Just as the Lord of Nangong City was about to shake off the small black sphere lodged on his blade, Ziqing immediately reached out to stop him. “Wait!”

“What kind of trick are you playing!” the Lord of Nangong City demanded furiously.

“Lord of Nangong City, do you have any last words?” Ziqing asked with a smile.

“What did you say!” The Lord of Nangong City exploded with rage, having no patience left to argue with her. He immediately raised his sword, intending to shake the object off — but just at that very instant, Ziqing abruptly flipped and dove downward, and at the same moment…

“Boom!”

A thunderous crash rang out. Where the Lord of Nangong City had been, there was nothing left to see at all — just a burst of light in midair, a cloud of white smoke, a flash like thunder and lightning, and then, absolutely nothing!

Ziqing slowly landed back on the ground, and at the same moment, shattered fragments came raining down from the sky, scattering across the ground, carrying with them a sickeningly acrid, burnt smell.

Beyond that, there was nothing left at all!

The object was gone. And the man… was gone too!

Yingzi and the other Shadow Guards, though they understood exactly what had happened, still could never have imagined the princess consort would use gunpowder in quite this way!

This particular batch of gunpowder, deployed for the very first time, had instantly obliterated the wulin’s revered leader, the foremost martial artist of the entire martial world, the most venerated elder among them all, the master of Nangong City, the Lord of Nangong City himself!

Truly, utterly, blown to pieces.

Even Yingzi couldn’t help but think this had all happened rather too quickly, rather too bluntly.

Ziqing spared the fragments scattered across the ground not the slightest glance. This was not the moment to talk to her about righteousness, mercy, cowardice, or nobility!

Victors write history — no one questions the methods you used to get there!

If the Lord of Nangong City could rely on his formidable martial skill, why couldn’t she rely on superior weaponry instead?

The black-clad assassins had no idea what had just happened — their master, their leader, the very soul of Nangong City, had simply vanished into thin air!

That thunderous boom, that explosion just now — what exactly had happened?

Where was he!

The ground was littered with fragments, black and charred and shattered, utterly unidentifiable.

“Han Ziqing, what have you done to our city lord!”

“Hand our city lord over to us right now, or don’t blame us for what happens next!”

Finally snapping back to their senses, they began shouting furious warnings, one after another!

Ziqing swept a glance over them, sneering openly, and offered only two cold words: “He’s dead.”

“What!”

“Impossible!”

How could they possibly believe it? Hadn’t the duel been agreed upon fairly? It had barely lasted a single exchange!

How could — how could there not even be a trace of him left behind?

At that moment, one of the black-clad men suddenly picked up a golden token from the ground and cried out in shock, “This…”

Ziqing, utterly cold and indifferent, didn’t spare them another glance. She swung herself onto her horse and issued a command to Yingzi: “Kill them all. Cut off their heads and toss them back to Nangong City. Proclaim to the entire martial world — anyone who dares interfere in matters of war or state affairs from now on will meet the same fate as the Lord of Nangong City!”

With that, she immediately spurred her horse and galloped off into the forested mountains!

The first bomb detonated was precisely her signal to launch the assault. Having resolved this troublesome matter with Nangong City, she was, of course, ready to strike first.

In all her years as a mercenary, Han Ziqing had never once known the meaning of “sitting and waiting to be struck,” nor had the word “defense” ever been part of her vocabulary!

She only ever attacked!

Once fully prepared, she held nothing back, launching an all-out, relentless offensive, settling matters in a single decisive battle, never dragging things out.

The northwest direction she left to Bingchan. Ziqing herself spurred her horse straight toward the north, to face the Xiongnu troops!

To the northwest lay five thousand Xiliang soldiers, while to the north, there were no small number of Xiongnu troops as well!

Because Xiliang’s Wanyan Lie had thrown everything he had into fighting Xijing, with his troops concentrated entirely on the western front, while on the Xiongnu side, Minhan Mude’er had not yet deployed all his forces elsewhere.

Redeploying troops here to Mobei was, for them, a relatively easy matter!

