31 Stranger’s Smile

Looking from a distance, Taban saw the flag and pulled out the horn from the left. He took a deep breath and blew into the horn, which caused a great echo throughout the mountain. Then he blew and blew. He stopped after the fifth blow, and when the soldiers were almost at the top of the mountain, they saw a dirty little flag floating on a long bamboo pole.

"We're home." The frontline soldiers who walked down the small mountain.

When Chinua and Khunbish's horse came down from the small mountain, Chinua began to see green palms and green trees. She heard children laughing and women shouting.

"They're home!"

"Father is home!"

"Brother is home!"

The children ran to the soldiers. Taban dismounted and grabbed his horse. He opened the little bag on the back of the horse and started distributing the wrapped candies to the smiling children running towards Taban.

"Aiya…aiya…aiya." Taban frowned happily. "No fighting, this time I have enough for everyone." He smiled and began to distribute candy to the children.

Daeshim rode closer, looked at Taban, then at Haitao. He moves closer to Haitao and leaves Taban to continue distributing candy to the children.

Daeshim looked at Haitao and said, "You are?"

Haitao said, "Captain Haitao of the Northern Army camp. I was ordered to escort Captain Taban here with my men."

Daeshim said, "Oh, sorry, I've never been to the North. Sorry for my rudeness." He looked at the soldiers. "I'll take you to the camp." He looked at Taban. "Yo! Follow us to camp when you're done."

Taban waved to Daeshim and continued to distribute candies to the children.

Chinua said, "Khunbish get out of the way and let the other pass."

Khunbish moved his horse aside to let the other soldiers walk pass.

Chinua said, "Khenbish, take Khawn and Hye to camp with Timicin."

When the soldiers had all passed, Chinua and Khunbish dismounted and continued to watch Taban. Chinua saw a man in white in Tangglian's clothes. A simple robe, a pair of trousers, a pair of socks, and a pair of straw sandals lead ten children towards Taban.

"If you want some, go stand in line," Heng said to the children with a smile.

Ten children rushed over quickly, standing behind the other children.

As soon as Taban looked up, he saw Heng standing beside him smiling handsomely at him, so he continued to hand the candies to the children.

Chinua looked at Heng and said, "Khunbish… I have never seen such a beautiful man."

Khunbish looked at Heng and said, "Me too."

After Taban finished distributing the sweets, the children walked back to stand by Heng's side. He smiled at the children calmly and said, "Everyone can go home now."

"Yes, teacher." The children rushed towards the center of the village.

Taban removed his personal bag and another small bag. "I'll be back later when I talk to General Mönkhbat," he said with a smile.

Heng smiled and asked, "Are you coming back for dinner?"

Taban smiled faintly, "Maybe. Don't wait for me." He turned and walked to the side of the road, only to find that Chinua and Khunbish were still standing by the side of the road. "Tell mother I'm safe."

Heng smiled at Taban, then slowly walked away from Taban.

Taban jumped on his horse and asked, "What are you two still doing there?"

"We were inspired by your actions and forgot to follow the crew," Chinua said.

Taban laughed and said, "I'll take you there."

As Chinua and the two began to leave, Chinua looked at Taban and asked, "Captain Taban, can I ask you some personal questions."

Taban looked at Chinua and smiled lightly. "His name is Heng, a Tanggolian. He is the teacher here, and those children are his students," he said with a smile.

Chinua said, "Oh, I see. I can see that you love children. You must have lots of children."

Taban laughed loudly and said, "Soldier, on the contrary, I don't have any children. I should say I can't have children. My partner is infertile."

Chinua said, "There is no law in Hmagol that prohibits a man from having multiple wives."

Taban said, "It's true, and Hmagol's law doesn't say that a man must marry multiple wives and have children. This is what the ancestors wanted, not me. I ask you soldier, if the citizens are happy and wealthy, will you bring war to your citizens?"

Chinua said, "A leader in his right mind would not do something like that."

Taban smiled and said, "That's right. A husband in his right mind will not cause trouble in his own household. If my partner is faithful to me, why should I look for another?" Taban's horse started to move away from Chinua and Khunbish.

Khunbish whipped his horse and quickly chased after Taban. "That is to say, Teacher Heng is your partner?" Chinua asked from behind Khunbish.

Taban looked at Chinua and said with a smile, "Soldier, your duty is to protect the country and the people, not to interrogate the lives of individual citizens."

As they wandered across the street towards the South Gate Camp. Chinua saw many men tied to posts and in cages. "What's wrong with these people being tied up like this?" Chinua asked.

Taban said, "These people were brought in by local traders."

Chinua asked, "So you mean, I can buy a slave here?"

Taban said, "No one in this village would dare to sell you a slave. If you want a slave, you will have to cross the vast land into Tanggolia."

Chinua, "Oh…why?"

Taban turned to look at Chinua. "In this village, General Mönkhbat declared long ago that slaves cannot be sold or exchanged here. That's why slave traders usually keep their slaves in cages or tied up." He laughs. "This is where I saved my partner."

Chinua asked, "How did you save him?"

Taban said, "Many years ago, on the orders of General Mönkhbat I destroyed a small platoon that was trying to attack us from the east. The platoon leader of that small platoon was Heng's cousin. Xin Jingming suffered heavy embarrassment and he ordered the whole family to be beheaded, but because Heng is a classmate of Xing Jingming's fourth son Xin Tianyu, he helped Heng escape across the border, but was captured by slave traders, so he entered this market many years ago."

