Chapter 74: A Grand Hodgepodge

There were barbarian tribes living near the oasis where the residence of the Marquis of Zhenbei stood.

But they could no longer be considered pure barbarian tribes.

They were like wolves of the grasslands that had been domesticated into house dogs.

When the first Marquis of Zhenbei began guarding the northern frontier, he accepted the chiefs of four barbarian tribes as his adopted sons.

He bestowed the surname “Li” upon them.

From generation to generation, their successors remained the Marquis’s “adopted sons.”

Thus, history had witnessed the absurd spectacle of a newly ennobled Marquis of Zhenbei barely past twenty sitting in the seat of honor while four white-haired tribal chiefs prostrated themselves before him and respectfully called him:

“Adoptive Father.”

Whenever war broke out, the Four Submission Tribes were required to conscript their young and strong men into barbarian cavalry formations and assist the Zhenbei Army in battle.

From the perspective of the barbarian tribes, they were barbarian traitors.

But one of the most ruthless things the first Marquis of Zhenbei had done was establish rules.

He loved rules.

Not only did he establish them for his own descendants, he established them for outsiders as well.

For instance, to prevent the Four Submission Tribes from continually growing stronger under the protection of the Marquis’s residence until they eventually became a tiger raised to bring disaster upon its master, he decreed that their populations would be counted every three years.

According to the needs of each period, a population limit would be set.

Any number exceeding that red line would immediately be dealt with.

Thus, whenever a census year arrived, many newborn infants among the Four Submission Tribes would be drowned by their own parents.

It was called... the Population Reduction Policy.

The policy was unquestionably cruel.

But it was extremely effective.

For a hundred years, the Four Submission Tribes had remained firmly chained to the war chariot of the residence of the Marquis of Zhenbei.

None dared step out of line.

Tonight, however, inside the territory controlled by the Naduo Tribe, one of the Four Submission Tribes, a particular tent was unusually lively.

Ten priests dressed in long black robes and wearing necklaces made from human skulls stood in a circle.

They began chanting and dancing.

Obscure curses poured from their mouths.

This was one of the most ancient songs upon this desert land.

Countless ages ago, the ancestors of the desert barbarians had sung this funeral song when bidding farewell to deceased family and friends.

An ancient jade-colored staff had been planted upright in the center.

As the ten priests chanted, it began shining brilliantly.

Outside the tent, an old man with white hair and a crimson robe looked up at the starry sky.

Beside him stood a muscular middle-aged man.

Although night had already fallen, the man remained bare-chested.

Black patterns covered his body, slowly flowing beneath the starlight.

“Naduo Jiayang.

“Has everything been concealed properly on your father’s side?” the old priest asked.

“Reporting to the High Priest.

“Tonight, I had the woman my father has favored most recently drug his wine.

“Father will sleep until noon tomorrow.

“The warriors guarding the surrounding area are all my trusted men as well.

“There will absolutely be no problems.”

“Rare.

“Truly rare.

“To think the Naduo Tribe still possesses a warrior as loyal as you.”

“With the Barbarian God above us, I, Naduo Jiayang, have never forgotten for a single day that I am a descendant of the Barbarian God.

“Every day, I pray for the Royal Court to return and lead us in driving out the people of Yan!”

“Mm.

“Unfortunately, your father remains stubborn and unenlightened.

“The other three tribes have forgotten their identities as well.”

“My father is old.

“He fears death.

“His faith has died.

“He brings shame upon the Barbarian God!

“The people of Yan are brutal.

“Every three years, I must watch newborn children of my tribe drowned amid the weeping of their parents.

“The people of Yan treat us like dogs beneath their feet!”

“And yet many people *want* to be dogs!”

Clear fury entered the old priest’s voice.

It was not as though the Royal Court had never tried to subvert the Four Submission Tribes.

Yet to this day, the only person they had successfully won over was Naduo Jiayang, eldest son of the Naduo Tribe’s chief.

That was perfectly understandable.

