24 The Slave and The Bandit

The silence hidden deep in the mountains can only be awakened by the passing wind. The wind passed by in a hurry, and the leaves blew softly with each wind, which made Chinua feel relieved, but the wind that passed by today somehow reminded Chinua of the sound of a knife cutting a chicken's throat.

Khawn quickly pushed Chinua's behind him, which made Drystan laugh at Khawn's little move.

Pointing one of his axes at Khawn, Drystan said, "Whoever you are, the Magoli standing behind you doesn't need your protection. I really want to fight her."

Khawn said, "If you want to fight her, you have to go through me first."

"What a royal dog. I'm impressed," said Drystan, smiling at Chinua. "Hey Magoli, you never told me your name."

Chinua said, "I have told you; you are not worthy to know my name."

Drystan said, "The reason I ask is because when you die, I can put a name on your grave."

As soon as the words fell, Drystan threw one of his axes at Khawn. Khawn knocked Drystan's axe out with his chain. Drystan charged forward, picking up the ax along the way, and continued toward Khawn and Chinua.

Drystan swung his ax at Khawn who pushed Chinua back, and he raised his hand to block Drystan's axe. Drystan's axe struck the shackles on Khawn's left wrist. Khawn punched Drystan in the stomach so hard that Drystan stumbled back a few steps away from Khawn and Chinua.

Drystan giggled, the pain in his stomach hurtling into his upper stomach. He smiled at Khawn He said with a smirk, "Dirty slave, your fists are strong, how about you turn around and become my subordinate. I promise you will have a better life than trying to protect this Magoli."

Khawn rolled his eyes at Drystan and said, "I only have one master, obviously you are not my master."

Drystan smiled and said, "Are you sure you don't want to consider my proposal?"

Khawn didn't answer.

Drystan smiled and said, "Fine…" He raised his right hand, and many people slowly approached from the side of the road. "The offer is off now." He pointed at Khawn and Chinua with his axe. "The only way out for the two of you is death."

Chinua drew the dagger from her waist and held it tightly in her right hand. "Don't act like you're afraid," Chinua whispered. She came out from behind Khawn and stood beside him. She stared at Drystan, pointing her dagger at Drystan. "Are you sure it wasn't you who will ran away?"

Drystan smiled and said, "I have always liked your strong will, Magoli."

Chinua stared straight at Drystan and said, "If you can capture me, I'll tell you, my name."

Drystan smirked, "How about we save all the trouble and just put down your little dagger?"

Chinua challenged, "If you want my dagger, come and take it away from my hand."

Drystan laughed, his laughter echoing across the mountains. He smiled and said, "Okay." Drystan rushed towards Chinua and Khawn together with ten others. They start attacking Chinua and Khawn.

"Hold on!" Chinua yelled. "We won't die here." "She raised her dagger and blocked a sword coming from the left.

Khawn punched the man in the face and another man swung his sword to Khawn's left, causing Chinua to block the sword with her left arm. Before the sword touched Chinua, an arrow struck him between the eyebrows, killing him instantly. Then multiple arrows shot at the bandits from left and right.

"Chinua!"

"Chinua!"

Chinua turned around quickly and saw her fellow soldiers rushing over. Khunbish lunges forward, grabs Khawn's right arm and pulls Khawn away from Chinua. He kicked hard at Khawn, who blocked Khunbish's kick with his right hand. Khenbish stood beside Chinua, his fingertips already touching the hilt of the sword.

"Are you hurt?" Khenbish asked.

"Khunbish, don't hurt him," Chinua said when Khunbish's sword was inches away from Khawn's throat. Khunbish drew his sword back and quickly stood beside Chinua. "What about the other bandits?"

Khunbish said, "They are all died."

The four injured bandits slowly retreated toward Drystan. "Let's regroup," Drystan said. He looked at Chinua. "You're always lucky."

Chinua quickly snatched the bow and arrow from Chagatai's hand and pointed the bow at Drystan. "Kill them," Chinua ordered. She quickly let go of the bowstring, and the arrow hit one of the bandits in the chest.

"Yes, Chinua," said Khunbish and Kenbish. Khunbish and Khenbish rushed to the five bandits standing not far away.

Just as Chinua was about to join the fight, Timicin grabbed Chinua's left arm and said, "You stay behind. Och, watch her."

Chinua turned to look at Och "Are you hurt?" she asked, grabbing Och's left arm.

Och smiled and said, "A little injury, it's not a big deal."

