn't tell if she believed him or not.