A sickly fellow ridiculed by the entire army? I'll be the most beautiful woman in the barracks!

"Pfft—!!"

With a single swing of the ruby-inlaid dagger, Xiao Li's hand was severed.

A scream rang out instantly. Li Erlong's cheeks twitched slightly, and his eyes were filled with disappointment and anger at Xiao Li's lack of ambition.

The soldiers of Wangbei Camp, who were in high spirits just a quarter of an hour ago, are now completely silent.

Seeing the scene before them, everyone felt a mix of emotions.

During this period, they fought several tough battles with Zhao Daxuan, and all they saw was Zhao Daxuan's care and protection for them.

Unexpectedly, he has now shown his ruthless side.

At this moment, everyone's gaze towards Zhao Daxuan contained not only admiration but also a touch of awe.

The others were also relieved, thankful that they hadn't acted on their petty thoughts while searching for the Black Serpent Tribe's wealth.

Zhao Daxuan looked coldly at Xiao Li, who was clutching his severed arm and wailing.

"Band him up, then send him on his way."

Li Erlong waved to the ranks, and two experienced soldiers ran up with first-aid kits to bandage Li's wounds.

Zhao Daxuan also used the military tally to reclaim the special forces status from several expelled soldiers.

The moment their military status was revoked, the middle-aged soldiers who had already moved some distance away, and Xiao Li groaning on the ground, felt their minds go blank, as if they had lost something important.

The group sensed it and immediately broke out in a cold sweat.

Their rich combat experience and instinctive muscle memory seemed to vanish in the blink of an eye!

He had originally thought that even if he didn't join Zhao Daxuan's army, he would be in demand wherever he went, thanks to his skills.

But now, in the blink of an eye, all the skills he relied on for survival have vanished, and he feels as if he has fallen into an ice cave.

Soon, Xiao Li's severed hand was bandaged up, and no one paid any more attention to him.

Li Erlong turned around and began to arrange for the cleanup of the battlefield, preparing to move away the wealth scattered on the ground, as well as to drive away the prisoners and cattle.

The returning caravan stretched out in a long line across the plains, heading towards the Black Mountain Pass.

No one knew that, due to the lack of troops, a change was about to occur within the Black Mountain Pass.

The setting sun shone like blood on the Black Mountain Pass, where thousands of Tartar prisoners were forced into hard labor, carrying various heavy objects.

Each Tartar had a thick hemp rope tied around their feet. Due to time and material constraints, they couldn't be bound with iron chains, so they had to use thick hemp ropes as a temporary substitute.

Around the Tartar prisoners working, there were only a few soldiers who understood a little of the language. They had long swords at their waists and sharp eyes, and if they saw any prisoners who were slow to move, they would scold them.

A tall, burly Tartar leader and several of his former subordinates were carrying a boulder about half a person's height. They were panting heavily, their arms were bulging with veins, and their faces were flushed.

"Boss, it seems there are far fewer supervisors today."

One of his men looked around in confusion.

"There are definitely fewer troops today. A large force must have left Heishan Pass."

The Tartar leader had noticed this phenomenon long ago and had some guesses in his mind. His other subordinates' expressions changed, and they tentatively asked him about it.

"Boss, should we go?"

The Tartar leader frowned and pondered for a while before answering.

"I've spoken with the other leaders, and now that the main road is blocked, even if we kill these soldiers and escape, it will be difficult to get back to the royal court."

Upon hearing this, the men's faces darkened, and a sense of loss and despair welled up in their hearts.

Suddenly, one of the men who was carrying the boulder with him suddenly collapsed. After days of not being able to eat or sleep properly and after a day of hard labor, he could no longer hold on and fell to the ground.

The boulder, having lost its balance, simultaneously crashed down on the men who had fallen to the ground.

The others' expressions changed drastically. They strained their hands, trying to stabilize the falling boulder. But their old strength was exhausted, and they hadn't yet mustered any new strength, so they couldn't keep the boulder in place.

"bump--!!"

"ah--!!"

A deafening scream shattered the somber silence of the Black Mountain Pass.

The Tartar leader and his men hurriedly pushed away the boulder that was pressing on the unfortunate Tartar's chest.

"Amutu! How are you?!"

The Tartar leader, his eyes bloodshot, knelt to one side, his hands trembling as he reached out, but dared not touch the dying Amutu.

A boulder weighing hundreds of kilograms just fell, hitting Amutu squarely in the chest, causing his thoracic cavity to collapse and deform, making him beyond saving.

At this moment, Amutu's eyes widened, blood gushed from his mouth, his eyes filled with resentment, and he tried to reach out his powerless hand to grab the Tatar leader.

However, his left hand fell limply halfway down, and his throat made a gurgling sound as he tried to say something to settle his affairs, but because of the constant flow of blood, he could not utter any clear or complete words.

Finally, as the light in Amutu's eyes quickly faded, the Tatar leader's suppressed anger, which had been building up for several days, began to surge, making him appear like a volcano about to erupt.

The soldier supervising the construction site was unconcerned when he saw a Tartar soldier killed by a boulder. He had witnessed countless instances of Tartar soldiers wantonly slaughtering the people of the Great Xia Dynasty since he was a child.

Now that they are prisoners of war, it is already an act of great mercy that I spared their lives instead of slaughtering them.

It's impossible to care about their feelings anymore, otherwise who would care about the feelings of the people of Great Xia?

The overseer soldier stepped forward and shouted angrily.

"Don't stop, keep working! Two people, carry this body down and bury it."

The Tartar leader ignored the overseer's reprimands and just stared blankly at the already dead Amutu, his eyes gleaming with malice.

Seeing that no one responded, the overseer frowned, stepped forward, and kicked the Tartar leader to the ground.

"What are you standing there for? Get to work!"

This kick ignited the volcano in the Tatar leader's heart, causing his anger to erupt instantly.

He raised his head, narrowed his eyes, and stared fiercely at the overseer soldier, a cold, murderous glint flashing in his eyes.

He then gave a wink to one of his men, who nodded in understanding.

The subordinate grabbed a sharp piece of gravel from the ground, slowly approached the overseer soldier, then raised it and smashed it down hard on the back of the overseer soldier's head.

"Bang--!!"

Caught completely off guard, the overseer soldier was knocked to the ground by the stone, his vision went black, and he fell silent.

The overseer soldier lay on the ground, blood oozing from the back of his head, staining the surrounding ground crimson.

The moment the overseer soldier fell to the ground, the Tartar leader darted out, drew the long sword from the soldier's waist, and with a backhand slash, beheaded the unconscious soldier.

Just as this incident occurred, the other Tartar prisoners who had already noticed the situation suddenly gleamed with ferocity in their eyes.