44 Faustian Bargain

The wind howling from outside the small barn blew sand through the small gaps between the planks of the wall. In the dead of night, the only sounds that could be heard were the furious wind and the soft scrapes of people inside and outside the barn unsheathing their swords. After the faint sounds subsided, the front door of the barn flew open, sending it crashing against the back wall. Standing outside were the ten men in black Jeet had seen earlier.

"Kill them all, starting with the woman," the lead assassin commanded, his gaze fixed on Chinua, who stood in the right corner with Drystan.

Nine assassins, all clad in black, burst into the barn and rushed toward Chinua. Naksh charged forward, swinging his katar at the first assassin who entered. The assassin bent back to avoid Naksh's blade, but then Naksh's left hand stabbed the assassin's abdomen, causing the man to fall. Naksh savagely attacked the fallen foe. After stabbing him more than a dozen times and confirming the assassin was dead, Naksh leaped forward, running straight towards the lead assassin still standing outside the barn.

Seeing Naksh clearing a path, Chinua shouted, "Khawn, take Hye out!" She blocked an oncoming sword with her dagger while simultaneously kicking another assassin who was advancing on Drystan.

Swinging his sword, Jeet knocked down the assassin rushing towards Khawn and Hye. The force of Jeet's blow pushed the assassin towards the door. Khawn then forcefully shoved the lurching assassin in the chest, sending him flying out of the barn and landing ten feet away from Naksh. Naksh executed a backflip, landing squarely on the fallen assassin's chest, and plunged his right katar directly into the man's face. Then Naksh quickly raised his right hand, blocking the lead assassin's sword with his left katar. The lead assassin's powerful blow caused Naksh to slide backward towards the entrance of the barn.

Inside the small barn, Jeet fought four assassins, while Chinua moved from the right corner of the barn to the other side, attempting to protect herself from another four attackers.

In the left corner of the barn, the seriously injured Drystan struggled to protect himself from further injury and the violent punches thrown at him. Drystan managed to knock the assassin's sword to the ground, so the assassin leaped onto Drystan, and they began wrestling on the ground, punching and kicking each other.

After a few minutes, the assassin climbed atop Drystan, grabbed his sword, and thrust it toward Drystan's face. But Drystan quickly turned his head to the right, and the assassin's sword pierced the ground next to Drystan's face. With this movement, Drystan punched the assassin's left chest hard, dislodging him from Drystan's abdomen. The assassin quickly reached out and grabbed Drystan's left foot. Drystan kicked the assassin in the face with his right foot, forcing the assassin to release his grip. This also gave Drystan the opportunity to quickly get up and crawl to the sword impaled on the ground a few feet away. Drystan knew the assassin would follow, so as soon as he grasped the hilt of his sword, he turned and swung it at the assassin. The sword only cut halfway through the assassin's neck before getting stuck, so Drystan quickly withdrew the blade and kicked the dying assassin away.

In the right corner of the barn, Chinua was kicked hard by an assassin, sending her flying to land on the wagon full of peanut sacks. Chinua quickly rolled off the wagon as an incoming sword pointed directly at her waist. The moment her feet hit the ground, she threw a peanut sack at the incoming sword. The sword sliced open the peanut sack, and another assassin kicked the wagon, pushing Chinua against the wooden wall.

The assassin on the wagon slashed at Chinua's head with a sword. Chinua used all her strength to push the wagon far enough away, and the tip of the assassin's sword only scratched the skin outside of Chinua's neck. Chinua crossed her arms over her chest as she saw two assassins flying towards her with their feet, which struck her forearms and sent her crashing through the wooden wall.

"Chinua!" Jeet shouted.

Seeing that Chinua was forced out and possibly seriously injured, Jeet knew he had to get rid of the four assassins fighting him as soon as possible and then go to her aid. Instead of fighting them head-on, he quickly backed away to the right corner. He reasoned that fighting them in the corner would allow him to engage the others while giving Chinua time to get up and escape.

Drystan stood in the left corner, watching Jeet fight the remaining assassins, attempting to prevent them from escaping through the broken wall to harm Chinua. Drystan was impressed by Jeet's determination. As he watched, he thought to himself that now would be a good time to escape, but as he took four steps toward the door, he realized he wouldn't survive until morning alone. Once the assassins killed Chinua and the others, they would come to capture him. Now he faced a difficult choice.

Drystan closed his eyes and sighed, "Ah... fuck." He rushed forward with his sword and swung it at the assassin who was about to charge Jeet. He quickly walked over to Jeet and kicked the assassin Jeet was holding onto to the ground.

Jeet turned to look at Drystan. "You finally decided to help," he said, a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

Drystan chuckled. "Sooner or later, I have to choose a side. Now it seems that you may have the upper hand, so here I am."

Jeet sneered. "Let's kill them first."

