The imperial court is ceding territory from our northern border? Then we'll rebel!

"puff!"

Ashina Sun felt a sweet taste in his throat, and then he suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood.

House seemingly endless rain.

The crushing defeat at the front had already overwhelmed him. The fire at his own backyard dealt him a fatal blow.

The Black Wolf Tribe! The Vulture Tribe! Those were once renowned warrior tribes of the grasslands! They actually... actually sided with the Han people?

He remembered that these tribes had been forced to migrate because of their discontent with his tyranny. He had assumed they would silently starve or freeze to death in the wilderness that winter.

Unexpectedly, Xiao Jingchen would pull such a move!

Cut off the fuel supply at the root!

This tactic is even more vicious and deadly than the crossbow used on the front lines!

Ashina Falcon swayed and nearly fell over.

He finally understood what a terrifying opponent he was facing. This Xiao Jingchen not only understood military strategy, but also the human heart. He wanted not only to destroy him physically, but also to dismantle everything about him spiritually.

"Great Khan! Great Khan, please take care of yourself!" The surrounding leaders rushed forward to support him.

"Get out of my way!" Ashina Jun shoved them aside, his eyes bloodshot, like a wild beast ready to devour its prey.

His heart was filled with immense anger, fear, and despair.

He'd been tricked.

From beginning to end, he was completely manipulated by Xiao Jingchen.

He thought he was the hunter, but little did he know that he was already the prey in the other party's net.

To the south, Xiao Jingchen's 200,000-strong army, armed with unprecedented and terrifying weapons, pressed forward relentlessly.

Behind him were the tribes that had been turned against him, like a pack of mad dogs, tearing at his supply lines and shaking his foundations.

He was in dire straits.

"The envoy... the envoy who went to the Yuezhi, has he returned?" Ashina Sun grasped at the last straw and asked in a hoarse voice.

He had previously sent envoys to the Western Regions to seek aid from the Yuezhi. Although their conditions were harsh, he couldn't afford to worry about them now. If the Yuezhi were willing to send troops to tie down some of Xiao Jingchen's forces from the west, he might still have a glimmer of hope.

However, a liaison officer gave him a hopeless answer.

"Reporting to the Great Khan, our envoys have vanished without a trace. And according to the latest intelligence... the Yuezhi army is not only not approaching us, but... it is gathering westward, seemingly... seemingly on guard against something..."

These words were like a bucket of ice water, completely extinguishing the last spark of hope in Ashina Sun's heart.

He understood instantly.

The Yuezhi, those greedy jackals, never intended to help him. They were waiting too! Waiting for him and Xiao Jingchen to exhaust their strength so they could clean up the mess!

In fact, the envoy he sent might have already been intercepted and killed by Xiao Jingchen. That so-called "alliance" was a complete scam from the very beginning!

He was abandoned by the whole world.

"ah--!"

Ashina Falcon let out a wild, inhuman roar.

He drew his golden sword and began hacking wildly at everything inside the golden tent. Tables, furs, and utensils were all shattered to pieces.

The tribal chiefs below trembled with fear, prostrating themselves on the ground, not daring to utter a sound.

After a long while, Ashina Falcon finally stopped.

He stood panting amidst the chaos; the golden royal tent now appeared utterly desolate.

In his eyes, all reason seemed to have been replaced by madness.

Lost.

He knew that if he continued fighting methodically, he had no chance of winning.

His army's morale had collapsed. His rear was engulfed in flames of war. His allies had betrayed him.

All that awaited him was betrayal by his followers, defeat in battle, and death.

Do not!

I, Ashina Sun, am the king of the grasslands! A descendant of the wolf god! I cannot die such a pathetic death!

Even if I have to die, I'll drag the man who ruined everything down with me to hell!

An incredibly crazy idea formed in his mind.

He threw away the golden knife in his hand, his eyes gleaming with a gambler's final madness.

"Pass on my orders!" His hoarse voice echoed in the silent golden tent.

"Abandon the royal court! Abandon all baggage! Abandon all the old and weak!"

"All warriors of the royal tent who can still take up arms and mount their horses! My most loyal guards! Follow me!"

The leaders below were all stunned.

"Your Majesty! Where...where are you going?"

"What are you doing?" Ashina Jun's face revealed a ferocious and twisted smile.

"Isn't Xiao Jingchen trying to gradually devour me and force me to my death? I'll defy his wishes!"

"Didn't he think he had victory in the bag and was just waiting to take over my royal court?"

"I'm going to give him a surprise!"

He turned around, his gaze piercing through the tent flap, looking towards the distant south.

That was the direction where Xiao Jingchen's central command tent was located.

"I will concentrate my last and most elite forces! Like a sharp dagger! Regardless of the consequences, regardless of the cost! A long-distance raid, straight to his center!"

"To catch the thief, first catch the king!"

"As long as we kill Xiao Jingchen, his 200,000-strong army will be nothing but a swarm of headless flies! We'll still have a chance to turn the tide!"

This plan can no longer be described as "bold"; it's downright "crazy."

Abandoning the main force and the base, he used his last personal guard to carry out a desperate decapitation operation with a slim chance of survival.

Success! A complete turnaround!

Failure means utter ruin.

This was Ashina Sun's final and most brilliant gamble as a powerful and ruthless leader.

"Anyone willing to come with me to take Xiao Jingchen's life, stand behind me!" Ashina Sun roared.

Inside the golden tent, there was a moment of silence.

Immediately, the most loyal generals in the royal tent also had a mad fire burning in their eyes, and one by one they drew their scimitars and stood behind him.

They knew this was their only hope.

That night, it was dark and windy.

Ashina Sun, with his last and most elite three thousand royal guards, quietly left the Golden Horde, the royal court that symbolized the highest power on the grasslands.

They abandoned everything, taking only the lightest weapons and enough dried meat to last three days.

Like a group of ghosts in the night, they bypassed the scouting range of the Great Yan army and, under the cover of darkness, sped toward Xiao Jingchen's central command tent.

The horses' hooves were all wrapped in thick cotton cloth, so they didn't make a sound.

Only Ashina Falcon's eyes, flashing with a mad red light in the darkness, and the silent roar in his heart, echoed in the cold wind of the grassland.

"Xiao Jingchen! I've come to take your dog's life!"