Chapter 318: Chapter 317: Capture Alive

“I believe you.” Zhu Yu thought for a moment and nodded, “If I were the one doing bad things outside, I would love to fly someone else’s banner and let others take the blame for me.

I’ve never seen such a thing. The weather is already so warm, yet they insist on wearing animal skins and furs, and they keep boasting about their past in Jie Country.

I’ve never seen a stupid thief who likes to tell everyone where they’re from while doing bad deeds.”

Yan Shu’s eyes welled up with redness, and she tightly squeezed Zhu Yu’s hand, nodding vigorously, “You’re so kind!

If you only nodded and said you believed me, I’d worry that you were just brushing me off and didn’t actually believe what I was saying.

But you truly believe me, and you wouldn’t deceive or lie to me!

Hearing your reasonable arguments makes me feel a lot better.

We Jie people haven’t done anything wrong; we’re just a bit more outgoing and want to live comfortably in our homeland. But for some reason, people outside keep seeing us as barbaric and demonic!

No matter what bad thing happens, it’s us Jie people who are blamed. No one listens to our explanations, no one believes us…”

The more Yan Shu spoke, the more aggrieved she felt, with tears welling up, but stubbornly trying to hold them back.

Zhu Yu gently patted her shoulder. It was quite inconvenient for them both being in men’s garb, making comforting each other awkward.

“Do you have any evidence that those people weren’t Jie people?” Zhu Yu asked.

“Yes!” Yan Shu was particularly certain, “Although those people look tall and strong and are wearing our Jie people’s leather armor, their horseback riding posture is wrong!

We Jie people grow up on horseback, even before we can walk steadily, we can hold the mane with both hands and run laps on horseback without falling off.

So for us, saddles and stirrups are useless burdens. Sitting on them makes us feel uncomfortable.”

Zhu Yu nodded. Yan Shu wasn’t lying. During the past few days of traveling, Yan Shu had been riding with a saddle and stirrups. It didn’t affect her riding skills, but it was clear she was uncomfortable.

“The way those people rode and their habits were different from us Jie people.” Yan Shu explained, spreading her hands, which bore the imprints of her own nails, “And their hands!

I mustered up the courage to check their corpses and found that they all had calluses on the base of their thumbs and thickened skin on the front of their fingers from frequent friction.

But they didn’t have any indentations or calluses on their thumb and index finger, which is unlike any man from Jie Country!”

When Yan Shu said this, Zhu Yu understood.

Calluses and thick skin on the thumb base and palm and four fingers were typical for those trained in martial arts, accustomed to using swords, staff, and other weapons.

Although Jie people use knives too, they are most skilled in archery, a basic skill used daily even in peacetime.

And frequent archery leaves marks, such as a visible indentation on the fingers from bowstrings.

“What should we do now!” Yan Shu was a bit frustrated, “Finally, we encountered these impostors pretending to be Jie soldiers, and now they’re all dead by suicide!

How can I prove they weren’t Jie people and clear my people’s undeserved blame under such conditions?”

“Hush—” Zhu Yu, seeing Yan Shu agitated, quickly raised a finger to remind her not to raise her voice, “Rest assured, there will be a way.

This trick has been used twice. Lu Qing and the others won’t let them repeat it, committing swift suicide in front of us a third time.”

“But what if we never meet them again?” Yan Shu worried.

“We will.” Zhu Yu was very sure, “We’ve encountered them twice along this route. The first time, there were fewer of them, and this time, there were noticeably more.

I guess they intentionally split up to create a bigger presence in different areas, causing panic along the border, making people think Jie and Shuo are colluding.

So there must be more than just these two groups, especially the closer we get to Lan Country, the larger the scale.

We don’t fear their numbers. The more they are, the less unified they are, and their responses differ. Not everyone can simultaneously decide to bite their poison pills, and any hesitation gives us an opportunity.

So don’t be discouraged. Once we find a live one next time, here’s what we’ll do—”

She leaned close to Yan Shu’s ear and whispered a few words.

Some of the anger and frustration on Yan Shu’s face faded a bit, and she nodded, “Okay! If we catch a live one, I’ll do as you say!”

After rounds of interrogations that combined both lenience and severity, it was clear those rural riffraff and rogues really knew nothing about the “Jie soldiers.” They were just along for the ride.

With no other options, Lu Zhang advised Lu Qing that they were wasting time and decided to hand them over to the nearby government office for detention and disposal.

The group moved forward and finally reached the true border area between Jin, Shuo, and Lan. With the official decree and token Lu Zhang received from Emperor Jin, they smoothly passed through the checkpoints and entered Lan Country.

Even in Lan Country, they remained incognito, traveling in civilian clothing. After a few stops, they encountered a third group of “Jie soldiers.”

Having learned from previous encounters, Lu Qing’s group was well prepared this time. Yan Daoxin had pre-poisoned some silver needles, handing them to Lu Qing early on. Upon meeting the enemy, Lu Qing stealthily sought an opportunity to ambush.

Lu Qing’s hand was quick and precise. The silver needle flew from his fingertips so fast that Zhu Yu didn’t even see it before it pierced a “Jie soldier’s” cheek.

The silver needle was so fine it was hard to see without close inspection.

Before the first person hit by the needle realized it, their companions were struck one after another.

Those hit by Lu Qing’s flying silver needles suddenly lost all sensation in their faces, their jaws slackened, unable to clench, and the paralysis quickly spread from their cheeks to the rest of their body, turning them into a limp heap.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep