Chapter 28: Beheading the Slave Leader

  When Li Qingquan led the armed forces into the Angu camp, the situation had completely fallen under the control of the Changsheng camp. After the carnival, the Angu tribe was completely soft and did not form any effective resistance. Wang Qi's 500 riflemen were like a killing machine, rolling back and forth in the Angu camp, wherever there was a little effective resistance, Wang Qi would immediately lead his troops to attack, under a chaotic gunfire, thoroughly crushing them.

  Inside the camp, people were running around everywhere. Li Qing, under the protection of his personal guards led by Tang Hu and Yang Yidao, walked steadily forward, step by step, in the firelight. Occasionally, some careless An Ke warriors would rush towards him, only to be quickly killed by his guards. When he arrived at the entrance of the An Ke tribe's chieftain's large tent, Li Qing didn't even draw his sword, and not a single drop of blood had splashed onto his body.

  "It's done!" Li Qing also let out a sigh of relief in his heart. This time, the adventure that he had embarked on reluctantly ended up being exceptionally easy. It was as if heaven was smiling down on him and the Buddha was blessing him! He couldn't help but want to throw his head back and let out a loud whoop, but in front of all these imperial guards, he had to maintain his dignified composure.

  The chieftain's golden tent appeared before Li Qing, and he couldn't help but exclaim in admiration. The tent was enormous, with dozens of square meters of space inside. The high pillars were adorned with numerous silk tassels, and the golden curtains shone brightly in the firelight. Tang Hu pushed open the curtain, and Li Qing strode into the tent, his feet sinking into the soft fur rugs that covered the ground. His gaze fell upon the two disheveled women huddled together at the farthest corner of the tent.

  His eyebrows twitched, and Tang Hu's body shook. He had glanced around carelessly when he first entered, but hadn't seen the two people hiding in the dark corner where the light didn't reach. His heart cried out in alarm, fortunately they were two women, if they were two assassins, that would be very bad. At this moment, he wanted to make amends for his mistake, with a "clang" sound, he pulled out the waist knife still stained with blood, and swiftly pounced beside the two people huddled together, holding the knife high, shouting loudly: "Who are you?"

  Tang Hu had lost an eye in the last battle, and now a black eyepatch was slanted over his head, covering the blind eye. At this moment, he looked ferocious and sinister, with a truly unpleasant appearance. Especially with the blood on the knife still dripping down, dropping onto the two of them, it made their bodies tremble even more, shrinking away, yet unable to say a word.

  "Tang Hu is back!" Li Qing ordered, looking at the clothing of the two women, who were indeed from Central Plains. Li Qing's mind turned quickly, and he immediately thought that these must be the women who were kidnapped during the previous raid on Dingzhou. He couldn't help but feel a pang of bitterness in his heart - the incompetence of the army had led to these innocent civilians suffering.

  Slowly walking up to the two women, he crouched down in front of them and said, "Don't be afraid, ladies. We are from the Dingzhou Military's Changsheng Battalion. This time, we have come for revenge. These barbarians have been defeated by us, and you can now return home."

  Perhaps it was Li Qing's gentle words that took effect, or perhaps the Dingzhou military uniform on Li Qing gave these two women a sense of security. The two women, whose bodies were still trembling, lifted their heads and looked at Li Qing with red and swollen eye sockets. Li Qing nodded heavily and said, "The two ladies are now free."

  The two women suddenly fell to the ground and wailed even louder, "Thank you, General! Thank you, General!"

  Li Qing let out a sigh, stood up, and although it was just a faint glance, the two women were also disheveled, but he could still see their beautiful faces, they looked really fresh and lovely. Women like them falling into the hands of barbarians, the outcome can be imagined, thinking about how many more women like this might be in the camp, Li Qing's heart surged with uncontrollable anger.

  "Yang Yidao, pass down the order to have the soldiers rescue the kidnapped civilians. Remember, no disrespect is allowed." Li Qing glanced at the two disheveled women and added a sentence. There were many women in this camp, probably most of them were like these two now. His subordinates were all young men with vigorous blood, staying in the military camp every day, not to mention women, they hadn't seen many pigs either. They had to be restrained, otherwise if something went wrong, it would be hard to control.

  In his heart, he was secretly worried, but suddenly a burst of thunderous cheers came from outside. Feng Guo rushed in with a big smile and said: "General, the great thing is settled! The entire Anke tribe has been taken down by us, not a single person escaped, damn it! All those who held knives and bows were chopped off by us. Now, Wang Qiyan's place has surrounded a big fish, haha, caught a barbarian, asked him, unexpectedly he was the son of their great chieftain, named Wanyan Buhe, General, do you want to go take a look?

  Li Qing was delighted in his heart, this battle was fought beautifully, although the old barbarian was not there, but catching a small barbarian chief, gave this campaign a perfect ending.

  "Go and see the end of these beastly dogs!"

