Meng Chao was stunned for a long while before he said, "So you mean brutal duels can break out anytime, anywhere?"
"That's right. On the streets, in taverns, in gambling dens—the more crowded and lively a place is, the more likely a duel is to erupt."
Ice Storm explained, "The procedures and rules for duels have been greatly simplified. A Clan Warrior can swagger down the road, spot a member of a hostile Lineage, an enemy with an old grudge, or simply decide that the warrior opposite him is ugly, and issue a challenge. Generally speaking, the other side absolutely will not—and cannot—refuse. Whoever refuses such a challenge will be ridiculed by everyone and can forget about commanding troops or seizing valuable spoils in the coming war.
"Likewise, before everyone's eyes, they can keep raising the stakes—resources, armor, even the subordinate relationship between both sides can all be wagered. For example, if two Clan Warriors each command a hundred-man servant-soldier unit, once they duel and determine the winner, the victor gains the right to command the loser's unit. The loser becomes the victor's deputy general and must obey the victor's orders in war. That's roughly how it works.
"Of course, it's also acceptable to stab someone in the back or club them over the head. But if you don't duel openly and honorably in full view of the crowd, you can't win the other party's submission or spread your own name.
"As for deaths and injuries, there will certainly be some. Although High-Level Orcs are thick-skinned and tough-fleshed, and being beaten to death in a duel is not especially common, if it does happen, it isn't a big deal. It only means they have answered the Summoning of the Ancestral Spirit.
"According to Turan People tradition, such unrestricted duels are