Chinua smiled at Taban and said, "That's an interesting story."

Taban smiled looking at Chinua with a smile and said, "Now that story is not as interesting as the story of the female soldier who enter the Northern Camp. I shared my story with you so when will you share yours, soldier?"

Chinua looked at Taban in shock, "You know?"

Taban laughed and said, "It's not hard to judge." He pointed to his earlobe. "Ear piercing."

Chinua stretched out her left hand to touch her earlobe, just in time to meet a tall, muscular man who was tied to a post and beaten badly. She saw blood dripping from the man's mouth, and with so many wounds, the man still refuses to die.

"Stop," Chinua said suddenly.

Khunbish stopped his horse and asked, "What's the matter Chinua?"

Chinua holds the bow in her left hand. She stretched out her bow and lifted the man's face. The man's face was violently beaten that his eyes were completely shut.

Chinua said, "If you're alive tomorrow morning. I might be able to set you free."

Moaning in pain, blood was still flowing from the corner of his mouth, and there was still a smile on the corner of his mouth. The man chuckled, "Ma tos..."

Chinua said, "Let's go."

As the horse started to move away from the half-dead man tied to the post, Chinua's eyes were still on him. The man's face may have been badly beaten, but from the man's expression, Chinua knew he was not of Mangoli or Tanggolian descent. He must have been what they call "man of the far east".

Chinua asked, "Khunbish, what do you think that man of the far east did to deserve such a punishment?"

Khunbish said, "Generally speaking, slaves who escaped and were caught would be punished like this."

Chinua asked, "How do you know?"

Khunbish looked back and said, "Has Chinua forgotten? I too was once a slave."

Chinua suddenly felt sad, and said, "I'm sorry."

Once they came out of the marketplace and turned right, South Gate Camp was a few hundred yards away. From their position, Chinua could see many soldiers in the training ground. When Khunbish spotted Haitao and the other drinking water under a tree to rest, they rushed to the training ground.

Khunbish no longer followed Taban as he charged his horse a few yards from them. Khunbish stopped the horse, and Khunbish dismounted first before he helped Chinua dismounted.

Chinua saw Hye sitting holding a bowl of water drinking enjoying the afternoon sun with his bonded hands. "You clearly enjoying yourself?" Chinua asked as she walked past Hye.

Hye said, "Well, you think it's time to let me go. Now that we're so far south, I don't think I can find my way home without your help."

Chinua said, "Releasing that bond is not where I'm going to do." She smiled at Hye. "Someone else will do that for me."

As soon as she finished speaking, Mönkhbat's hand grabbed her right shoulder. "Chinua," Mönkhbat's deep voice said firmly behind Chinua. Mönkhbat's hand gripped Chinua's shoulder tightly and would not let go, Mönkhbat's arm wrapped around Chinua's neck.

Mönkhbat laughed, "Surrender." He whispered beside Chinua's right ear. "Surrender, little princess."

The surrounding soldiers stopped their movements immediately and looked at Mönkhbat and Chinua. They suddenly get excited when their commander and leader suddenly picks up a fight with a northern recruit. The soldiers shouted excitedly, "Whooh..whooh…whooh…"

Chinua snorted, "I'm not going to surrender...You dare to attack me when I'm lacking water?"

A few words from Chinua only made Mönkhbat wrap his arms around Chinua's neck even tighter. "Suck it up," Mönkhbat laughed.

The northern soldiers included Hye, were confused by the sudden attack. Haitao knew that he couldn't help Chinua much, because the one who attacked Chinua was the grand general of the south, the third prince of Hmagol, prince Mönkhbat.

Khawn was about to rush forward, but Kunbish grabbed his hand. Khawn watched Khunbish, who was drinking calmly from his bowl, and watched Chinua try to protect herself from the sudden attack of Mönkhbat. He saw the same expression on Khenbish's face.

"Chinua!" Timicin roared.

"Don't move," Haitao shouted at his subordinates. "The one attacking Chinua is general Mönkhbat."

Chinua finally found her place, she grabbed Mönkhbat's right arm and threw Mönkhbat over her shoulders to the ground. Chinua's arms pressed hard against Mönkhbat's throat, her right knee press Mönkhbat's left arm to the ground, and her right leg pushed Mönkhbat's body far away from her to avoid being hit by Mönkhbat's right hand.

Mönkhbat tried twice to hit Chinua but couldn't hit Chinua, he grabbed Chinua's left-hand fingers with his right hand and bent them backwards. He quickly grabbed Chinua's body and the two rolled on the ground until Mönkhbat came out on top. Mönkhbat pins Chinua to the ground and twists her left arm back.

"Ah….!" Feeling the sharp pain from the shoulder joint, Chinua screamed in pain. She taps the ground quickly to signify that she is surrendering to Mönkhbat.

Mönkhbat smiled and knelt in front of Chinua, stretched out his hand and patted Chinua's face lightly. He helps Chinua stand up and face his soldiers. "Don't make that look in front of me, since you choose this path, you will experience more pain in the future. Come to my tent. I will give you medicine." Mönkhbat turned to Shuai. "Prepare dinner for the soldiers."

Haitao and his seven men looked at Mönkhbat speechlessly as he started walking towards his tent, but Chinua quickly caught up with Mönkhbat, and Mönkhbat put his arms around Chinua's shoulders.