Chapter 644: If the sky falls, your master will hold it up for you

This sentence, like the final catalyst, completely shattered the remaining hesitation and self-blame in Xie Ergai's heart, replaced by a madness of being "recognized" and an extreme desire for power.

I, Xie Ergai, was not wrong; the ones who were wrong were you, you who didn't listen to me!

After being bewitched by Li Chen, the confusion and dejection in Xie Ergai's eyes were swept away, replaced by a near-paranoid self-confidence and a burning flame of ambition.

Seeing his disciple "revive," Master Wuerge nodded with satisfaction and exhorted again: "Very good, remember my words. In the future, if you encounter a life-and-death crisis again, you can activate the spiritual talisman. You must practice diligently in your daily life and not be slack. If you have matters that are difficult to decide, you can also try to call for me."

Having said this, Li Chen did not stay any longer, his figure once again merged into the wind and snow like a ghost, and disappeared.

Xie Ergai kowtowed solemnly to bid farewell in the direction where his master disappeared. At this moment, there was no more hesitation in his heart, only an infinite desire for power and a firm belief that "I was not wrong."

After standing up, he immediately ordered: "Pack up the luggage, pull out the camp immediately, and retreat to my father's fief!"

A deputy general who had luckily survived heard this and reminded him with some hesitation: "General, shouldn't we go to Khan Tuoba Zhen to report the military situation first?"

His meaning was very clear; having suffered such a disastrous defeat, they should go to the commander-in-chief to plead guilty first.

Xie Ergai turned his head abruptly, his eyes cold and sharp as a knife. With a "shing" sound, he drew the sword from his waist and held it directly against the deputy general's throat, his tone icy: "You, you talk too much. Remember, I am the highest commander here! Does my order need you to question it?"

The deputy general was so scared his face turned pale and his whole body stiffened. He could clearly feel the cold murderous intent coming from the tip of the sword.

He looked in disbelief at this Xie Ergai who seemed to have been reborn. The aristocratic young master who was arrogant but easily collapsed when encountering setbacks had disappeared, replaced by a budding hero with fierce eyes and murderous aura.

"This... this subordinate spoke out of turn! General, please forgive me!" The deputy general swallowed hard and hurriedly apologized.

Even if this deputy general was angry again, after calming down, he understood that he was just an ordinary officer. Who was Xie Ergai? The eldest son of Andrei Dagong Andrei; he couldn't afford to offend him.

Xie Ergai snorted coldly, and only then slowly retracted his long sword.

He didn't really want to kill to establish authority; he just needed to immediately establish his unquestionable authority.

He was certainly not stupid. Having read military books, he knew well that bringing defeated soldiers to find Tuoba Zhen at this moment was no different from seeking his own humiliation.

That overbearing Tuoba Zhen would surely take this opportunity to punish him severely, or even deprive him of all his power, making him lose face and never have a chance to turn things around.

To reverse the defeat, or even take this opportunity to seize greater power, the only way out was to return to his father's sphere of influence first.

He needed his father's support, and even more, he needed his mother—the mother who loved him most and had great influence in his father's ear—to help him.

As for how to explain this defeat? He had already thought of the perfect excuse on the way: everything was Tuoba Zhen's fault! It was he who was jealous of talent and deliberately gave him only a small number of weak troops; it was he who commanded improperly, causing the main force to be unable to respond in time.

It was he who didn't know how to use people, and the generals he sent were hypocritical and didn't listen to orders! In short, he, Xie Ergai, had no mistakes; it was all the responsibility of Tuoba Zhen and those disobedient subordinates!

A few days later, Xie Ergai led the remaining defeated soldiers to the core of his father Andrei Dagong Andrei's rule, the important northern city "Winterhold."

This was a magnificent giant city standing on the vast snowfield. The city walls were towering, as if built from ten-thousand-year-old unmelted black ice and huge gray rocks, flickering with a cold and mysterious luster under the reflection of the aurora.