At 100 years old, he joined the army in place of his granddaughter, and became a national war god.

In Qingzhou Prefecture, the sky was just beginning to lighten.

The morning mist, like a veil, enveloped the sky above Qingzhou City.

On the city wall, the Northern Di soldiers who had been patrolling all night were yawning and preparing to change shifts.

A young soldier leaned against the battlements, rubbing his sleepy eyes, and glanced unintentionally towards the city gate.

Then, his pupils suddenly contracted, and his drowsiness vanished without a trace.

"What...what is that?"

He rubbed his eyes and glanced at them again.

Outside the city gate, on the open ground by the moat, dozens of sharpened wooden stakes were lined up in a row, each stake with a human head stuck in it.

Some of those heads had grotesque faces, some had open eyes that looked like they had died, and some had blood that had not yet completely congealed, gleaming with a dark red light in the morning light.

On the foremost wooden stake was a head wearing a captain's helmet; he recognized the face.

It's China-san.

"It's...it's Lord China-san!" The soldier's legs went weak, and he almost collapsed to the ground. "Help! Help!"

The soldiers on the city wall swarmed to the battlements, their eyes wide, their faces pale, and their lips trembling.

Some people covered their mouths, some gagged, and some took several steps back.

"My God...that...that's Lord Hadan? His eyes...are still open..."

"And what about Centurion Batur?! How did his head end up here? Wasn't he out on a mission with Lord Chinan?"

"Look at the wall! There are words on the wall!"

On the city wall, nine shocking characters were written in crimson blood.

"Those who slaughtered the people of my Great Qian Dynasty shall pay with their blood!"

The soldiers stared at the words, a chill running down their spines.

"It was the Great Qian people...it was the Great Qian people who did it..."

"How did they do it? Qingzhou's defenses are so tight, how could they hang so many heads on the city wall without anyone noticing?"

"Where are the patrolmen? Who was on patrol last night? How come we didn't notice anything?"

"I...I didn't see anything...The wind was strong and the fog was thick last night, I didn't hear anything..."

"Go and report to the Prince immediately! Hurry!"

……

In the backyard of the prefectural government office, Tuoba Han was still asleep.

Last night, he discussed the attack plan with Man Tu and Man Xiao until late into the night, and had only just fallen asleep.

He dreamt that he was riding a tall horse, leading his army to break through the city gates of Yuzhou, and personally cutting off Su Mu's white hair and head.

In his dream, he was laughing happily.

"Your Highness! Your Highness! Something terrible has happened!"

Sikong Yu's urgent knocking on the door startled Tuoba Han from his sweet dream.

Tuoba Han sat up abruptly, his hair disheveled and his eyes bloodshot.

He rubbed his temples, his voice sounding somewhat impatient.

"Strategist? What's the matter? Why are you in such a panic? It's not even fully light yet."

"Your Highness, something terrible has happened! Please get up quickly and go to the city gate to see what's going on!"

Sikong Yu's voice changed, filled with an uncontrollable terror.

Tuoba Han's heart sank. He put on his outer robe and strode out of the room.

"What's going on? Could it be that the Daqian people have attacked?" Tuoba Han asked as he walked.

Sikong Yu shook his head, his voice dry.

"It's...it's very eerie, Your Highness. You'll know once you take a look."

The two rode their horses quickly across the street and onto the south gate.

The city wall was already crowded with soldiers, all of them pale as death. When they saw Tuoba Han coming, they all made way for him.

Tuoba Han walked to the front of the battlements, looked down, and was immediately dumbfounded.

Outside the city gate, dozens of wooden stakes were lined up in two rows.

Each wooden stake was stuck with a human head, neatly arranged as if they had been deliberately placed there.

In the morning mist, those heads appeared and disappeared, some with ferocious expressions, some with slightly open mouths, and some with half-open and half-closed eyes, the fear on their faces forever frozen in the moment of death.

Tuoba Han's gaze swept from left to right, identifying each one individually.

The one wearing the captain's helmet is Chinasang.

The one next to him with his face split in half is Hadan.

The one next to it with its mouth wide open is Centurion Batur.

These are all the heads of the soldiers sent by the barbarian chieftain to carry out the mission of massacring the village.

On the city wall, nine large, blood-stained characters were written in blood, which enraged him.

"Those who slaughtered the people of my Great Qian Dynasty shall pay with their blood!"

