Taban's house is small, built of bricks and dirt. Chinua noticed that all the houses were similar in size and structure.
Taban stopped in front of his house and said, "Come in." He pushed the door open.
Chinua and Naksh help Jeet into the house. From the front of the house there is a small yard and a walkway leading to a small house. There are vegetable gardens on both sides of the trail. There is a chicken coop on the far left next to the house.
Taban led Chinua and the two brothers to the door of the house and opened the door. There is a small dining table and four benches inside a small open space. Heng came from the left side of the house.
Seeing Taban and others, Heng was surprised. He said, "You're home."
Taban said, "Mmm… "
Heng asked, "Who are they?"
Taban said, "Chinua and her..."
Chinua said, "Friends. These two are my friends."
Heng looked at Chinua and asked, "How did you convince General Mönkhbat to allow you to buy slaves?"
Chinua said, "I didn't. He didn't know about it. I kind of stole them from the market. How do you know these two are slaves?"
Heng said, "I saw them at the market two days ago."
Taban said, "The three of you can spend the night here."
Chinua said, "Thank you."
Heng said, "Go wash up first, and I'll check your injuries after washing." He walked to the door. "I'll take you to the wash area."
Heng took Chinua and the two brothers to the back of the house. There are two large water jars a few feet away from the house. "I'm going to prepare dinner and find you two some changing clothes," Heng said.
Chinua thanked Heng and opened a large ceramic jar filled with water. She turned to Jeet and Naksh. "Which one of you wants to wash first?" she asked.
"You don't need to stand there and watch us wash," Naksh said.
Chinua sat on a wooden bed next to the house. "I don't mind. I've seen a lot of naked guys before. You two are not the first," she said. "Also, you're a slave, I'm sure nudity is common?"
"Well, if you don't mind. We don't care," Nash said, completely undressing himself and beginning washing himself.
Chinua watched as the red water flowed from Naksh and flowed down the dirt in a long stream. She followed down the stream until it stopped, and as Naksh continued to wash himself, the water flowed down into the small mud pool.
Chinua stood up, went to the creek above the ground, and picked up a stick. She started digging from the stream she had originally created and found that as Naksh continued to bathe himself, the water started flowing in different directions. Chinua continued to stare at the stream and the many connections she had unearthed.
After Naksh washed himself and Jeet. They turned their heads to look at Chinua, who was staring at the water on the ground, lost in thought. Naksh and Jeet sit on the daybed for some time, but Chinua is still lost in her thoughts.
Jeet sighed and said, "I told him if he can save us. We'll sell him our lives."
Naksh said, "I didn't agree to that."
Jeet said, "The clan is gone, everyone is dead, and going back won't do us any good."
Naksh sighed, "I know... I just want Aaditya dead."
Jeet said, "I want him dead no less than you, but we have to live for the time being."
Naksh looked at Chinua then asked, "Why did you agree to sell our lives to him?"
Jeet said, "Because he was the only one who would talk to me."
Approaching from the left, Taban came in with two sets of clothes. He handed the clothes to Naksh and Jeet. He looked at Chinua who was still squatting on the ground looking at the ground.
"What happened to her?" Taban asked.
"Her?" Both Naksh and Jeet turned to look at Taban.
Taban smiled. "Oh, don't you two know that Chinua is a woman?" he asked.
Naksh and Jeet get dressed quickly.
Taban laughed again, crouched beside Chinua, and put his arm around Chinua's shoulder and asked, "Hey, what are you looking at?"
Chinua said, "I suddenly thought of a way to help solve the problem of water shortage in the dry season."
Taban looked at Chinua in surprise. "Really? How?" he asked.
Chinua looked at Taban and said, "I don't know yet, I need an expert second opinion."
Taban stood up and asked, "Who is that?"
Chinua stood up and said, "A very stubborn man who refused to help anyone in need, but I was confident in convincing him to help me with this project." She turned to find Naksh and Jeet already dressed. "Oh, you two are dressed."
Naksh looked at Chinua embarrassedly and said, "You didn't tell us you are a woman."
Chinua said, "You didn't ask." Chinua suddenly realized that she supposed to have dinner with Mönkhbat at Mönkhbat's house. "Captain... please tell me where General Mönkhbat's house is. I promise to have dinner with my captain and my crew at his house tonight."
Taban looked at Chinua strangely and asked, "Is this your first time in the south?"
Chinua, "Yes."
Taban said, "It seems that you have a close relationship with General Mönkhbat."
