The moment Ziqing left, Nangong City erupted into chaos. The Lord of Nangong City dead, the token seized—for Nangong City, and indeed for the entire martial world, this was undoubtedly explosive news!
And yet, no one dared to pursue Ziqing. Only the Fourteenth Young Master, Nangong Ye, thrashed about like a madman trying to charge out, helplessly restrained by several elders holding him back with all their strength!
Because more important than revenge was the matter of succession. A nation could not go a single day without a ruler, and a household could not go a single day without a head. Even if revenge was to be sought, a new head of the household had to be chosen first!
Otherwise, Nangong City would fall into complete disarray.
Besides, anyone with sense would know better than to go rushing after Han Ziqing for revenge at a moment like this.
That woman had managed to kill the Lord of Nangong City. Whatever the means, judging purely by the result, that woman clearly possessed hidden depths!
Her martial skill was quite possibly the greatest in the entire martial world—if even the Lord of Nangong City had lost his life at her hands, who among them could possibly stand as her match?
“Why aren’t we chasing her? Why won’t you go after her?”
“Kill that vile woman! All of you are useless cowards! Are you truly that afraid of her?”
Nangong Ye roared like a wild beast gone mad.
“Let go of me! Let go, all of you! If you don’t dare, then I’ll go myself!”
“Even if it costs me my life, I’ll drag that vile woman down with me!”
…
“Fourteenth Young Master, please calm yourself. Let’s return first—we can discuss this matter properly once we’re back!”
“Indeed, Fourteenth Young Master, this is no time for rash action. The city lord’s death must be avenged, but no matter what, we need to return and discuss this first!”
The elders pleaded with him one after another, dragging Nangong Ye back toward the city gates.
Unlike the elders, Nangong Ye’s older brothers showed remarkably little reaction. They appeared grief-stricken and furious on the surface, but underneath, they were chillingly composed.
As for the matter of succession, the elders had always favored Nangong Ye, since his talent was the greatest among all the sons.
Now, with the eldest and second young masters both dead, and the Lord of Nangong City having left no final words, the position of city lord was very much up for contention!
They secretly hoped Nangong Ye would charge out to his death—one less rival to worry about.
At that moment, Nangong Ye turned his furious gaze on his brothers, his voice cold. “What’s wrong with all of you? Weren’t you always so arrogant and domineering? Father is dead—don’t you understand that Father is dead?”
“Aren’t you going to avenge him? Third Brother, Fifth Brother, say something!”
Facing Nangong Ye’s accusation, the eldest of the two, the Third Young Master, put on a show of weighty concern. “Fourteenth, you’re grown now, you should understand these things better. My heart aches a hundred, a thousand times more than yours does. But we must consider the bigger picture.”
Hearing this, the Fifth Young Master spoke up coldly. “That vile woman Han Ziqing managed to kill Father—her martial skill must be unfathomably deep. Rushing after her recklessly would only lead to certain death. Death itself doesn’t frighten me—I’d gladly follow Father and our brothers in death. But what of Nangong City? What of our mothers?”
“A gentleman may wait ten years to take his revenge. If we’re to avenge him, we must first stabilize the situation in Nangong City and settle the matter of succession as quickly as possible,” the Third Young Master said, glancing toward the elder beside him.
Nangong Ye couldn’t quite grasp what the Third Young Master meant, but the elder understood perfectly well, merely nodding without a word.
Just as they spoke, several of the Lord of Nangong City’s wives arrived upon hearing the news, each of their faces streaked with tears.
Nangong Ye’s mother, seeing how recklessly her son was behaving, felt a flicker of worry in her eyes and hurried forward to persuade him. “Ye’er, this is not a decision you can make alone. Even if we’re to seek revenge, we must first gather your elder sisters and their husbands to discuss it together.”
“Sisters? Their husbands?” Nangong Ye couldn’t help but burst into bitter laughter. “Aren’t they the very ones responsible for all of this! Isn’t Eldest Sister to blame for all of it? If she hadn’t kept pestering Father day after day, would he ever have gotten involved in matters of state? Would he have ever crossed paths with Han Ziqing?”
