37 Into Tanggolia

The sound came from inside the city walls, and more people outside the tall white city walls uttered soft melodies, which rang in Chinua's ears. Standing outside the city and looking at the city wall, Chinua felt very small, like a small star in the vase sky. She looked up and saw the soldiers standing on the city wall, looking at their blank faces should be full of fear, anyone who wants to invade this land should think twice, however, she stood with her head held high and staring at the high wall made Chinua's heartbeat began to speed up, and the adrenaline in the blood quickly rose to the top of her head. Her imagination tickled and squirmed the nerves under her skin. The thrill of knocking down these solid white walls sends shivers down Chinua's spine.

"Move," Hye said, grabbing Chinua's right arm.

Chinua quickly followed Jeet, Naksh and Khawn. Once at the gate, a soldier came over and checked the baskets on their backs.

"What are you five going to Tanggolia for?" the soldier asked.

"We are here to visit and do business," Hye said with a smile.

The Tanggolian soldier took out a blank sheet of paper and picked up a brush. "Name," he said. He waited a while without receiving an answer from the five people in front of him. He looked up at Hye. "This is the pass you need to enter Tanggolia. If you don't have this paper, you will be arrested."

Hye nodded, "Oh, we're here for the first time, so we don't know. Please tell us what we need to do, we don't want to break any laws."

The soldier said, "If any soldier asks you, you won't be arrested if you show them this."

Hye asked, "Do we all need one?"

The soldier said, "Well, it's up to you, but you need three coins for each piece of paper. If you're all sharing one, that means you can't wander off alone."

Hye said, "My name is Hye Choi." He pulled Chinua to stand beside him. "Nabi Choi, my wife." He pointed to Khawn. "My younger brother, Tao Choi and the two of them are our minions." He pointed at Naksh and Jeet.

The soldier asked, "How long are you staying?"

Hye said, "Seven days."

The soldiers quickly wrote their names on a blank piece of paper, and finally he wrote his own name and stamped the entry form. "Four coins," he said.

Hye asked, "Four coins, I thought you said three?"

The soldiers said, "Three coins for the entry letter. A coin for wasting my time writing you this."

Hye smiled and reached into his bag, handing the money to the soldiers. "You are absolutely right. I totally agree. Sir, thank you for wasting your time writing us this entry letter."

The soldier took the money and said, "Obey the law and don't make trouble."

Hye smiled and said, "Thank you sir for your kind words."

As they started entering the city gate, Chinua looked at Hye and said, "You did well, talking with that soldier."

Hye said, "Associate with the enemy to avoid disaster."

Chinua said, "It seems that you are very familiar with this kind of treatment."

Hye said, "I would like to thank the Northern soldiers for this great ability."

Chinua looked at Hye and said, "If one day you want to tell me, I'm all ears."

Hye turned to looked at Chinua and said, "Tell you about what?"

Chinua said, "About Nabi?"

Hye said, "Don't meddle too much, Chinua... don't meddle in other people's business."

Chinua said, "I only meddle with people I care about."

Hye sighed and quickly changed the subject. "Let's go ask someone for the market direction." He started walking ahead of Chinua and the other three.

Jeet said, "He doesn't seem to like talking to you."

Chinua said, "You think so?"

Naksh gave Chinua a blank look, and said, "We can see that, he doesn't want to talk to you."

Chinua said, "He like talking to me; he just doesn't like me talking about his past."

Naksh said, "Everyone has a past, and some people's pasts are worse than others. Some pasts are better left alone."

Chinua turned to look at Naksh and Jeet. Chinua said, "You don't need to talk too early, I also want to know about the two of you when the time comes." She pointed to the two brothers.

Hye walked towards the four people who were still talking in the middle of the road. "I got the direction to the trade the market," he said waiving at the four people.

Chinua said, "Lead the way."

Hye said, "They told me that the trading market is only open in the morning. We must wait until tomorrow morning."

Chinua said, "Let's find a place to rest for the night."

"Move out of the way!" the soldiers began to shout.

"Step aside!" shouted another soldier.

The Tanggolian's soldiers pushed the people aside, and the people started to move away.

Riding a white horse, wearing a red armor shining with silver. The young man on the horse looked at the people around him arrogantly.

Chinua attracted the attention of the person standing beside her and asked, "Who is that person?"

The man said quietly, "That's Captain Xin Xiyang, the eldest son of General Xin Jing Min He just came back from the battle with the Musia soldiers. With that attitude, I guess he has a victory."

