Chigu, territory of the Ying people.
Several travelers had come by to buy horses, and A'xun had easily closed the deal. Walking back, he let out a subconscious sigh.
Before leaving, his father had said he would return in a few days.
Yet the Ying people had waited for over a month, and their chieftain had still not appeared.
An atmosphere of unease began spreading through the tribe. A'xun tried his hardest to reassure everyone, but his prestige was not enough to command absolute respect. On top of that, he had to handle matters great and small for the tribe, often working through the night without sleeping a wink.
Only now did he truly understand how heavy a burden his father carried, and how mentally and physically exhausting it was to sit in that position.
Today, an envoy from the Yao Kingdom arrived once again with a new assignment.
This time, the mission was straightforward:
Robbery and murder.
A thought leader had recently emerged in the south, traveling widely to urge the various nations to join hands and resist the Yao people once more.
In the words of the Yao envoy, it was "spreading wicked lies to delude the masses."
Yet the people of the various kingdoms were very receptive to his message, always worked into a passionate fervor by his rallying cries.
As his reputation grew among the populace, he came to be known as the "National Preceptor" and was treated with great respect by several monarchs. It was said that within one kingdom's royal palace, he had spoken deeply with the king for three days and three nights, showing just how thoroughly he had won the ruler's favor.
Naturally, the Yao Kingdom could not sit idly by.
"My king often says that lies cannot replace hope," the Yao envoy delivered in his usual arrogant tone. "You are to shatter this false hope for my king!"
The Yao Kingdom required that this assassination be disguised as an ambush by roaming bandits.
Upon hearing this, Second Uncle slammed his hand on the table in fury. "Outrageous! For a figure of such renown, why doesn't the Yao Kingdom do the deed itself instead of having us kill him? If we really kill him, we won't be able to hold our heads high on the Shanjin Plain ever again. No, we won't do it!"
"Who do you think you are?" the Yao envoy sneered in an ambiguous tone. "Are you the one who calls the shots for the Ying tribe?"
Second Uncle glanced at A'xun, who hesitated a moment before stepping forward. "The chieftain is away; I call the shots for now. We won't—"
"We can accept!" a familiar voice called from outside. "But what terms does the Yao Kingdom offer?"
The chieftain had returned.
A'xun was overjoyed. "Father!"
Second Uncle was stunned. "What did you say? A shameless mission like this, and you want to take it?"
The chieftain strode inside, his back straight as a javelin. Before he even reached them, a blast of fierce wind rushed ahead, swallowing whatever words Second Uncle had left to say.
"People like that pull chestnuts from the fire and dance on blade tips—they're bound to meet with disaster sooner or later," the chieftain said coldly. "If we don't act, someone else will. The Yao Kingdom won't let him be. So let's be pragmatic: we'll help him achieve his martyrdom, and he'll help us get what we want!"
That last sentence was spoken to his younger brother.
A'xun's second uncle wanted to retort, but his elder brother's gaze was like that of a tiger about to tear its prey apart, glaring at him until his hands and feet went numb, rendering him momentarily speechless.
This was truly unusual; he was a battle-hardened warrior himself.
The Yao envoy immediately said, "Seventy thousand dan of grain. Harvests were poor everywhere this year; grain is expensive."
"Are you brushing off beggars?" The chieftain sneered. "After we finish this job, our debt to the Yao Kingdom will be wiped clean! Furthermore, from now on, we alone decide who we sell Chigu horses to—no more Yao Kingdom acting as middlemen! Take my words back to your court. If the Yao Kingdom agrees, we'll do it. Otherwise, find someone else!"
Once his father appeared, A'xun had stepped back.
Mengmeng leaned in and asked him in a low voice, "How much money do we owe the Yao Kingdom?"
"At first, it was a hundred and forty thousand taels," A'xun knew the accounts clearly. "By now, it's already reached three hundred and fifty thousand taels."
In five or six years, the total had more than doubled.
Mengmeng's jaw dropped in shock. "Huh? Th-that... did you calculate it wrong?"
A'xun said bitterly, "It was indeed calculated based on interest."
The Yao Kingdom hadn't miscalculated a single copper for them, but the interest rate itself was exorbitant!
"That's how the Yao Kingdom has always made money. When we fight a war, or when other nations fight a war, they have to borrow money from it. Once the fighting stops, the repayments begin."
When war raged, everyone's rear was on fire, and they had to borrow no matter how steep the interest rate.
And the Yao Kingdom's strength lay in its ability to actually collect debts; no one dared default on them.
"Do both sides in a war have to borrow from it?"
"Usually, yes. Who told the Yao Kingdom to be the wealthiest?" A'luo added. "Besides money, there are weapons, grain, armor, and more. As for the Yao Kingdom's usurious loans, I've only ever heard of the Julu Kingdom paying them off in the past."
The Ying people had long been suffocated under this crushing debt. When they couldn't pay, they had to carry out shady or outrageously unpopular deeds for the Yao Kingdom to work off the debt.
Mengmeng said venomously, "Those bloodsuckers!"
Over on the other side, the envoy's eyes widened in shock upon hearing the demand. "Are you mad?"
The Ying people had always obeyed them like dogs at their beck and call. Had he taken the wrong medicine this time?
The chieftain gripped his scabbard, drawing it slightly as chilling killing intent surged toward the Yao envoy.
The envoy retreated two steps in succession and yelled, "What do you think you're doing!"
"Are you the one who calls the shots on this?" The chieftain pointed outside. "Get back and deliver the message!"
