"Kill me?"
The Barbarian Tribe Grandmaster landed heavily on the ground, tilted his head back to look at Ma Kui and the others atop the pass, and bared his teeth in a vicious grin.
"Wei people, all you do is talk."
"If you really want to kill me, come down!"
Ma Kui glared at him, fury burning so fiercely that his chest felt stifled. His fists clenched, his nails almost piercing his palms.
Shi Junqing felt the same, but after guarding Mengshui Pass for so many years, he knew where his duty lay.
He held Ma Kui back and growled, "Calm down! General Ma, don't let him provoke you!"
"If you leave the walls now, you'll fall right into his trap!"
"General Shi, I know!"
Ma Kui stared fixedly at the Barbarian Tribe Grandmaster below and forced the words through his teeth.
"I won't act rashly!"
Of course he knew what that barbarian truly intended, but watching the remaining scouts scatter and flee frantically, he could hardly endure the torment.
Still worried, Shi Junqing pressed both hands firmly against his shoulders and said through heavy breaths,
"Don't lose your temper!"
"Don't leave the walls!"
With that, he waved at the soldiers nearby and ordered, "Archers, ready!"
"Ballistae, ready!"
"If he dares strike again, shoot him dead!"
A Barbarian Tribe Grandmaster was indeed troublesome, but Mengshui Pass had guarded the gateway to the Central Plains for two hundred years. It naturally had ways to deal with one.
At Shi Junqing's command, archers took their positions along the ten-li stretch of walls, drawing their bows and nocking arrows aimed straight at the Barbarian Tribe Grandmaster below.
At several openings in the walls, masonry rumbled aside, and enormous ballista bolts protruded from the battlements, rapidly adjusting their angles.
The Barbarian Tribe Grandmaster swept