Chapter 8

When Zichen had finished shooting all the more than ten bundles of arrows, the morning sun had already risen in the sky. His tiger mouth was dripping with fresh blood, and his whole body was drained of strength. Zichen looked at the bright red sun in the sky, then grabbed the pitch-black Luochen bow and, dragging his heavy body, walked step by step toward Xiliang City.

The credit has been taken, and the celebration banquet has been attended. Zilie, it's time to leave, right?

"Brother Zichen, why are you here? The general has been looking for you all night..." As soon as Zichen arrived at the city gate, he saw Lin Hu standing there, looking anxious, as if waiting for him. Lin Hu and the others had long been in awe of Zichen after witnessing his two miraculous arrows.

If Zichen hadn't personally agreed to give the credit to Zilie, they would have been prepared to fight to the death to inform the court of the truth.

"Hmm, I was practicing archery outside... What does the general need me for?" Zichen said with a smile.

"I'm not quite sure, but you should go to the city lord's residence first..." Lin Hu shook his head.

"Alright..."

A moment later, Zichen arrived at the city lord's residence, where Ximen Zhan was already waiting in the hall.

"General, have you finally come to your senses?" Zichen walked into the council hall boldly and sat down without waiting for Ximen Zhan to invite him.

"Came to my senses? What do you mean?" Ximen Zhan was puzzled by Zichen's words.

"To marry your daughter to me?"

"Get out, at a time like this, you still have the heart to talk about such things..." Seeing Zichen's carefree appearance, Ximen Zhan was speechless. If he hadn't witnessed those two miraculous arrows with his own eyes yesterday, he wouldn't have believed that Zichen was a hidden expert.

"Today is sunny and the weather is so good, what else should we talk about?" Zichen said indifferently.

"Zichen, I don't know why you made that decision yesterday, but I know you must have your reasons. I didn't call you here to ask about those reasons. You have your choices, but there is one thing you must leave Xiliang City immediately..." Seeing Zichen's indifferent attitude, Ximen Zhan sighed inwardly and got straight to the point.

"Leave Xiliang City? Why?" Zichen looked surprised.

"Zilie has brought a military order from General Changsun Ce to garrison Xiliang City. From now on, he is the highest commander of Xiliang City, and even I have to follow his orders. I'm worried that he..." Ximen Zhan didn't finish, but Zichen already understood his meaning. He was worried that Zilie would take this opportunity to harm him.

Thinking of this, a warm current flowed through Zichen's heart. He had been in Xiliang City for quite some time, and during this period, he had always caused trouble, but Ximen Zhan had never blamed him. Now, he was even concerned about his safety. Apart from his father, this was the first care he had felt in this world.

Just as he was about to speak, heavy footsteps sounded from outside, and then the middle-aged man who had been following Zilie walked in.

"General Ximen, Young Master Zichen, Young General has something important to discuss with both of you." The man looked at Zichen with disdain.

"I understand, we'll be right over..." Ximen Zhan and Zichen exchanged glances, both shocked. Zilie was acting so quickly?

Regardless of what Zilie intended to do, he was now the highest commander of Xiliang City, so the two of them had no choice but to follow the soldier to where Zilie was staying.

Zilie wasn't staying at the city lord's residence but had led ten thousand black-clad iron cavalry to camp outside the city. He himself was staying in the camp. When Zichen and Ximen Zhan arrived, they saw Zilie standing in front of a large sand table, his eyes fixed on it.

"General Ximen, Brother, you're here. Wanyan Bilie will eventually learn of his son's death. If my guess is correct, to avenge his son, he will launch another attack on Xiliang City. However, we don't need to worry. From the time he learns the news, organizes his army, and reaches Xiliang City, it will take at least half a month. The reinforcements of fifty thousand troops sent by the general will arrive in two days. What I'm worried about now is the twenty thousand captives in the prisoner camp. If they cause trouble inside when the Golden Han attacks, it will be a big problem. Even twenty thousand unarmed demons are formidable. Therefore, these twenty thousand captives must be transported away. I have already contacted General Xiahou, who needs slave soldiers to fight the northern barbarians. Brother, I hereby appoint you as the commander of Zhenyuan, responsible for escorting this batch of slaves to Beiyun City. What do you think?" Zilie's face was always wearing a faint, kind smile, as if he really cared about Zichen.

Escorting slave soldiers wasn't a particularly difficult task, and directly appointing Zichen as a commander seemed like a form of care.

