Azure Sheep Tribe

Compared to the Jizhou Governor's Office's meticulous preparations before deploying troops, it was far more convenient for the grasslanders to set out on campaign.

Though rather than convenient, it would be more accurate to call it disorderly. Unlike Southern Chen, the grasslands had no strict organizational system. A few chieftains, large and small, gathering together was enough to make a tribe. When it came time to march out, the chieftains merely sent riders from house to house to shout the order.

Once that command was given, the grassland warriors, mounted and carrying blades, would converge on the main camp, gather under the chieftains' banners, and head south together to make their fortunes.

Yes, make their fortunes. That was why the grassland warriors were willing to gather.

The chieftains could seize people and territory, while the grassland warriors could seize money, grain, and slaves. As long as they rode south and swung their blades, everyone would have a bright future.

Of course, battle carried danger, even the risk of losing one's life. But to these men who had survived the freezing winds of the Northern Desert Grasslands, that was the least of their concerns.

After all, with their worthless lives, they had long had nothing left to lose. Whatever extra they could seize now was pure profit.

Like a starving wolf pack led by its alpha, they used their blades as fangs and would sink their teeth desperately into everything before them.

Yet just as a wolf pack in the freezing winds of the Northern Desert Grasslands would have a few wolves that did not fit in, the Azure Sheep Tribe had them as well.

"Hexi Qing moved out on his own and took Ji Town already?"

Hearing the report from his subordinates, the Azure Sheep Tribe chieftain on horseback frowned slightly.

The chieftain's name was Helai Jiaohu. He was currently the most powerful chieftain in the Azure Sheep Tribe and its true ruler. If every chieftain of the Azure Sheep Tribe was the alpha of his own faction, then Helai Jiaohu was undoubtedly the alpha among alphas.

And as the alpha among alphas, how could Helai Jiaohu fail to notice that a young cub was trying to challenge his authority?

Still, this was normal enough. As an alpha, one was bound to face such challenges often. Moreover, those young cubs bold enough to challenge the alpha were usually strong, vigorous, and brimming with aggression. The emergence of cubs who dared to fight and risk their lives was undoubtedly a sign of a tribe growing powerful.

The only problem was that the cub named Hexi Qing had a little too much aggression.

"The young are too impatient... What of Liu Yanran in Jizhou? Did he get away?"

"Chieftain, according to reports from the front, Liu Yanran was killed by Hexi Qing."

The messenger respectfully relayed the information he had received.

"He was killed in a single exchange. Liu Yanran had no chance to fight back."

"...Then that is good."

Helai Jiaohu's expression visibly relaxed.

Unlike those reckless youths, Helai Jiaohu, an old wolf of the grasslands, understood certain dangers. For all these years, the Northern Desert Grasslands had not marched south—was it merely because Southern Chen's city defenses were strong, and they did not wish to meet them head-on?

It was not that they did not wish to. It was that they could not.

Breaking city defenses was difficult, but not impossible for the warriors of the Northern Desert Grasslands. If need be, they could pile up corpses and eventually beat those weak southerners into a crushing defeat. But as an experienced old wolf of the grasslands, Helai Jiaohu knew that breaching the walls did not mean the war was over.

On the contrary, the war was only just beginning.

Every military governor appointed to a frontier Governor's Office had been carefully selected by the Southern Chen court. Before becoming a governor, they needed the unwavering will to wield Blood Baleful Intent weapons. After that, so long as they had sufficient reason to kill, they could turn that savage Blood Baleful Intent to their own use and step into the next realm.

If mastering Blood Baleful Intent weapons granted inhuman strength, then after entering the next realm, they would gain certain inhuman abilities.

More importantly, these monsters who had gradually stepped beyond humanity needed only to kill in order to grow stronger.

Before a sturdy city, a great army might still be considered a powerful force. But before a lone ghost that grew stronger through killing alone, that vast army became an enormous target instead. Those valiant soldiers would become nourishment for the monster, letting it grow fiercer and stronger amid slaughter.

So if Ji Town fell but Liu Yanran escaped without a trace, that would be the worst possible outcome—worse even than not deploying troops at all. No one could imagine what a monster that grew stronger through slaughter alone might do. For the entire Azure Sheep Tribe, it would be a nightmare.

Fortunately, Liu Yanran was dead in the end, and he had died cleanly.

That meant the Azure Sheep Tribe could keep hidden the measures it had prepared for Commander Liu.

Or simply use them on that greenhorn named Hexi Qing.

"To reach such a level at such a young age, that bastard brat Hexi Qing can indeed be called a natural talent."

Helai Jiaohu stroked his beard atop his warhorse as he spoke to several chieftains beside him.

"But he still needs to be taken down a peg, so that he understands the ways of the world."

"Indeed."

"He needs a lesson."

"Young people cannot be too high-spirited."

The other chieftains of the Azure Sheep Tribe nodded in agreement.

Clearly, these elders of the Azure Sheep Tribe had long accumulated considerable resentment toward Hexi Qing, that arrogant brat who likened himself to the sky.

What the Azure Sheep Tribe needed was a watchdog, not a wolf that bared its fangs at its master.

"Then it is settled. Doesn't that boy like Southern culture? We will deal with him using the southern rule for disobeying military orders."

And so, with a few casual words from the chieftains, Hexi Qing's fate was decided.

Since Ji Town had fallen, the army no longer needed to wait the full three days for preparations before setting out. What the Azure Sheep Tribe truly needed now was to seize the chance while Ji Town's forces were depleted and swallow all of Jizhou as quickly as possible.

Because of this, contrary to the original plan, the Azure Sheep Tribe mustered its forces and marched toward Jizhou on the very first night.

How could they wait another three days? Three days would be enough for that brat Hexi Qing to grow fat in Jizhou. Jizhou, situated at the crossroads of war, might not have a large population, but it was hardly sparse either. If Hexi Qing were allowed to slaughter for three days... then the Azure Sheep Tribe would have to spend far more effort teaching that brat a lesson.

But just as the Azure Sheep Tribe marched through the night, preparing to give Hexi Qing "a small lesson from his elders," they encountered a thorny problem on the road.

"You are saying our soldiers were killed?"

In the central army, Helai Jiaohu heard the report brought back by the scouts. Startled, he nearly tore out his beard.

"What happened? Could Liu Yanran actually not be dead? Did that brat Hexi Qing falsify his military report?"

"No, it wasn't Liu Yanran... At least, it didn't look like him."

The battered grassland scout who had fled back struggled to recall what he had just seen.

That lone rider, covered from head to toe in blood.

And that blazing blade-light, fierce as fire.