Chapter 180: The Lord of Tongpai Town
Dom stood at the entrance to the underground warehouse beneath the Tongpai Town Centre, his eyes wide as he saw the scene in front of him. The room wasn't well lit, with candles around the edges, however the glow from the light on the shining items within was enough to make most accountants drool.
"Crassus will be happy." Subutai commented as he picked up a bar of gold from the floor of what seemed to be the finance storage room of Tongpai Town.
"He definitely will be!" Dom agreed, the wealth inside wasn't anywhere near as much as what they had claimed from the Underground Abandoned City, but it was more than a town of Tongpai's Town's size should have.
"There are jewels over here." A Legionary said from a back corner where he was on his knees and organising the items that had been found.
"Move it to the pile on the right!" Centurion Octavian ordered from inside. "We'll have some carts located and have this sent on the road to Riverside tonight. The men need their sleep, but I think it's important we get this moved quickly"
"That would be for the best, but we may need the carts for civilians, depending on what we do." Subutai agreed. "I'll speak with Gan Ning, we may be able to put these on the merchant ships that we have acquired and send them back on those."
"We'll have to calculate the weight, as the weight may laden them down too much for the journey back." Centurion Octavian replied, "I'll speak with him."
"Will this cover your auction spending?" Subutai asked Dom as he left the warehouse full of riches and moved to the next room down.
"I would say so, and give us more. It will definitely help with further purchases so we can expand Riverside quicker." Dom agreed.
The next room was of a similar size to the first, but rather than gold, jewels and other materials, it contained multiple rows of Amphoras of Wine, as well as a row of rolls of hardened cheese.
"I think Crassus will like this room as well." Dom commented, which caused Subutai to smile in response.
"As will Lucius and Meritamen. We should just take him on campaign next time." Subutai replied, "He can do all the calculations himself, I'm sure Centurion Octavian would appreciate it. Let's go check on this Bagoas."
"And then sleep!" Dom declared, "My arm hurts and tomorrow is going to be a long day."
"I think we need to get the Balearic Slingers to investigate the forest edge, it's risky but we'll know when they are coming. We can also get one of the new merchant ships crewed and to follow the lakes coast to keep an eye out in the daylight." Subutai said as they headed back towards the centre of the basement.
"It's risky for the Slingers to head in to the forest, the Type Three's are strong in the forest." Dom replied, "Let's think about our other options."
"We need some form of scout network, who ever we send is at risk." Subutai replied, "The Slingers are tactically the best option."
Dom paused for a second as he thought about what they could do, he didn't want to send anyone in to the forest, when the enemy would most likely have their own scout network out and would be on the home ground, where as the Riverside forces were in unknown territory.
"We could burn the forest?" Dom blurted out, the thought coming to him. "If we set fire to the forest, it will create a situation where we are giving ourselves a temporary shield and we will then have an open view for miles to come."
"It's an idea, but the smoke will take days to die down. We also do not have any control of the fire when it is released, the wind could turn it back towards us and burn Tongpai Town, or worse the fire could spread uncontrollably and even head towards Riverside which is tens of miles away." Subutai responded, "I'll speak with Xun You on his thoughts, but we can't stay passive."
As they were talking, a Legionary approached them from the left where the locked rooms where that Gan Ning was investigating. He looked pale in the face and there was a look in his eyes that he wanted to escape the basement as soon as possible. Dom waited for him to say something, but it seemed he was in deep thought.
"Are you ok Legionary?" Subutai asked him sternly.
"Yes, sorry General!" The Legionary responded, as if Subutai had snapped him out of something, "General Gan Ning has requested your presence urgently, I am to find Centurion Octavian for medical advice."
The Legionary dismissed himself and headed off towards the warehouse where their was laughter from the Legionaries inside where Gold and Jewels were being counted and moved. A stark difference from the feeling that the other side of the basement level gave off.
"That was weird wasn't it?" Dom asked Subutai, who nodded in agreement as they headed towards the locked rooms where Gan Ning was.
...
The first thing that Dom noticed was the distinct smell of human waste coming from the rooms, he was surprised he hadn't smelt it earlier when he entered the basement, but the ventilation in this area seemed to take the smell outside through a different route.
He gazed in to the first room, through the thick wooden door that separated the contents from the rest of the world. The room was covered in filth, both the walls and the floor. In the back corner was a bucket that was overflowing with waste, whilst there was a small damaged bench against the side wall. In the centre of the room where three naked men who were holding each other for warmth, covered in dirt and open wounds that seemed to have been infected from their environment. It was hard to work out where they had come from originally, but Dom suspected they had been a similar entertainment as those that had their throats slit in the main room above. A Legionary was stood inside trying to talk with them, his mouth covered in a cloth so he didn't breathe in the fumes from the room, but he seemed to be struggling to get a response from the three trembling men.
