When the Cunning Rabbit Dies, the Hound is Cooked

The fires at Zhao Family Fortress were still burning, the smell of char mixed with the stench of blood, fermenting in the night air.

Inside the Hall of United Righteousness, the death row inmates and private soldiers of the Assault Camp were in a frenzy. Gold and jewels were piled carelessly on the ground, wine jars shattered on the silk carpet, and Black Bear was stuffing a roasted chicken into his mouth, a gold chain stripped from Zhao Tianba's corpse hanging around his neck, laughing like a 300-pound child.

"Boss! This Zhao family is damn rich!" Pockmarked hobbled over, clutching a rosewood box. "Pulled it from the well in the backyard. Take a look!"

Ji Ye sat in the main seat, polishing a nick on his Wild Goose Feather Saber. He took the wooden box and opened it. Inside lay a snow-white ginseng, shaped like an infant.

"Hundred-Year Snow Ginseng."

A glint flashed in Ji Ye's eyes. This was a more gentle and potent tonic than Blood Wolf Marrow, enough to help him stabilize the Bone Forging Realm, and even glimpse the threshold of Organ Tempering.

But he didn't take it immediately. Instead, he closed the lid, his brow furrowed.

Too smooth.

From breaching the city gate to slaughtering the entire Zhao family, apart from that old bastard Zhao Tianba's desperate counterattack that injured a few brothers, everything had gone suspiciously smoothly. The hundreds of retainers at Zhao Family Fortress seemed to be far less troublesome than the legends claimed.

More importantly, Qin Wuji's army was coming too slowly.

Logically, with the fires starting here, the cavalry from the camp fifty miles away could arrive in half an hour to sweep the battlefield. But now, the sky was almost dawn, and there was still no sign of reinforcements.

"Stop drinking!"

Ji Ye suddenly stood up, kicking over the wine table in front of him. "Everyone, armor up! Get your weapons! Assemble!"

The drunken thugs were startled. The chicken leg fell from Black Bear's mouth as he mumbled, "Boss, what's wrong? The Zhao family is wiped out, what ghosts could there be?"

Before he finished speaking.

"Thump, thump, thump."

Heavy, uniform footsteps suddenly came from outside the fortress.

These weren't chaotic footsteps, but the vibration of a thousand men moving as one, an iron discipline. Immediately following was a grating sound of bowstrings being drawn—the sound of a Divine Arm Crossbow being strung, unique to the army.

Ji Ye's expression changed. He flashed forward, smashing through the window and rushing out.

He saw that the surrounding walls of Zhao Family Fortress were now inexplicably covered with dense ranks of armored soldiers. They held heavy shields and long spears, completely sealing the stronghold.

And at the main gate, a massive banner with the character "Qin" fluttered in the wind.

Qin Wuji rode a white horse, not even entering the fortress, merely watching from afar, his gaze like that of a butcher surveying pigs and sheep destined for slaughter.

Standing at the very front was the familiar adjutant.

He held a command token in his hand, his voice cold, amplified by Internal Strength to carry throughout the entire fortress:

"Assault Camp Centurion Ji Ye, for colluding with bandits, embezzling military funds, and slaughtering the innocent Zhao family, your crimes are heinous!"

"By order of the Commandant, you are to be executed on the spot!"

"Kill!"

No explanation, no trial.

Only a cold order to kill.

"Qin Wuji! I'll fuck your ancestors!!" Black Bear, who had just rushed out of the hall, heard this and his eyes turned red with rage. He swung his great axe, about to charge.

"Bang bang bang—!!!"

Dense crossbow bolts rained down like a storm.

The Divine Arm Crossbow, the killing weapon of the Da Liang border army, could pierce heavy armor within a hundred paces.

"Pfft pfft pfft!"

Black Bear's massive body instantly became a hedgehog. His leather armor was as thin as paper against the Divine Arm Crossbow. Over a dozen bolts pierced his chest, thighs, and throat.

His swinging great axe froze mid-air, a gurgling sound coming from his throat. He looked down at his chest in disbelief, then crashed to the ground.

"Brother Bear!"

Pockmarked let out a scream and tried to pull him, but Ji Ye yanked him back, pressing him behind a pillar.

"Thud thud thud!"

A row of crossbow bolts embedded themselves deep into the pillar, their fletching buzzing.

The brothers of the Assault Camp inside the hall descended into chaos. They were fierce bandits, desperate fugitives, but facing a well-organized, regular army, they were just targets.

Screams echoed one after another.

Brothers who had been drinking and eating together just moments ago now lay in pools of blood. The fresh blood stained the gold and silver on the ground, appearing all the more ironic.

"Boss... we've been sold out..." Pockmarked, clutching his shoulder which had been pierced by a stray bolt, his face deathly pale, "These sons of bitches... they want to silence us..."

Ji Ye leaned against the pillar, listening to the sound of arrows outside. There was no anger on his face, only a deathly calm.

He should have realized it sooner.

Zhao Family Fortress was a local powerful clan, disobedient but a major taxpayer to Da Liang. If Qin Wuji destroyed the Zhao family for military provisions and word got out, it would incite all the powerful clans in the realm to rebellion.

Therefore, someone had to take the blame.

And what better scapegoats than a group of "death row inmates" and "bandits"?

"When the cunning rabbit is dead, the hounds are cooked."

Ji Ye took out the snow ginseng from his embrace and swallowed it in a few bites like he was gnawing on a radish.

A massive medicinal power exploded within his body, but this power couldn't save his life; it could only slow his death.

"Pockmarked."

Ji Ye drew his Wild Goose Feather Saber and picked up a round shield from a corpse.

"Are you afraid of dying?"

"Afraid..." Pockmarked shivered, tears and snot streaming down his face, but he gripped the broken saber in his hand tightly. "But I don't want to die like a coward!"

"Good."

Ji Ye took a deep breath, feeling the blood boiling within him from anger and the medicinal power.

"Then let them see, even a cornered dog can bite people to death."

"Charge out!"

With a roar, Ji Ye, shielding himself with the round shield, charged into the sky full of arrows like a lone wolf in a desperate situation.

Since he was going to die anyway.

He might as well take a few people with him!