33 Two Brothers

Chinua came to the village market and got off her horse. Holding the rope with her right hand, she slowly walking beside the horse along the market. She found that there were more people in the market at night than in the morning. She couldn't remember where she had met the badly beaten man, so she walked slowly along the market. As she walked, she kept looking for a man tied to a post, and she seemed to be unable to find him anymore, when suddenly a hand grabbed her ankle.

Chinua looked down and saw a bloody hand clutching her ankle. She tried to pull her foot away, but the hand's grip tightened.

"I'm not dead," the man moaned. "I can smell you."

Chinua helped the man sit down. The man leans against the pillar. Chinua asked, "I admire you very much. You are still able to speak after being injured so badly. What's your name?"

"Jeet…" Jeet panted heavily.

Chinua said, "I was told I can't buy slaves here. I'm not sure how I'm going to free you. Maybe we'll have to fight our way out of here."

Jeet looked at Chinua with a smile. He couldn't see Chinua's face clearly, but he could feel the warm light emanating from Chinua's body.

Chinua looked at Jeet and saw that Jeet's long curly hair was past his shoulders. His complex is deep but muscular. There are old and new scars all over the body. Chinua said, "Sell me your life and I will do everything in my power to free you."

Jeet looked up and thought that even if he broke the merchant's shackles, his hands would be bound by the new master's other shackles, so there was no need for him to sell his life to the man standing in front of him. "Why should I?" he asked weakly. "With you or them, these shackles will never leave my hands and feet. So, why should I?" He coughed and spat blood.

Chinua said, "Sell me your life, I promise, as long as I am still alive, no one will dare to put shackles on you again."

Jeet looked up. "If you can save my brother, we'll sell you our lives," Jeet said, pointing to Naksh, who was in a cage not far from where Jeet was held.

Chinua looked back and saw that the merchant had many people guarding his slaves. If she saved the two brothers now, they would not be able to escape this group of traders. She stood up and walked towards the group of men.

"Can I help you?" the merchant asked.

Chinua saw a keychain hanging on the man's waist, with six keys hanging on it. "I just want to know where and how much you're going to sell your slaves for."

"We're going to the border," said the merchant. He stood up and smiled. "If you want to buy my slave, you will have to cross to Tanggolian." He looked Chinua up and down. "Young man, I don't think you can afford my slaves. Every one of my slaves is expensive."

"I don't think I can afford them," Chinua said, turning away from the merchant. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Forgive me Mönkhbat."

Chinua turned around quickly and pulled the ribbon tied around her hair. Her medium-length hair brushed casually over her shoulders. Chinua took the merchant's hand and placed his hand on her left breast. Chinua yells, "Help!"

Chinua's loud scream attracted the attention of everyone in the area. One of the men rushed forward and yelled at the merchants, "It's broad daylight, you dare to attack this young woman."

"What…" The merchant looked at Chinua puzzledly.

"Help!" Chinua cried. "He said he would rape every Magoli woman he saw." As the men began to get within their distance, Chinua quickly snatched the key from the merchant's waist.

The merchant said, "It must be a misunderstanding. I've never seen that person before. I thought she was a man."

The people started yelling and swearing at the merchant and his men, which drew more attention from others in the market.

Chinua rushed to the cage to try the key. She inserted the keys one at a time into the lock and still couldn't open the cage, when she inserted the fifth key into the lock, she opened the lock and started pulling Naksh out of the cage when a man yelled at Chinua.

"She's freeing the slaves," one of the merchant's men said, pointing to Chinua who had just dragged Naksh out of the small cage.

The merchant and his men tried to squeeze their way through the crowd that surrounded them.

Chinua noticed that the merchant and his men were almost pushed through the crowd. She undid the shackles on Jeet's right foot. She grabbed the whip beside Jeet and tied it to a cart and then to the horse's bridle. At this time, the merchant and his men had escaped from the surrounding crowd, and they walked towards Chinua and the two brothers with their swords in their hand.

Naksh helps Jeet stand up.

Chinua said, "Go."

Naksh starts to leave with Jeet. Chinua picked up the whip and gave the horse a hard slap on the buttocks. The horse was in pain and dragged the cart along and rushed towards the crowd. Chinua quickly ran to Jeet and Naksh.