For the past hundred years, the residence of the Marquis of Zhenbei had always held the overwhelmingly dominant position.

When there was trouble beat the barbarian tribes.

When there was no trouble beat the barbarian tribes anyway.

The previous Marquis of Zhenbei had been even more excessive.

His birthday?

Beat the barbarian tribes to celebrate.

His mother’s birthday?

Beat the barbarian tribes to celebrate.

The Emperor of Yan’s birthday?

Beat the barbarian tribes to celebrate.

Nice weather today?

Beat the barbarian tribes!

The current Marquis of Zhenbei did not wage war nearly as frequently as his father had.

But the old priest knew perfectly well that this was not because the current Marquis had suddenly become kindhearted.

It was purely because his father had beaten the barbarian tribes too viciously while commanding the Zhenbei Army.

If they kept beating them, the Royal Court itself might collapse.

Perhaps, in the eyes of the current Marquis of Zhenbei, barbarians who appeared organized but were fundamentally incapable of truly organizing themselves were the most obedient barbarians of all.

They would continuously exhaust themselves through internal conflict.

Before the residence of the Marquis of Zhenbei showed signs of decline, how could the Four Submission Tribes possibly choose to “abandon darkness and embrace the light”?

“Even that Left Guli King was a bastard!”

The old priest suddenly began cursing Shatuo Que Shi.

He had personally discovered that gifted barbarian youth among the Shatuo Tribe.

Although Shatuo Que Shi had ultimately abandoned the path of the barbarian shaman, his talent on the Martial Path had been astonishing.

A Third-Grade Martial Artist.

On the battlefield, one man could stand against a thousand cavalry!

In the language of later generations, he was essentially a nation’s strategic nuclear weapon.

Yet after learning that the Shatuo Tribe had been exterminated, Shatuo Que Shi had knelt before the Barbarian King’s tent for three days and three nights.

He begged the Barbarian King to give him three thousand barbarian cavalry.

He wanted to take revenge against Yan!

The Barbarian King had not dared meet him.

The meaning could not have been clearer.

The Shatuo Tribe had been exterminated.

So be it.

If the Royal Court reacted too violently and completely enraged the residence of the Marquis of Zhenbei, then once all three hundred thousand iron cavalry of the Zhenbei Army marched out, the Royal Court might not even be able to preserve itself!

The old priest had tried to persuade him.

The Left and Right Wise Kings had both tried as well.

But after kneeling for three days and three nights, Shatuo Que Shi had actually handed over both his official seal and the golden saber symbolizing the supreme honor of the Left Guli King.

He said that from that moment onward, he was merely a commoner.

He had nothing to do with the Royal Court.

Since the Royal Court refused to speak, he would go demand an explanation himself.

That bastard!

He had genuinely gone alone to the gates of the residence of the Marquis of Zhenbei to throw his life away!

How much effort had the Royal Court spent cultivating him?

How much honor had the Barbarian King bestowed upon him?

And yet he had casually gone off to die!

Every time the old priest thought about it over the past two days, his heart ached unbearably.

When Shatuo Que Shi “resigned his office” and left, the Left Wise King had even brought two Grand Protectors to stop him.

Shatuo Que Shi had simply beaten his way through them.

From that moment onward, the Royal Court had placed the old priest in charge of handling the aftermath.

Shatuo Que Shi’s death could no longer be reversed.

Therefore, his physical body would be the interest the Royal Court recovered.

The corpse of a Third-Grade Martial Artist.

A man who had slaughtered countless enemies before dying, his body saturated in baleful energy.

If they could recover it and refine it, they could create a corpse puppet whose strength approached infinitely close to that of a Third-Grade Martial Artist.

And when it came to refining corpse puppets, the Royal Court’s Shrine possessed unmatched experience.

The old priest had heard that deep within the great marshes of the State of Chu, the Yue tribes also possessed a tradition of refining corpse puppets.

But he did not believe that the corpse-refining methods of those insignificant Yue people could possibly compare with his own.

At that moment, the tent flap opened from within.

A priest bowed.

