Chapter 283: Can

“You are strong,” said Tunmengke, commander of the Shiwei Tribe’s Caogu Army, his voice heavy with gravity.

“So I suggest you withdraw your troops directly,” Chu Danqing kindly advised.

But Tunmengke shook his head: “Winter is coming. If we don’t raid enough grain, our elders and children will starve.”

Chu Danqing heard this, then asked: “Why don’t you buy it?”

He expected Tunmengke to reply with excuses—no money, transport difficulties, or the An Yong court refusing to sell.

Instead, Tunmengke looked at Chu Danqing as if he were an idiot, and said firmly: “Buying means trading our cattle and sheep.”

“Raiding is different—we get grain, gold, silver, treasures, women, and clothes.”

“Why buy when we can raid?”

“The An Yong court is wealthy. They don’t miss what we take.”

This left Chu Danqing speechless.

“At least pretend to be pitiful,” Chu Danqing thought—he’d been ready to help them through the hardship, but now he planned to kill Tunmengke outright.

Tunmengke, however, sneered: “The eagles of the steppe are the most—”

Before he could finish, Chu Danqing ordered his summoned beings to attack.

The Yangtian General charged ahead, the Golden Strength Warriors followed close behind, and the Dragon Horses pulled their cart, surging with wind and cloud.

Though their numbers were fewer than the Caogu Army, their strength far surpassed it.

Tunmengke’s expression hardened, and he immediately organized his troops to resist.

But before the Yangtian General, it was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot.

He did manage to organize resistance—it was no more effective than paper.

Less than ten minutes later, Chu Danqing stood before Tunmengke.

The Yangtian General reached out and seized Tunmengke’s throat, lifting him into the air.

“Now I give you two choices,” Chu Danqing said, voice low: “Either you return to your tribe with your men, or your men return with your ashes.”

Tunmengke swallowed hard.

The situation had changed too fast.

Defeating the Caogu Army head-on was an A-rank task, but if Chu Danqing captured the leader first, the difficulty dropped drastically.

“I—” Tunmengke was about to agree, but his subordinates refused.

“We return empty-handed? What will our people do this winter? Kill!” someone roared.

The Caogu soldiers, who had hesitated upon seeing Tunmengke captured, launched another attack.

Tunmengke shuddered—he knew exactly who had shouted that.

“Wait, let me reason with them,” Tunmengke hurriedly said.

The speaker was Tunmengke’s deputy, usually obedient to his orders.

But there was one problem: everyone wanted to rise higher, yet a superior stood in the way.

To advance, you had to remove that obstacle.

This was the perfect opportunity.

Tunmengke turned pale with fear.

Chu Danqing was exasperated—what kind of madness was this?

The fighting was so blunt and crude.

“We could have talked this through,” Chu Danqing sighed, then immediately activated the Five Elements Spirit Array.

There was no chance of persuasion now—the Caogu Army’s morale had surged; they wouldn’t stop until they were broken.

As for their elders and children starving if they failed to raid?

What about the people of An Yong? Wouldn’t they starve too if the raiders succeeded?

Well, actually, the people they raided didn’t even wait to starve—they were killed outright.

The battle erupted again, and the Yin Heavenly Maiden’s large-scale spells never ceased.

Every Caogu soldier who rushed forward was instantly drowned in magic.

Many didn’t even react before being consumed, leaving only corpses behind.

As bodies piled up, the Caogu soldiers grew terrified.

They raided for money, grain, and women—not to die in droves, and not to be next.

After all, grain wasn’t impossible to buy.

Tunmengke was heartbroken—these were the tribe’s able-bodied youths; each death was a permanent loss.

Raising a child into a strong warrior took immense cost—imagine the price.

The steppe wasn’t just home to the Shiwei Tribe—other tribes existed, and competition was fierce.

They had marched south and surrounded An Yong’s capital not because they were strong, but because someone had opened the gates for them.

Tunmengke wanted to stop the Yin Heavenly Maiden’s slaughter, but he was powerless.

Fortunately, as the death toll mounted, the Shiwei Caogu Army finally feared.

The man who had secretly incited the chaos was dragged out and hanged.

He now shared Yang Tai’s fate, though his body was more intact.

“Now, can you return?” Chu Danqing looked calmly at Tunmengke. “Or do you still feel the losses aren’t enough? I can help you lose even more of your able-bodied men.”

This was a blunt threat.

The previous events had shown they feared power, not virtue.

Had he not acted as he did, Chu Danqing wouldn’t have spoken this way.

After all, he had originally let them go.

