Chapter Ninety-Four: Contest of Strength (28)

In the Lianghaiter Tribe camp, it was the darkness before dawn, and the rain still came down in sheets. The lightning had ceased, and all around lay nothing but blackness.

In the tent where Roden had been staying, several of Lielie’s men were huddled inside, sullenly listening to the rain.

Under normal circumstances, with such a sudden downpour, these trusted followers—left behind in the tribe by Lielie—should have hurried to rescue the fox pelts. The fox pelts brought in this time would have been enough to buy the Lianghaiter Tribe a full year’s livelihood at the autumn market.

But where was the heart for such things now?

Only after suppressing the unrest within the Lianghaiter tribe had Lielie taken the rest of his confidants away to curry favor at the tent of the Thousand-Yue King. That alone was nothing; now that Lielie’s standing in the new Nine-Clan Alliance had risen, their own status would naturally rise with it.

Who could have imagined that the damned camp of the Thousand-Yue had suddenly burst into a blaze of fire at night?

While everyone was still panicking and wondering whether they should go take a look, Heng'an armored cavalry had ridden out of the city in large numbers, and then from the wilderness came the sound of battle cries. After that came the patrols of Heng'an’s Eaglewing Command, who sealed off the camps pitched here by the various peoples of the steppe who had come to trade, leaving everyone unable to move.

No one knew what had happened. No one knew what to do. Everyone was in a state of alarm and confusion.

At such a moment, some were already regretting ever joining Lielie’s commotion. When Roden had been in power, things had not been glorious, but the Lianghaiter Tribe had shut itself off from the world, and everyone had lived in peace and comfort. Why had they been bewitched into following Lielie’s grand ambition of claiming the khanate over the steppe?

The rain outside showed no sign of easing. One of Lielie’s men suddenly rose and kicked over the table in the tent.

“What are we still standing around here for? Heng'an has already struck at the Thousand-Yue Tribe. Lielie isn’t coming back! I don’t care what you all think—I’m leaving first!”

The others looked up, staring blankly as that man strode toward the entrance. The moment he lifted the curtain, a flash of steel cut across the darkness. His windpipe and esophagus were slit at once, and blood sprayed everywhere. Clutching his throat, he made a choking sound, then crashed to the ground.

Everyone sprang up at once, fumbling for their blades, only to freeze where they stood.

The one who stepped in from outside the tent was Lielie.

This steppe man, who had first met Xu Le as a tall, steady figure with a broad, hearty smile, now stood before them with bloodshot eyes, his whole body spattered with mud and rain, his gaze full of madness.

Seeing the blood on the tent wall, seeing the red in Lielie’s eyes, everyone went rigid, chills running down their spines.

When Xu Le set the Thousand-Yue tribe’s stables ablaze and the chaos in the Thousand-Yue camp had only just begun, Lielie had turned and fled.

The reason was simple: the battle that day had utterly shattered his courage. For all his self-regard, he was in truth only a steppe man from a small tribe who had never seen the wider world. When had he ever witnessed such a brutal, world-shaking slaughter?

He had thought that in pursuit of ambition he was not afraid of death. Only after facing it for himself did he understand how wrong he had been.

In his bones, he feared death.

After fleeing the Thousand-Yue camp, Lielie made straight for the Lianghaiter tribe’s settlement.

On the road, he saw the Thousand-Yue camp blazing with fire. He endured a sudden thunderstorm over the wilderness and, in flashes of lightning, clearly saw Heng'an armored cavalry crashing hard into the Thousand-Yue ranks.

The alliance of the Nine Clans was doomed. The Thousand-Yue Tribe, too, was likely beyond saving. Now was the time to seize the confusion and gather the men of the Lianghaiter Tribe who had come here with him, then hurry back to the tribal lands beneath the Yin Mountains and take full control of the Lianghaiter Tribe once and for all.