"I don't think he will get much from those men." Subutai commented, "The things that they must have gone through must be horrendous. I have seen people who have gone through terrible things crumble. It would be better to just give them a peaceful end."
Dom nodded in agreement, not knowing what to say as his senses screamed to leave the room. He took a breath as he pulled his head from the inside and looked towards another Legionary who was stood outside the room with a similar cloth over his mouth, and without opening his mouth to inhale any of the smell, he nodded his head in greeting before pointing further down to the end room. Dom acknowledged him and walked in the direction he was pointed towards, as he continued heading in that direction, he passed a second open door. He looked in to the second room as they walked past it. It looked very similar to the first room, however it was empty of people and had some dried blood stains on the walls. There were no Legionaries inside this one, but there was one stood outside the next.
The third room was similar to the first, but this time with two women and a man, they seemed in a slightly better state that the earlier three, still wearing clothes and slightly less covered in dirt and they were mumbling to the Legionary that was in the room with them. Dom felt sympathy for them and would want to find out more later as he headed towards the final room where there was the sound of voices talking.
"Xingba thank you for saving me!" He heard a woman with a shaky voice say.
"My Lady, when I heard of the horrible things being done under your name, I knew it wouldn't have been you!" Gan Ning's voice replied, "I am just glad that you are ok."
"Barely, but they treated me better than most." She stated.
Dom and Subutai shared a look, before passing the Legionary who was guarding the door and headed inside. The room was not as dirty as the others, but the layout was the same, with a bucket in the corner and a bench against the wall. The room seemed to have been cleaned, but not recently as the bucket was almost to the brim and the stench in here was almost as bad as the others.
In the centre of the room was Gan Ning who was on his knees as he checked over an overly skinny, woman who was gaunt and pale from a lack of good food and sunlight. Her natural black hair was unkept with signs of lice. She wore a simple dress that was torn and dirty. Her skin cracked and bruised, but regardless of all of this, it was obvious that she was a beautiful woman before all of this.
Gan Ning noticed their presence and slowly stood up, patting the woman on her head gently, before smiling at Dom and Subutai.
"This is Da Qiao, the real Lord of Tongpai Town!" He announced.
"The real Da Qiao?" Dom asked in shock as he looked at the woman in front of him, a far difference from the Lord of Tongpai Town that was dead above them. She struggled to stand up, grabbing at Gan Ning who helped her to her feet. She leaned against him as she looked at Dom and Subutai who blocked the little light from the candle light doorway.
"I was building this town in the wilderness." She began, "I had some helpers that I had met along the way and we began construction in this location due to the closeness to the mines, lake and forests. Things were going well at first, but my advisors had more aggressive plans than I did."
"Lord Lazarus, please can we step outside, I want to take the Lady out of this cell." Gan Ning interrupted. Dom nodded and he and Subutai stepped backwards to allow Gan Ning to help Da Qiao to leave the room. He helped her to the ground again as they left, where she breathed heavily, the exhaustion from the few steps catching her off guard.
"Please continue." Subutai said gently to her, happy to be out of the room.
"Corruption began to sweep in, deals I didn't agree with." She continued, "I called a meeting with my Chief Advisor, Bagoas and my Commander Guthrum. I announced some changes I wanted to make, and after a heated discussion, they agreed. Or at least I thought they did."
"Then what happened?" Dom asked her, looking forward to his conversation with Bagoas.
"I drank some wine, felt dizzy and woke up in this cell." She replied, pointing towards the room that she had just left. "I don't know how long ago it was, I didn't even know we had cells! I don't remember the last time I saw the sun, or my reflection in the water. They visited me often, I have been washed and fed, I was definitely treated better than others, but I was always waiting for the day they decided to kill me."
"You are safe now." Gan Ning promised her, "We have liberated Tongpai Town and you are safe."
"For now." Dom agreed, "But we have some bigger issues coming our way."
"Gan Ning mentioned it to me briefly." She replied, "That you came here to liberate Tongpai Town and fight against an enemy even worse. Do what ever you can to save the civilians, they don't deserve any more pain."
"We will." Dom promised her, a promise that he hoped he could keep.
[Congratulations on Conquering a Large Town - Tongpai Town
Town Grade Conquered - C+
Mission Difficulty - B+
Pass Grade - B
You have conquered a large Town to the north east of Riverside, with the aim to protect Riverside's expanding territory. You have defeated or captured all of the enemy commanders, and discovered the secret behind the changes in Tongpai Town. Your Warriors have gained experience, but some losses have been accrued, as is to be expected with a large expedition such as this. Time is now on for you to decide what to do next with Tongpai Town's people and buildings.]
[Mission rewards have been placed in your personal chest.]
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone