Chapter 620: Brutal
Amidst the screams, Yan Liqiang didn’t even turn around on Snowstorm Cloud when he heard a sound coming from the left. He only reached out and seized the arrow that was flying toward him.
The arrow felt light in his grip. Without any force, it didn’t have much speed either. To Yan Liqiang, this was nothing but a joke to him. He turned his head around and spotted a youth hiding beside a tent. He was only twelve or thirteen years old, wearing a coat and a braid on his head. The boy looked at him with hatred in his eyes, holding a shabby small bow made of bamboo from which he launched the arrow earlier.
The Shatu youth didn’t seem to expect Yan Liqiang to catch the arrow which he had shot from behind. Therefore, he was shocked when Yan Liqiang turned his head around.
When Yan Liqiang saw the boy’s face, he hesitated for a slight moment — this boy was still a child…
However, the youth was unaware of Yan Liqiang’s hesitation. Seeing that Yan Liqiang made no attempt to retaliate, he immediately loaded another arrow and lifted his bow up to shoot Yan Liqiang again…
“Son of a b*tch, go to hell…!” A rhinodrake steed suddenly rushed to the Shatu boy. Peng Zhaohan lifted his machete and brought it down on the boy mercilessly.
The bow was broken and the boy was broken too. Amidst the flying blood, the Shatu boy’s neck and a side of his shoulder were immediately separated from his body. Blood spurted out and splattered on Peng Zhaohan’s face.
“My lord…!” Peng Zhaohan turned around and wiped the fresh blood on his face. He looked as though he had just crawled out from a sea of blood.
“Be careful…!” Yan Liqiang suddenly threw the arrow in his hand. The arrow broke through the air noisily and pierced the forehead of another Shatu boy who was running toward Peng Zhaohan with a knife in hand. The boy’s body flew back several meters before he fell heavily to the ground.
There were a few more people behind the boy — two women and an old man. All of them were holding weapons in their hands. Without waiting for them to come, Peng Zhaohan and another few young men from the Wind Border Stockade charged at them on their rhinodrake steeds. A few sword gleams flashed by. Those people let out blood-curdling screams then fell in pools of blood…
Peng Zhaohan continued his killing spree with a few other people. One of the young men from the Wind Border Stockade even poured pine oil on the torch in his hand, then set a tent at the side on fire…
The flames from the Shatu tent rose slowly to the dusky sky, basking Yan Liqiang’s face in red light.
Yan Liqiang looked at the dead Shatu boy in the distance as the expression on his soft face slowly turned determined in the flickering red light — this wasn’t a personal vendetta but a war between the races. As a member of the Shatu Seven Tribes, they were Yan Liqiang’s enemies the moment they were born. This was their biggest sin!
This grassland wasn’t theirs to begin with; it was borrowed land from the Great Han Empire. They had settled down here by the Great Han Empire’s grace, yet they bared their fangs against the Great Han Empire. The brothers, fathers, and seniors of these people were the ones who assaulted the Wind Border Stockade today. When they grew up, they would no doubt repeat the same thing.
They were part of the Shatu Seven Tribes, invaders of the Gulang Plains, and also the beneficiaries of the Great Han Empire. Therefore, when Yan Liqiang had to make a decision between watching them plunging their knives into his men or his men cutting their heads off, he chose the latter without any hesitation because he was the Qiyun Protectorate General. He was the man whom these soldiers trusted and relied on!
Only the dead people from the Shatu Seven Tribes could be considered good people!
Yan Liqiang raised his eyes to look at the others around him. Regardless of the cavalry from White Stone Pass or the soldiers from the Wind Border Stockade, no one seemed to hesitate when they killed. To them, any people from the Shatu Seven Tribes were their enemies regardless of gender and age. These were the people who truly understood the cruelty of war. Even the five hundred guards Yan Liqiang brought with him didn’t hesitate when they drew their bows at those Shatu people.
It seemed like among all these people, only Yan Liqiang who had lived two lifetimes had some compassion left in him.
Yan Liqiang laughed self-deprecatingly at himself. He let out a long sigh and got rid of all the distracting thoughts in his mind.
The sky was gradually turning dark. By now, Yan Liqiang’s party had seized total victory in the battle. With the cavalry he brought with him sweeping through the Tuli Tribe’s settlement like a wildfire, the battle today was coming to an end. Apart from the burning tents here, there were only people fleeing in all directions like extremely frightened rabbits. Most of the men who were capable of fighting and didn’t escape had been reduced to corpses lying on the ground. According to the rules on the Gulang Plains, those who were lucky enough to survive shouldn’t be able to re-establish the Tuli Tribe again and would instead be annexed by other tribes. Hence, it could be said that the Tuli Tribe, a small tribe from the Shatu Seven Tribes, had officially become history…
“Protectorate General…!” Tie Yunshan, who was covered in blood, led his men to Yan Liqiang and made a report. “We have neutralized the resistance of the Tuli Tribe. Those who can escape have pretty much escaped…”
Yan Liqiang nodded, then looked in the northwestern direction from his steed. Most of the Shatu people from the Tuli Tribe had chosen to flee in that direction. He pointed in that direction and inquired, “Is that where the Coyote Tribe and other tribes are?”
“Yes. Bakeyi Tribe, a tribe from the Coyote Tribe, is just about eighty li away from here. They have a higher population than the Tuli Tribe. In fact, they have nearly ten thousand tents…”
“Eighty li?” Yan Liqiang pondered for a moment, then looked up at the sky again. The weather was fine tonight and the sky was cloudless. By this time, the sky was completely dark and filled with stars. Despite being late in the night, visibility in the plains was still great thanks to the weather and the moonlight. The army was able to move freely without torches too.
“If someone escaped to the Bakeyi Tribe to inform them about the news here, the reinforcements should arrive within four hours…”
“That’s about right!”
“Inform all men to return after giving chase for twenty li from here. Do not venture further than that…!”
“Understood!” Tie Yunshan replied. An attendant beside him took out the horn he was carrying, then blew it. The unique and melodious sound it made instantly echoed far and wide. This was how cavalry communicated during a battle. The message conveyed by the sound of the horn was — one, to give chase, and two, for only twenty li! All the cavalry in the Great Han Empire would be able to understand. Likewise, Yan Liqiang’s guards were able to understand the instructions too.
