Facing the savage charge of the tribal warriors, the Jiangdong soldiers at the front reacted on instinct, raising their spears and thrusting forward.
But the spear thrusts that had been unstoppable during the assault on Linyuan suddenly lost their effect here.
Dong Xi saw it clearly.
These barbarian soldiers were also wrapped in rattan armor—but unlike before, the rattan was woven so tightly that it left no gaps at all, fitting their bodies like true armor.
As for the one at their head, the man who called himself Sha Moke, he was wielding an iron cudgel. Its tip was capped with a raised iron sphere.
Dong Xi watched with his own eyes as Sha Moke brought the cudgel down in a single swing.
Man and weapon were smashed together—armor caved in, chest collapsing as the Jiangdong soldier was sent flying. From the look of it, he was breathing more out than in.
We have to stop him.
Dong Xi felt his scalp go numb.
If this brute was allowed to smash through the hard-won formation a few more times, then whether anyone would leave this battlefield alive today would be a question.
Locking onto Sha Moke's path, Dong Xi led his personal guards straight to intercept him.
Sha Moke was in the middle of enjoying himself—smashing left and right—when suddenly the cudgel he swung rebounded.
He looked up.
The man blocking him wore complete armor, and though shorter, was only half a head lower than himself.
Sha Moke's eyes lit up.
"Finally," he laughed loudly. "Someone who can take a hit! Come on, come on!"
With that, he swung the iron cudgel again.
From his lower stance, Dong Xi could see everything clearly.
In his eyes, this strike had no technique at all—no feints, no changes, no finesse. It was like a child swinging wildly, relying purely on brute courage and raw strength.
But when he actually took the blow head-on, Dong Xi couldn't help but curse inwardly.
He was famed in Jiangdong for his strength.
Yet in front of this barbarian, he felt no different from an ordinary man.
These tribesmen are nothing like the Shanyue… I've kicked an iron plate this time.
Only now did Dong Xi fully understand.
Jingzhou had come prepared this time. This was nothing like what Lü Meng had described—nothing like an unguarded target.
Watching Sha Moke swing left and right in reckless arcs, Dong Xi calmly predicted the landing points and dodged them one by one.
This only made Sha Moke angrier.
"All you do is dodge!" he roared. "And you call yourself a hero of Jiangdong? Come on—let's compare strength!"
Dong Xi sneered inwardly but didn't show it.
He leapt back once more to evade the cudgel, then straightened and thrust forward with the short spear in his hand.
He saw it clearly.
The rattan armor didn't fit perfectly—especially around the neck, where the opening was shockingly wide.
If he could land the thrust, the result would be no different from fighting the Shanyue before.
Steel would pierce flesh.
Blood would spray.
No matter how strong you were, you would only be able to howl and die.
Dong Xi had already decided.
Once these barbarians were captured, he would chain them up in his estate, work them like beasts, feed them half a bowl of food a day. When they were starved thin—thinner than Jiangdong soldiers—he would sell them off cheap, like dogs or pigs.
But the short spear suddenly refused to advance another inch.
Dong Xi froze.
The spearhead had been caught—gripped precisely in Sha Moke's hand.
He looked up and met a pair of eyes filled with mockery.
"Mr. Ma was right," Sha Moke said calmly. "Jiangdong generals really are arrogant. And easy to fool."
A tremendous force surged through the spear.
Dong Xi staggered.
Then he watched as Sha Moke casually took the spear from him and spun it, performing an intricate flourish.
"Not a bad weapon."
Only then did Dong Xi truly understand.
This barbarian was more cunning than many Han men.
But… who was this Mr. Ma?
Was there really a strategist surnamed Ma under Liu Bei?
Losing one's weapon on the battlefield required no explanation of the outcome.
Sha Moke handled it simply.
He kicked Dong Xi to the ground, then grabbed him around the waist and hoisted him up with both hands.
"Enemy general captured!" Sha Moke roared. "Those who surrender will not be killed!"
Many Jiangdong soldiers stared in blank disbelief.
They had… lost to these barbarians?
Held aloft like a young maiden, Dong Xi struggled uselessly before finally covering his face with his hands, praying only that this humiliation would end quickly.
But every futile movement was seen clearly by the Jiangdong soldiers below.
It was the most silent—and most convincing—proof of defeat.
