A glint of greed flashed through the tribal chief's eyes. Leaning closer to King Hunxie, he lowered his voice and said, "Come to think of it, Donghu has poured out all its forces to attack Pinggang City. Their homeland's troops are stretched thin, and their pastures and strongholds are left unguarded. This gives us a perfect opportunity.
"Why don't we muster our troops at once and march into Donghu right behind the Xiutu Tribe? We can seize a few lush, well-watered territories and hidden trade routes before anyone else.
"Let those Xiutu Tribe fellows fight Donghu's forces to the death up front, while we follow behind and reap the fisherman's profit. We can fight a few easy battles and firmly take hold of the land.
"Even if His Highness the Right Worthy King holds someone accountable afterward, he'll punish the Xiutu Tribe first for raising troops without authorization. At most, we'll get a token punishment. But by then, the land and benefits we've taken will be solidly in our hands—His Highness can hardly make us spit them back out!"
These words struck straight at King Hunxie's heart. A fiery gleam instantly flashed in his eyes, and he was clearly tempted.
For a long time, the Xiutu Tribe had kept him under its thumb. If he could use them as a shield and seize Donghu's rich lands and trade routes in the meantime, then as one side waned and the other waxed, the Hunxie Tribe might well completely replace the Xiutu Tribe and become the strongest tribe under the Right Worthy King.
Moreover, geographically speaking, the Hunxie Tribe had the Xiongnu heartland at its back and would not need to face a pincer attack from both the Xiutu Tribe and the White Sheep Tribe. When the time came, it would be