The sun was directly overhead; it was already noon.

Yan Cheng, who had been traveling all night, was wrapped in blood-soaked gauze, but the wounds on his face had not yet been cleaned, and the bloodstains on them had dried and congealed into scabs on his face.

At this moment, he was leading his men toward Nanze. He had already ordered his men to clean up the head of Prince Qing, but it was still difficult to make out the face. Yan Cheng felt helpless. He had indeed gone too far in his anger last night, but there was nothing he could do now. Fortunately, Prince Qing's sword was still there. With the head and this valuable sword, it should be enough to prove his identity.

The clan leader has already gone to Nanze. Can he really get Yan Jun to accept the barbarian tribe's submission and stop fighting, as the clan leader said?

If he had only supported Wu Li's decision out of desperation a few days ago, after last night's battle, Yan Cheng had finally figured it out.

Lost in thought, his subordinates suddenly spoke up:

"General, our men are ahead!"

The shout brought Yan Cheng back to his senses. He looked up and stared ahead. As the focus gradually settled, he saw a group of people approaching them from a distance.

It was the clansmen, or those who had been taken out by the clan chief.

But this did not make Yan Cheng happy; instead, his face immediately fell.

Behind the tribesmen followed a large army—the Yan soldiers, clad in armor and riding tall horses, wielding swords, spears, and halberds. Their chariots rattled and clanged, their loads of weapons awe-inspiring.

This formidable army is like an iron torrent, now marching across this plain.

Majestic, imposing, sharp, hard, and razor-sharp, it seemed capable of destroying everything. Just one glance sent a jolt through Yan Cheng's body, and he suddenly recalled the scene of arguing with the clan leader a few days ago.

'How could I be so stupid...' he couldn't help but mutter to himself.

If the clan chief hadn't stopped him back then, and he had actually led his troops to join forces with the Jin family, he would probably be dead by now.

At this moment, his subordinates looked at him hesitantly, clearly feeling fear and unease at the sight.

Yan Cheng bit his lip and said in a deep voice, "Dismount and wait here."

"Yes, General!"

The soldiers immediately dismounted and waited there.

On the opposite side, Qin Ze, riding his horse, naturally saw Yan Cheng and his group. He then turned to look at Wu Li beside him.

Wu Li was utterly devastated; the old man had become like this after their previous conversation.

"This is still quite far from Guiyun City. Did you arrange for someone to come and meet us in advance?" Qin Ze asked casually.

“Wh...what?” Wu Li looked up from his thoughts, then realized what he meant. “No...not a backup.”

Wu Li touched his brow, and as he gazed into the distance, he gradually made out a familiar figure before continuing:

“It is General Yan Cheng from my clan. He has returned from chasing down the fugitive.”

“Earlier, a member of the clan saw a group of people fleeing by taking a detour, and guessed that they had escaped from Nanze. So he led his men to intercept them, and it seems that they have caught up with them.”

Qin Ze nodded and said no more.

Moments later, as the army approached, Yan Cheng immediately led his men forward, bowing respectfully.

Qin Ze looked up and saw that the barbarian general was covered in wounds and his face was covered in blood. He could roughly guess that he must have gone through a fierce battle last night.

He raised his hand, and the army immediately stopped marching, parting to make way for him.

Yan Cheng, carrying a wooden box, bowed and stepped forward.

"Greetings, Your Majesty!" He bowed, pondered for a moment, and then his knees buckled, causing him to kneel on the ground.

"Get up," Qin Ze said calmly.

At this moment, Wu Li's expression was even worse. After all, Yan Cheng's appearance was truly heartbreaking. It seemed that the pursuit last night had come at a great cost. However, seeing him holding the wooden box, it seemed that last night's operation had yielded results.

Sure enough, Yan Cheng raised the wooden box and said in a deep voice:

"Your Majesty, last night Prince Qing, Jin Weizun, fled to Cangwu Mountain. I led troops to capture him, but they resisted fiercely and were difficult to capture alive. In order to keep them, we had no choice but to fight them. In the ensuing battle, Jin Weizun was killed."

"The box contains his severed head."

Upon hearing this, Qin Ze showed slight surprise, but simply nodded and said:

"Jin Weizun's head?"

"Let me see it."

As soon as he finished speaking, Yan Bing stepped forward and took the wooden box from Yan Cheng. They stood in front of Qin Ze before opening the box.

Sure enough, there was only a human head inside the box, nothing else.

After inspecting the body, one of the Yan soldiers picked up the wooden box and walked to Qin Ze's side. Then, he grabbed the head from the hair and lifted it out of the box, revealing it to Qin Ze.

Even though Qin Ze had seen countless bloody scenes, he still felt a chill when he saw this human head.

The face of this completely distorted and deformed person had ruptured eye sockets, a broken nose, and a noticeably sunken mouth and right cheek. A large piece of skin and flesh was missing from the left side of the face, with jagged, uneven cuts, as if it had been torn off by a wild beast.

It looks like he's been subjected to an extremely cruel and bloody torture to become like this.

But is this Jin Weizun? The Jin Weizun who always hides behind everyone, treacherous and ruthless? Although he conquered Nanze in one night, Jin Weizun is an old and shrewd man. Since he has already escaped Nanze City, he should have already made a plan to get away.

And Cangwu Mountain isn't particularly far away, so he only escaped to this place? Or did the barbarians offer up a human head as a gesture of goodwill?

Qin Ze stared intently at the severed head, while Yan Cheng, who was waiting nearby, didn't dare to breathe loudly. In the face of such a fierce and powerful army, everything else seemed insignificant.

But the anxiety gradually subsided. The clan chief was following Qin Ze. Although he was leading a large army, judging from his current appearance, he was probably not going to declare war on the barbarians.

Yan Cheng guessed that the reason for sending out such a large army was to demonstrate their military strength and let their people know their power; it was a warning.

Are you sure this is Jin Weizun?

The sudden question interrupted Yan Cheng's thoughts, and he immediately nodded and said:

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

“I cut off the head myself. We chased them into the mountains and fought them for a long time. Jin Weizun had already escaped to the deep mountains under the cover of his men, but for some reason he came back.”

"We fought a bloody battle with him again before we finally killed him."

At this point, Yan Cheng realized that he had not yet presented the captured sword.

He was so nervous just now, and his mind was racing, that he completely forgot about it. Then he added:

"Jin Weizun's face is unrecognizable. I was forced to fight like this to protect myself during our battle."

"But his sword is still here; I just... forgot to give it to His Majesty."

"Please take a look, Your Majesty."

After saying that, Yan Cheng turned his head and gave a wink. A barbarian soldier immediately went to the warhorse and took the sword hanging on the horse's back.