For a moment, all the barbarians were overjoyed, and King Chachai raised no objection, with cheers and shouts echoing endlessly.
As they were speaking, the alien drums sounded with a strong rhythm, and footsteps followed. Barbarian maidens, clad in animal skins with fiery figures, entered with unbound hair and bare feet.
These barbarian maidens held shields in one hand and sabers in the other, striking their shields with their sabers, creating a clanging sound that harmonized with the drums. They entered the military tent with peculiar steps.
As these barbarian maidens swayed their waists, there seemed to be a magical allure. As their sabers and shields crossed, all the leaders were stirred, their eyes fixed and unblinking.
Even a master of Saien's caliber felt his mind disturbed and restless, as if a raging fire burned within him, ready to consume him at any moment.
Gradually, the images before his eyes began to blur, and the flowing long hair of the barbarian maidens, like a cascading silver river, obscured his vision.
Saien's mind stirred, and he shook his head, but the blurry vision did not subside. Instead, he felt countless strands of long hair dancing before his eyes, growing more numerous with each dance.
Gradually, Saien felt his vision becoming more chaotic, leaving him dizzy and disoriented.
A thought flashed through his mind. Saien, sensing something was amiss, was about to stand up when he felt his body sink, his vision blacken, and he slumped onto the table with a thud.
Looking at the other leaders, they had already collapsed onto their tables, their fate unknown.
Saien felt his head grow heavy, as if struck by a blunt force, causing a throbbing pain that consumed all his thoughts. He didn't even have a moment to ponder what had happened as his consciousness slowly faded.
Saien felt a tight constriction around his body, and his entire frame jostled violently, as if about to be torn apart. Saien then suddenly awoke, recalling what had happened before.
Before he had fainted, he clearly remembered drinking with King Chachai, Rexton, and others, and even watching a group of beautiful, youthful women dancing passionately.
Saien also remembered feeling a sense of heat and the long absence of release. It wasn't that he lacked women around him, but rather that he had no inclination. He figured no one would think about romance when their very survival was at stake.
However, Rexton's arrival had completely dispelled his doubts. With the support of the temple, he believed his dream of defeating Swain was not far off.
At this moment, Saien let down his guard the most, contemplating that he could pick a couple of lovely women from the group after the feast. As he watched, he felt his head grow heavy and his eyes dizzy…
Not good! Saien suddenly realized he had fallen into a trap. It must have been Rexton who had tampered with something at some point. With this thought, he hurriedly opened his eyes.
The scenes before him continued to shake, and the chaotic footsteps grew clearer, even accompanied by the shouts and clamor of the barbarian army.
Looking at himself, he was tightly bound with hemp ropes and carelessly placed on a cart. King Chachai and Sbotan beside him had also just woken up, staring at themselves blankly.
Saien was utterly stunned by the bloody reality before him. He was enjoying a drink and listening to music, only to suddenly become a prisoner?
Unbearable, Saien yelled at the top of his lungs, "What's going on? What is this situation?"
Saien continued to shout, but Sbotan, with a hint of blame, said to King Chachai, "What's going on? Didn't you check it?"
King Chachai was completely bewildered, unable to fathom the rapidly changing reality.
He considered himself an expert in poisons, immune to all of them. Yet, all indications suggested that he had fainted and been captured precisely because he had been poisoned.
The convoy slowly came to a halt due to Saien's curses and shouts. The sound of hooves mixed, about seven or eight horses, their steps unhurried, quite leisurely.
But Saien and the others were bound face down on the cart, so tightly secured that they could barely lift their heads, unable to see who was approaching.
The sound of hooves grew closer, and Rexton's distinctive voice rang out, "Saien, stop shouting!"
Saien recognized Rexton's voice and his hatred intensified. He struggled to lift his head to look at Rexton, but only saw Rexton's leather boots on the stirrup:
"Rexton! We have no past grievances, no recent enmity. Why are you treating me like this?"
Rexton laughed heartily at Saien's question. "Saien, you brought war upon our barbarians for your personal desires, causing us undeserved suffering and countless casualties. Do you still not repent?"