“High Priest.

“We have established contact.”

“Good.”

The High Priest glanced at Naduo Jiayang.

Jiayang immediately thrust out his chest and said solemnly, “High Priest, please rest assured.

“I will guarantee the safety of this place.

“No one will be permitted to disturb you!”

“Jiayang.

“Once tonight’s business is finished, find some excuse to claim that you are ill and cannot receive visitors.

“Then come to the Royal Court.

“I will arrange for you to cultivate in the Shrine.”

Jiayang immediately dropped to his knees.

With complete sincerity, he said, “Many thanks for the High Priest’s cultivation!”

“Mm.”

The High Priest reached out and patted Jiayang’s shoulder.

“You must believe that there are still many years ahead of us.

“As descendants of the Barbarian God, we will one day rule this world again!”

With those words, the High Priest left the still-blood-boiling Jiayang outside and entered the tent.

“Begin.

“Call back the warrior of our people!

“Let him return once more to the tent of the Barbarian God as a warrior!”

“The Barbarian God above!”

“The Barbarian God above!”

All ten priests dropped to their knees.

Each held a dagger.

They sliced open their own palms.

Blood flowed onto the ground beneath their feet, then slowly converged upon the ancient jade-colored staff.

The High Priest spread both arms.

He cried out, “Re... turn...

“Re... turn... to us...”

...

Inside a room in the Marquis’s residence, Zheng Fan lay on the bed.

He held the stone containing the sealed Demon Pill in one hand, casually tossing it up and catching it.

He was still chewing over everything the Sixth Prince had told him that evening.

The Sixth Prince was an intelligent man.

Zheng Fan had absolutely no doubts about that.

The things he had said tonight contained far too many hints.

Given his identity, he had undoubtedly seen through certain hidden currents that even many ministers of the imperial court had failed to notice.

Something enormous was about to happen in the north.

Actually, according to the Blind Man’s original plan, Tiger Head City was only suitable as their first foothold.

Once their power developed to a certain point, they would need to move their nest.

The residence of the Marquis of Zhenbei stood across the northern plains like an enormous colossus.

Its very existence placed too many restrictions on their development.

So... were they genuinely going to expand south?

Knock, knock, knock!

Someone knocked on the door.

Then came the Sixth Prince’s voice.

“Lieutenant Commander Zheng!

“Get up!

“Time to watch the show!”

...

“Achoo!”

“Achoo!”

“Achoo!”

The Sixth Prince sneezed three times in succession.

His constitution clearly could not withstand the bitter night wind.

Especially since he was currently sitting on horseback rather than inside his warm carriage.

“Lieutenant Commander Zheng, aren’t you cold?” the Sixth Prince asked Zheng Fan, who was also mounted beside him.

“I put two extra layers of clothing beneath my armor.”

“Why didn’t you remind me earlier?”

“Your Highness didn’t ask.”

“They’re here.

“They’re here.

“See those three barbarians?”

The Sixth Prince pointed ahead and whispered to Zheng Fan.

“I see them.”

“They are chiefs of the Four Submission Tribes under the residence of the Marquis of Zhenbei.

“Three of them have come.”

“And the fourth?”

“There.

“Look around.”

Zheng Fan swept his gaze across the surroundings.

He quickly understood.

The entrance to the drill ground was now packed densely with warhorses and soldiers.

Despite the bitter wind, their ranks remained perfectly ordered.

The murderous pressure in the air was almost thick enough to suffocate a man.

“Look.

“The Old Marchioness is coming.”

Zheng Fan looked ahead.

A war chariot slowly emerged from the military formation.

As a battlefield weapon, the war chariot had long since become obsolete in this era.

Nowadays, it was more often used by commanders directing armies or as a ceremonial implement in military rites.

This particular chariot was drawn by eighteen warhorses.

Two great generals stood at its front.

One held a longbow.

The other rested his hands upon an iron sword.

Behind the two generals stood a woman wearing golden armor.

The woman was no longer young.

Yet time seemed to have shown her extraordinary mercy.