Chinua looked up to see that her fellow soldiers had killed the four bandits and were now surrounding Drystan. Chinua and Och hurried over with Haitao.

Drystan said, "Go ahead and kill me, I'm not begging."

Chinua asked, "Whose orders did you follow?"

Drystan said, "I'm not talking. You better kill me."

Chinua looked at Haitao and asked, "Captain, what do you think we should do with him?"

Haitao said, "Since he is a bandit, we will take him down and let the local government deal with it. It's not our place to prosecute him." He turned to look at the dead bandits. "We still need to notify law enforcement."

Terbish took off his belt and tied Drystan's hands.

Muunokhoi said, "Terbish, be sure to tie his hands tightly."

"Don't worry. There's no way he can get out of this," Terbish said, handing the end of his belt to Od. "You guard him because you have better fighting skill than me."

Haitao and Od led the way down the mountain, and other soldiers followed behind them. Halfway down the mountain, Drystan found that when Haitao was talking to Od, Od seemed to be distracted. He quickly looked back at those who didn't pay much attention to him.

Drystan rushed forward with a smirk, grabbed Od's right shoulder, and quickly did a somersault on top of Od. When he landed, he grabbed Od's hand and tried to pull the end of the rope away from Od's hand, but Od grabs Drystan's hand and throws him to the ground. Od stepped on Drystan's chest with his right foot.

Od looked down at Drystan lying on the ground at his feet and sneered. He turned to look at Terbish. "You lost. You owe me a bowl of stew lamb."

"Od, "Terbish said. "Can we talk it through one more time? How about a roasted potato?"

Od grabs Drystan's shirt and pulls him up. "No deal," he said. He pushed Drystan forward. "Continue to follow our captain down this mountain road, or would you rather die by the road and be crows' dinner tonight?"

Drystan giggled, "Ha...ha...ha...you are determined to let me live, and I can guarantee that you will not kill me now."

Od said, "You should be thankful to Chinua, unless the sword of Khunbish will be merciless when it faces you."

Drystan asked, "Are you short of soldiers, and that's why women are allowed in the Hmagol's army?"

Od said, "Shut your mouth or you'll be sealed with Terbish's underpants."

Khawn slowly followed behind the rest of the group, dragging the chain shackles behind Chinua, Khunbish and Kenbish, and slowly walked behind Chinua.

Kenbish looked back at Khawn and Chinua. He asked, "Is he the one you said you rescued in the market?"

Chinua, "Mmm…"

Khunbish asked, "Are you going to keep him?"

"I can't keep him. I'm still in training. General Batzorig will not let him into the Northern training camp," Chinua replied as she looked at Khunbish.

Khenbish said, "Chinua, since we are going south, there are still many dangers waiting for us, so why not keep him for now. He seems determined to protect you."

"I'm not used to being called master," Chinua said. She turned around and Khawn stopped suddenly a few feet away from Chinua. "You are free. You can go wherever you want."

Khawn didn't look up at Chinua and said, "Master, you saved me. I am your slave."

"I don't need anyone to be my slave," said Chinua. She approached Khawn and lifted Khawn's face up. "Look at me in the eyes." Khawn looked up at Chinua. "Don't call me Master. Call me Chinua."

Khawn said, "But."

Chinua said, "I saved you, but you don't have to follow me."

Khawn said, "I have nowhere to go except to follow you."

Chinua said, "Then sell me your life and walk by my side, not as my slave but as my equal."

Khawn looked at Chinua, and suddenly sadness welled up in his heart. For a long time, he couldn't remember whether he had a name or not. Panting heavily, he slowly looked up at Chinua again. "Chi...Chi...Chinua."

Chinua said, "In front of me, you can speak freely without worrying about offending me."

Khunbish said, "I am Khunbish, Chinua's right-hand man."

Kenbish said, "I am Khenbish, Chinua's left-man hand."

Chinua said, "Let's go." She turned and followed the others down the mountain road.

Khunbish looked at Khawn and said, "Chinua is also our savior. Remember, we live and die for Chinua."

Kenbish said, "Also, we don't have to abide by the master-slave rule in front of Chinua, but in front of other people, Chinua is our master."

Khawn looked at Kunbish and Kenbish and nodded, "I understand."

"Hey, the three of you are too far behind," Chinua shouted. "Hurry up…"

The three quickly followed behind the others. Just as the group of soldiers slowly disappeared down the mountain road, a bandit who was lying on the ground pretending to be dead slowly got up, broke the arrow which penetrated his upper left chest. He slowly got up and walked towards the training camp.