Saien retorted hatefully, "Rexton, this is all Swain's doing, what does it have to do with me? Instead of uniting with me against the foreign enemy, you conspire with outsiders to undermine your own brothers..."
Rexton interrupted him before he could finish, "Saien! We were once citizens of the Holy Roman Empire. Because of your rebellion, we incurred the wrath of heaven. Who is friend and who is foe?"
Saien was so angry he gritted his teeth and roared, "Rexton, we are both barbarian subjects. When did we become his Holy Roman lackeys? How can you be so spineless? We barbarians are the descendants of the Ancestral Witch, favored by heaven, incomparably noble. How can we stoop to such subservience as you?"
Rexton's face turned crimson as he shouted, "Silence! Do not speak such nonsense!"
Still fuming, he ordered, "Guards! Gag his foul mouth!"
The barbarian soldiers beside him, without question, found a cloth strip, rolled it up, and stuffed it into Saien's mouth. Only muffled grunts could be heard from Saien.
Rexton glanced at King Chachai and Sbotan, who were bowing their heads. King Chachai felt Rexton's gaze and said, "My brother has been tricked by you today. I admit defeat, for our plan was inferior! But Rexton, at least let us lose with understanding. When I drank your wine, I tested it, and there was no poison. How did you incapacitate us?"
Rexton, with no small amount of pride, replied, "I don't mind telling you. The wine itself was not poisoned. It was only when paired with my saber and shield dance. Anyone who is not of my tribe cannot withstand it!"
King Chachai was greatly astonished, never expecting such a trick. He nodded and said no more.
Sbotan remained even calmer, showing no reaction. Rexton glanced at Saien before walking away with a hateful expression.
Saien and his brothers, King Chachai, and the other key anti-Holy Roman figures were soon escorted by Rexton to Xiao Xun's encampment. To avoid the Holy Roman army suspecting his sincerity, Rexton brought less than a hundred men to escort Saien and the others into the tent, expressing his gratitude as a barbarian for the Holy Roman army's unmolested advance and his thankfulness for Swain's kind treatment of the barbarian captives.
Xiao Xun was not suspicious and was in great spirits. Capturing Saien and his faction in one swoop without expending a single soldier showed that his strategy for the barbarians was finally effective.
Xiao Xun, however, was unaware that Rexton's daring venture into the tiger's den to capture the enemy was due to his personal charisma and brilliant achievements that secured the support of the temple.
In reality, the temple had existed for a long time, but it had become a form of faith in the hearts of the barbarians. Even someone like Faluyi, who regarded the barbarians as enemies, held the organization that fought for the interests of the barbarian residents in extreme reverence.
Therefore, Faluyi had never mentioned anything about the temple to Xiao Xun.
Xiao Xun had already received news of Rexton's capture of Saien and his faction and personally received Rexton and his entourage.
The generals, shedding their usual gloom, were all joyous, looking with pride at Saien's faction, bound like zongzi beneath the tent.
Xiao Xun heavily rewarded Rexton, then slowly approached Saien and personally removed the rotten cloth stuffed in Saien's mouth, which had made him puff with anger, and said with a smile, "Are you still not convinced, Barbarian King?"
Saien exhaled through his nostrils, his eyes glaring, and roared angrily, "No! Capturing me this time was not your ability! It was the internal strife within our own army! Kill me or butcher me as you please, but I am not convinced!"
Xiao Xun stood up and sighed, saying earnestly, "Barbarian King, our army has penetrated such a perilous land, with the poisons of the Mute Spring, Annihilation Spring, Black Spring, and Soft Spring. The miasma rises, and there is no water source, yet our army remains unharmed. Is this not divine will?"
He then cast his gaze upon Rexton and said, "Lord Rexton is one of your barbarian people. His ability to venture into the tiger's den to capture you, does that not sufficiently prove that your actions reflect the will of the people?"
Xiao Xun's words caused Saien's brows to furrow, and his face twitched uncontrollably.
Xiao Xun shook his head and sighed, "Barbarian King! Why must you be so stubborn?"