Zheng Fan knew that the reason everyone had gathered at the Marquis’s residence was to celebrate the Old Marchioness’s fiftieth birthday.

But looking at the golden-armored woman before him, it was almost impossible to associate her with a fifty-year-old woman.

Beside the Old Marchioness stood a young general in red armor.

Zheng Fan recognized her.

The Princess.

“Among the seven Regional Commanders beneath the residence of the Marquis of Zhenbei, the bowman is Li Chenghui.

“Years ago, while fighting the barbarians, he once entered deep into the desert alone.

“When he returned, he carried the thumbs of dozens of barbarian eagle-shooters.

“The swordsman is Li Liangshen.

“His swordsmanship has long since reached the pinnacle.

“The Sword Saint of Jin once came to the Marquis’s residence specifically to seek him out.

“After leaving, the Sword Saint told others that in a formal contest, Li Liangshen was not his match.

“But if they fought on a battlefield, Li Liangshen would cut off his head.

“Supposedly both men are Third-Grade Martial Artists.

“The same realm as Shatuo Que Shi, who came knocking at the gates the day before yesterday.”

Zheng Fan nodded.

All of them were genuine monsters.

And this display... was enormous.

Only because he had borrowed the Sixth Prince’s status could Zheng Fan stand this close and witness it personally.

Oh, right.

What had Xiang Yu said when he saw the First Emperor’s imperial procession?

The war chariot stopped.

Every Zhenbei soldier standing around it raised his weapon.

“TIGER!”

“TIGER!”

“TIGER!”

Three barbarian chiefs walked forward trembling.

While they were still a considerable distance from the war chariot, all three dropped to their knees and crawled the remaining distance.

Of the three chiefs, one was middle-aged.

The other two were white-haired old men.

They were unquestionably far older than the Old Marchioness.

Yet now, all three chiefs kowtowed in terror.

“Your children greet Mother!

“May Mother live ten thousand years!”

“The chiefs of the Submission Tribes are considered adopted sons of every generation of Marquis of Zhenbei.

“Age doesn’t matter.

“Only seniority.

“Even if the current Marquis were some little brat, they would still have to respectfully call him Father.”

The Sixth Prince quietly explained it to Zheng Fan.

“This old woman cannot accept such a grand salute.”

“Your child is guilty!”

“Your child is guilty!”

The three chiefs slammed their foreheads against the ground.

“Tell me.

“Is there such a thing beneath heaven as a child who betrays his parents?” the Old Marchioness asked.

Zheng Fan immediately turned toward the Sixth Prince.

The Sixth Prince became uncomfortable under his stare.

Annoyed, he said, “There are plenty of common families where fathers and sons turn against one another over property and even kill each other.

“Stop staring only at my imperial family.”

“The Naduo Tribe has changed its heart.

“The Marquis is away from home.

“Have you decided that the widows and orphans of the Li Clan are no longer worthy of your respect?”

The Old Marchioness spoke slowly.

“Your child is willing to lead the warriors of my tribe and wash the Naduo Tribe in blood for Mother!”

“The Naduo Tribe has betrayed its allegiance and forgotten the grace of the Marquis’s residence!

“They deserve extermination!”

The three chiefs immediately swore to heaven and begged for battle.

The Old Marchioness lowered her eyelids.

Then she spoke.

“Before dawn, I want the Naduo Tribe to become a place where not even the bleating of a single sheep can be heard.

“If you cannot accomplish that—this old woman has no need for disobedient children or useless children.”

“TIGER!”

“TIGER!”

“TIGER!”

“Your child obeys!”

“Your child obeys!”

“Your child obeys!”

The three chiefs immediately rose and returned to their respective tribes to summon their warriors.

The soldiers inside the drill ground also began marching out in perfectly ordered formations.

When the three tribes attacked the Naduo Tribe, the Zhenbei Army would stand outside and hold the line!

The Old Marchioness remained upon the war chariot as the central army slowly moved forward.

She truly possessed the bearing of an old matriarch leading her clan to war.

