Facing the desperate pleas of the Jin man, the Jie tribesmen mocked and laughed wantonly while beating and kicking him. They neither hurried to drag the young woman away nor agreed to the Jin man's pleas, acting entirely as if they were teasing a monkey.

This scene had likely played out countless times in the world by now; everyone was used to it. The Jin man, after a round of beatings, collapsed weakly to the ground. At this point, the Jie tribesmen should have had enough fun and been ready to drag the young woman away—but they didn’t!

The Jie tribesmen seemed about to assault the wailing, screaming young woman in the street. She only cared to cry and scream, locking eyes in misery with her husband, who lay on the ground spitting blood. Soon, she was pinned to the ground. One Jie tribesman tried to force her legs apart, apparently using too much strength, causing her legs to splay at a grotesque angle as she let out a moan of pain.

The Jin man, faced with this, tried to crawl forward, but every time he made some progress, a Jie tribesman would deliberately step on his hand, twisting his fingers into unnatural shapes. Still, the Jin man kept crawling...

Henry Clark watched, his heart burning with anger, unable to bear it any longer. He strode forward and kicked the Jie tribesman holding down the young woman, sending him flying. Then, with a punch to each side, he knocked down the two Jie tribesmen who had come up to join in.

The onlookers were first stunned by this scene, then began to shriek and laugh strangely. Even the beaten Jie tribesmen, after an initial burst of anger, ended up grinning.

Hu people—fighting over anything among themselves was normal; the only difference was whose fists were harder. They just thought another passerby had taken an interest and was joining the scramble.

The young woman was so thin! Her arms were like dry sticks, her bare upper body almost flat, only ribs visible. She was no longer moving, her face twisted in pain, frozen as she faced the blue sky. Her eyes stared hazily upward, her legs, clearly broken, splayed limply on the ground. Her naked belly did not rise or fall—she had clearly died from the pain.

The Jin man, his fingers twisted from being stepped on, finally crawled to the young woman's side. Even with poor eyesight, he could see his newlywed wife was dead.

Henry Clark looked at the Jin man. At this point, if he had even a shred of spirit, shouldn’t he be getting up to fight for his life?!

Yes, the Jin man got up. He looked around at the Jie tribesmen, then at Henry Clark. What Henry Clark saw was a twisted face, eyes filled with endless hatred.

After looking around, the Jin man seemed truly ready to risk everything. Like a wounded beast, he howled, then suddenly rushed forward at great speed and smashed his head against a stone by the roadside. The howling stopped abruptly—his brains were clearly splattered everywhere.

Cheers and strange laughter erupted in the street. The Hu people pointed and commented, saying all sorts of things.

“……” Henry Clark turned and walked away. If he didn’t leave now, he really would show a terrifying, twisted face.

At that moment, Henry Clark had deliberately exposed the war sword at his waist. If the Jin man had wanted to fight to the death, Henry Clark could have easily been disarmed.

But no—the Jin man, even after such a tragedy, didn’t risk his life. He was more afraid of fighting the Hu people than of death itself. He would rather smash his own head and die than fight them!

Rage and frustration filled Henry Clark’s heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys. He felt as if he might explode.

[To mourn their misfortune, to be angry at their lack of resistance! Not afraid of death, yet choosing to smash his own head rather than fight to the death!]

How utterly crushed must a person be for this to happen? How thoroughly must their confidence be destroyed? For someone unafraid of death to choose suicide over fighting back and being killed!

Henry Clark had seen enough, and had witnessed plenty of the Jin people’s suffering in the city. He feared he could not endure it any longer, so he led his men out of the city.

Once outside, they headed north, walked a while, then set up an ambush and killed three pursuers. After moving on, they killed a few more who continued to follow, taking a roundabout route before finally rejoining the main force.

[The city has no real defensive value at all… Though not comprehensive, there are probably only about a hundred who can fight?]

Henry Clark returned to the main force not for anything else, but to urge them to speed up—not out of fear of pursuit, but because he needed them to get far enough away so he could do what had to be done. He was determined to slaughter every last Hu person in the city; nothing else could quell his rage. But first, the main force had to be far enough away.

“King, you’re not staying with the main force?” Samuel Grant asked worriedly. “There’s still over a hundred li to go. Though it’s desolate along the way, now our people are hunting wild Jin everywhere outside the city. If…”

The “wild people” referred to Jin who didn’t live in the city. But those who did live in the city—well, they were just as Henry Clark had seen, or even worse, sometimes killed and cooked at any moment.

“I won’t take all the soldiers. Edward Blake will stay behind to lead the team.” The Edward Blake Henry Clark mentioned was one of the first Jin he had taken in. “Edward Blake is a man of courage and responsibility. He’ll lead you. I’ll catch up with you soon.”

Samuel Grant hesitated, then said, “Alright then…”