The enemy general thought for a moment and felt that Tang Xiaoyu had a point. His expression softened slightly.
"Let's not talk about the conflict between us two for now. But since you're my prisoner now, I have to take you back with me."
Tang Xiaoyu pleaded with a long face, "Bro, can you let me go?"
"No."
"Can we negotiate?"
"No, knowing your temperament, you'll just gather people to come after me once I let you go. I'm not that stupid."
What could Tang Xiaoyu say? He could only resign to his fate and take it one step at a time!
Tang Xiaoyu started walking towards the back of the enemy general. "Let's go! It's almost dark and you're still waiting for the moon to come out!"
"Oh! Coming."
After walking some distance, Tang Xiaoyu asked, "Where are the horses?"
"Still in the woods twenty miles away."
Tang Xiaoyu was impressed, "You really don't care about being tired! Running twenty miles to catch me, what were you thinking?"
"I just couldn't swallow this bad breath!"
Tang Xiaoyu gave him a thumbs up, "Awesome, you have thoroughly impressed me. Let's get to know each other again."
"My name is Tang Xiaoyu. I live in White Tiger City, on Dongping Street, in the third alley, the fourth house. My parents passed away early. I have a younger sister who is away. Now it's just me living in that house."
"I was conscripted into the army a month ago and was made a corporal."
The enemy general was a little dizzy, "Isn't your name Ye Xuan?"
Tang Xiaoyu jumped up and down, "Are you stupid? Are you stupid? Would you tell your real name to someone who wants to take revenge on you?"
"I would! A real man should not change his name or forget his ancestry." The enemy general replied honestly.
Tang Xiaoyu was speechless, "I thought you were quite smart just now. Why do you seem so dumb now?"
The enemy general scratched his head, "You saw through me. I was just imitating my brother's tone and gestures earlier. My brother said that way, others won't think I'm stupid."
Now Tang Xiaoyu wished he could find a piece of tofu and smash himself to death. He was actually caught by an idiot and brought here.
[Forget it. Don't expect him to let me go since he's so simple-minded.]
"What's your name?"
"Huo Yuanba."
Tang Xiaoyu blurted out, "Why aren't you called Huo Yuanjia?"
Huo Yuanba said, "My dad gave me this name."
"What position do you hold now?"
"Commander of ten thousand troops."
Tang Xiaoyu was shocked, "How can you be a commander of ten thousand?"
Huo Yuanba smiled, "I'm good at fighting, so they gave me the position of commander of ten thousand."
As they walked, Tang Xiaoyu kept asking Huo Yuanba questions. Soon, Tang Xiaoyu had a thorough understanding of Huo Yuanba's background.
"Yuanba, who do you admire the most?"
Huo Yuanba thought for a while, "I admire my brother the most. At thirty, he was already a general commanding hundreds of thousands of troops."
"He is the commander-in-chief of your three hundred thousand troops?"
"Yes!"
Tang Xiaoyu continued, "Yuanba, you are only suitable to be a fierce general charging ahead in battle, not a suitable general."
"Do you want to hear the story of a fierce general?"
"Yes."
Then, Tang Xiaoyu told the story of Lü Bu, exaggerating it.
"Brother Tang, this Lü Bu is so powerful. I must become the peerless fierce general who can easily take the enemy general's head among tens of thousands of soldiers."
Tang Xiaoyu patted him on the shoulder, "Remember Lü Bu's saying: How can a hero stay resigned to obscurity for long?"
"I see, Brother Tang."
Then Huo Yuanba gritted his teeth, "How can a hero stay resigned to obscurity for long. Big brother, I may be stupid but I'm not a fool. Don't think you can keep stepping on my head."
Seeing that he had gotten the point, Tang Xiaoyu said, "We are as insignificant as ants, yet we should harbor ambitions like great swans. Our life is as thin as paper, yet our heart should remain unyielding."
"Yuanba, we don't need others to point fingers when we do things."
"You're right, Brother Tang. From now on, I won't let anyone point fingers at me." Huo Yuanba said fiercely.
Tang Xiaoyu nodded satisfied, "You are you. You don't need to learn from anyone. Only real-life trials can make you stronger."
"I understand, Brother Tang."
The two chatted and laughed as they arrived at the woods Huo Yuanba mentioned.
Upon entering the woods, Huo Yuanba mimicked some bird calls quite well. Soon, dozens of soldiers walked out.
Seeing Tang Xiaoyu, two of them immediately came over to tie him up.
"What are you doing? What are you doing? This is my Brother Tang."
The dozens looked at each other. A captain came forward to advise, "General, let's tie this man up and take him to the commander-in-chief first, just to be safe."
They all knew Huo Yuanba's situation and were afraid he had been fooled by Tang Xiaoyu, so they wanted to tie Tang Xiaoyu up first.
Huo Yuanba looked coldly at the man, "Commander-in-chief? You need to be clear that I'm the boss here now."
His imposing manner frightened everyone from advising further.
Tang Xiaoyu admired inwardly, "His original aura is much stronger than when he was pretending. As expected from a seasoned battlefield veteran."
"Bring out the horses. We're leaving."
"Yes, sir!" everyone responded in unison.
After everyone left, Tang Xiaoyu said, "Yuanba, this should be how you really are. What do you think?"
"You're right, Brother Tang. I'm just being myself. I don't need to imitate anyone at all."
"Remember what I told you. Remember how you just felt."
Yuanba nodded, "I understand. I'm not the old me anymore. I'm a general now."
"That's right."
Soon, dozens of riders charged towards the distance, trailing swirling dust.
Xuan Bing City, the military stronghold of Qin State. It was now filled with Yan State soldiers.
Huo Yuanba brought Tang Xiaoyu to the lord's residence, to the entrance of the grand hall where dozens of high-ranking generals were discussing military affairs.
"Commander-in-Chief, General Huo Yuanba has returned." The guard reported.
"Let him in."
"Yes, sir!"
Hearing that, Huo Yuanba brought Tang Xiaoyu into the grand hall.
"Greetings Commander-in-Chief. Greetings Generals." He greeted them properly, with no flaws in manners that could be picked on.
Tang Xiaoyu also quickly bowed, "Greetings Commander-in-Chief and Generals."
The man in the main seat completely ignored Tang Xiaoyu. "Yuanba, you did very well this time. I'll credit you with a merit."
"Thank you, Commander-in-Chief."
Only then did he look at Tang Xiaoyu. Seeing nothing extraordinary about Tang Xiaoyu, "Men, take this man to the dungeons for harsh interrogation and torture."
[Damn it, he means the pepper water treatment and tiger bench! I'm done for!] Tang Xiaoyu panicked instantly.
Seeing Huo Yuanba about to speak, Tang Xiaoyu quickly said, "General, no need for torture. I'll tell everything. I can even tell you about what I did when wearing open-crotch pants."
"No need for torture. He already told me everything on the way here." Huo Yuanba said.
The man in the main seat pondered and said, "Since that's the case, lock him directly in the dungeons to await sentencing!"
Tang Xiaoyu heaved a sigh of relief, "Thank you, General. Thank you, General."
After Tang Xiaoyu was taken away, everyone still looked at him with contempt.
"Are all Qin soldiers such cowards?"
"Hahaha..."
"It's not just being a coward. I think even his bones have turned soft!"
Huo Yuanba didn't laugh. He just stared coldly at everyone present.