Chaotic World Book-Chapter 285 - 280 Though Thousands of People I Shall Go

The setting sun descended in the west, and the desert at dusk was littered with corpses for miles, with severed limbs scattered everywhere, the blood of men and horses mixing together, staining the yellow sands.

Ba Tu’s troops were invading He Shan’s camp, and Zhao Changhe and Yue Hongling stood behind him, watching. To their surprise, the slaughter was not as horrific as they had imagined. After all, they were from the same tribe, and once the "chief evil" was eliminated and the camp’s flags were replaced, the camp quickly came under Ba Tu’s power, a transition so swift it required less than an hour.

In fact, it was not unusual for different tribes to do the same, snowballing into larger forces.

However, alliances with different tribes usually took on a "membership" quality, different from the system in Central Earth.

It was He Lei who had once truly submitted to Tie Muer as a loyal follower, otherwise he wouldn’t have been sent on a mission to the Central Plains like a special forces operative despite being on the Earth List. Precisely because he was on the Earth List, he understood better than anyone the terrifying power of the third-place holder on the Heavenly List.

But Ba Tu didn’t have such awareness; ignorance meant fearlessness.

Zhao Changhe silently criticized Ba Tu’s ignorance and fearlessness. Ba Tu also glanced at them sideways, secretly thinking that this pair was truly fearless.

How dared they follow him right in, without fear of being captured by him and delivered to the Great Khan?

But he knew he wouldn’t dare.

Having experienced the affair at Yangzhou, Chi Li had once analyzed to him that Zhao Changhe was most likely from the Demon Suppression Department, and thus an official representing Great Xia. It was clear what it meant to stir trouble behind the scenes here. And now, his actions had definitely angered the Great Khan. Although he might not be attacked for it, it would be foolish not to leave an escape route for himself. Zhao Changhe was the escape route that fell into his lap; how dare he offend him lightly? freёweɓnovel_com

Even though he knew he had been deceived before by Zhao Changhe using the identity of a "Maitreya Sect magic user," he dared not show his anger and instead had to put on a generous and hospitable smile, "Bring the wine! I want to host a feast for my friends!"

While he claimed to be hosting a feast, inside the tent he sent away everyone else, leaving just the three of them seated with their sly grins full of ulterior motives.

Yue Hongling crossed her arms in annoyance, "Since when are you and he friends again?"

Zhao Changhe pulled her to sit down, winking, "Back in Yangzhou, Brother Ba Tu and I crossed swords. We are both friends and enemies, appreciating each other’s worth."

Ba Tu also said, "Just now, Miss Yue also saved me. I am grateful to you."

As he spoke, he picked up a bowl of wine and drained it as a gesture of respect.

Yue Hongling said with a stern face, "I was just stealing the horse."

Although everyone knew that saving Ba Tu was what gave birth to strategic significance, it remained unsaid.

Ba Tu, following the conversation about the horse, said, "That is a precious horse from the Western Regions, gifted to my uncle when he traveled south, but the uncle never returned... The horse was selfishly claimed by He Shan."

Zhao Changhe said, "To put it another way, does that mean the horse should actually belong to you?"

Ba Tu waved his hand, "Not at all, the horse was seized by Miss Yue in battle, so it belongs to Miss Yue."

Both parties paused there, and suddenly found themselves at a loss for topics, unsure how to delve into deeper matters.

When Zhao Changhe previously claimed to be a practitioner of Maitreya’s magic, he pointed out to Ba Tu the most severe implication: "Brother Ba Tu, I suggest you abandon any hope for luck. Those who want to swallow your tribe are none other than the Great Khan himself."

It was that sentence that spurred Ba Tu to draw a knife on Hu Lie, raising his army, annihilating the Desert Wolves, unifying the Battle Lion Tribe, and starting their rebellion for the survival of his own tribe.

But this was based on the premise that "Fa Dian" claimed, "Our potential allies are very numerous." Convinced of foreign support, Ba Tu dared to entertain the notion.

But where was this bastard now? Zhao Changhe, not some Maitreya magic practitioner, the foreign aid turned out to be Great Xia... Although he knew it could only be so, Ba Tu’s uncle had just died at the hands of Great Xia, and he truly couldn’t immediately come to terms with this.

After a long silence, Zhao Changhe leisurely took a sip of horse milk wine and asked, "By rights, there should be many of Wu Balu’s men searching for me nearby, so why don’t I see them?"

Ba Tu snapped back to reality, casually replying, "They’re looking for you on the other side of the mountain where you disappeared... Actually, there aren’t many of them, most have already retreated. Even fewer over here."

"Retreated?"

"Of course, how could Wu Balu possibly leave his troops in the mountains to look for merely two people." Ba Tu paused for a moment, then sneered coldly, "He was mediating between myself and He Shan, but I moved my army ahead of schedule, intentionally thwarting their envoy’s efforts and finishing this battle early. All this so-called mediation is just to force my tribe into a long-term split, how could I possibly abide by his wishes?"

Zhao Changhe said, "Then is he likely to come and attack you?"

