Chapter 248: City Breached

Wanniuyu collapsed, life or death unknown; the already chaotic Xianbei army utterly lost spirit, and the Owl Riders cut them down as smoothly as cutting spring grass.

Inside the city, corpses littered the field; at a glance, they were all their own people.

This was a desperate war.

When Zhetian swooped down from the sky again, no one knew who first threw down his sword and knelt to surrender; then, one after another, more and more Xianbei soldiers surrendered.

There were also die‑hards who fought to the end; after the last holdout knelt and surrendered, the Xianbei forces Wanniuyu brought still had at least half left, vastly outnumbering the Great King's cavalry.

The Great King called Zhetian back; it smugly landed on his forearm, then shifted to his shoulder and stood tall, not forgetting to throw Bai Ze a smug look.

Bai Ze, who had only grabbed a head, couldn't be bothered to look; he waved a hand, "What are you proud of?!"

The Owl Riders herded the surrendering troops onto a clearing, forcing them to kneel with hands raised overhead, posted archers to watch them—there were too many to bind all at once.

The remaining people followed Wei Shen to start cleaning the battlefield, first checking if any of their own were wounded.

The Great King exhaled that breath; the strong smell of blood in the city then made him feel uneasy.

Killing is pointless; the stench of human blood is truly awful. It exhaled, "I hope they wise up and don't come provoke me again."

Ling Yin pointed at Wanniuyu, trampled under Bai Ze's foot, and asked, "If you take him back, will the Xianbei not come south to rescue their king?"

The Great King laughed: "I think … it depends on what sort of person the Crown Prince is, and whether he can return alive from the northwest. If it's Baili Jin, he'll surely have happily taken the throne himself—why go to all the trouble of raising an army to save his father?"

Ling Yin: ……

Speaking of the Crown Prince, the Great King recalled the Second Prince he had extorted eight hundred taels from.

The Crown Prince didn't know; the Second Prince's intellect was just that. In terms of courage, he didn't look like he could beat him.

"Search the city! Tie up all the nobles and imprison them separately!" The Great King planned to sweep them all up in one go.

They'd already practiced this in several previous settlements; it's just that this time it's a proper city, with a somewhat larger population.

As before, they divided tasks clearly layer by layer; this time they wouldn't split up, but advance the overall operation step by step. There were still two gates in the city that should have garrisons—with too few men they'd be vulnerable.

Inside and outside the city, they kept watch; resisters were to be killed on sight, those who surrendered bound and held together.

The Great King personally led the Owl Riders to attack Wanniuyu's "shabby palace," these being his own words.

Wanniuyu was trussed up hog‑tied and flung onto a horse's back; that horse was held by Ling Yin himself, and the posture would repeatedly jolt his injured leg, so he soon woke from pain. As soon as he came to, he heard the Great King's comment on his palace, and he nearly fainted again from rage.

The Great King felt nothing wrong with it—not even compared to the You Wang Manor; even if you added up all the mansions of the marquises and generals in Chang'an, none were this shabby, except that it occupies a fair amount of land.

"No wonder you've been itching to move south—your palace is this crude; seeing prosperous Chang'an must break your heart, right? Do you think your cavalry is invincible and that the Central Plains will sooner or later fall into your hands? Too bad—with me around, heading south will remain a dream. From now on you won't just covet the Great Jin; all of East Xianbei will become my private pasture. Old man, you hear me?"

Wanniuyu: ……

He sucked in air from the pain, while the Great King continued his earnest psychological assault.

The Second Prince, Bu Meng, was indeed in the palace; his father had gone out to fight, and he too had organized the palace guards to try to resist.

Word came that the western front of the royal capital was practically a river of blood; a trusted aide returned to tell him to flee quickly, but the Great King was already beyond saving.

Bu Meng was at his wit's end; his uncle, face full of despair, told him it was too late. Now even if he tried to escape, he couldn't get out—the East Gate was already ablaze, and the north side surely was blocked too; the only path left was to fight to the death.

The Great King, with the Owl Riders, rushed to the palace; Bu Meng, with over a thousand guards, barred the doors and played dead.

The Great King, bright and cheerful, greeted the gate: "Bu Meng in there? Long time no see, old acquaintance! I know you're in. With your broken compound, I can see straight through—where could you hide? You stood me up in Chang'an before, and I was still angry, saying I'd make you look bad if we met on the battlefield—who'd have thought we'd run into each other so soon? You really are… as timid as a mouse."

Wanniuyu sucked in air from the pain; hearing "broken compound" and the remark about his son made his wound hurt even more.

The palace of East Xianbei, though its architecture couldn't compare to the refined buildings of the south, was tall and sturdy, possessing a rugged beauty—yet the Great King's alternating remarks of "shabby" and "broken compound" made it sound as if they were destitute.

Wanniuyu's face twisted for a moment before he shouted, "You brat, since you won't kill me, just let me go. I guarantee I'll never invade the south for the rest of my life."

The Great King ignored him.

The naïve Second Prince wouldn't listen to advice; the Great King raised his wolf‑fang spear, "Listen up—resisters will be killed! Attack!"

The Owl Riders obeyed orders, swooping forward to begin the attack.

The archers ambushed on the wall finally showed themselves and started shooting; Xiao Zao turned neatly, and the Great King took his place behind Wanniuyu again.

"Make sure you see clearly before shooting—this is your Great King!"

Wanniuyu: ……

Now standing behind him, the Great King finally threw Wanniuyu a glance: "Not invading the south? If you'd said that a year ago, I might have been pleased. But now you get to say this? Is your brain addled from hanging upside down on a horse? Your royal city is fallen, your kingdom destroyed—do you understand? What right do you have to discuss terms?!"

Wanniuyu couldn't catch his breath, nearly fainted again, and doubled over on the horse's back in a violent coughing fit.

The Great King felt no pity for this man; half of Youzhou's suffering stems from him—he is one of the chief culprits.

The Owl Riders' weapons hacking at the palace's wooden doors were just wasted; after a few words they'd been smashed to pieces.

The palace guards were no match for even the ordinary soldiers outside—mostly noble scions—and against the Owl Riders they had no power to resist; they were quickly dealt with.

Others were busy clearing the palace; the Great King was told to rest in a building used for Wanniuyu's councils. From outside it looked like a large stone pavilion? Anyway, it was crude, but inside it was warm, the floor covered with wolf pelts—upon entering the Great King smelled the unpleasant scent of heated fur, and he looked down on barbarians even more.

Bu Meng was soon trussed up hog‑tied and flung beside his father; the Great King then sat on Wanniuyu's throne, legs crossed, watching the father‑and‑son pair reduced to prisoners.

Wanniuyu felt a sweet‑bloody taste in his throat; he might be about to cough up blood.

Just this little brat, making his throne look especially spacious—enough for a person to lie flat on—has caused him to suffer such a great fall!

The Great King stretched his arms and legs, discarding the foul‑smelling tiger‑skin throne in favor of leaning on Bai Ze—this was the ultimate in fluffy luxury!

He leisurely questioned the father‑son duo trussed up like pork belly: "Quickly tell me what treasures and valuables your palace holds, so we don't waste time searching and you don't suffer extra punishment.... Why are you looking at me like that? Going through this trouble wastes the people's money and wealth—don't I need to recoup my costs? East Xianbei had better have enough military funds to fill my coffers, or I won't leave."

The Great King spoke with utter justification.

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