Either Chinua or Naksh knows their way around the village. They zigzag around the many houses. After some time, they brought themselves back to the market. Chinua and Naksh looked at each other and were about to start running away when one of the merchant's men spotted them.

"Over there," he shouted, pointing at Chinua, Jeet, and Naksh.

Chinua said, "I'm afraid we'll have to fight our way out of here."

Naksh spat on the ground. "A whole bunch of ants. I'm not afraid of them," he said, pinching his knuckles. "Do you have a spare blade?" Chinua handed the dagger to Naksh. She raised her boots and drew her knife. Naksh looked at Chinua. "Can I have that knife too?" Chinua handed the knife to Naksh. "Will you look after my brother for me?"

Chinua said, "Alright."

Naksh turned to face the man rushing towards him. He twisted his neck and said with a smirk, "I'm going to take my time with this sweet revenge."

The first man swung his sword at Naksh, Naksh who shifted his body to the left while stabbing the man in the wrist with a knife held in his left hand. The man screamed in pain, and the sword in his hand fell to the ground. Naksh pushed the sword back to Chinua and Jeet with his right foot. Chinua quickly pick up the sword.

Another man charged at Naksh with a sword, but Naksh quickly flipped the knife in his left hand and stabbed the man in the forearm. Naksh quickly slit the man's throat. The men rushed over immediately, trying to take Naksh, but were stabbed to death one by one.

Chinua watched as Naksh killed the merchant's men who were trying to capture him. Jeet quickly pushed Chinua to the left. Chinua pushed Jeet to the ground and swung her sword at the sword that was about to cut them. She hit at the man's face with the hilt of her sword, knocking him to the ground.

The merchant stood a few feet away from Chinua, panting. "You dare to snatch my slaves in front of me? Do you know that these two people are going to be sent to the Xin family?"

Chinua said, "In Hmagol, we only fear the Mongke."

The merchant said, "Take those dogs back and capture that woman."

Three men rushed forward and began attacking Chinua. Chinua knew that her combat effectiveness was not as good as she imagined. She had experience in one-on-one combat, but she didn't have that much experience fighting with more than one person. Chinua is on the defensive because she knows she can't attack the men as freely as she would like to.

The merchant yelled at the others, "Go over and take that dog down."

Naksh grabbed one of the men and started stabbing him violently in the chest. "If you dare to come, you will die." He smiled evilly at the men who was about to join the fight from the other end. He dropped the dead man on the ground, then rushed over and kicked one of the men who was fighting Chinua.

The men slowly backed away to the merchant, staring at Chinua and Naksh.

Chinua looked at Naksh covered in blood. "You surely can fight well," Chinua said. "You fight better than those men."

Naksh snorted, "If these bastards hadn't starved me for days, I could have fight better than this." He looked at Jeet. "Hey, are you dead?"

Jeet, who was sitting on the ground, roared. "I'm waiting for you to die first."

Naksh chuckled, "That's the spirit."

The merchant stared frantically at Chinua, Naksh, and Jeet. "I want them dead," he gritted his teeth.

"Boss, we seem to have received a report that soldiers are rushing over."

Taban walked in with the other soldiers. "It's you again," he said, looking at the merchant. "Although I told you never to show your face again. You still keep coming back."

The merchant said, "Captain Taban, don't say that. Last time I gave you what you wanted."

Taban looked at Jeet who was sitting motionless on the ground. "Are you still torturing people?" he asked.

The merchant chuckled and said, "No... I don't know that person sitting there."

Taban sneered, "Really?" He turned to look at Chinua, and then at the merchant. "Many villagers have reported that you molested a Hmagol woman in the market. So, what are you going to say about this allegation?"

Chinua stepped forward and said, "Captain Taban, this is a misunderstanding." She looked at the merchant.

The merchant said, "Yes, misunderstanding."

Chinua said, "It's him." She pointed to Naksh. "He's the one who harassed me."

The merchant said, "Yes, it's him."

Taban said, "Tell your men to clean it up and I'll let it go this time. Remember, no more next time."

"Yes," said the merchant, and they left quickly.

Chinua looked at Taban and said, "Captain, thank you."

Taban said, "If General Mönkhbat knew you were buying slaves, he wouldn't treat you well." He started walking away. "If you want to find a place for those two, come with me."

Chinua and Naksh supported Jeet, and they started following Taban towards Taban's house.