“Of course we can return—but we can’t go back,” Tunmengke said, troubled.

Chu Danqing frowned—how could they come but not leave?

“We came with the help of your vassal, Prince An. We need his help to return.”

“Prince An set a deadline—we must wait seven days before departing,” Tunmengke said, uneasy.

Otherwise, forcing them to cross half of An Yong again? Success was possible, but how many would survive to reach the steppe?

Chu Danqing found this extremely troublesome.

Yang Qianjing was a follower of the Apostle—he had been away from his homeland too long to still be the old Prince An.

Perhaps in his eyes, An Yong was merely a stepping stone to his goal.

But now the problem was: how to send the Shiwei Caogu Army back?

If Tunmengke learned the truth, it would be a fight to the death.

Asking Yang Qianzheng for help? Even less realistic.

The Shiwei Tribe had marched south, looted, and besieged the capital—now they’d lost, and you want him to help them return?

If he did that, Yang Qianzheng’s reputation would be ruined, and all his future political moves would collapse.

“Wait seven more days? Do you think that’s reasonable?” Chu Danqing countered.

Tunmengke gave a bitter smile: “You’re a high official of An Yong. What should I do?”

He threw the problem back at Chu Danqing.

Meaning: you must solve this for me.

But Chu Danqing was clear-eyed—you’re a captured prisoner, and you dare speak to me like this?

Had he not wished to avoid unnecessary slaughter, he wouldn’t have wasted time talking.

Now I’m offering to solve your problem, and you expect me to fix it for you?

Then he wouldn’t be polite anymore.

“Simple. Order your men to drop their weapons, strip off their armor, and bind their hands and feet with cloth as prisoners.”

“I’ll plead with the An Yong Emperor to spare your lives,” Chu Danqing said coldly.

Since you can’t return, don’t return—stay in An Yong and be prisoners.

“But if we don’t go back, our tribe’s—” Tunmengke didn’t finish—he met Chu Danqing’s cold gaze and dared not continue.

“We’re all adults. You chose this path—you lost, so accept it,” Chu Danqing said firmly.

You invaded the south—if you won, that was your skill.

But now you’ve lost, and I generously let you leave—yet you want to leave without paying any price?

Then fine—don’t leave.

This fool thought Chu Danqing was a fool to be taken advantage of.

As for the Shiwei Tribe suffering consequences? Adults must answer for their own actions, not expect others to clean up their mess.

Chu Danqing felt no guilt—he was good, not a saint. Why should he pay for Tunmengke’s mistakes?

This wasn’t his doing—it had nothing to do with him.

If Tunmengke hadn’t been greedy, and had chosen legal, legitimate means, none of this would have happened.

Besides, how many An Yong people did they kill during their southern raids? Are Shiwei lives worth more than those they slaughtered?

“We… surrender,” Tunmengke realized—Chu Danqing wasn’t negotiating; he was informing.

He had no choice.

“Give the order. My time is precious—I won’t waste it on you.”

“Alright,” Tunmengke said, then began acting.

Simultaneously, Chu Danqing’s quest was completed.

【Mission completed. You have received: 10,000 Paradise Points, +4 Attribute Points】

In the Paradise’s judgment, this counted as crushing the Shiwei Clan’s Caogu Army, since they all surrendered.

The entire process went smoothly, and with the capital’s garrison also intervening, the Shiwei Clan’s Caogu Army was quickly integrated.

The general who led the troops here was the elderly commander previously felled by a single sword strike from the Pure Yang Heavenly General.

He had been reinstated by Yang Qianyuan and placed in command of the capital’s garrison.

“I’ll take Tunmengke and these traitors to see the Emperor. You handle the aftermath here,” Chu Danqing said to the old general.

The old general glanced at the Pure Yang Heavenly General, then nodded. “Your lordship may go. I’ll manage here.”

He still harbored resentment toward the Pure Yang Heavenly General, but Yang Qianyuan had summoned him to the palace to assist Chu Danqing in crushing the Shiwei Clan’s Caogu Army.

By the time he had mustered the capital’s garrison and arrived, Chu Danqing had already defeated Tunmengke, and the Shiwei Clan’s Caogu Army had surrendered.

He could only come to clean up the mess, and for the sake of the bigger picture, he dared not defy Chu Danqing’s orders.

“Then thank you,” Chu Danqing replied, then ordered the Golden Strength Warriors to take down the court ministers from the flagpoles and carry them away.

He turned to Tunmengke and said, “Come on. You’re not injured—you can walk yourself.”

“Of course, if you don’t mind, I could have you bound and dragged before the Emperor.”

(End of Chapter)