Chinua looked at the seriously wounded soldiers following Xin Xinyang; she saw the sad faces of the soldiers. Looking at the soldiers' expression, she thought, although they might have won, but it came with a heavy price.

Chinua asked, "Where are the dead?"

The man said, "He usually doesn't retreat dead soldiers."

Chinua looked at the armor on Xin Xinyang's body as if it hadn't been stained with dirt. She didn't have much impression of this grand entrance performance, so she started to walk away from the gathered crowd. The four men quickly followed her.

Naksh asked, "Don't you like it?"

Chinua said, "I wasn't really impressed by the grand entrance."

Jeet asked, "Why not, he made such a big entrance. Did you see the cheering of those women on the sidelines?"

Chinua said, "I'm more interested in the man walking behind him than he is."

Khawn asked, "Chinua, why is everyone else looking at the captain, but you are looking at the soldiers?"

Chinua said, "Because those soldiers stand out more than the man in the shining armor. What a joke." She laughed and continued walking away, leaving Khawn scratching his head dumbfounded.

Khawn looked at Chinua and said, "I don't understand."

Hye smiled and patted Khawn on the back lightly. "If you insist on following her, then you have to be smarter," he said with a smile.

Khawn asked, "Do you understand her?"

Hye said, "Yes."

Khawn asked, "Can you explain to me?"

Hye said with a smiled, "Let's find a place to sit down, and I'll explain to you while eating."

In the noisy tavern, Chinua sat quietly, staring at the four plates and five bowls of rice on the table. She was not familiar with Taggolian's food. She stared at the green vegetables stir-fry with the small amount of meat, while the remaining four men were happily eating at the table.

Jeet asked, "Don't you like it?" he asked Chinua.

"I'm not used to eating these," Chinua said, picking up a piece of arracacha and brought it to her mouth. She took a bite, started chewing strangely, then spit it out suddenly. "It smells weird." She looked at the men. "Do you four think it smells weird?"

The men shook their heads.

"Here's your chicken," the waiter said, placing the whole chicken on the table. "Do you need more tea?"

Chinua asked, "Do you have goat's milk?"

The waiter thought he misheard Chinua. "What?" He turned to look at Chinua.

Hye said, "Do you know where goats are sold?"

"Oh, you want to buy goats, you have to go to the trading market tomorrow morning," the waiter said with a smile before he left the table.

Hye looked at Chinua and said, "Tanggolian doesn't drink milk." He pushed the cup of hot tea towards Chinua. "They drink this. Drink it, it's refreshing."

Chinua took a small sip of the tea and shook her head. "Urg… a bit bitter," she pushed the teacup back to Hye.

Hye smiled and took the tea from Chinua. "Then you drink water," he said, pouring Chinua a cup of water to Chinua. "This chicken is yours."

Chinua tore open the drumstick and began to eat. "Hey, how do you know so much about the Tanggolian's tradition?"

Hye said, "I read about it. That's how I learned to grow peanuts."

Chinua asked, "By reading it, you can grow peanuts?"

Hye nodded.

Khawn asked, "Just now, why did Chinua only praise the soldiers and not the captain?"

Jeet looked at Khawn and laughed. "How old is you, kid?"

Khawn said, "Twenty-two."

Nakshed laughed, "No wonder you don't understand." He looked at Chinua. "Heh... When it comes to age, Chinua is much younger than you. She understands, why don't you understand?"

Hye said, "Chinua praised the soldiers because just by looking at them, you could see that they fought so hard to bring the victory home. Their clothes were torn, and their armor was stained with the blood of the enemy. Their spears were cracked, and their bodies were wounded."

Naksh asked Khawn, "Do you know why men are willing to die to protect their captain's orders?"

Chinua put down the half-eaten chicken and wiped her mouth. "Because the captain fights with his soldiers. If his soldiers' armor is stained with the blood of the enemy, then his armor should also be stained with the blood of the enemy."

Khawn looked at Chinua and said, "That's why Chinua said 'through Death Valley, we march. Follow each other, every step of the way. Even if we don't know if we will emerge on the other side. But we will continue to march forward faithfully for our brothers, living and dead'?"

Chinua smiled and nodded. "Hmm...so, don't underestimate me. I will fight side by side with you in every battle you encounter in the future."

Jeet and Naksh turned to look at Chinua and they looked at each other. "You said that?" the brothers asked in one voice.

Chinua looked at the two brothers and said, "Mmm…" She continued to eat her chicken.

Hye looked at the two brothers, and just by looking at their faces, he could tell that they had slowly surrendered to Chinua. He felt a slight tightness in his chest because he too had fallen for the bait Chinua had set.