Each word was as if carved with a knife, exuding a deep-seated hatred.

Tuoba Han's eyelids twitched a few times, his Adam's apple bobbed up and down, and the veins on his forehead bulged out one by one.

He gripped the stone bricks of the battlement tightly, and shouted angrily:

"What on earth is going on?!"

Sikong Yu stood behind him.

"Your Highness, the three squads we sent out on the mission... two thousand men... I'm afraid they've already..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but the meaning was already very clear.

Tuoba Han suddenly turned around, his eyes bloodshot.

"Two thousand men! Two thousand cavalry! Gone without a trace? Not even a messenger returned? Yet not a single soldier was mobilized from Yuzhou City. Who did this?"

No one could answer him.

The soldiers on the city wall looked at each other, none of them daring to speak.

Sikong Yu swallowed hard and said:

"Your Highness, look at those heads. The cuts are clean, all from a single, fatal blow. And those wooden stakes were driven into the ground overnight, yet our city patrols didn't notice them at all. This means..."

He paused, then continued.

"The killers are a group of highly skilled and ruthless individuals. They can kill and behead people right under our noses, appearing and disappearing without a trace. Such ability... if used to assassinate the prince, I'm afraid..."

"Moreover, I suspect that this was most likely done by the soldiers of the Great Qian Dynasty."

Tuoba Han felt a chill run down his spine.

"Are these... are these still the soldiers of the Great Qian Dynasty? When did they become so terrifying?"

"It must be that old man Su Mu." Sikong Yu said through gritted teeth. "It must be Su Mu who did this. Last time he managed to outwit our spies. This time he must have used some other tricks that we don't know about."

Just then, the sound of rapid hoofbeats came from below the city.

Two jet-black horses galloped in, carrying Man Tu and Man Xiao.

The two dismounted and strode up the city wall.

"Your Highness!"

"I've heard! Where is he?"

Tuoba Han pointed down to the city wall.

The barbarian walked up to the battlements and looked down!

His pupils contracted sharply, and shock, beyond anger, immediately appeared on his rugged face.

He stared at the severed heads, at the blood-stained characters on the city wall, his chest heaving violently.

"Damn it, who did this?!"

The barbarian owl also came over, its hawk-like eyes sweeping over the heads, its gaze growing colder and colder.

He didn't speak, but the murderous intent in his eyes was so intense it seemed to overflow.

"Your Highness," Sikong Yu walked to Tuoba Han's side, cupped his hands, and said, "Now that things have come to this, the plan to massacre the village and disrupt the morale of the army is no longer feasible. With that special force of the Great Qian, no matter how many small troops we send out, they will only be sent to their deaths."

He raised his head and looked at Tuoba Han with earnest eyes.

"This humble general suggests that we should not disperse our forces any further."

"Concentrate all our forces and launch a frontal assault on Yuzhou City! We'll use brute force to overcome cunning, a head-on clash! The Great Qian Dynasty has only 30,000 troops; even with such a surprise attack, they can't withstand a frontal assault from our 50,000-strong army!"

Man Tu suddenly turned his head, his eyes filled with rage.

"The strategist is right! What's this talk of surprise tactics? I refuse to believe that with 50,000 iron cavalry marching in, they can turn the world upside down!"

"No matter how skilled that old man is, he's just one person. I'd like to see how many soldiers he can hold off!"

The savage owl spoke in a sinister tone:

"In a frontal assault, I will personally keep an eye on the city walls. If that old man dares to show his face, I will send him to his death with an arrow from three hundred paces away."

Tuoba Han remained silent for a moment, then looked away from the heads and glanced at the blood-red characters on the city wall.

"Those who kill the people of my Great Qian shall pay with their blood."

He took a deep breath and clenched his fists.

"it is good."

"Concentrate your forces and launch a frontal attack!"

"I'd like to see if they can stop my 50,000 elite Northern Di soldiers!"

"Issue the order: all soldiers must prepare provisions, supplies, and siege equipment within two days. Two days later, we will march on Yuzhou!"

"yes!"

Man Tu and Man Xiao clasped their fists in unison.

The savage butcher's eyes were filled with bloodthirsty excitement as he muttered:

"Su Mu, I want to personally twist off his head and hang it on the city wall so that the people of Daqian can see what happens when they oppose the Northern Barbarians."