When they had come to the Yunzhong grand market, Roden had naturally brought only the tribe’s strongest men. At first, Lielie had not been anxious; it would have been enough to control these most capable fighters of the Lianghaiter Tribe and take the rest slowly after returning.

But now he had to act at once. It was vital to secure the tribe first.

Before Heng'an’s Eaglewing Command had tightened its patrols around the camps of the steppe peoples, Lielie had finally slipped into the Lianghaiter camp through the rain. As he reached the tent, he heard one of his former confidants suggest that they scatter and leave at once. Lielie said nothing, only lay in wait outside. When the man came near, Lielie struck with a single slash!

He had already lost his grand ambition. He could not lose control of the Lianghaiter Tribe as well.

Lielie stepped into the tent and swept a hard, furious glance over the stunned faces within before speaking at last. “Is there anyone else here who still means to leave?”

Several of his pale-faced followers lowered their heads. At last one of them said in a trembling voice, “Aren’t we all just waiting for your command, Lielie?”

Lielie wiped rain from his face with a rough motion and rasped, “We cannot stay here. Move while the Heng'an troops haven’t massed yet. Take only the horses, weapons, and dry rations for the road. Leave everything else.”

The others stared at him in silence. Lielie barked again, “What are you waiting for?”

Startled nearly out of their wits, the men hastily jumped to their feet and rushed out into the rain to make arrangements. The strongest men, the horses, the grain, the weapons—all had to be gathered together. Whether they would make it in time was another matter. They could only hope this storm would slow the Heng'an Eaglewing troops a little.

At that very moment, amid the sound of rain outside, strange noises rose once more.

Everyone in the tent froze and listened. Lielie did the same, and then his expression changed violently.

It was the sound of horse hooves trampling through mud, the faint clink of armor and weapons. The Heng'an Eaglewing troops had already arrived.

A voice rose from the rain, ripping through the dense curtain of water: “By order of Liu Eaglestrike, seize the rebels of the Lianghaiter Tribe!”

Dozens, then a hundred voices answered with a roar: “Yes!”

Countless grappling hooks suddenly tore through the tent wall and seized the poles that supported it, pulling outward with all their strength. With a sound like rending silk, the tent that had once housed Roden was torn to pieces, and the rain poured down without restraint.

A pale strip of dawn had already appeared on the horizon. Inside the tent, they could see a ring of armored Heng'an Eaglewing troops surrounding them, each man holding a grappling hook in one hand and a shield in the other, encircling them as tightly as a band of iron.

Elsewhere in the Lianghaiter settlement, the remaining tents were likewise surrounded by Heng'an troops, and one after another, the young men of the tribe were being driven out.

Roden had brought only thirty or forty strong men of the tribe with him this time, after all the Lianghaiter Tribe was only a small one among the Nine Clans. Yet now there were more than a hundred Heng'an Eaglewing troops. Using the rain as cover, they had silently taken control of the entire settlement.

Lielie stared blankly outside and saw, beyond the Heng'an soldiers with their armor and shields, three riders standing side by side.

Roden, his hair gone white, was soaked through, and he looked at Lielie, whom he had once regarded as a son or nephew, with a face full of pity. Belu stood closely at his side, guarding him with great care.

On Roden’s other side was Xu Le.

That damned Xu Le.

Xu Le, who had taken on the entire Thousand-Yue Tribe alone and in the end brought the Thousand-Yue defeat upon them.

Lielie wanted to shout and fight to the death, but when he saw Xu Le sitting his horse in the rain with that effortless, untroubled air, the gleaming cold light of the spear across his saddle, he could no longer control the violent trembling in his body.

In the heavy rain, Lielie collapsed to the ground and pressed his forehead to the earth. “Chief, spare my life!”

Roden looked fixedly at Lielie’s pitiful state and listened to his cries of terror and supplication. He slowly shook his head, then turned to Xu Le, who merely stood by and watched. “This is the new tribal chief I chose. This is my Lianghaiter Tribe. Ah-Le, why not let you take charge of the Lianghaiter Tribe instead?”