I asked you to go hunting, and you ended up wearing a yellow robe?

"Several men, come with me... and take Yelüda's head!"

Meng Da and the two hunters' breathing became heavy instantly, and a terrifying light flashed in their eyes.

To assassinate the enemy commander.

What a crazy, and what a...exciting achievement this is.

"The rest of you, listen to my command..."

……

Meanwhile, inside Yelüda's tent, the aroma of wine mingled with the pungent smell of mutton, creating a warm and cloying atmosphere.

Thick tiger skins were laid on the ground, and several tallow lamps hung inside the tent, illuminating Yelüda's face, which was flushed from drinking, making it shine.

He had just downed a large bowl of mare's milk wine and let out a comfortable burp.

The massive army pressed in, sweeping all before them. Several Han villages along the way offered no resistance whatsoever, and were utterly crushed into dust by his iron cavalry.

Property, cattle and sheep, women... He had had enough of the tastes of country women; they were as rough as sandpaper, and they no longer aroused his interest.

His gaze fell on two huge iron cages in the corner of the tent.

Inside the cages were more than a dozen Han Chinese women who had been abducted from villages along the way.

They were naked, huddled together like a flock of frightened quails, their bodies covered with bruises and whip marks.

These are his "spoils of war" and playthings from the past few days.

But at that moment, he was thinking about the women in Qingyang County.

He had heard from the Han Chinese lackeys who had come to join him that the women in the county town had skin whiter than milk and bodies more supple than water snakes. In particular, the wives and daughters of wealthy families were well-maintained and had a captivating charm that these country girls could not compare to.

Once Qingyang County is razed to the ground, that magistrate Zhao Bingkun, and that reckless county assistant Qi Shan, and their families...

Yelüda licked his chapped lips, feeling a fire rising in his lower abdomen and his throat going dry.

He couldn't wait any longer.

He looked at one of the cages, where a woman was already dying, slumped on the ground, her body covered in dozens of whip marks, her flesh mangled and bloody, clearly beyond saving.

Yelüda spat impatiently, preparing to call his personal guards in to drag the dying woman out to feed the dogs, and then bring in a new one to "vent his anger."

Just then, the tent flap was suddenly flung open, and a guard scrambled in, his face filled with panic.

"General! Something terrible has happened! Something terrible has happened!"

"What's the panic!" Yelü Da was already in a bad mood, and being interrupted made him furious. He kicked the guard to the ground. "Is the sky falling down?"

Ignoring the pain, the soldier scrambled to his feet, his voice trembling: "General! Eagle's Sorrow Gorge... Eagle's Sorrow Gorge is on fire! Our grain... our grain supply camp has been burned!"

"What?!"

Yelüda's mind went blank for a moment, as if he had been hit hard by a heavy hammer, and he sobered up most of the time.

forage!

That's enough rations for an army of three thousand for a month.

His southward journey was a lightly armed raid, with very little food and supplies. He relied entirely on plundering along the way and capturing Qingyang County for supplies.

If we run out of food supplies, let alone attacking Qingyang County, our army will go hungry and mutiny within three days.

Forget about any merit, if the Great Khan were to blame him, Yelüda would lose his head.

"Useless! A bunch of useless trash!" Yelü Da's eyes were bloodshot as he kicked the guard hard in the backside again. "What are you all standing there for? Go put out the fire! Everyone, go put out the fire! If you can't put it out, you'll all die!"

"Yes, yes!" The guard ran out in a panic.

Yelüda paced back and forth anxiously, like a wild beast trapped in a cage, with nowhere to vent his rage and panic.

He turned around abruptly, staring fiercely at the group of trembling women in the cage, wanting to grab one of them and strangle her to death to calm down.

Just then, the curtain was lifted again.

A figure dressed in the uniform of a Yelü patrolman walked in, standing straight and saying nothing.

Yelüda was furious and didn't even see who it was before he yelled, "What the hell are you standing here for? Are you deaf? Get the hell out of here and put out the fire! If you ruin my fun, I'll beat you to death later!"

However, the figure did not run away in a panic as he had expected.

He simply stood there quietly, raising his head, revealing a calm to the point of being cold beneath his lowered leather helmet.

He spoke slowly in a clear and fluent Yelü language, even more authentic than Yelü Da's own.

"The fire doesn't need to be put out."

The sound was very soft, yet it was like an ice pick, instantly piercing the sweltering air inside the tent.

Yelüda's cursing stopped abruptly. He stared intently at the unfamiliar face before him, his pupils contracting sharply in a mixture of alcohol and rage.

These were not his personal guards.

"you……"

Yelüda's voice trembled as he struggled to stand up from the tiger-skin rug.

Qi Shan did not answer.

He simply took off his leather helmet slowly and tossed it to the ground.

That Han Chinese face, calm and undisturbed, appeared exceptionally clear in the light of the butter lamp.

Yelüda's drunkenness vanished completely at that moment, replaced by fear. His eyes were bloodshot, and the flesh on his fat face trembled.

"Assassin! Assassin!"

He screamed at the top of his lungs, like a pig being slaughtered.

"Guards! Where the hell are you all?! Get your asses in here!"

Outside the tent, apart from the distant commotion and firelight, there was only deathly silence; no one responded to him.

There were no footsteps, no response.

His most trusted personal guards, the dozen or so he brought from the tribe, seemed to have vanished into thin air.

Yelüda's heart sank deeper and deeper into an ice cellar.

Just then, the curtain was lifted once again.

It wasn't his personal guards who entered, but three other figures dressed in the same Yelü soldier uniforms.

The one leading them was Meng Da.

He didn't even glance at Yelüda, who was so terrified he was about to wet himself in the main seat. He simply clasped his hands in a fist salute to Qishan and then casually tossed the bloody objects he was carrying at Yelüda's feet.

Glug glug.

Three heads rolled onto the tiger-skin mat. One of them belonged to Yelüda's most trusted captain of the guard, whose unseeing eyes were staring straight at him.

"what!"

Yelüda let out a short scream, her obese body went limp, and she collapsed back onto the cushion.

"County Magistrate, the guards outside have all been dealt with."

Meng Da's voice was low, but filled with barely suppressed excitement.

"The remaining soldiers all ran off to Eagle's Sorrow Gorge to put out the fire; the camp is like a sieve!"

Yelüda trembled violently; he finally understood what had happened.

Burning the grain supplies was a calculated move, a ploy to lure the enemy away from their stronghold.

The real killer move is here.

"Who...who...who are you?"

He stared at Qi Shan, his teeth grinding. "Do you even know who I am? I am the vanguard general personally appointed by the Great Khan! Kill me, and the Great Khan's 30,000 iron cavalry will raze every Han city to the ground!"