Chapter 33: The Battle Ends, Root and Branch Exterminated

"He's severely wounded."

When Luo Meng and Erhu crawled into the cellar and carried out the unconscious, gravely injured youth, placing him flat on the kang, Li Xiao pulled back the boy's shirt. He shook his head softly as he examined the wound before him.

"He was fighting a mounted enemy and was slashed across the chest by a scimitar head-on." Based on the nature of the wound, Li Xiao quickly reconstructed the scene of the battle in his mind. Clearly, the assailant had been a strong, adult Karluk, possessing a level of strength and combat experience far beyond that of a mere youth.

"And this injury is at least two or three days old," Li Xiao added quietly.

The boy’s condition was critical. A deep gash ran from his shoulder down to his abdomen, the flesh splayed open and refusing to heal. Because of the rain over the past two days, the damp air of the cellar had become a breeding ground for bacteria. Without effective treatment, the flesh around the wound had begun to putrefy, oozing white, foul-smelling pus. The moment the clothing was pulled back, a sickening stench became immediately apparent.

"The injury is too severe, and it's been neglected for too long. The flesh is already rotting; I'm afraid he's beyond saving," Luo Meng said, shaking his head slightly as he looked at the wound. In their daily lives, they fought frequently against other tribes and villages, and they all bore their fair share of scars, but Luo Meng had never seen anyone survive a wound as grave as this one.

"He's a brave lad, too. What a pity," Erhu said with a sigh. He admired warriors above all else. The fact that this youth, barely two years older than himself, had dared to fight a Karluk to the death was enough to earn Erhu's respect.

"Not necessarily beyond saving," Li Xiao muttered to himself, eyes fixed on the wound. In his previous life, he had been trained in the military on how to treat infected wounds in emergency situations. He had also read many books on advanced technology that recorded various remedies. Once they returned, he planned to try some of them out. Perhaps he could save the boy's life after all.

...

Before long, Li Xiao and his men left the courtyard with the unconscious siblings. The battle was not yet over, and they could not afford to rest. Moreover, the Karluks in Sanhe Fort had not been completely purged, and it was unsafe to leave the siblings in the village. Li Xiao had Erhu fetch a horse-drawn cart to transport the unconscious youth and the corpse of the Karluk leader. As for the unconscious young girl, Li Xiao decided he would take care of her himself—the cart was already full with the other two.

He helped the girl onto his horse, then swung up behind her. Holding his lance in one hand and the reins in the other, he kept his arm around the girl's waist to ensure she wouldn't fall.

As the group emerged from the courtyard, they ran into Li Dashan and his men. Both sides froze in surprise. Li Xiao was carrying a girl, while Li Dashan’s horse was similarly burdened with an unconscious woman.

"Oh? Where did you find that little lass?" Li Dashan asked, looking at the girl in front of Li Xiao with surprise.

"A girl from Sanhe Fort, I found her in a cellar," Li Xiao replied.

A smile spread across Li Dashan’s face. "Haha, Dalong, I heard your grandmother and mother were planning to find you a wife! It seems you've found one for yourself already. She's quite pretty; you've got a good eye." Li Dashan shook his head with a chuckle, looking over the girl’s blood- and dirt-stained face with a satisfied nod.

Li Xiao rolled his eyes at him. "That's not it at all! Don't talk nonsense, Uncle Six. What about you? What's going on here? Be careful, or I'll report you to Aunt Six when we get back!" Li Xiao pointed to the woman on Li Dashan’s horse. He recognized her—she was the younger sister-in-law of the pair who had ambushed them earlier.

She looked to be about seventeen or eighteen, with fine features and a good figure, though she was currently unconscious. The other Karluk woman was being carried by Chen Erqiang on his horse.

Li Xiao looked at them with a cold gaze. *Those two scoundrels are up to no good.* Being a man himself, how could he not understand their dirty intentions?

Li Dashan gave a dry laugh. "Cough, don't tell your aunt when we get back."

"Tch," Li Xiao scoffed, turning his head away.

By the time they returned to camp, Li Xiao watched as the two bastards hid the sisters-in-law in the tents they had just set up. *Damn it, those two dogs,* Li Xiao thought, grinding his teeth in frustration. *Sisters-in-law... that's truly maddening! Unlike this girl in my arms, who I can look at but can't touch.*

However, under these circumstances, Li Xiao had no frivolous thoughts. After entrusting the siblings to the care of the rescued Han commoners from Sanhe Fort, Li Xiao continued to lead his men in clearing out the remaining Karluks.

By now, the Karluks had no strength left to resist. Whenever they were discovered by the Han soldiers, their universal response was to kneel and surrender. Consequently, the number of prisoners in the camp outside Sanhe Fort grew steadily. Most were women under forty, along with other men who had lost their ability to fight or were simply too cowardly to resist. They hoped that by surrendering, they might cling to their lives.