Nangong Ye wasn’t wrong. After all, who was it that the Lord of Nangong City doted on most if not his eldest daughter, Nangong Mei, and his beloved eldest grandson, Situ Haonan?
The martial world and the imperial court had always kept to their own affairs without interference—this was a rule everyone understood. In this matter, Nangong City was clearly in the wrong, and the one who’d brought this calamity upon them was none other than Lady Situ.
But with the succession struggle about to begin, everyone wanted to secure the support of Situ City. After all, with the Lord of Nangong City dead, Situ City’s standing within the martial world had become all the more irreplaceable.
Hearing this, Nangong Ye’s mother immediately snapped at him sternly. “Enough! A child who doesn’t understand these matters has no right to speak so recklessly!”
“Mother, I’m going to find Situ Haonan. I want to ask him to his face!” Nangong Ye remained as stubborn as an ox. Though young in age, by generational standing he was technically Situ Haonan’s uncle. But given their closeness in age, the two had never addressed each other by such formal terms—they had always been the best of friends.
Yet judging by the fury burning in Nangong Ye’s eyes, he was clearly in no mood to forgive Situ Haonan for any of this.
All of this, Situ Haonan—far away on the western battlefield, fighting fiercely against the enemy—could never have imagined.
Meanwhile, Ziqing had already finished deploying the defensive lines across the Northern Desert.
This battle could be called the swiftest and most brilliantly executed war in the history of the Longyuan continent.
Both West Liang and the Xiongnu forces had been utterly wiped out—but that alone wasn’t the most astonishing part. Jun Beiyue himself had fought plenty of battles that ended in total annihilation of the enemy.
What was truly astonishing was that no one knew just how many troops Han Ziqing actually commanded, nor where her forces were positioned, nor how they were deployed.
Whether West Liang or the Xiongnu, when the generals of both nations received word of the battle’s outcome, they found themselves puzzling over this very question.
They speculated that Jun Beiyue must have given Han Ziqing no fewer than fifty thousand troops—quite possibly even more.
Some even speculated that Great Zhou had secretly been stationing troops in the northwest region long in advance, all in preparation for this very battle, to seize control of the strategically vital Northern Desert.
Neither West Liang nor the Xiongnu dared to send out troops carelessly again. They had no choice but to bitterly abandon the Northern Desert, and were even forced to establish defensive lines of their own, guarding against the possibility that Han Ziqing might launch an attack on their borders from the Northern Desert.
And yet, in truth, the troops Ziqing had actually used could be counted on one’s fingers.
Just three thousand archers, along with her six mercenaries, and a group of shadow guards.
And of those, the force she’d left behind to guard the Northern Desert was merely those same three thousand archers.
In modern times, this would have been nothing remarkable—with today’s advanced weaponry, a few missiles or drone strikes could accomplish as much.
But this was the ancient era, and this single battle was enough to make the name “Han Ziqing” renowned across the land, spoken of in the same breath as the “War God of Great Zhou.”
High atop a mountain ridge, inside a simply constructed tent, a female mercenary was applying medicine to Ziqing’s wounds.
Only now could Ziqing finally allow herself a moment to catch her breath.
Having removed her cloak, her entire back was already a raw mess of blood and torn flesh.
The Xiongnu’s slave soldiers were nothing to underestimate—every bit as fearsome as the beast warriors of Nanzhao.
Deep gashes, each nearly an inch long, crisscrossed her back in a horrifying tangle, the sight of them enough to conjure images of countless sharp claws tearing viciously into her flesh—a scene so chilling it was hard to bear looking at for long.
Even the female mercenary, hardened and battle-worn as she was, had to clench her jaw just to keep her hands steady enough to apply the medicine. And yet, in this very moment, the woman before her was still studying a map, her expression utterly unmoved…
…