As his men disarmed and gathered the Jiangdong troops, escorting them toward Hanshou, Sha Moke felt this was only natural.
"I brought over ten thousand men to fight your few thousand," he said proudly. "If I still lost, I wouldn't deserve to be called King of the Wuxi Tribes!"
Dong Xi lay on the ground, his eyes dull.
He had a feeling that he might never want to step onto a battlefield again.
Sha Moke showed him no courtesy.
He kicked Dong Xi hard in the stomach, folding him like a shrimp.
"Get up," Sha Moke said coldly. "It's still a long road to Hanshou."
The pain pushed the humiliation aside for the moment.
Unarmored, unarmed, with no room to resist, Dong Xi could only clutch his belly and stand up.
His mouth, however, did not soften at all.
"Your people are clever," he sneered. "You knew the might of Jiangdong's navy, so you gathered at landlocked Hanshou."
Sha Moke looked at him like he was an idiot.
"Compared to General Guan's forces," he said bluntly, "you call that a navy?"
Dong Xi was instantly speechless.
He forcibly changed the topic.
"Then who is this Mr. Ma you keep mentioning?" he demanded. "Was he sent by Liu Bei to deceive you barbarians?"
Sha Moke answered with another kick.
His face darkened as he squatted down, staring at Dong Xi word by word.
"Mr. Ma treats us like his own brothers. He supports us without holding anything back."
"How dare someone like you slander him?"
"And we may be tribesmen," he continued coldly, "but we are Han as well."
Surrounded by barbarians glaring in agreement, Dong Xi wisely dropped the subject and asked instead:
"Then where is this Mr. Ma now? Will I see him when we reach Hanshou?"
"Mr. Ma isn't in Hanshou."
Sha Moke shook his head, then grinned strangely.
"He went to Kuaiji Commandery last year."
Dong Xi's heart jolted.
Kuaiji—he knew it all too well.
Almost every year he went there.
Suppressing the Shanyue. Capturing them. Turning them into tenant farmers, soldiers, or slaves.
Endless uses.
And he went there last year…
Dong Xi suddenly shouted:
"So that's it! You truly harbor wolfish ambitions! My lord Sun treated Liu Bei kindly, giving him refuge—yet he plots against Jiangdong's foundation!"
Sha Moke didn't bother hiding his contempt.
"Wolfish ambitions?" he scoffed. "Did my lord invade Jiangxia? Did he conquer Yangzhou?"
"Then tell me—where is this place?"
"Does it belong to Jingzhou, or to Yangzhou?"
Though he had never met Imperial Uncle Liu in person, Sha Moke had already chosen him in his heart.
After all, Mr. Ma had been sent by him. The connection was crystal clear.
Dong Xi fell silent again.
He changed the topic—again.
"North of Hanshou, four to five hundred li away, my lord has an army of a hundred thousand."
"To the east, across Yunmeng Marsh, there are a thousand warships."
"I am trapped here now. My lord will never let this go."
"If the army moves, you will all be ground to dust."
"Why not submit to my lord instead?"
Sha Moke burst into loud laughter.
"Nice words from a Wu dog," he mocked. "You think we're all like you?"
Before Dong Xi could explode in rage, Sha Moke paused thoughtfully.
"Four or five hundred li north…" he said slowly. "So you've occupied my lord's Gong'an County?"
Dong Xi felt a chill crawl up his spine.
"A few thousand barbarians attacking our main camp would be seeking death."
Sha Moke's smile turned terrifying.
"You'll see when you reach Hanshou," he chuckled. "I'll tell you then."
"I, Sha Moke, have gathered twenty thousand troops in Hanshou in the name of the tribal king—to aid my lord."
"If the Jiangdong soldiers who come ashore are all as easy to beat as you…"
He licked his lips.
"Such effortless merit—how could we let it go to waste?"
Linyuan and Hanshou were not far apart.
No matter how unwilling he was, Dong Xi was ultimately carried into Hanshou on Sha Moke's shoulder—as a trophy of war.
This time, Dong Xi gave up struggling entirely.
He kept his eyes open and pretended the gazes around him didn't exist, carefully studying Hanshou instead.
He wanted to see—
Just what kind of man this Mr. Ma was, to make these barbarians so utterly loyal.