However, both Zichen and Ximen Zhan knew that Zilie wouldn't be so kind. Zichen had no official position before, only the status of an advisor. A commander was already a seventh-rank military officer, equivalent to a county magistrate. In the Tang Empire, which was founded on martial prowess, the authority of a seventh-rank military officer was even greater than that of a county magistrate.

But aside from Zichen's contributions, the commander position could only lead two thousand soldiers. For a regular prisoner escort, two thousand soldiers would be enough, as the number of prisoners often didn't exceed a thousand. However, this time, there were twenty thousand prisoners. Escorting ten times the number of prisoners with only two thousand soldiers was like walking a tightrope with a time bomb.

A slight misstep could lead to a fatal outcome.

"Little General, this..."

"Thank you, Brother, for your support. I will ensure the task is completed." Just as Ximen Zhan was about to speak up for Zichen, Zichen unexpectedly agreed, which left Ximen Zhan stunned.

When did Zichen become so obedient? Didn't he see that this was Zilie's scheme? What was he thinking?

"Ha ha, I knew you would agree. You haven't disgraced the Zichen family's reputation. However, with twenty thousand prisoners, demons are fierce by nature. To avoid causing harm to the empire's hinterland, the escort must not pass through the hinterland but must go around the Kunlun Mountains. Do you understand?" Zilie said calmly.

Upon hearing this, Ximen Zhan's face turned even more grim. The Kunlun Mountains were like a massive natural barrier, separating the grassland demons from the Tang Empire. Thanks to this barrier, the grassland demons had never been able to penetrate the empire's hinterland.

Even the great Khan of a hundred years ago, who had conquered the entire western wasteland of the Tang Empire, had only reached the Xilun Fort and then retreated.

Now, with the Tang Empire's strong national power, it was no longer content with just defending the Xilun Fort. Instead, it had built three military strongholds—Xizhou, Xiliang, and Xiyue—west of the Xilun Fort, on the outskirts of the Kunlun Mountains. These three strongholds protected the Xilun Fort like three stars in a crescent moon, and with these strongholds as the center, the empire had incorporated a hundred miles of grassland into its territory.

However, the Tang Empire's cavalry was limited. Apart from defending the areas around the three strongholds, most of the territory was still within the reach of the grassland demons. With the grassland demons' renowned iron cavalry, although they couldn't break through the three strongholds, they could easily raid other areas.

Zilie's order for Zichen to escort the prisoners around the Kunlun Mountains instead of through the eastern side was essentially a death sentence. Zichen would not only have to guard against the twenty thousand prisoners but also be on constant alert for the grassland demons' iron cavalry. Even with a full two-thousand-strong detachment, it would be a death sentence to face the grassland demons' iron cavalry. A few thousand iron cavalry would mean certain death for the entire escort.

Zilie was clearly trying to put Zichen to death.

"Understood!" Zichen's face showed no joy or sorrow, as if this were just a routine task.

"Good, as for the selection of the escort team, General Ximen, you can arrange it." Zilie said calmly.

"Yes..." Although Zilie's rank was lower than his, he had the military order from General Changsun Ce, so Ximen Zhan couldn't object.

"It's getting late, let's set out as soon as possible..." Zilie waved his hand indifferently.

Ximen Zhan and Zichen couldn't say much more. They bowed to Zilie and turned to leave.

After the two left, a figure in a black robe appeared in the tent, seemingly out of nowhere.

"Master, are you not worried that the general will be angry with such an obvious move?" The voice was that of a woman.

"Ha ha, angry? What can he do if he's angry? Everything I've done is for the public good. Even if he's angry, what can he do? He wouldn't really kill me, his legitimate son, for a bastard, would he?" Zilie sneered.

The figure fell silent. Bastard? In your eyes, he might be a bastard, but he is the general's most beloved son. Otherwise, why would the general have broken down his Ziting War Saber to forge that long bow?

"Have you done what I asked you to do?" Zilie, unaware of the figure's thoughts, asked again.

"Master, Wanyan Bilie should have already learned of his son's death and the route of the prisoner escort..." the figure said coldly.

"Ha ha, that's good. Luochen, Luochen? Father, for a bastard, you really are willing to go to great lengths, aren't you?" Thinking of the long bow made entirely of star steel in Zichen's hands, Zilie's eyes burned with jealousy.

Without that powerful divine bow, how could that weakling have killed the heavily protected Prince Wanyan Gu?

But this time, facing the Golden Han's retaliation, can you survive?

...

[Regarding the update time, since I have no more drafts, I will generally post one chapter around 10 AM and another around 3 PM...]

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