Except those legendary tales were often fiction.

The authority wielded by this Old Marchioness was very real.

Compared with her overwhelming, terrifying presence, the Princess standing beside her looked almost adorably tiny like a little quail.

“First pacify the outside before settling the inside,” Zheng Fan sighed.

The Sixth Prince looked at him curiously.

“I genuinely want to know.

“Where do you get so many memorable lines?”

Zheng Fan sighed.

Then, with the sort of perfunctory attitude that openly declared I’m brushing you off and I’m too lazy even to pretend otherwise, he answered, “Read more books.”

“You’re awful.”

“Aren’t we going along to watch?”

“Why would we?

“Those barbarians are all missing a screw.

“Once they realize they’re doomed and have no hope of survival, who knows whether they’ll decide to imitate the Left Guli King and drag someone important down with them?

“I’m a Prince of The Great Yan Dynasty.

“I’m exactly the kind of target they like best.

“I’ve already been assassinated once.

“Why would I shamelessly stick my face out there again?

“Lieutenant Commander Zheng—can you block another blade for me?”

“This subordinate did not previously know Your Highness was merely an idle prince.”

“You’re far too realistic!”

The drill ground had mostly emptied.

Just as Zheng Fan prepared to ride back to the residence with the Sixth Prince, he saw a bare-chested man carrying twin hammers slowly walk beneath the ceremonial archway.

“Li Yuanhu.

“One of the seven Regional Commanders of the residence of the Marquis of Zhenbei,” the Sixth Prince said.

This hammer-wielding general was the same man who had fought Shatuo Que Shi when the latter came to challenge the Marquis’s residence.

At present, however, iron spikes were strapped across the general’s back.

Clear traces of dried blood remained there.

He looked every inch a man undergoing punishment for a crime.

BANG!

Li Yuanhu slammed both hammers onto the ground.

Two pits immediately appeared beneath them.

Then he sat down cross-legged.

He raised his head and stared at the mutilated corpse of Shatuo Que Shi hanging above him.

“I’ll wait for you.

“This time, I will not retreat.”

In the cold wind, Shatuo Que Shi’s mutilated corpse continued swaying gently.

Farther outside stood another formation of heavily built Zhenbei soldiers carrying battle-axes and thick shields.

“Lieutenant Commander Zheng.

“Looking at all this... why do I get the feeling that corpse is going to cause more trouble?”

The Sixth Prince was extremely perceptive.

Although his body prevented him from cultivating martial arts, he quickly noticed that something was wrong.

Zheng Fan nodded solemnly.

“That’s why cremation really should be implemented as soon as possible.”

...

The desert.

A sand dune.

The little wolf cub, who had nearly fallen asleep, suddenly opened his eyes.

He clutched his dagger tightly, pressed himself against the ground, and listened to the tremors traveling through the earth.

Feng Siniang stood atop the dune.

Under the moonlight, she watched a vast black torrent rolling forward in the distance.

“Liang Cheng.

“Looks like the situation has changed.”

What had originally seemed like a simple burglary was beginning to look more like the master of the house had deliberately invited the thieves into a trap.

Liang Cheng slowly opened his eyes.

He looked at Siniang.

“They are summoning the corpse that is about to absorb baleful energy.

“Once it transforms, they want it to return directly to the Royal Court.”

Siniang looked at Liang Cheng in confusion.

“And?”

“Because both sides are operating on the same frequency, I seem to be capable of summoning that corpse as well.”

“Then give it a try.

“Change its destination coordinates from the Royal Court to Tiger Head City...

“No.

“Meijiawu.”

Liang Cheng frowned slightly.

Siniang noticed.

“What?”

“That corpse does not know me.

“It will not respond to my summons.

“Generally speaking, a corpse reacts to things that were familiar to it while alive.”

Siniang hesitated for a moment.

Then said, “Ask him whether he still remembers Chongqing hotpot, Shaanxi minced-meat noodles, and Northeastern grand hodgepodge!”

(End of Chapter)