Decision

Hearing the burly man and the handsome youth shout, Wang Yang wished he could slap them both dead on the spot.

These two idiots actually had three options: a best plan, a middling plan, and a worst plan.

The best plan was to pose as attendants of the Langya Wang clan and step forward to vouch for Wang Yang, tying their fate to his and forcing him to save them. As for any contradictions in their earlier behavior, they could leave Wang Yang to explain those away.

The middling plan was to stay silent, wait until Wang Yang had successfully established his false identity, and then ask for help, leaving whatever he chose to say entirely up to him.

The worst plan was to copy him and claim to belong to the Langya Wang clan themselves.

It was already strange enough for one scion of the Langya Wang clan to appear suddenly in this desolate wilderness. Now that two more had popped up, not only were their claims hard to believe, they also undermined the credibility of Wang Yang's identity.

Sure enough, after the two finished shouting, doubt crept into the squad leader's eyes and those of the other soldiers as they looked at Wang Yang.

Wang Yang could, of course, acknowledge these two "relatives." The problem was that these idiots knew next to nothing about the history and culture of this era. They could never put on as convincing an act as he could.

Besides, with three people pretending to belong to the same clan without having coordinated beforehand, their disguise would be easily exposed. All anyone had to do was question them separately and compare their accounts, and the whole secret would come spilling out.

But if Wang Yang refused to acknowledge them, given the way these two behaved, they would surely turn around and accuse him of being an impostor. Once they became tangled in mutual accusations, jade and common stone would burn together all the same.

What should I do?

Wang Yang needed to make a decision, fast!

All the soldiers looked at Wang Yang. Just as the squad leader was about to question him, Wang Yang strode straight toward the pair. Seeing him coming to their rescue, the handsome youth and the burly man both brightened, clamoring "Brother!" "Big brother!" and "We're family!" as they frantically claimed kinship. Little did they know that this particular term for "big brother" had only appeared during the Tang dynasty; no such form of address existed in the Eastern Jin or the Southern Dynasties.

Halfway there, Wang Yang pretended to lose his footing and nearly stumble. He took the opportunity to bend down and adjust his shoe, while his left hand squeezed hard at the vinegar-soaked leg of his trousers. Much of the vinegar had already evaporated, but fortunately, he could still squeeze some out.

Wang Yang straightened and walked up to the handsome youth, who said, "Big brother, hurry and tell them-"

Smack!

Wang Yang pinned the handsome youth's right arm with his left hand and delivered a heavy slap with his right!

The soldiers stared, dumbfounded.

The handsome youth's ears buzzed, and the blow left him dazed on the spot.

His face icy, Wang Yang continued without pausing and walked up to the burly man. The man glared and shouted, "You little f-ing brat, don't you dare-" As he yelled, he desperately tried to retreat, but two soldiers held him fast, leaving him unable to break free.

Wang Yang pinned the burly man's right arm with his left hand and, putting all his strength into his right, slapped him viciously across the face.

Pointing at the burly man, whose ears were ringing and whose face had swollen, Wang Yang cursed, "You two dogs of spies! You slipped across the border, and now you dare impersonate members of my Langya Wang clan!"

"What?!" The squad leader's eyes widened, and all the soldiers were stunned!

"He's a fake! He's not from the Langya Wang clan! He's an impostor!" The handsome youth was the first to shout.

"This little f-ing brat is a fake! A fake! You bastard! You dare hit me! He's an impostor!" the burly man roared furiously. Had two soldiers not held him in a death grip, he would already have charged at Wang Yang and started fighting.

Wang Yang had four purposes in slapping them.

First, he needed the opportunity afforded by the slaps to do something in secret. Exactly what that was would become clear shortly.

Second, he wanted to use physical injury to delay their reactions.

Third, he wanted to enrage them and impair their ability to think logically and rationally.

Fourth, and most importantly, he wanted to establish a feud with them in front of everyone! That way, the accusations the handsome youth and the burly man made afterward would look more like retaliation for the slaps he had just given them, reducing both their credibility and their impact.

Sure enough, their accusations caused little stir. The soldiers were more concerned about another question.

The squad leader asked, "Young master, you mentioned spies just now. What spies? Are they really northern spies?!"

Wang Yang fixed his eyes on the squad leader and narrowed them slightly, as though probing for something. "You truly don't know?"

The squad leader felt a chill run through him. "W-what am I supposed to know?"

