After hearing his words, Xin Xingzong trembled all over.
The soldiers led by Li Bao were, for the most part, survivors of the great victory in Mingzhou.
These men lived confined to military camps year-round, leading a life of hardship and poverty. Finding women was exceedingly difficult, leading many among these soldiers to develop relationships with men.
Xin Xingzong himself was a commanding officer, and judging by the expressions on their faces, these men were not merely speaking in jest.
Though he usually paid no mind to such matters, hearing Li Bao’s words now sent goosebumps erupting all over Xin Xingzong.
“Captain Li! Hidden in a secret compartment of my saddlebag are fifty high-quality Eastern Pearls, worth a thousand taels of gold. If you let me go, all of them are yours!”
Seeing the soldiers, who had stripped off their upper garments, approaching him, Xin Xingzong could no longer afford to care about superficial matters. He shouted with all his might.
“Hold on!”
Upon hearing this, Li Bao’s eyes lit up noticeably.
“Men, go find them as he says!”
Seeing that Li Bao had finally stopped the soldiers, whose desires were running high, Xin Xingzong truly let out a long sigh of relief.
“Found them!”
In just a moment, two soldiers walked over, holding a large bowl.
“These are indeed fine goods. Damn it, we eat chaff and gruel in the camp every day, and this turtle actually has so much money? Whip him twenty times first, so I can vent my anger!”
After carefully inspecting the pearls, Li Bao immediately stood up and, with a flick of his wrist, lashed out at Xin Xingzong’s face.
“Yes, sir!”
“Captain Li, you’ve already taken the goods, why are you still tormenting me?”
After taking a whip lash, Xin Xingzong, without even time to cry out, hastily shouted with all his might.
After all, the iron-tipped whips in the hands of those soldiers were deadly.
“Ah—”
Before he could finish speaking, two soldiers viciously swung their whips.
With just two lashes, Xin Xingzong’s back was already torn open.
“Why are we whipping you? Are you really taking us for fools? If we take your things today and let you go, what if you come back with your troops to seek revenge on us?”
Li Bao spoke while idly playing with a pearl in his hand.
“I won’t, I won’t retaliate against you!”
Although Xin Xingzong wasn’t a high-ranking general, he hadn't endured such hardship in many years.
After these few lashes, every nerve in his body was trembling uncontrollably from the pain.
He was not a man of fortitude to begin with, let alone in his current situation.
“You say you won’t, so we should just believe you? This is just the words from your mouth, if you just say it, you expect us to believe you like a three-year-old child?”
Listening to Xin Xingzong’s screams, Li Bao said indifferently.
“General, how about this, let this scoundrel write down the cause and consequence of his defeat, as evidence for us. If he dares to seek revenge on us, we’ll hand this over to the court!”
Seeing Xin Xingzong in such a wretched state, a soldier beside Li Bao suddenly spoke up.
“That’s a good idea, but is it too lenient to let this scoundrel go for such a small amount of money?”
Li Bao spoke while greedily sizing up Xin Xingzong.
“I am willing to write a confession! I have five thousand guan in my military camp, and I can give it all to you! As long as you let me go, I will immediately send people to deliver the money!”
Upon hearing Li Bao’s words, Xin Xingzong replied without hesitation.
“Men, give him the paper and have him write down the cause and consequence clearly!”
Seeing that Xin Xingzong had agreed, Li Bao then sneered and said.
“Yes, sir!”
At his words, a soldier immediately handed Xin Xingzong a stack of paper.
“There’s no brush and ink, how am I supposed to write…”
After twenty lashes, Xin Xingzong’s muscles were trembling all over. At this moment, even his speech was pleading.
“The military camp isn’t so particular. Please write it with your blood!”
“Blood?”
“What? Do you have a problem with that?”
Li Bao asked in a deep, resonant voice, glaring.
“No, no, I’ll write it now, I’ll write it now!”
Xin Xingzong was completely subdued by him and dared not be particular. He could only dip his brush into the blood dripping from his own body and write the cause and consequence of the Battle of Xikou on the ground.
After he finished writing, a soldier suddenly walked over with a sinister grin and with a knife, sliced off a palm-sized piece of flesh from his back.
“Ah—”
Accompanied by a sharp scream, Xin Xingzong, having endured immense torture, finally fainted.
Even so, the soldiers showed no intention of letting him go.
Dipping his hand into the pool of blood on the ground, he forcefully pressed it onto his own confession.
“Put some medicine on him, then hang him up. Don’t let him die for real. The superior said he’s still useful!”
After carefully reading the confession, Li Bao tucked it into his embrace with satisfaction.
“Yes, sir!”
“Sir, what about these things?”
Looking at the bowl of round pearls beside Li Bao, all the soldiers wore greedy expressions.
“These are not things for us to handle. If you trust me, I’ll take these things back tonight. In three days, we’ll meet in the small woods outside the city, and I’ll exchange all of them for copper coins and silver!”
“Of course, we trust you, Captain. If it weren’t for you, we’d all probably have died on the battlefield already!”
Upon hearing Li Bao’s words, the soldiers around him rejoiced.
Indeed, these things were good, but they were too conspicuous.
If they tried to sell these items to merchants in the city themselves, they would likely be arrested before they could even make a sale.
“Alright, I have enough of these things. I’m not taking a single piece from this bowl; it’s all yours. However, we need to be clear from the start: if anyone blabs irresponsibly, don’t blame me for taking their life!”
Li Bao spoke while patting the blood-written confession on his chest.
“General, don’t worry. This kind of thing is taboo. We brothers understand!”
“Alright, it’s getting late. Everyone return to your camps and get some sleep. Bury what happened here in your hearts!”
“Yes, sir!”