Chapter 695: Disaster Starts Within the Walls, the Covenant Turns to Ash in an Instant

The air inside the great tent seemed to freeze in an instant.

Ku Di Gan's wine bowl, just lifted, froze mid‑air, and an extremely ominous foreboding, like a cold poisonous snake, slithered up his spine, making even breathing difficult.

Yunhe Ti was startled by Ba Dou's sudden wail, followed instantly by an offended fury.

He kicked the table before him over, spilling wine everywhere, pointed at Ba Dou on the ground and roared, "What are you panicking for! You're a raptor of the grassland, wailing like a woman! Has the sky collapsed?!"

"Great Khan… the sky really has collapsed!" Ba Dou could not even mind the pain of being knocked over; trembling, he pulled a blood‑stained sheepskin from his chest, held it aloft, and his voice, sharpened by terror, rang shrill.

"Turkic… it's the Turkic People! The Turkic Crown Prince Moheduo, with thirty thousand Iron Cavalry, seized the chance while our main force moved south and ambushed the rear Qiyan Tribe!"

"What?!" Yunhe Ti's copper‑bell eyes widened to circles, a buzzing struck his mind as if hit by a heavy hammer.

Ba Dou wailed on, each word a knife thrust into the hearts of every Rouran commander present: "The Qiyan Tribe… it's gone! All gone! Every man was slain, women and cattle and sheep were taken! Those damned forge slaves didn't stop; they're now marching north, charging wildly toward the Royal Court's Khan's Golden Tent! They… they're about to seize our old nest!"

Boom—!

The news struck like a bolt from a clear sky, instantly searing Yunhe Ti inside and out.

He staggered back two steps, nearly falling onto his rear.

Turkic?

Those Turkic people who have been pounding Rouran for a hundred years at the foot of Jinshan, as low as slaves?

How dare they?

Where did they get the nerve?

But the blood‑stained sheepskin in Ba Dou's hand, and the thick smell of gunpowder on his body, could not be fake.

A terror rising from the depths of his soul instantly engulfed Yunhe Ti.

The Royal Court's Khan's Golden Tent, that is his root!

There lie the wealth he's hoarded all his life, his most beloved A Shi, and the golden‑wolf‑head Great Banner that symbolizes the grassland's supremacy!

If the old nest is taken, what use is all the Zhou State treasure he snatches on the front line?

Without a root, a floating duckweed has only a dead end on the grassland!

"Ah—!! Damn Turkic dogs! I'll kill you all! I'll skin you and pull your tendons!"

Yunhe Ti let out a wounded‑beast roar, yanked his curved blade from his waist, hacked madly, and felled a wooden pillar supporting the great tent, sending splinters flying.

Then his blood‑red eyes snapped toward the already pallid Ku Di Gan beside him.

"Qi State men! It's you! All of you!" Yunhe Ti rushed a few steps to Ku Di Gan's face, his curved blade almost touching Ku Di Gan's nose, spitting as he roared, "If you hadn't duped me into attacking that damned Lingzhou, if you hadn't sworn that the Zhou State was helpless, why would I have led the main force out in droves? How could my old home be stolen?!"

"It must be a plot! You colluded with the Zhou people!" Yunhe Ti, already out of his mind, poured all his fury onto the ally before him.

Ku Di Gan stared at the gleaming blade, cold sweat instantly soaking his heavy robes.

He knew it was over, completely over.

"Great Khan! Please calm down! Calm down!" Ku Di Gan forced himself to speak, unwilling to push the knife, he raised both hands in surrender and hurriedly defended, "This is certainly not our plot! If Great Qi wanted to harm you, why would we station fifty thousand troops here?"

"It's the Zhou people! It must be Chen Yan's sowing scheme! It's a 'surround Wei to rescue Zhao', Great Khan!"

"I don't care about any 'surround Wei to rescue Zhao'! My home is about to be lost!" Yunhe Ti grabbed Ku Di Gan's collar, hoisted him up, and roared, "Now! Immediately! Clear the way! I'll lead my troops back! I'll go back and shred that Moheduo mongrel into a thousand pieces!"

Beside them, Rouran General Qiusheng Tou also reacted, his face anxious, echoing, "Great Khan, we must return the army at once! We're nearly a thousand li from the Royal Court; if we delay a few more days, the Khan's Golden Tent may be reduced to ash by those Turkic dogs! Then even with mountains of gold and silver, we'll have no life to spend!"

"Right! Withdraw! Withdraw immediately!"

"Back to the grassland! Kill the Turkic dogs!"

Inside the great tent, the Rouran commanders erupted, eyes reddened, each ready to rush out and rally troops.

For nomadic peoples, land and cities are void; only tribes, population, and livestock are fundamental.

If the foundation is lost, even if these tens of thousands survive the return, they'll be a pack of bereaved dogs.

"We cannot leave! Great Khan! Absolutely cannot leave!"

Ku Di Gan, seeing this, panicked completely.

He went berserk, broke free of Yunhe Ti's grip, flung his arms at the great‑tent doorway, his face as white as paper.

He knew better than anyone what the withdrawal of Rouran cavalry would mean.

The reason Licheng resisted a long siege was that Wei Shaokuan feared the Rouran cavalry's field combat ability and dared not leave the city lightly.

Once the Rouran leave, the Qi army's flank will be fully exposed to the Zhou army.

Then, Wei Shaokuan inside the city will pounce like a starving wolf. Even worse, if the battle at Gancao City does not go as expected…

His fifty thousand Qi troops would become a piece of fatty meat trapped on the Guanzhong Plain, unable to escape!

"Great Khan! This is clearly the Zhou people's treachery! They only want to force you to withdraw!" Ku Di Gan shouted hoarsely, "The Turkic may have raided, but their foundation is shallow; they may not capture the Royal Court! Great Khan, if you can hold out three more days… no, two days! Capture Licheng, and Great Qi will send troops to help you retake the grassland! We have the finest siege engines; we can help you annihilate the Turkic!"

"Get out of the way!"

Yunhe Ti could no longer hear any of that nonsense; his mind was filled only with his burned‑up tent and the women taken away.

He flung his hand violently, and several burly Rouran Personal Guard rushed up, shoving Ku Di Gan roughly.

"Ku Di Gan, I'll give you one last face‑saving, don't force me to act against you!" Yunhe Ti's eyes glinted with murderous intent, truly murderous, "If you dare block me again, I'll take your head now as a banner offering, then go back and kill Moheduo!"

"Great Khan! This is a betrayal! We have a covenant!" Ku Di Gan, frantic to the point of tears, clutched the tent curtain and would not let go.

"Covenant? To hell with your covenant!" Yunhe Ti kicked Ku Di Gan's abdomen, sending the Qi State Duke flying, crashing heavily to the ground, "My home is gone, what good is a covenant! Send my orders! All troops must assemble! Bring every dry ration, spare no horse power, return north at once!"

"Yes!" the Rouran commanders answered in unison, turning to charge out of the great tent.

"I'll see who dares to leave!"

Ku Di Gan endured the searing pain, rose from the ground, and let out a roar.

Clang—!

Outside the tent, Qi army personal soldiers heard the commotion, surged in, dozens of gleaming Horizontal Blades sprang from their scabbards, confronting the Rouran commanders.

Inside the great tent, blade light and sword shadows swirled, killing intent surged.

The former allies, in that instant, tore away all pretense and became mortal enemies.