The other side.
Elisha never expected that he would be captured under such circumstances.
He had just arrived on the main road when he encountered a small patrol of armed men.
6 There were seven men holding scimitars, surrounding him with cunning smiles.
"Ha! Look what I found?"
The scarred man in the lead grinned.
"He's a boy who looks like a young master. He must be the son of a wealthy family."
Elisha tried to argue, but his voice began to shake with nervousness. "I'm not! I'm a villager!"
"I don't have anything valuable on me..."
Another man roughly grabbed his collar and frisked him. "Who are you kidding, kid?"
"Look at your clothes, the material is quite good!"
Elisha was secretly upset because the clothes David prepared for him when he left Hebron were indeed much better than those of an ordinary farm boy.
Of course, after all, Elisha followed the city lord David, and at this moment, this became a burden.
"Tie him up and take him to the chief!"
Elisha was tied tightly with hemp ropes and taken to the leader's tent in the temporary camp on the other side.
Along the way, he kept recalling the escape techniques David taught him in his mind, looking for possible opportunities.
But unfortunately, the enemy remained highly vigilant and did not give him any opportunity to take advantage.
When he was pushed into the tent, Elisha immediately realized that the situation was worse than he had imagined.
Inside the tent stood a burly middle-aged man with a face full of flesh, holding a gorgeous scimitar inlaid with gems.
He was pointing at a sheepskin map, surrounded by several confidants.
Seeing Elisha being brought in, he raised his head, greed flashing in his cloudy eyes.
"Is this the guy who escaped?"
Scarface replied flatteringly, "Yes, sir!"
"I followed the direction they told me to go. We caught him on the eastern trail."
"This kid can really run."
The leader walked around Elisha, looking him up and down.
"Huh, you guys are mistaken, right?"
"This isn't a child at all, he's clearly just a boy."
Scarface was stunned for a moment. After looking Elisha up and down, he seemed to suddenly realize something and hurriedly began to explain.
"He doesn't look very old, and..."
The leader kicked Scarface in the stomach: "And bullshit!"
"I asked you to find a child, and you brought me one this big! How much can a child this big be worth?"
"What a waste!"
Scarface curled up on the ground in pain: "Sir, calm down, he must be worth a lot of money! Look at his appearance, he must be the son of some noble family..."
The leader spat, "Nonsense! Even if he was a nobleman, his family would have been killed and his home robbed!"
"What's the use?"
"Forget it, let's take him to the city and see if anyone knows this guy."
"If all else fails, sell him as a slave at a low price. It's better than killing him."
Elisha felt relieved. At least, he saved his life for the time being.
But then he immediately became nervous again.
Being taken to the city is not good news, as it means it will be more difficult to escape and may expose your identity.
"Put him up with the other prisoners and send them in together later."
In this way, Elisha was carried out of the tent by two strong men and taken to a temporary cage at the edge of the camp.
Along the way, he kept observing his surroundings, silently counting his steps and noting the characteristics of each turn.
This was one of the skills David taught him, to remember every road he had come so that he could find every resident in the city.
Unexpectedly, this skill comes in handy now.
Soon, about fifteen armed men set out, escorting more than twenty civilian captives, including Elisha.
They were roughly pushed and hustled toward the city of Hebron.
Elisha walked in the middle of the team, always surrounded by two guards who were closely watching him.
He appeared obedient, but he was constantly looking for opportunities to escape.
Whenever the team stopped for a while, he would carefully observe the surrounding terrain.
The escort looked at Elisha, then looked at the ground, and finally stared at Elisha suspiciously.
"Don't play tricks, boy."
"If you dare to run away from here, I will break your legs."
"If you had followed a better slave owner, you would have had hope in the future."
"Don't make me beat you."
Elisha shrugged. "Of course, sir, you are right."
"But you see, if you take me to Hebron, I might not fetch a good price."
"I know a place. If you can take me there, you will definitely be able to..."
The escort immediately interrupted him: "Shut up!"
"Stop messing with me and keep going!"
Elisha had no choice but to give up, but he was not afraid at all now.
As long as you are alive, there is still a chance!
No matter what, other cities in the New Hebrew Empire would sooner or later learn of this news. He knew very well that he just had to stay alive first and then think of a way to escape.
The team continued to move forward and finally arrived at the city of Hebron before sunset.
The torches on the city wall dotted around, casting a strange picture.
Elisha noticed that many new sentry posts were added to the city walls, and the guards were replaced by a group of unfamiliar faces.
As they passed through the city gate, Elisha was forced to kneel on the ground with the other captives.
A guard roughly cut off his hair and poured cold water on him with a bucket as a humiliating welcome ceremony.
"Go in!"
The guard pushed him with the butt of his spear: "Hurry up, you animals!"
Finally, Elisha stumbled into a spacious stone chamber where dozens of men and women were already imprisoned.
They were dressed in rags, looked haggard, and huddled in a corner, sobbing softly.
Seeing the new prisoners, some people looked at them with curiosity, but most people were numb.
Being pushed deep into the stone chamber, the iron door slammed shut. Elisha leaned against the cold stone wall, trying to calm his rapid breathing.
Although it is safe for the time being, the future remains unpredictable.
However, compared to going out alone, at least here he has more opportunities to understand the enemy's situation.
The other captives in the stone chamber began to whisper, and someone approached Elisha and asked him where he came from and whether he knew the situation outside.
Elisha answered cautiously while also gathering information, hoping to find something that could help.
It's a pity that most of those words were about killing and torture.
At this moment, he noticed that at the other end of the stone chamber, there was an elderly scholar-looking man looking at him with a strange look, as if he had seen through his identity.
"Who are you?"
"Elisha?"
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