The Xiongnu had sent twenty thousand troops, every one of them brutally savage slave-soldiers!

And in Ziqing’s hands, aside from Yingzi’s Shadow Guards, all she had were the six mercenaries at her side, plus the three hundred archers Xijing had sent from Akbachu!

All the archers had already been given to Bingchan’s side, which meant that, at this very moment, facing twenty thousand Xiongnu slave-soldiers on the northern front, there was only Ziqing herself, along with three mercenaries!

The moment Ziqing arrived at the northern defensive line, a deafening roar erupted from the western front — the battle there had already begun!

Traps, crossbow bolts, poison attacks — when it came to Bingchan’s combat capabilities, Ziqing could rest easy on that front.

The hardest nut to crack was right here, on her own front!

The moment she reined in her horse, the three mercenaries emerged from the forest. These mercenaries, who had been mere teenagers years ago, had grown into adults now, years of relentless specialized training having left their faces marked with a hardened, iron-blooded edge.

“Master, everything is ready. Here’s the route — please take a look.”

The mercenary handed over a small map, showing nothing but scattered markings and a single curved line — nothing more.

Yet Ziqing studied it intently, examining the map carefully while glancing ahead.

Before long, the sound of a fierce charge suddenly erupted from the forest ahead. Just as she’d expected, the Xiongnu troops had arrived at breakneck speed.

“How many bombs remain?” Ziqing asked coldly.

“Ten!” the mercenary answered honestly.

“Along with the ones I’m carrying…” Ziqing murmured to herself, but without dwelling on it much further, her eyes turned cold, and she immediately gave the order: “Proceed exactly as planned.”

“Yes, Master! Please take care!” The three mercenaries bowed respectfully, a flicker of concern hidden deep in their eyes, though none of it showed on the surface.

Having received their orders, they scattered in different directions. Ziqing threw off her wide cloak and was just raising her whip when, suddenly, a wave of nausea hit her hard, forcing her to stop.

What was happening?

She retched for a moment but brought up nothing at all. Her meals these past few days in Mobei hadn’t followed any regular schedule — she guessed her stomach must simply be acting up.

But she had no time to dwell on it. Taking a deep breath, she pushed down the nausea and immediately cracked her whip, charging straight into the forest, racing toward the thunderous commotion ahead.

Racing forward, the wind roaring past, cutting through the forest like a loosed arrow, she finally reached the top of a high ridge, and there, on the other side of the mountain, she saw a densely packed Xiongnu army, stretching as far as the eye could see!

Only about a third of them wore tall, feathered helmets, marking their status as officers, riding atop war chariots.

The remaining two-thirds — no, they could hardly be called men at all. They were slaves, crawling on the ground like beasts, like vicious dogs or starving wolves. Some hauled carts, others crawled empty-handed on all fours like leopards, ready to pounce at any moment!

This was the Xiongnu’s slave army — apart from Nanzhao’s beast-clan forces, the single most brutal, savage, and relentlessly unyielding army on the entire Longyuan continent!

Gazing eastward, Ziqing found herself thinking of her husband, Jun Beiyue — was he, at this very moment, facing an enemy just as formidable?

The two of them had, in truth, never really been apart; they had always been fighting side by side.

Ziqing gripped her cloak, raised it high above her head, spun it around, and let out a long, piercing whistle — instantly drawing the full attention of the entire Xiongnu army below the mountain!

“This princess consort is right here! You bunch of blind beasts!”

She called out coldly, laughing loudly, using the cloak to shield herself from view — and then, without warning, drew out a crossbow bolt. “Whoosh!” — it shot straight through the cloak, striking the officer with the tallest helmet, standing atop the largest war chariot, right between the eyebrows!

Killing their supreme commander would enrage every one of the slaves to their absolute limit — they would tear her apart with their bare hands, no matter the cost to themselves.

This woman — what exactly was she trying to do? Playing with fire?

She wasn’t trying to do anything at all!

She had been fighting all along!

In an instant, a bestial, roaring cry shook the entire valley, and every slave below charged straight at Ziqing like a stampede of unbridled wild horses, thousands upon thousands of them…