The earlier guess had been wrong.
That Great General had thought the Xin Camp soldiers were abandoned pawns, but in truth, he too had been cast aside. Who would have thought that even some among Jiuli could not escape the calculations...
It had merely been an accident that dragged this dragon—the greatest variable of all—into the scheme.
The planner would probably laugh himself awake from his dreams.
She produced the command token, and at once, the voices that had still been embellishing their accusations fell silent.
"Neither the person nor the peacock was killed by me. If I had killed them, I would have eaten them on the spot, bones and all, without leaving even a single one behind. If I'm not mistaken, the corpses must bear the marks of being killed by me. Am I right?"
The generals in the hall were very quiet. They found the practice of hunting and feeding incomprehensible, denouncing it as the behavior of Fierce Beasts.
Guards from outside entered the hall.
They hurried to General Lu and presented a letter written on beast hide, bearing a peacock emblem...
The Eight-character mustache man and the other generals wore expressions of people watching a spectacle.
At the highest point.
General Lu, more than two zhang tall, sneered.
"A beast-hide calling card. Next time, I fear they'll send a declaration of war."
He tossed the beast hide aside.
His cold gaze swept over the many Heavenly Army Generals in the hall. With a beckoning gesture, the command token flew into his hand. He sat upright, seemingly deep in thought, the index finger of the hand holding the token tapping again and again. His overwhelming pressure rendered the hall silent as a graveyard.
After a long while, he finally spoke.
"The conflict with Jiuli was a dispute