ALL NOVEL
Chapter 4: Khitan Baturu
“Little sister, this candied fruit is delicious!”
“Open your mouth. Ahhh—nope, I’m not going to give you any!”
“Haha, our Serena is so cute! You should smile more!”
Two identical women were having a pleasant picnic by a tent. The livelier one took all sorts of desserts to tease the more stoic one, prompting the latter to keep rolling her eyes.
“Miss Sereya.” A maid lifted her long skirt and walked up to them. “It’s getting late. Shouldn’t we be returning?”
“Hm?” Sereya slowly turned over to look at the maid. “When did I give you permission to address me by my name?”
“Ah!” The maid hurriedly lowered her head. “Miss, it was just a slip of the tongue. Things are so chaotic now that it isn’t safe for us to be out of the city. I was worried about your safety, so I…”
“No no no.” Sereya beamed a ravishing smile at the maid. She wagged her slender finger and spoke with a light-hearted tone, “That isn’t the real reason. The real reason is that you climbed onto my father’s bed not long ago, and he even gave you some accessories. Your ego became inflated, thinking that you have won my father’s heart. You were even looking at us with lofty eyes.”
“Miss!” The maid hurriedly kneeled on the ground and kowtowed. “I-it’s my honor to be able to serve the chief inspector! I have never harbored such thoughts!”
“Oh. Is that so?”
“It’s true. I swear on my father’s honor!” The maid raised her pale face and desperately pleaded.
Tiring!
A dagger embedded with jewels fell to the ground in front of the maid with a crisp clang.
“Prove it. Disfigure your face,” Sereya calmly said. “I will believe you if you do it.”
“I-I…” The maid’s face turned paler. How can I survive in the chief inspector’s manor without my face?
“Pity.” Sereya yawned. “You squandered your only chance.”
The servants who had been scouting in the distance walked over with a few soldiers.
“Come.” Sereya looked like a hunter who had her prey in grasp. “Take our madame down to have a good rest.”
“No. No! NO!!!” The maid screamed in despair as those men grabbed her arms. “Miss, please spare me! Please, have mercy on me!”
In the end, the maid turned to Serena. “Miss Serena, I’m begging you. Please spare my life. I’ll disfigure myself! I’ll disfigure myself!!”
Serena coldly eyed her before resuming her feeding game with her older sister.
Seconds later…
“Cleaned it up?”
“Yes, miss,” a servant carrying a slight scent of blood respectfully replied.
“That’s good.” Sereya stood up and stretched her back. “Let’s pay a visit to our ‘madam’s’ house before the sky gets dark.”
Shoosh!
Fresh blood splattered over Sereya’s face.
Before Sereya’s shocked eyes, the servant plopped to the ground like a sack of potatoes.
“Enemy attack!”
The soldiers hurriedly gathered around Sereya and Serena upon hearing that.
【My host, you horn dog! You sure move fast!】
【The twins should be having a picnic right now. You can show them how gentlemanly you can be.】
【Ah, the deep blue sky, the verdant grass field, the white clouds, and beautiful flowers. A dashing youth gallops over with his white steed, smiling at the beautiful scenery. Time seems to stop in this instant.】
【The ladies lower their heads shyly, but they aren’t able to suppress their excitement. AHHHH! I can’t take it anymore. You go boy!】
【I can sense the ladies’ hearts beating fiercely. They are moved! They are absolutely stoked to see you! Are you conquering the two of them in one shot? As expected of my host!】
“All shall crumble before my bow!” Shu Yichao charged at the forefront with a bow in hand. Not a single one of his arrows landed empty. “Fire! Fire!”
He quickly cleared the stationary targets on the ground. The soldiers who climbed onto their horses in a panic didn’t last long against his forces either. All was equal before his blade.
“Protect the misses!” a soldier roared while rushing over, wanting to save the chief inspector’s daughters.
Meanwhile, Shu Yichao was…
“No, I mean, what kind of dogshit trash are you?” he bellowed. “You finished all your arrows? How many targets did you even kill? Your combined kill count isn’t even half of mine. And the likes of you still dare to demand such a high salary!”