Chinua, "Yes, we're close. Why?"
Taban said, "Did you know he already has a wife?"
Chinua was taken aback, "What? He has a wife...why didn't he tell me?"
Taban shook his head, "Since you know he has a wife, you should step back."
Chinua looked at Taban and asked, "Why should I take a step back? It doesn't make sense, anyway, tell me where his home is?"
Taban asked, "What are you going to do when you get to his house?"
Chinua said, "Well, eat and chat with his wife."
Taban said, "Alright." He looked at Jeet. "Can you still walk?"
Jeet chuckled, "I can."
Taban took Chinua, Naksh, and Jeet to Mönkhbat's house. Standing outside the wall, they could hear the voices of the men inside the house. Taban went to the house and walked in the door. Chinua, Naksh, and Jeet followed inside.
Taban said, "General, I found the lost goat."
The men at the table turned to the door and saw Chinua. Muunokhoi stood up and rushed to Chinua.
Muunokhoi picked Chinua up from the ground and said happily, "Chinua, you are still alive."
Chinua said, "Hey…hey… put me down, put me down."
Mönkhbat came out of the house with a pot of food and put it on the table. "You found your way here after all," he said. "Taban, stay for dinner."
"I just brought you your lost goat. I'd better go home and spend time with my family before we head out tomorrow," Taban said.
"See you tomorrow," Mönkhbat said, staring at Naksh and Jeet, then at Chinua. "So, these are the two you said you were going to save?"
Chinua said, "Yes. This is Jeet, and that is his brother Naksh. They belong to me now."
Och stood up, walked to Naksh and Jeet, and looked at the two brothers up and down. "You two look like warrior… badly beaten warriors…" He cleared his throat, not wanting to offend the two brothers who are taller and bigger than him. "I'm Och…" He backed away slowly and sat back on his seat. "Damn...they look scary..." he whispered to Terbish.
Mönkhbat smiled and said, "There are still seats over there. Please feel free, as if you were at home." He looked at Chinua. "Come here, sit here with me."
Naksh and Jeet sat at the same table with the northern soldiers. "I am Naksh, and this is my brother Jeet. We sold ourselves to that woman," Naksh said.
Timicin said, "I am Timicin… a soldier of the Northern Camp. We are friends of Chinua."
Od turned to the two brother and said, "I'm Od."
Terbish smiled and said, "Terbish." He put his right hand on his chest bowed slightly to Naksh and Jeet.
Chaghatai said, "I am Chaghatai."
Erden said with a smiled, "I am Erden."
Muunokhoi said, "I am Muunokhoi, and I like peace. Since you two are Chinua's friends, we also regard you two as our friends. We can talk politely without fisting." He pointed to Haitao. "That's our captain... Haitao, the captain of the Northern Army."
Jeet looked to his left and asked, "What about you?"
Khawn said, "Khawn."
Timicin said, "Let's eat."
At the dinner table, Chinua takes a seat between Khunbish and Mönkhbat. Chinua looked at Mönkhbat and asked, "When did you start a family?"
"Let me introduce you to my family. My father-in-law Zamir," laughs Mönkhbat, pointing to an older man sitting across the table.
Zamir stood up and bowed his head tenderly to Chinua. "It's our pleasure that Chinua came to see us."
Chinua was not familiar with southern customs, so she also stood up and bowed to Zamir.
Zamir said quickly, "Please don't do that."
Mönkhbat smiled and pulled Chinua back to her chair. "Next to my father-in-law is my mother-in-law, Delbee...and here is my wife, Amgalan."
"Your wife?" Chinua looked at Amgalan, who had no makeup on her face and was not dressed up like many princesses in the palace, feeling a little sad. "Nice to meet you." Chinua looked over the table and found Hye sitting next to Haitao. "Why are you here?"
Hye said, "General Mönkhbat invited me."
Chinua looked at Mönkhbat, "You did?"
Mönkhbat said, "I did… he finished copying the record you asked for."
Chinua said, "There are ten books."
Hye said, " I finished it just when General Mönkhbat invited everyone to dinner."
Chinua was about to speak, but Mönkhbat said, "Everyone have a good meal and rest tonight, and we will go to the Southern Camp tomorrow morning."
Chinua asked, "Isn't the place we are going today the Southern Camp?"
Mönkhbat shook his head and said, "No, that's the South Gate Training Camp. The Southern camp isn't like that." He smiled at Chinua. "You'll know when we get there tomorrow." He began to eat.