  Wanyan Buhua was already at the end of his rope, surrounded by a dense thicket of guns formed by over a hundred gunners in the center. His personal bodyguards were lying on the ground, dead to the last man. He himself had been shot multiple times in the arm and leg, with blood flowing freely. His originally disheveled clothes were now torn to shreds, revealing his sturdy muscles. With his hair disheveled, he looked around despairingly at the hateful gazes of those surrounding him, feeling the strength that once filled his body slowly draining away. "Do you want to take me alive? Don't even think about it. Even if a proud eagle under the protection of Longshengtian is defeated in battle, it will never become a prisoner."

  The surrounding soldiers suddenly burst into thunderous cheers, dispersing to both sides and revealing a passageway. Wanyan Buhe saw an officer wearing a helmet and armor appear before him, and upon closer inspection, it was the Deputy General of the Dingzhou Army.

  Wang Qini looked like a rough guy, but beneath his coarse exterior was a sharp mind. After all, he had been in the military for so long? The big shot in front of him was now at the end of his strength, with only 10% to 20% of his combat power left. Anyone who went up against him could easily kill him, and such a great achievement wasn't something that just anyone could attain. At this time, within the An Ke tribe, there was only one person qualified for it - their superior officer Li Qing. So after killing off all of Wanyan Buhua's personal guards and severely injuring Wanyan Buhua himself, confirming that he was now a pig waiting to be slaughtered, Wang Qini immediately had Feng Guo go report back to Li Qing.

  "General, this is Wan Yanhu of the Ang Bone tribe!" Wang Qiniann presented the blood-stained long knife to Li Qing with respect. Li Qing looked at him with approval, not having noticed before that this guy was quite thoughtful, "Well done!" This sentence of praise had a double meaning, and Wang Qiniann wiped his mustache, laughing loudly, still with a rough appearance.

  "Wanyan Manzi, you once raided our Dingzhou, did you ever think it would come to this today?" Li Qing turned towards Wanyan Nuhua, pointing and cursing angrily.

  Wanyan Buqa sprang up with great effort and cursed loudly: "Southern dynasty dog, only knowing how to launch a sneak attack, not daring to engage in open battle, you coward!"

  Li Qing burst out laughing, "Two armies clash, only looking at the outcome, without considering the means. Are you still going to be stubborn today?"

  Wanyan Buhua angrily said: "Pah! You little dog, how dare you fight me? Cutting off your head is just a trivial matter!"

  When Wanyan Buhua scolded their own boss, a wave of booing and shouting erupted from the surrounding area.

  Li Qing looked up and laughed loudly, although he was disdainful of such petty behavior. As a general leading troops, he wasn't some kind of heroic warrior who would engage in single combat, but since Wang Qiniang had already set the stage so well, leaving behind a big opportunity for him to seize, this was also a good way to boost morale and increase his prestige within the army. He couldn't let it slip away. After laughing loudly, he looked at Wanyan Hu with disdain. "Alright, I'll give you this chance, let you die with honor!" With a clang, he drew the long knife from his waist. This knife wasn't some ordinary product of Dingzhou's military, but rather a Li family masterpiece brought by Shouning Hou when he came to Dingzhou. The knife was named Changfeng, forged from refined steel through repeated tempering and hammering, capable of cutting through iron like mud. At this moment, the blade shone with a faint autumn water-like glow under the red light, its sharpness flickering in and out of visibility.

  Wanyan Buhua struggled to get up, his own fate had already been decided, he just wanted to die with some value, he didn't want to be pierced by these little soldiers' chaotic gunfire and become riddled with holes, that would be too frustrating.

  "Dezhou army's Changsheng camp lieutenant Li Qing, remember this, don't get it wrong when you're in front of King Yan, the one who killed you." Li Qing stood with his sword at the ready.

  Wanyan Buhe took a deep breath, gathering the last bit of strength left in his body. He glared at Li Qing with hatred, and after a brief standoff, both men let out a loud shout simultaneously. Li Qing pounced forward, while Wanyan Buhe leapt into the air, ignoring Li's slanted slash aimed at his waist. With a resounding crash, he brought down a powerful blow, his momentum awe-inspiring.

  All the soldiers around shouted in surprise, Wang Qinyan's palms were also sweating, Li Qingfeng rushed up suddenly, with a loud noise, a knife head flew out, Wanyan Buhe fell to the ground, but Li Qing had already jumped to his side, half-turned, and the long wind brought a knife light like a whip, cutting towards him, with a "pu" sound, Wanyan Buhe's big head had already flown into the air.

  "General, you are mighty!" The surrounding long spear soldiers raised their long spears and cheered loudly. Li Qing smiled and gestured with his sword to the surroundings, but only people like Wang Qinyan who were meticulous noticed that Li Qing's arm was slightly trembling.

  "Damn it, what a big force!" Li Qing cursed in his heart, "It seems that Laozi has time to practice well, if Wang Qiniang hadn't dealt with this barbarian first today, Laozi would definitely have made a fool of himself."