On a snowy night, a special operations team of no more than a hundred people could fashion ski equipment and slide all the way to the city gates.
The weather was so cold that the guards on the city walls were likely to let down their guard. Normal people would think that heavy snow meant no one would go out, and no battles would be fought. Such harsh weather was simply too troublesome; once entangled, it would be detrimental to both sides.
But what if the enemy was precisely exploiting this mindset and chose to launch a sneak attack in such a blizzard? A ten-thousand-strong army might have trouble marching, but would a hundred-person team find it difficult to move?
Perhaps they had some secret weapons. Even in small-scale combat, they could still make things difficult for the Zun Kingdom.
The effectiveness of special operations could sometimes be greater than that of a large army's attack, achieving the greatest gains with the smallest cost.
There was also the need to guard against them coordinating from the inside and out.
Li Man'er's eyes lit up. She had captured Feng Wuyun and Lu Fang, as well as Zeng Huan and his mother and two daughters. With this, she had apprehended almost everyone in the city who could have sent a message, hadn't she?
If they had accomplices, things would have flared up by now, or they would have been silenced. The current peace, with no sign of accomplices for these few, suggested a major operation was underway.
So, were there still hidden Manchurian pawns within the city?
Who could it be?
Li Man'er couldn't figure it out no matter how hard she thought. She decided to pay Zeng Huan another visit. "Let's go see Zeng Huan."
Ah Si quickly threw on his cloak and accompanied Li Man'er outside.
The snow fell heavier and heavier, and the wind slashed at their faces like knives. Li Man'er pulled her hood tight, preventing the wind from hitting her face. However, her exposed hands were already numb with cold.
She'd have to make a pair of gloves sooner or later and use them openly.
Upon reaching the place where Zeng Huan was held, Li Man'er dismissed the guards watching him and lit a single lamp.
In the span of two or three days, Zeng Huan seemed like a different person. Although he had lost an eye, his body had been robust, making him appear more energetic than ordinary people. But these past few days, he hadn't eaten or slept well, enduring non-human torture and psychological pressure daily. He had become like a deflated ball, rapidly shriveling, his eyes vacant, like a walking corpse.
"Zeng Huan, is there something else you haven't told me?"
Zeng Huan showed no reaction, staring blankly ahead as if Li Man'er were invisible.
"Zeng Huan? Do you still recognize me?"
"Zeng Huan?"
Under Li Man'er's repeated calls, Zeng Huan finally came back to his senses. When he saw Li Man'er, he instinctively flinched, but he finally sobered up and recognized her.
"Are you here to kill me?" Zeng Huan's tone was relaxed, as if death held no fear for him.
"You wish for me to kill you?"
Zeng Huan shook his head, then nodded.
This was not hard to understand. Under immense pressure, Zeng Huan's entire spirit and energy seemed to have been drained. He had no hope left, nor could he find a reason to live. Therefore, death might be a release for him.
"Don't you want to live a normal life?"
"A normal life?" Zeng Huan pondered for a moment, then shook his head. "How is that possible! From the day I was born, a normal life has been far from me."
He was the child of a Manchu and a Zun Kingdom inhabitant, born with impure blood, met with disdain and scorn, drifting through life, with no one to rely on.
In fact, his time in the field hospital had been a rare period of happiness and freedom for him. Although life was a bit harder and he occasionally had to do a lot of work, he was at ease. There, he was the able-bodied Zeng Huan, the Zun Kingdom's Zeng Huan, a hero.
But now, he had lost everything. Once his disguises were stripped away, he was once again the penniless, useless Zeng Huan.
"You should just kill me!"
Li Man'er said, "If I gave you a new identity and let you settle in a remote village in the Zun Kingdom, perhaps you could marry and have children, and live an ordinary life. Wouldn't you want that?"
Zeng Huan stared blankly at Li Man'er with his one good eye. As he watched, he began to laugh. At first, it was a soft chuckle, but then it grew louder and louder, so much so that Ah Si almost rushed in.
"How could you have such an idea? Do you think I'm a three-year-old child? Would I believe that?"
Li Man'er, however, adjusted her cloak. "Why wouldn't you believe it? You have no value anymore. The Manchus don't need you, nor will they bother to hunt you down. The Zun Kingdom is the same. You've told us everything you know, and you haven't done anything for the Manchus. As long as you tell me what I want to know, I can ensure you live the rest of your life peacefully, with a Zun Kingdom identity."
A dazzling light suddenly erupted in Zeng Huan's single eye. "You, are you telling the truth?"
"Of course! If I wanted to kill you, it would be as easy as flipping my hand. Why would I bother with the effort of lying to you?"
Zeng Huan became somewhat agitated. His hands and feet were still bound, not too tightly to prevent necrosis, but not very loosely either.
He struggled forward a couple of steps, looking up at Li Man'er. "Are you serious? Ask me, ask me, and I will tell you everything I know."
"Alright!"
Li Man'er first asked some questions she had previously posed. "Did Feng Wuyun engineer Manchus?"
"I don't know," Zeng Huan shook his head. "It's not an easy task. Without someone to facilitate it, it's very difficult to accomplish."
This was largely consistent with what he had said before.
It was important to remember that Zeng Huan had been hypnotized last time, but he was now fully conscious.
"Are there any extraordinary individuals among the Manchu tribes?" Li Man'er was primarily interested in knowing if there were any transmigrators like herself among the Manchus. If so, the Manchus' subsequent actions might far exceed the Zun Kingdom's expectations.
Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated. But to act rashly without knowing anything would be a sure defeat.
"Extraordinary individuals?" Zeng Huan thought for a long time and suddenly recalled someone. "Manmuhahe, he counts as one."
"Oh?" Li Man'er's interest was piqued. "What tribe is he from, and what makes him extraordinary?"
"He is a general of the Yasangsdo tribe. I heard he was sickly as a child and almost didn't survive. But later, for some reason, he was carried away by a pack of wolves. Everyone thought he was doomed, but unexpectedly, he not only returned alive but also gradually recovered his health! Their chieftain said he was protected by the true gods and that he was a true warrior."
The totem of the Yasangsdo tribe was the wolf.
They regarded wolves as embodiments of gods. Being carried away by a wolf, meaning being eaten, was a sacrifice to the gods, a fitting death.
But that Manmu whatever, not only did he not die, but he also returned alive.
After a great ordeal, he was bound to have good fortune, and his health gradually improved.
However, was it truly like that?