Chapter Seven: Barbarians? I've Slain Them Before!

“Brother, have you lost your mind?” Li Fatty stared at Sumu, unable to hold back a sharp intake of breath.

Realizing his outburst, Li Fatty glanced around to ensure no one else was paying attention.

Only then did he grab Sumu by the shoulder and lead him to a nearby corner.

Taking a deep breath, Li Fatty’s demeanor grew solemn.

“Brother, listen carefully! Those barbarians are no good!”

“The environment they live in is far harsher than ours here in Daliang, and because of that, they are extremely ruthless when it comes to food and resources!”

“Over the years, I’ve seen countless ambitious men like you lose their lives to these barbarians.”

As he spoke, a flicker of pain and inner struggle crossed Li Fatty’s eyes.

“Captain, I have killed barbarians,” Sumu said after a brief silence, exhaling deeply.

Beside him, the woman in plain clothes raised her hand and looked at Li Fatty.

“Sir, I can vouch that my master has killed barbarians. The ones who massacred our village were all slain by him.”

Li Fatty opened his mouth in surprise, casting a look at Sumu and the woman.

He hadn’t expected such a past from them.

Suddenly, he recalled the mysterious figure who caused a stir in the barracks yesterday.

For some reason, he had a strong hunch that the new recruit who defeated Vice General Chen was none other than Sumu standing before him.

If that were true, Sumu’s strength—able to ambush and annihilate a barbarian squad—wouldn’t be surprising.

Even if he failed, he could at least retreat unscathed.

Li Fatty rubbed his temples and sighed deeply.

“I’ll give you three days. If you really manage to kill a barbarian squad, I’ll promote you to squad leader ahead of schedule!”

“By then, you can select members from the Tiger Might Battalion to form your own team.”

Upon hearing this, Sumu smiled faintly.

This was exactly the chance he had been waiting for!

In times of chaos, there is only one path to rise—

Kill.

He needed to ascend ranks quickly, to amass strength before real war arrived.

Otherwise, in such a turbulent era, one person alone could accomplish nothing.

Moreover, what Li Fatty said about the barbarians’ conduct disgusted him deeply.

When two armies clash, right or wrong is merely a matter of standpoint.

But slaughtering civilians—that crossed Sumu’s bottom line.

“Captain, wait for my victorious return!” Sumu said resolutely, grasping his long sword as he headed toward the city gate.

---

The woman in plain clothes followed behind, clutching her heavy sword.

Watching their departing figures, Li Fatty sighed with a mix of sorrow and nostalgia.

“Jiang, if you were still alive, you’d surely be like them,” he murmured, covering his face in grief.

…

Outside Qinghe Town, atop a hillside.

Sumu stood at the summit, carefully surveying the surroundings and comparing them with the map in his hand.

After entering Qinghe Town, he had taken time to understand the distribution of its villages.

Surrounded by mountains, Qinghe’s villages were scattered and varied in size.

Some small villages had only a few dozen residents, while larger ones approached nearly a thousand.

To the barbarians, these were all prey.

Sumu pointed to the map calmly, addressing the puzzled woman beside him.

“I’ve studied the barbarians’ conditions for attacking villages.”

“First, they choose relatively flat terrain, as it facilitates cavalry attacks and swift retreats.”

“Second, they target medium to small villages to minimize their own casualties.”

“Third, they strike at night, moving very quickly.”

The woman tilted her head, watching as Sumu marked the villages one by one.

“Master, you mean we should lay an ambush in these medium and small villages?”

“When the barbarians appear, we strike them down?”

Sumu nodded, his gaze deepening.

“Exactly.”

“Remember, on the battlefield, the enemy won’t come to duel you one-on-one.”

“What we must do is maximize our advantage by utilizing whatever resources we have nearby.”

The woman pondered this thoughtfully.

In her mind, she recalled that night when Sumu, like a ghost, took full advantage of the darkness to pick off the barbarians one by one.

Sumu folded the map away.

After this review, he had already pinpointed the best target—

Yang Family Village.

The entire village had just over two hundred residents.

But due to its location by the river and abundant farmland, the harvests were good and food reserves substantial.

Most importantly, the village lay twenty li from Qinghe Town, near the border.

The barbarians would never overlook such a prize.

At the same time, because of the small population, the barbarian raiding party would be limited in number.

Whether by design or chance, wiping out a small team would not be difficult.

“Master, I want to join you on this mission,” the woman said stubbornly, looking up resolutely at Sumu.

“I want to kill barbarians too.”

“No,” Sumu rejected her request outright.

Given her current strength, encountering barbarians would be a death sentence.

If he had to worry about saving her, the plan to destroy the barbarian squad would be doomed.

“Wait for my news in Yang Family Village.”

Mounting his horse, Sumu disappeared over the hillside.

Watching his departing figure, the woman clenched her fists.

“Master… one day, I will catch up to you and fight by your side!”

---

Late at night.

Leaning against a tree on the hillside, Sumu gently wiped the arrows with a cloth from his sleeve.

The bow and arrows crafted by Old Zhang were finally proving useful for this mission.

Because the barbarians’ armor was highly protective, Sumu had modified his arrows accordingly.

He had increased their weight, using the kinetic energy from height to enhance their lethality.

If these couldn’t pierce the armor, close-quarters combat would be the last resort.

At this moment, Sumu resembled a patient hunter, quietly waiting for his prey to take the bait.

He was calm and unhurried.

Just then, the tree trunk trembled slightly.

Not far away, the glow of torches flickered, stark against the darkness.

As the distance closed, the sound of hooves grew louder.

Sumu lifted his longbow, narrowing his eyes toward the torchlight.

Judging by the number of torches, the barbarian squad numbered around a dozen.

Still within manageable range.

“I’ve been waiting for you.”