As time passed, the eastern horizon began to show a faint, fish-belly white. The light of dawn was about to pierce through this dark land. The rain had ceased, and nature seemed to have returned to a state of calm. The battle for Sanhe Fort was officially declared over.

At this moment, Luo Ping, the master of Hedong Fort, sought out Li Xiao. "Dalong, the battlefield is mostly cleared. It's time to let the brothers rest."

*Rest?* Hearing Li Dashan's words, Li Xiao’s gaze involuntarily shifted toward the prisoner camp in the distance. He understood perfectly well what Li Dashan meant; this "rest" was not about simply sleeping.

"What does my grandfather say?" Li Xiao asked directly.

Luo Ping chuckled. "Uncle Li said that since you are now the master of Hexi Fort, it's up to you to arrange these matters; he won't interfere."

Li Xiao nodded slightly. *Very well.* The old man was even handing these responsibilities over to him; he really wasn't treating him like a child anymore. He said, "Uncle Luo, I don't know much about these things. Let's just follow the usual customs."

Luo Ping laughed heartily and gave Li Xiao a meaningful look. "The old custom is that we fort masters pick first, and then the brothers pick according to their contributions. Since you're the master of Hexi Fort now, we should go over there together and say a few words, otherwise the men won't feel at ease."

*Pick what?* What else could there be to pick among the Karluk captives?

In the end, Li Xiao still felt very uncomfortable with this. His soul, after all, came from a later era, one with strict military discipline; he found this barbaric behavior difficult to accept. However, discipline and morality could only constrain himself; he could not use them to demand the same from the soldiers of this era. Moreover, Luo Ping and the others were not regular soldiers, but merely a group of herdsmen bearing arms. Even as the master of Hexi Fort, he could not change these ingrained customs.

Li Xiao shook his head helplessly. "Uncle Luo, I have other things to attend to. You all go ahead and arrange it yourselves. Don't worry about me."

Luo Ping assumed Li Xiao was just a young man with a thin skin, embarrassed by such things. But how could a hot-blooded youth be so easily restrained? He laughed, "Dalong, if you're shy, your Uncle Luo will help you! I'll pick out two pretty lasses and send them to your tent later."

Before Li Xiao could protest, Li Dashan laughed loudly, spurred his horse, and rode off. Watching his retreating back, Li Xiao called out, "Hey, hey, hey... Uncle Luo!" But Luo Ping seemed not to hear, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

Finally, Li Xiao let out a heavy, helpless sigh. "Oh... Uncle Luo, you've really ruined me."

With that, Li Xiao shook his head and rode after Luo Ping toward the prisoner camp. Although Hexi Fort lacked formal military regulations, it had its own hierarchy. If he, as the fort master, did not speak up, the herdsmen would likely hold a grudge.

Upon arriving at the camp, the scene was even more chaotic. The blood and corpses on the ground had not yet been cleared, and many more captives had been herded in. Cries and pleas for mercy echoed everywhere.

"Wuwuwu..."
"Save me, don't kill me..."
"That's my child, I beg you, give him back to me..."

The camp was filled primarily with women, specifically those young and fertile. Of the more than three thousand Karluks, after an hour of fighting, most of the men were dead, leaving only women and children. The nomadic tribes of the grasslands had a custom of not killing children shorter than a wagon wheel, but the Han people did not share this tradition. Influenced by the culture of the Central Plains, the Han of the Northern Frontier knew only one maxim: "If you don't pull out the weeds by the root, the trouble will be endless."

The boys who had survived by luck would ultimately not escape their fate. The scene was one of mothers clutching their children, crying and begging the Han soldiers, only to be met with brutal beatings as the soldiers forcibly dragged the boys away.

"Ah, what a human tragedy," Luo Ping remarked from his horse, watching the women and crying youths clustered together in the distance. He turned to Li Xiao. "Dalong, I feel like we're a bunch of demons. We're not doing human work. We'll surely go to hell for this."

Listening to Luo Ping's mockery, Li Xiao let out a soft sound, the orange glow of the fires illuminating his cold, indifferent face. Looking at the tragic fate of the Karluks, his heart remained unmoved. He replied, his expression unchanged, "Hell? Hmph, Uncle Luo, do you really believe in such things?"

Luo Ping laughed. "I don't! Who believes in the nonsense of those bald monks? And even if there really is a hell, these Karluks would be the first to go down there."

The Karluks were inherently belligerent and cruel; the Han prisoners who fell into their hands suffered no better fate. In fact, the things the Karluks did were often far worse than what the Han were doing now. Thus, Li Xiao and his men felt no pity for the Karluks; if anything, they felt they hadn't killed enough of them.