The Yao envoy dared not linger. He scurried out like a wisp of smoke, only daring to look back and glare after retreating dozens of paces.
He truly couldn't make the call and could only report back to the King of Yao.
After he left, an uproar broke out among the Ying people.
Second Uncle fumed, "If we carry out this job, can we still have any standing on the Shanjin Plain?"
"Whether we have standing depends on our strength!" The chieftain turned to face him, his voice icy. "Back then, the Luodian Kingdom betrayed the alliance too. Why are their days so much better than ours, with almost no one daring to condemn them?"
He spoke the truth, and the clansmen looked at each other.
The Luodian Kingdom and the Ying people had defected together back then, yet over all these years, only the Ying people had suffered ostracism, disdain, and sanctions from surrounding nations. While Luodian also had a bad reputation, they still did business as usual and lived their lives as usual, seemingly barely affected.
Having made the same mistake, why was the treatment so different? This was something the Ying people had resented for years.
"Isn't it because Luodian has stronger military power and more men and horses? Since they can't defeat Luodian, they vent their anger on the Ying people!" The chieftain spat on the ground. "This damn world, full of snobbish fools who look down on the weak! Once we become strong ourselves, those around us won't dare say half a word against us!"
"How many utterly heartless things has the Yao Kingdom done over the years, and does anyone dare point at its nose and curse it?" He sneered again. "As long as we cast off our debt and freely trade our horses, why should we worry about not becoming rich and powerful? When that time comes, whoever dares point fingers at us, we'll chop off their hands and feet!"
These words rang with resolute force, stirring the blood of the clansmen.
Yes, whoever had the bigger fist had the right of it—that was the law of survival on the Shanjin Plain!
Second Uncle frowned, feeling something was off, but couldn't put his finger on it at the moment.
Only A'xun looked at his father with concern.
His father was fiercer and more short-tempered than before. Though what he said seemed to make sense, A'xun knew very well where he had gone.
In the end, a clan elder spoke up. "Everyone, calm down. The conditions the chieftain set are high; the Yao Kingdom might not even agree."
Hearing this, the Ying people actually felt a bit disappointed.
After the clansmen dispersed, the father and son returned to their quarters. Seeing no one around, A'xun finally dared ask his father:
"Did you get it?"
A look of pride appeared on the chieftain's face. "Of course!"
He took a step back, and his entire body was suddenly covered in a suit of black scale armor from head to toe, leaving only his neck and face exposed.
The armor appeared so abruptly that A'xun was startled. He saw that while its style was somewhat archaic, it was free of rust or stains, with scarcely even a scratch.
His own battle armor was scarred and battered, only recently taken by Mengmeng to be repaired, yet the Luosheng Armor his father had brought back from the ruins had scales as bright as new?
"Th-this is the Luosheng Armor?" He circled his father. The armor didn't look particularly imposing.
"Armor meant for killing—practicality is what matters most." The chieftain clenched his fist and lightly touched the tabletop. Without striking with force, just a gentle touch, the table instantly broke apart, shattering into pieces.
A'xun had sharp eyes; with a drawn bow, he could shoot a black kite. Even though the light inside the tent was dim, he still noticed that the scales over his father's left chest were somewhat different.
Though they were all scales, these few were thicker, with fine, sharp serrated edges.
It looked as if they had been patched on later.
"This part seems..." He reached out, wanting to touch it, but his father abruptly dodged away.
A'xun's hand paused in midair, then slowly withdrew, feeling slightly awkward.
"Where are A'li and A'yi?" His father had set out with those capable guards, yet there was no sign of them upon his return.
The chieftain shook his head. "Mount Jing is treacherous. They couldn't make it out."
"Were there monsters or malevolent spirits inside?"
"Yes, but the worst were still men," the chieftain said. "Several adventurers ambushed us from the shadows. I killed five, but two escaped."
A'xun's expression darkened slightly, but his father patted the top of his head, full of ambition. "Don't look so mournful! Our good days are about to begin."
Gone was his former despondency; his voice was full of vigor, his movements brisk and commanding, possessing boundless strength in every gesture.
All his old injuries and ailments seemed to have vanished.
The chieftain of the Ying people seemed to have returned to his peak strength from over a decade ago.
No, more than that.
A trace of unease stirred in A'xun's heart. "Father, are you... are you all right?"
"Fine, what could be wrong?" His father's voice was sonorous as a bell. "In all these dozen-plus years, I've never felt better!"
"Wearing this armor, have you felt anything strange?" So many warriors had fallen to ruin in the past; how exactly did the Luosheng Armor affect them?
"Nothing," his father gave a proud chuckle. "Did you think an evil voice would be whispering constantly in my ear, egging me on? There's no such foolish nonsense! Wearing this armor makes my whole body feel comfortable and my thoughts crystal clear, as if I could pluck the stars with my bare hands."
"But the Luosheng Armor..."
"Don't worry, everything is under my control!"
To A'xun's disappointment, the Yao Kingdom swiftly agreed to the Ying people's terms without much haggling.
They truly were eager to kill.
Over the next few days, the Ying people began gathering intelligence, scouring for information, and tracking their assassination target.
The mission was by no means easy. The target advocated for an alliance among the nations to resist Yao, so he naturally knew the Yao Kingdom was desperate for his head. Thus, he was accompanied by a guard of more than two hundred men, as well as over a dozen high-cultivation followers—
personnel gifted to him by three different monarchs.
How many people did the Ying tribe have in total? They had never faced such a tough nut to crack. If the Ying people wanted to bring down a target like this, their best approach was an ambush from the shadows rather than a frontal assault.
Chapter 1150