228 The Rescue (2/2)
Turning back to the scowling Fan Mingli, Yin Changpu just smirked.
”Well then, let's go.”
Sighing, Fan Mingli followed Yin Changpu carefully into the camp.
...
”You seem to be hanging on well.” An Ruo was staring at the man tied to the wooden pole in the ground. His eyes were as cold as ice. But there was a glimmer of some joy. Not that Manchu could see his expression much.
His eyes were veiled by his long brown bangs, sweat sticky from his forehead. For the last three days now, Manchu lay on his knees, tied tightly to a pole in the ground, with gashes on his back, arms, and legs.
Everything had gone completely numb at this point. Although the situation still did not appeal to him.
”Despite your tolerance, it will all end soon. Tomorrow morning you will no longer have to suffer any more pain. Just death.” An Ruo announced after he'd watched the expression on Manchu's face. To his disappointment, nothing had changed, but it no longer mattered to him.
Starting tomorrow, he'd have one less enemy to worry about.
With a bright grin on his face, An Ruo stepped out of the tent—on to enjoy the camp's giant feast. Left alone, Manchu could hear the sound of men's voices outside the tent. Their laughter, their shouts. All of it seemed to fade from his ears as he closed his sore eyes.
It seems he had failed An Sun. Holding back the urge to laugh bitterly as he feared he'd open the wounds on his back, Manchu's head dropped even further.
”Psst!” A hush sounded from in front of him.
Opening his eyes slowly, Manchu lifted his head. Through the strands of hair in front of his eyes, he saw two Tuhan men crawling from beneath the back of the tent. However, upon a closer look, Manchu hadn't recognized either of their faces.
”Are you Manchu?” The big man asked while the smaller one was still struggling to slide under the tent.
”Yes.” Manchu looked between the two when a sudden thought came to him. ”Did Sun send you?”
At his words, the big man nodded his head. With a puffed up chest, he said, ”Under Captain Sun's orders, we've come to rescue you, Manchu.”
For the first time in four months, the dull look in Manchu's eyes brightened. He suddenly broke out into his brightest smile. It was painful from his dry, cracked lips, that soon started to bleed--he didn't notice at all.
All Manchu could feel was a light weight on his chest.
Yin Changpu took out the dagger from his hip and kneeled on the ground. He severed the tight rope on Manchu's wrists, freeing him. Having been tied for so long, Manchu could no longer support himself, thus, as soon as he was released, he collapsed to the floor.
Luckily, Yin Changpu was there to catch him in time.
”Mingli, help me out here, will you?” Yin Changpu whispered to avoid the guards outside from hearing.
Finally having slipped out from beneath the tent, Fan Mingli panted heavily. When he heard Yin Changpu's words, he gathered his breath and hobbled over. Helping him support Manchu's other shoulder, the two men carried him toward the end of the tent.
To help him get on the other side, Fan Mingli crawled underneath, then held the tent while Yin Changpu lowered Manchu and pulled him.
Due to the rest of the Tuhan men enjoying their feast and drinks by the fire, the three men carefully snuck in the shadows unnoticed. They arrived in front of a wooden wagon and stopped to help Manchu lean on it.
”Okay, get in and hide underneath everything.” Yin Changpu wiped the dirt and sweat from his bushy brows.
Manchu looked down into the wagon and realized the 'everything' he had referred to was a pile of freshly slaughtered sheep. The edge of his lips twitched. But considering his previous circumstance, Manchu didn't complain and obediently complied.
With the help of the two men, he slipped beneath the piles of sheep carcasses. When he was all settled in, they stacked more on top to cover him up.
”The Tuhan men are already expecting to deliver more supplies. Having us carry this won't look too suspicious.” Fan Mingli lifted one side of the wagon.
The men's boisterous voices sounded in the distance as they trudged forward. Looking ahead, they could see the opening to the came—their final way out coming closer and closer…
”Stop!” The sound of a man's shout boomed from behind them, and Fan Mingli felt himself flinch involuntarily.
Yin Changpu sent him a gaze, his eyes sharp and full of warning. Inwardly, Fan Mingli calmed his heart, his sweaty hands clutching tightly to the wagon's wooden arm.
A man wide and tall walked up with eyes that narrowed and circled their wagon. ”What's all this?'
”We were ordered by Commander An to bring meat to the troops at the northern bases.” Yin Changpu spoke sudden and deep, keeping a firm hold on the wagon with eyes dark and unwavering.
The Tuhan man's expression hadn't seemed to change, and instead, he moved in his steps with a strange gruff.
His eyes scanned their cart filled to the brim with dead sheep meat, and he lifted a calloused hand firmly around the leg of a sheep as he analyzed it.
Manchu, although practically immobile, felt his breath hitch beneath the corpses. Not only out of sudden uneasiness, but by the elongated, intoxicating smell of death on top of him. He stilled his breathing. Almost as still as the dead beasts atop him.
”This is too much meat. The other men and I hunted long and hard for this!” The Tuhan man smacked his lips, eyes glinted with greed and he let the leg of the sheep plummet back down carelessly amongst the others.
”The men are at risk of starvation. We're just taking orders.” Yin Changpu didn't fail to retort casually and kept his eyes steady.
The man, as if paying no heed to his words rolled his eyes with a waving hand careless with dismissal.
”Tsk, get out of here then. Go!” His voice held clear irritation, but he left behind them with one last gaze to their wagon and made his way back to the bonfire as he kicked a stone.
Fan Mingli and Yin Changpu both released a quiet, but relieved sigh. The tension in their backs relaxed, and the wagon moved with a light rattle as they disappeared into the night.