"Right now, his military force is much smaller than mine."

"Then do you dare to attack him?"

"Ba Tu is the commander assigned by the Great Khan to the Yellow Sand Market, to move against him is to move against the Great Khan."

"Or are you still expecting the Great Khan to welcome you with open arms? Or do you just plan to unify the Tribes only to turn around and kneel before Tie Muer?"

Ba Tu remained silent.

Once he unified the Battle Lion Tribe, he would be a powerful sovereign in his own right. During the decisive battle at Yanmen, it was unlikely that Tie Muer would cross him; rather, he would probably recognize Ba Tu’s position as Khan of the Battle Lion Tribe and then join forces to attack Yanmen.

However, it was uncertain whether he would turn against him after the fact.

The logic on the grassland was simple; if you wanted to ensure no betrayal afterwards, you had to become even stronger yourself.

Ba Tu had a comprehensive plan... He still held Hu Lie captive, and the next step was to coerce Hu Lie’s tribe using this leverage. Even if he couldn’t completely swallow them up, he could trade for a large number of cattle, sheep, and horses. By then, his power would genuinely be on par with the Great Khan’s, who would have to think twice about going back on their word.

In other words, he wasn’t necessarily reliant on Zhao Changhe, an unlikely ally from Great Xia who couldn’t really reach the grassland. This was just a fallback, and its significance was actually quite small. The best strategy was actually to reconcile with the Great Khan, declare allegiance, and follow orders to fight at Yanmen, while conspiring against the Hu Lie Tribe in secret.

Thinking this, Ba Tu felt even less inclined to deal with Zhao Changhe. If word got out to the Great Khan that he was colluding with Zhao Changhe in secret, it would just create unnecessary complications.

As he pondered this, a personal soldier lifted the tent flap and hurried in, whispering into Ba Tu’s ear.

Ba Tu listened with a frown, then suddenly smiled at Zhao Changhe, "It’s already dark outside. Brother Zhao, you might as well stay here for the night. I have some matters to attend to and must excuse myself. Don’t take it as discourtesy."

Zhao Changhe casually continued to eat his mutton and drink his wine, nonchalantly saying, "Go on, go on."

Ba Tu smiled and said, "You two may not have had the chance to properly experience staying in a grassland tent before. It’s not a bad experience."

Having said that, he quickly left, and the hospitality tent instantly became lodging for guests.

Zhao Changhe gnawed on a lamb leg, turned to Yue Hongling with a smile, "Everything in the mountains is fine, just no food; we had to rely on pure energy to fill ourselves, and it made my mouth taste like bird. Coming out here, gnawing on roasted lamb and drinking horse milk wine feels really great."

Yue Hongling sipped her wine, "This wine tastes too strong, I don’t like it."

Zhao Changhe asked, "You want to drink Central Plains wine here?"

Yue Hongling asked, "What’s your cunning plan?"

Zhao Changhe stood up, prying a small gap in the tent to look outside. Torches flickered all around, some guards patrolled back and forth, watching this place nervously.

He smirked slightly, "Ba Tu is too sloppy with his actions... Even a pig analyzing this situation would know that Wu Balu’s Envoy has arrived."

Yue Hongling nodded, "Hmm."

"Ba Tu isn’t driven to a dead end, so he hasn’t made the decision to completely turn against Great Khan Tie Muer. He’s still thinking about using a powerful tribe as support to make Tie Muer wary and able to unify for battle. If he continues down this line of thought, then we’re just handcrafting a brand-new Battle Lion Tribe to replace He Lei in the attack on Yanmen, that’s all."

Yue Hongling understood his meaning, "Moreover, if he makes a definitive decision, then both of us would end up being sacrificed."

"It won’t be that easy," said Zhao Changhe, his eyes showing a hint of malevolence in the firelight, "He can’t make a decision; we’ll make it for him... It’s nothing but a repeat of the old tricks in front of the Wang Family."

Yue Hongling looked at her lover’s profile, her eyes filled with unabashed admiration.

When Wu Balu’s Envoy died in Ba Tu’s tent, Great Khan wouldn’t listen to any excuses. Ba Tu would have no defense, leaving him no other choice but to turn to Great Xia.

Just like killing the Maitreya Envoy in front of Wang Daoning, Maitreya wasn’t present and would only think how could Wang Daoning of the Heavenly List possibly fail to protect the Envoy unless he wanted the envoy dead. Here, it was the same; in the midst of tens of thousands of soldiers, an envoy gets assassinated? If it isn’t you wanting them dead, then who else, deceiving ghosts?

Yet, in the midst of tens of thousands of soldiers, assassinating an envoy, could that be comparable to a minor scuffle in front of the Wang Family’s house?

Zhao Changhe turned to look at her, smiling, "This is where tens of thousands of soldiers are. Are you scared, my female knight?"

Yue Hongling smiled slightly, "As long as I’m with you, even if there were a million brave soldiers ahead, what is there to fear?"

"Then let’s go; the night is dark and windy, perfect for a killing."

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