Chapter 244: The brutal Yufuluo, Han people! Han people!

After a full night of slaughter, everyone was exhausted.

Especially the Liangzhou soldiers Duan Yu had brought from Jinyang.

From Jinyang on, it had been a continuous forced march with almost no rest; this was true for the soldiers and the warhorses alike.

Looking at the exhausted soldiers leaning against their comrades or their horses to rest, Duan Yu also wanted to order them to rest for a day or half a day.

But time waited for no one.

The soldiers, having eaten a hasty meal, had only a little over an hour to rest, and they were all scrambling to sleep.

Some had even fallen asleep while still chewing on their millet.

Not far away, Zhang Liao was with Zhang Xun.

The two brothers walked toward Duan Yu.

"Don't worry, big brother, Brother Duan is a good man; he will agree," Zhang Liao said, comforting Zhang Xun.

Zhang Xun nodded.

At this moment, Zhang Xun had already taken off his armor, and the wounds on his body had all been bandaged.

But the expression on his face was one of deep grief.

Zhang Liao knew exactly why.

Meng Ji's death had been a heavy blow to Zhang Xun.

If it had just been a battle against the Xiongnu and these Han soldiers had died in combat, Zhang Xun would not have been so grief-stricken.

As border troops, their mission was to repel the enemy from the country's borders; even if they died in battle and were wrapped in horse hides, it was only right and proper.

This was honor.

But Meng Ji had not died repelling the enemy, and the hundred-odd cavalrymen who died with him had not died repelling the Xiongnu either.

Their deaths were due to Wang Rou's selfish interests.

They had been betrayed by someone they trusted.

Therefore, Zhang Xun wanted revenge.

He wanted to find Wang Rou, the mastermind behind it all.

Duan Yu, sitting on a blue stone, also saw the brothers Zhang Xun and Zhang Liao walking toward him.

"Wenyuan, Wenze," Duan Yu greeted them as he looked at the two.

Zhang Liao was just over sixteen years old.

And Zhang Xun, as Zhang Liao's elder brother, was only nineteen.

"Brother Duan."

"Brother Duan."

Arriving before Duan Yu, Zhang Xun and Zhang Liao both cupped their hands and bowed in salute.

Duan Yu smiled and nodded.

When he set out from Loufan Pass with Zhang Liao, he had learned from Zhang Liao that he had an elder brother serving as a Military Sima in Yinguan.

Fate was truly a mysterious thing.

If not for this mission to capture Wang Rou, he might never have come to Yanmen Commandery.

And he certainly would not have met the brothers Zhang Liao and Zhang Xun.

"Brother Duan, my big brother also wants to follow Brother Duan to Monan," Zhang Liao requested: "My big brother hopes Brother Duan will allow it."

"Brother Duan, my big brother has been in Yanmen Commandery for several years; he is far more familiar with the situation in Monan than I am."

Duan Yu stood up and nodded with a smile: "Having Wenze along is naturally a good thing."

"Even if Wenyuan hadn't said anything, I intended to have Wenze come along."

"I believe Wenze also needs to give an account to the men he led."

Duan Yu walked up to Zhang Xun and patted him on the shoulder.

Zhang Xun, biting his lip, nodded forcefully, then looked at the blood-stained little wooden horse he was clutching in his hand.

The Monan grasslands.

On the vast, boundless plain, two earthen mounds over a meter high rose abruptly.

The mounds were about several dozen meters wide and over a meter high.

Behind the mounds, a dozen pointed felt tents were scattered about.

At this moment, warhorses were gathered in rows around the tents.

A rough estimate would put them at several thousand.

For a small tribe consisting of only one or two families like this, it should have been impossible to possess so many horses.

All around, a large number of Xiongnu soldiers were resting near the tents, looking extremely exhausted.

In the largest tent in the middle of the camp, which symbolized the master's status.

Several honest-looking herdsmen were standing outside the door.

There were both men and women.

And inside the tent, just a step away from them, sounds that were unbearable to hear were coming from within.

It sounded like the pained cries of a young girl, and the heavy, forceful venting of a man.

A moment later, the sounds inside the tent stopped.

A dark-skinned Xiongnu girl in tattered clothes hurriedly pulled her messy garments onto her body, reaching up to tidy her disheveled hair.

Meanwhile, a young Xiongnu noble sat on a white felt rug, his upper body bare.

"Go get some mutton and butter tea."

Yufuluo, without even raising his head, fastened his belt and spoke to the girl.

The girl bit her lip, her expression pained, and walked out of the tent.

As soon as she lifted the tent flap, she saw her parents standing outside, and the mocking gazes of the Xiongnu soldiers nearby.

"Bring that Han messenger in to me," Yufuluo roared inside the tent.

Before long, a disheveled Han man was escorted by Xiongnu soldiers into the tent where Yufuluo was.

The Han man stood before Yufuluo, his face filled with panic.

He watched as Yufuluo used a small knife to scrape meat from a sheep bone.

Yufuluo, without raising his head or opening his eyes, scraped the bone while saying coldly: "Your master lied to me!"

"He lied to his most trusted partner in the grasslands!"

"Tell me, where are my brother and the salt and iron your master promised!"

Yufuluo raised his head, speaking in broken Han Chinese as he looked at the Han man in the tent.

Just over ten days ago, his brother Huchuquan had disguised himself as a fur merchant from Yunzhong Commandery and headed to Taiyuan.

The winter snows had cut off the grasslands from the outside world.

And after consuming their supplies all winter, the tribe's salt reserves had hit rock bottom.

According to past custom, the Xiongnu would trade furs and horses for salt and iron.

This year was no exception.

But Huchuquan had been gone for half a month, and there had been no news at all.

Following the usual custom, Yufuluo had been waiting in Monan with his herds and furs.

He hadn't received news of his brother Huchuquan, but he had received a message from Wang Rou.

Yufuluo looked at the Han man before him and said: "I followed your master's instructions and ambushed those Han troops."

"But why did they have reinforcements!"

"Could it be..."

Yufuluo frowned and said: "Is your master trying to go back on his word and swallow my horses for himself!"

The middle-aged Han man standing in the tent was already scared out of his wits.

He looked at Yufuluo with pleading eyes and said cautiously: "I... I am just a messenger, I... I don't know anything."

A fire of anger flickered in Yufuluo's eyes. ===== CHAPTER 246 =====