"Bullshit! What cups and saucers? I don't even know what you mean by cups and saucers! He's framing us! Don't believe him!"

"He's a fake! He's not from the Langya Wang clan! He isn't even from this world! He's lying! Lying! You'd be f-ing idiots to believe him!"

The handsome youth and the burly man shouted themselves hoarse, their eyes bloodshot.

"Silence them first!" Wang Yang said coldly.

Eager to get to the bottom of the matter of the northern spies, and irritated by the pair's racket, the squad leader signaled his men with a glance. The soldiers struck both men hard in the stomach with their saber hilts. The two howled and doubled over in pain. The handsome youth hurt so badly that he could no longer speak, but the burly man, his face full of venom, kept muttering:

"A fake! He's a fake! He's an impostor!"

His voice was much quieter now, however.

Wang Yang addressed the squad leader with brazen confidence. "Ordinarily, someone of your standing would have no right to know about this. But since I need your services now, there's no harm in telling you. The official dispatch from Lu Yang said northern spies had crossed the border. Did it say how they crossed?"

The squad leader replied uncertainly, "They supposedly slipped across?"

Wang Yang gave a cold laugh. "They had someone receiving them!"

The squad leader started. "There's a traitor?"

Wang Yang swept his piercing gaze over the assembled men. "Of course. Right here in the army!"

The soldiers listened in bewilderment. The squad leader looked equally baffled and asked, "Th-this... where does this come from? Where did you get this information, young master?"

Looking at the squad leader, Wang Yang shook his head and chuckled softly. "This matter has far-reaching implications. It is not something men of your station should know. The attack I suffered on the road was probably connected to it as well. If you aren't afraid of being silenced later, I can tell you right now."

Every soldier's expression changed. The squad leader hastily said, "No need, no need! Please don't tell us, young master! We're just soldiers. What would we know about such matters?"

Wang Yang nodded. "After the attack, I met four people while fleeing, and we traveled together. During the night, I heard them conversing in a barbarian tongue-"

The squad leader's eyes widened. "You actually understand the barbarian tongue, young master?"

"Just so-so."

"Huh?" Everyone looked blank.

Wang Yang waved a hand, his expression as calm as drifting clouds in a light breeze. "Nothing worth mentioning." Since this was the era of the Eastern Jin and the Southern Dynasties, the north was naturally occupied by barbarians.

Although he knew no medieval barbarian languages, he could guess that English sounded very different from them. He reckoned none of these soldiers understood a barbarian tongue, and even if someone did, he could easily come up with another explanation. His only purpose in speaking that English phrase was to dazzle them and lend himself an air of mystery. He had also deliberately spoken quickly and indistinctly, solely to leave them with the impression that he was fluent.

Seeing that Wang Yang could even speak a barbarian tongue, the soldiers regarded him with still greater awe.

The handsome youth shouted, "That's English! You've been fooled! He's a fake! I can speak it too! Fine, thank you, and you! That's English! He's a fake!"

Still struggling, the burly man roared, "This little f-ing brat isn't from the Langya Wang clan!! He's lying!! He's deceiving you! We're all together!"

The two kept shouting, drawing the attention of several soldiers. The squad leader also kept glancing toward them.

Knowing that doubts had arisen in their minds, Wang Yang said:

"Consider yourselves lucky. You've earned merit without even realizing it. These two, along with the two you killed earlier, are all northern spies. Cut a piece of cloth from each man's right sleeve now. Their secret identifying marks are on it. Once you see them, you'll understand."

As he spoke, he gestured to indicate the precise spot on the right arm.

The squad leader ordered, "Hurry and do as the young master says!"

Using the tips of their sabers, the soldiers cut a piece of cloth from each man's right sleeve and handed them to the squad leader. He turned them over repeatedly. "Th-there's nothing here!"

Wang Yang said scornfully, "If you could spot it just like that, it wouldn't be called a secret mark!"

He lifted his chin and called out with an air of complete authority, "Someone, light a fire!"

The soldiers quickly assembled a small, makeshift fire and lit it with flint. Wang Yang took the pieces of sleeve cloth and heated them over the flames one after another, while the burly man and the handsome youth kept cursing and desperately denouncing him as an impostor.

"There. Take a look." Without betraying a thing, Wang Yang handed over the sleeve cloth. The squad leader took it, and several soldiers gathered around.

On the sleeve cloth, where nothing had been visible before, a small brown circle had unmistakably appeared!