Outside the barn, Chinua on the ground quickly rolled to the left, narrowly avoiding one of the assassin's swords that broke through the broken wall, stabbing at her. Due to the darkness and wind speed, Chinua couldn't clearly see the assassin who swung his sword at her. All she saw was the flashing light of the assassin's sword as it tried to stab her. Lying on the ground, Chinua had no choice but to roll to the left to avoid being stabbed until she came to a stop. Chinua thought she had hit a rock or barrel, but when she looked up, she saw a person sitting on the sand with a wooden shackle hanging around their neck. Chinua couldn't tell whether the person was a man or a woman because their hair obscured their face.

As soon as Chinua sat down, the assassin's sword came straight at her and the stranger. Afraid that an innocent bystander would be accidentally injured, Chinua used her right arm to push the person away, and the sword pierced her flesh, nailing her right shoulder to the side of the wooden cangue.

When Khawn saw the assassin pull a dagger from the side of his belt, he rushed towards Chinua. He grabbed the assassin by the back of his shirt, pulled the assassin back and away from Chinua, and punched the assassin hard in the stomach, knocking him against the side of the barn.

The injured assassin stood up slowly and rushed towards Khawn, still holding the dagger. But Khawn grabbed the assassin's right hand and struck his forearm, breaking the assassin's arm. Khawn seized the dagger from the assassin's hand and began stabbing the assassin repeatedly.

Jeet and Drystan walked through the damaged wall and looked at Khawn, who continued to plunge the dagger into the dead assassin's body.

"Hey, kiddo," Drystan said, his voice laced with grim amusement. "You can stop now. The loser is obviously dead."

Khawn looked up and saw that Jeet and Drystan were also covered in blood. "You two... where are the others?" he asked, his voice still ragged from the fight.

Jeet spat on the ground and said, "Of course they're dead. We're not crazy enough to stab a dead man twice." He quickly turned to the right, thinking it might be another assassin, but it turned out to be Naksh walking towards them. "Is he dead?"

"He got away," Naksh replied, sounding frustrated.

Jeet laughed. "Brother, you're getting weaker. I fought with nine assassins and killed them all, but you couldn't deal with one assassin."

"You fought with nine assassins, but you didn't kill nine assassins," Drystan corrected with a smirk.

"Ah!" Chinua screamed in pain from outside.

"Ah, don't move too much. I can barely see. Ah... this isn't good," Hye said, ripping Chinua's shirt even more. "I can't treat your wounds out in the open."

"Just do it," Chinua grunted in pain. "This isn't the first time you've seen me without any clothes on."

"That's not the point. I can't treat you here because you're actually nailed to this board. We have to remove one side of this board," Hye explained.

"Then remove it," Khawn urged worriedly.

"Kid, do you know why this man is wearing this wooden cangue?" Jeet asked, gesturing to the silent prisoner.

Khawn shook his head.

Naksh chimed in, "Because he's a criminal from Tanggolia." Naksh looked at the man sitting motionless on the ground. "What crime have you committed?"

The man didn't raise his head to respond but chose to look at the ground.

Jeet glanced at Naksh angrily. "Get out of the way," he snapped. He pushed Naksh away from the man sitting on the ground and took the dagger from Khawn's hand. Jeet inserted the dagger between the thick plywood, twisted it a few times, and the wooden cangue popped open.

Hye turned to the men and said, "Go in and see if those huts are vacant. I need a clean bed and privacy to tend to Chinua's wounds."

Chinua watched the others move toward the huts, her eyes falling on the prisoner's hands. She noticed that the man's knuckles were covered with calluses. The man's hands reminded her of King Batukhan's hands. Without touching the man's hand, she could feel the roughness and strong grip of the hand's strength just by looking. Only a strong warrior who had spent years on the battlefield holding his swords and spear could have such rough hands. She knew that the man sitting next to her wasn't an ordinary criminal, but when she looked at the man, she found that he was a dead man walking among the living.

Chinua gasped in pain. "Warriors like you shouldn't be treated so cruelly. Sell your life to me, and I'll ensure that you die with dignity."

The man turned to look at Chinua. "Save my family, and my life is at your disposal," he stated, his voice flat.

"Deal..." Chinua replied, a hint of surprise in her voice.

"Where is your family?" Hye asked.

The man looked at Chinua and Hye for the first time. "They're being held in Haishi City by Xin Zhiyuan. They'll be publicly executed in the fall. Knowing this, do you still want to make a deal with me?" He stared at Chinua with a pair of hateful eyes.

"Deal," Chinua reaffirmed, her voice firm despite the pain. She looked at the man again. "What's your name?"

The man looked at Chinua and said, "Suo Zhi."

The moment Chinua heard this man's name; she felt all the pain in her body suddenly heal. "Sou... Zhi... the Sou Zhi?" Chinua's trembling voice barely formed the question.