Chapter 4: 4. Chapter 4: Such a Good Thing

Chapter 4: Such a Good Deal

Wen Wan sat on the steps, watching the young men joyfully load gold and silver treasures onto the carriages.

She glanced over at A-Chai, who was listening to a report from his subordinate.

As expected, all the good men have been handed over to the state.

This border patrol squad, numbering less than a hundred, consisted entirely of tall, sturdy, and exceptionally heroic men.

A-Chai, in particular, was handsome, skilled in combat, and possessed both courage and strategy; his entire being radiated the pheromones of a battle-hardened man.

Wen Wan had a weakness for this type of handsome guy. Watching him made her mouth water, and she couldn't help but wonder if he had eight rock-hard abs hidden beneath his tight-fitting attire...

Perhaps her gaze was too direct, for A-Chai seemed to sense it and turned back, meeting her greedy stare head-on.

"Boss, I think this girl is interested in you."

Jin Mu, his personal guard, teased in a hushed voice.

A-Chai’s gaze sharpened. "If you have the spare time for this, you’d be better off searching the tomb chamber again. Logically, the map should be in there."

Jin Mu scratched his head in frustration. "The brothers have searched the entire tomb, but we haven't found the map. Are you sure that map is actually in Marquis Yun’s tomb?"

A-Chai frowned. "The gold and silver are all here, which means the tomb hasn't been looted, yet the map has vanished into thin air..."

"Keep looking! Even if we have to turn the tomb upside down, that thing must never fall into the hands of the Mobei people."

Jin Mu was about to speak when the sound of rapid hoofbeats echoed from afar.

In the dead of night, with poor visibility, anyone risking a gallop through the mountains like this must be on urgent business.

Sure enough, a blood-soaked youth didn't even have time to rein in his horse before tumbling off its back.

"Boss, something’s happened!"

The group that had been escorting the mountain bandits down the mountain had run into trouble. Before they even reached the foot of the mountain, they were surrounded by a large force of Mobei soldiers.

"There were only twenty of us; we were no match for the main Mobei force. The brothers fought to the death to carve a path for me to bring you the news. Except for me, they are all... all dead."

The grown man broke down in sobs after finishing his sentence.

A-Chai’s face turned grim, his knuckles turning white as he gripped his sword. He asked in a cold voice, "How many Mobei soldiers are there?"

The blood-soaked youth gritted his teeth. "A thousand!"

Upon hearing this, Wen Wan gasped.

She counted the number of people in the dilapidated temple, and her heart sank.

Their side had fewer than a hundred; the enemy had a thousand!

The disparity in strength was too great!

A-Chai kept a cold face, showing no signs of fear, and continued to issue orders calmly.

"Everyone, leave your last wills! If we fight our way out, we live. If we don't, then it’s fate!"

"Kill!"

Although Wen Wan had been kept in the inner chambers for the three years since she transmigrated, she had heard of the cruelty of the Mobei people.

The family of a concubine in the General’s mansion had been wiped out by them. The concubine said that when the Mobei people entered a village, they would slaughter the men on the spot and keep the women as slaves, using them as tools for bearing children.

In this era, medical technology was backward, and childbirth was a life-or-death ordeal, so the birth rate was extremely important to every faction.

While Wen Wan was still thinking of a strategy, a long sword was suddenly pressed against her neck.

She looked up to meet A-Chai’s icy gaze.

"Rather than being humiliated to death, I might as well kill you myself. It spares you from endless degradation and preserves the dignity of the Duan Dynasty."

Wen Wan: "..."

Thank you, you’re actually quite a decent person!

Seeing her pitiful, wide-eyed expression, A-Chai sighed softly, his tone easing slightly.

"Don't blame me for being heartless. If you fall into the hands of the Mobei people, you will die anyway, and your death will be a hundred times more miserable than this."

Wen Wan felt her scalp tingle. Seeing him raise his sword to strike, she spoke up timidly: "Big Brother, I know a thing or two about tactics for fighting against superior numbers. How about I give it a try?"

Know a thing or two?

He recalled when she was locating the tomb; she had said she knew a thing or two, and yet she had easily pinpointed the exact location of the ancient tomb...

A-Chai said in a deep voice, "Speak."

Wen Wan swallowed hard. "The best strategy for fighting superior numbers is to reverse the disadvantageous position and seek a way to survive. If there are reinforcements, you can lure the tiger away from the mountain or make a feint to the east while attacking in the west. If there are no reinforcements, you divide and conquer, or fight in the gaps..."

As she spoke, she watched A-Chai’s expression. Seeing a faint flash of approval in his eyes, she breathed a slight sigh of relief.

A-Chai raised an eyebrow. "A woman from the inner chambers, how do you know strategies from military manuals?"

Wen Wan gave a dry laugh. "Hehe, just a little bit, it’s not important. Let me ask you, with your strength, how many Mobei soldiers can you handle?"

A-Chai looked slightly proud. "Our border soldiers have no problem taking on three enemies each."

One against three—in the age of cold weapons, that was already quite impressive.

Wen Wan nodded and squatted on the ground, picking up a branch to start calculating.

A-Chai watched as she drew messy patterns in the mud. After a while, she stopped and looked up.

"We are on the mountainside, in a windward position. We can use fire attacks first, then use the treasures as bait to lure the enemy into different directions. Based on the ratio of numbers..."

"Choose eight people to split into four teams, taking the treasures in four different directions. Once the enemy is divided, the rest of the people can choose the path with the fewest enemies to break out."

After finishing, Wen Wan said with a grave expression: "However, the eight people acting as bait will be in extreme danger. I fear they won't be coming back..."

In this squad, could there be soldiers willing to disregard their own lives?

There actually were!

After Wen Wan finished speaking, half of the men stepped forward voluntarily to act as bait.

It would be a lie to say she wasn't moved seeing everyone vying to face death.

The scene of heroes sacrificing themselves, which she had only seen in movies before, suddenly appeared before her eyes. Being there in person instantly ignited all the blood in her heart.

If Wen Wan had been a bystander before, from this moment on, she was a person truly living in this strange time and space.

As she looked at this group of upright young men, her eyes instantly turned red.

A-Chai selected a few soldiers to act as bait and made the necessary preparations according to Wen Wan’s method.

After making the arrangements, he returned to Wen Wan and pulled a dagger from his short boot, tossing it into her arms.

"Do you know how to kill?"

Wen Wan hugged the dagger and shook her head.

A-Chai said expressionlessly, leaving behind a cold sentence: "If you don't know, then learn."

Wen Wan looked down at the dagger.

The hilt was inlaid with precious gems, and the blade was sharp, shimmering with a gilded black light. The material was very different from an ordinary dagger.

A-Chai saw Wen Wan waving the dagger in the air, several times narrowly missing her own ear, and his temples began to throb.

"Be careful. This dagger is for you to kill others, not for you to commit suicide."

"Oh." Wen Wan put the dagger back into its sheath, her eyes rolling. "Big Brother, if we break out and survive, will this dagger be mine?"

A-Chai smiled half-heartedly. "You want it?"

Wen Wan nodded like a garlic bulb.

A-Chai chuckled, squatted down, and pinched her chin with his rough fingers.

"How about this: you give me a kiss, and I’ll give you the dagger."

Wen Wan’s eyes widened immediately.

Uh?

There’s such a good deal?

Not only can I take advantage of a handsome guy, but I can also get a treasure?

(End of chapter)