“Wuuu!” The nomads cried in indignation.
How are we supposed to hit targets that far away? And you were the one who told us to fire!
“Are you retorting right now?” Shu Yichao snorted.
He keenly noticed over fifty cavalrymen galloping in their direction.
“Get in formation!”
The nomads quickly got into formation behind Shu Yichao and drew their swords.
“Ready!”
Charging against the wind, Shu Yichao felt adrenaline coursing through his veins. A dozen nomads against over fifty cavalrymen. Isn’t this…
“Attack!”
The two forces charged at each other white white blades in hand.
Closer, close! Shu Yichao could almost see the enemy’s twisted faces. He couldn’t wait to experience the wonderful sensation of his sword slicing through his enemy’s body at such tremendous speed.
Just then, he heard a heart-wrenching cry filled with fear.
“KHITANNNNNNN!”
“IT’S THE KHITANS!”
The fifty cavalrymen who were still charging valiantly toward Shu Yichao and his nomads immediately panicked.
Some urgently pulled the reins, only to fly outward from the sheer momentum. Some anxiously changed their direction, but they only crashed into their neighbors. There were even a few who crashed into their allies’ swords.
“What the hell are those people doing?”
Some of the cavalrymen continued their charge. Some were hesitating. Some limped after their horses with tearful faces. Seeing these left Shu Yichao awfully tilted.
“It should have been a proper clash of mounted units, but you people screwed it up. You got me pumped up over nothing…”
“Khitans? How could they be Khitans?” Sereya mumbled as she tightly held her little sister with a pale face.
The Khitans had a resounding reputation. Despite living far away, they always left great destruction in their wake whenever they made an appearance. Naturally, Sereya had heard about them.
The old Alasa Empire used to be a dominant force in the world, trampling over the Ans and Normans. WIth just 20,000 soldiers, they dragged the Normans down from their high horses as a powerhouse of the world.
Yet, when they inadvertently provoked one of the Khitans’ vassal states, they received swift vengeance and lost 200,000 of their elite troops. That resulted in their dissolution.
What was even more ridiculous was that the one who dispatched the soldiers wasn’t the Khitan emperor but one of their border officials.
The power that took over the Alasa Empire didn’t think highly of the Khitans either. They tried to test the Khitans’ military prowess when they appeared near their borders.
In the end, they got what they were asking for.
The Khitans gathered from all over the world. It only took them days to destroy the new power and take its ruler and officials as hostages. As a result, that power also followed in the Alasa Empire’s footsteps.
Since then, the world had maintained a fearful attitude toward the Khitans. No one wanted to mess with the sleeping giant.
But I thought that Khitans prefer the east? They rarely venture deep into this area. Why would we meet Khitans here? What are they up to?
The Khitans’ fearsome reputation was reinforced once more.
Seconds was all it took for Sereya’s forces to be reduced by half.
“Tsk! A bunch of newbies with only 30 damage,” Shu Yichao scoffed as he galloped up to the twins.
Quashing the fear in her heart, Sereya lowered her head, lifted her skirt, and spoke with the gentlest voice she had ever used since her birth, “Esteemed Khitan Baturu, my little sister and I are mere frail ladies. Please allow us to return home…”
What are these people yapping off about? Shouldn’t the universal language be Chinese?
Shu Yichao glanced at the twins before calling the nomads over. “You and you. Come here and tie the hostages up. These people are clearly nobles. They’ll fetch a hefty sum.”
【My host, did you manage to infiltrate Sereya and Serena’s ranks?】
【I knew you can do it!】
【You must make full use of this opportunity! A young man and two young women exploring the wilderness together. Hallelujah! I can already smell the love in the air!】
—
Starve’s Historical Trivia:
The Khitans are a nomadic tribe that were pretty powerful back then (they even conquered China at one point and ruled it for more than two centuries, which is an impressive feat), though they fell to the Manchus (Jurchen) eventually.
Interesting fact: The word ‘Cathay’ (e.g. Cathay Pacific) comes from the word ‘Khitan’, and it was historically used by Europeans to refer to China (or southern China).
Baturu, in Manchu, means ‘warrior’ or ‘brave’.