"Father, let me kill him first!" He Jinran could no longer contain his grief and indignation.

He felt heartbroken and resentful whenever he thought of his mother's miserable state.

"Little brat, who doesn't make mistakes? Our squabble was just a minor scuffle." Huyan Xun's eyes turned cold.

Hearing the sounds from the mountain peaks, his body stiffened.

"Make a mistake?" This was the most ridiculous thing He Jinran had ever heard. "Shameless!"

"You!" Huyan Xun glared angrily at He Jinran, seeing Gu Qian's firm attitude.

Then, he looked up at He Lin, who was standing ramrod straight on the mountain peak.

"Your Majesty Dongjin, your Central Plains are a vast and resource-rich land, so you should be broad-minded. The conflict between our two countries is just a minor skirmish, there is no deep-seated hatred, and the contradictions are not irreconcilable."

As Hu Yanxun spoke, Gu Qian also fixed his gaze on Feng Ding He Lin.

He Lin met Gu Qian's cold gaze and couldn't help but look away.

"Oh?" He raised an eyebrow and coldly asked Huyan Xun, "Tell me your reasons."

He Jinran looked at He Lin with displeasure: "Father, don't listen to his nonsense!"

Gu Qian's soft sword advanced further, "Living on in a state of utter despair!"

Huyan Xun retreated slightly because of Gu Qian's words.

He tightened his grip on the curved knife.

How many fathers and mothers does this damn boy have?

Seeing that He Lin was not as heartless as Gu Qian, Hu Yanxun calmed down slightly.

“You Dongjin need not be so heartless. Your Majesty, if you release me today, this vast northern desert will all be yours in the future, and I, Huyan Xun, will naturally follow your lead and offer you fine horses, cattle, sheep, and beautiful women every year.”

“We don’t care,” He Jinran said, glancing at Gu Qian. “Don’t you agree, Dad?”

"Yes," Gu Qian replied earnestly.

“Even if I kill you, these things will still happen.” He Lin clearly did not change his attitude towards Hu Yanxun because of his few words.

Huyan Xun chuckled, "Yes, but it's different."

“Kill me, and the Northern Desert will fall apart. Those people will be hard to control. They are far away in the Northern Desert, far from the emperor's reach. It's hard to guarantee that they won't declare themselves kings in the future. But I am different. Today, I have witnessed the power of Dongjin and only want to protect my own little territory. I will never dare to invade again in the future.”

"I, Huyan Xun, swear here today that from this day forward, I will never again be an enemy of the Central Plains."

Huyan Xun thought to himself that He Lin was, after all, the ruler of the Central Plains, so he bowed to him in a seemingly devout manner.

"Your Majesty, I can make all the powerful generals of the Northern Desert, as well as the stubborn forces, submit to your feet."

"Dream on!" He Jinran looked at He Lin with displeasure. "Father, where's the gunpowder? Let's attack!"

He Lin shook his head. If he still had gunpowder, he wouldn't be so calm right now.

He recalled what Huyan Xun had just said, his eyes darkening as he fell into deep thought.

It must be said that Huyan Xun spoke to He Lin's heart.

Is it feasible to persuade them to surrender?

It seems that it's not impossible.

As Huyan Xun said, once one Huyan Xun dies, countless others will launch another fierce attack.

Although they are not afraid of Dongjin, it is a waste of manpower and resources.

If he could recruit this man and make use of him... one day, when the entire Northern Desert had submitted to him, he would have used Huyan Xun enough and then kill him as soon as possible.

He Lin looked at Gu Qian, seeking his opinion.

"General Gu, what do you think?"

But Gu Qian ignored him completely.

Gu Qian looked coldly at Hu Yanxun and met his gaze.

The look in his eyes leaves no doubt: Impossible!

"What, still thinking about turning the tide in the future? Let me tell you now, it's impossible! After I kill you, the Northern Desert will be my Dongjin's possession!" He chuckled, gripping his soft sword and pointing it directly at Huyan Xun.

"Don't waste your energy. Today, you won't leave here alive!"

He Lin... alright, I'll listen to Gu Qian.

Huyan Xun panicked, completely at a loss. While guarding against a sudden attack from Gu Qian and He Lin, he turned to one of his subordinates beside him and gave a deep order.

"Charge out!"

They are currently trapped here and have no other choice but to resort to this tactic.

Gu Qian sneered, thinking that Hu Yanxun was incredibly stupid.

He Jinran followed suit and sneered at Hu Yanxun: Why don't you charge yourself?

The subordinate's body went limp, and he said tremblingly:

"Chanyu, this...this is all a trap."

In this mountainous terrain, they personally dug out one giant pit after another.

Sharp weapons, and one after another, animal traps.

They put it into the pit.

The most common type of trap they set was the bear trap.

This weapon can cause excruciating pain, enough to kill a person.

Seeing that the man disobeyed orders, Huyan Xun swiftly drew his curved blade and cut his throat. "So what if it's a trap?!"

His plan was to create chaos, then step over the corpses of his own people and get away from here.

Instantly, blood gushed from the subordinate's throat, and the rest of the barbarian army had no choice but to grit their teeth and charge forward.

Unexpectedly, after taking only half a step forward, they quickly knelt down and surrendered.

"General Gu, we surrender, we surrender..."

Shouts of surrender followed one after another.

Gu Qian had absolutely no interest in these Northern Desert rebels, and simply gave the order in a cold voice.

"kill!"

The rain of arrows from above was intense.

Huyan Xun tried desperately to escape, his body contorted in a desperate attempt to devise a way to get away.

However, Gu Qian's eyes were fixed on his swaying body.

Until

Of the northern barbarians, only Huyan Xun remained... standing alone beside the corpse of his companion.

He glared at Gu Qian with hatred.

"Gu Qian, can you tell me why you turned back?"

His intention was to buy time.

He was waiting.

They waited for Yuwen Xian to come to their rescue.

Gu Qian remained silent, his cold gaze showing no sign of fading.

He steadied himself and walked step by step toward Huyan Xun's burly, yet lonely body.

"How many troops do you have exactly?" Huyan Xun retreated; he really didn't want to be subdued by Gu Qian so easily.

He only hated Qiu Yan, which ignited the conflict.

"Five thousand." Gu Qian said, and the number he uttered almost made Hu Yanxun's jaw drop.

"What? A mere five thousand soldiers?"

Gu Qian pursed his lips, his steps neither hurried nor slow.

His calm and composed demeanor stood in stark contrast to Huyan Xun's current state of panic.

He wielded his soft sword, aiming it at Huyan Xun's feigned composure.

"Tell me, how do you want to die?"

Huyan Xun continued to retreat, saying, "Gu Qian, you can't kill me. If I die, the Northern Desert will inevitably collapse, and in the future, there will be countless bandits and outlaws."

"Do you think I, Gu Qian, am afraid?" Gu Qian scoffed coldly, and with a fierce sword strike, he slashed at Hu Yanxun's body.

Huyan Xun dodged Gu Qian's attack with a swift movement.

“I, General Yuwen of the Northern Desert, am still nearby. He has a full 30,000 troops under his command, which is more than enough to fight your 5,000-plus men. Gu Qian, don’t think I don’t know that you have run out of gunpowder! Release me, and I can persuade General Yuwen to stop the attack.”

"Huh? Who said we've run out of gunpowder?" It was He Lin who had run out of gunpowder.

Gu Qian raised his voice slowly as he reached out and felt for the bullet in his hand.