Everyone was naturally delighted by the news, though it came with a devastating price. At least a hundred thousand people had died throughout Bianliang, and the imperial palace had suffered the worst losses. The young emperor in his twenties had not died, but he was said to have been injured. More than half the ministers and imperial consorts had been killed or wounded as well.
The reason for this... was that after they had transported that Taotie back and taken the magnet away from it, the Taotie had contacted the Beast King. The Beast King had headed straight for its location.
Otherwise, the Taotie would not normally have chosen to attack in the direction of the imperial palace.
But the Taotie had not rushed directly toward Bianliang along the way. Between the Great Wall and Bianliang, the Song Dynasty had deliberately cleared out many clusters of ordinary people and small towns, concentrating the main population in several large cities.
Naturally, this was to leave a strategic buffer zone.
Generally speaking, even if the Taotie broke through the Great Wall, they would not head directly for Bianliang, the core city. There were at least several cities surrounding Bianliang, though their populations were far smaller.
As it turned out... the emperor had acted on a whim and wanted to see the Taotie for himself, nearly getting himself killed. Jiang Yan Hai naturally did not care. Whether the emperor lived or died had nothing to do with him.
But there was one thing: this emperor had definitely been scared out of his wits. And a terrified emperor was easy to handle.
That was an advantage for them. As for whether the Taotie had truly been wiped out, Jiang Yan Hai remained noncommittal.
According to the reports sent back so far, Commander Lin and