Chapter 26: The Barbarian-Crushing Army, Formed!

Many people stood up, gazing eagerly at Chen Cong, wanting to speak yet not knowing what to say.

Chen Cong was practically roaring now, raising a hand to point at the corpses strewn across the distance.

He shouted, "Look behind you! Those are the corpses of the northern barbarians! Look before you! Those are this General's troops! With merely a hundred horsemen, this General has shattered the Xiongnu royal court that you all feared like tigers! Look at this!"

Chen Cong brandished the Flying Tiger Halberd, swinging the trophy hanging from it in a full circle.

"The Xiongnu Shanyu, Yufuluo! Just as the Xiongnu treated you, this General slaughtered his entire family and keeps him by my side as a slave for my amusement! I had no blood feud with the Xiongnu, yet I could go to such lengths for the people of Bingzhou! And what about you?

Now! Tell me loudly, are you willing to follow this General behind, to slaughter every last barbarian and swear to avenge our blood debts?"

Finally, someone moved their lips numbly, eyes bloodshot, staring fixedly at Chen Cong.

He ground out through clenched teeth, "Slaughter every last barbarian, swear to avenge our blood debts!"

Then came a second, a third, and finally, every single gaze was nailed relentlessly onto Chen Cong. Even the Han women wiped away their tears and stood straight, filled with monstrous hatred.

The scattered shouts gathered into a stream, then surged into a sea, ultimately transforming into a single oath.

"Slaughter every last barbarian, swear to avenge our blood debts!"
"Slaughter every last barbarian, swear to avenge our blood debts!"
"Slaughter every last barbarian, swear to avenge our blood debts!"

Ten thousand voices roared as one, their mighty sound shattering the clouds in the highest heavens. The intensity of their hatred was so fierce that even if the waters of the Three Rivers, Four Seas, and Five Lakes were poured out, it could never be pacified.

They bit down so hard on their teeth that their lips bled. They clenched their fists so tightly that their fingernails dug deep into their flesh.

If gazes could devour flesh, they would have consumed Yufuluo entirely within moments, leaving not even a scrap of bone behind.

Had the Flying Bears not desperately blocked them.
Had a shred of remaining reason not told them that the general on the high platform was their benefactor, the one to whom they would pledge their remaining days.

It would not have just been gazes...

Yufuluo was terrified, his body twisting violently as he tried to escape from the presence of these Han commoners whom he had once regarded as mere pigs and dogs.

Chen Cong let out a long breath.

It was not a matter of mercy.
The monsters born in the name of hatred could no longer be called human; they would transform into evil ghosts, butchering the barbarians with the most cruel methods imaginable.
And then, they would pass this hatred down from generation to generation, endlessly.

Yet, beyond a doubt.
They would become the most solid rampart in the defense of the Bingzhou army, surpassing the noble families' slave troops by a thousandfold, ten thousandfold...

It was a pity that this terrifying war machine could not be led away from the borderlands; stripped of their hatred-driven fuel, they simply could not survive.
Otherwise, if he were to purge the non-Han tribes of Bingzhou and command ten thousand such battle-hardened troops, he could sweep across the entire realm even without armor.

After roaring, venting, and weeping bitterly for nearly half an hour, waiting for their emotions to slightly calm down, Chen Cong raised his long halberd high.

"Those who still have wives, children, and elderly parents at home, step forward."

Moments later, nearly five thousand people slowly walked out.

Chen Cong commanded, "Upon returning to Jinyang, distribute seven days of rations to each, let everyone return home, and resume your labor."

"General, we..."

Chen Cong raised a hand to cut off the able-bodied men: "It is not that this General is unwilling to take you in, but if everyone enlists, are we soldiers supposed to starve while fighting the enemy? Enough, no more needs to be said."

"Yes..."

"As for the rest, this General bestows upon you the title of Barbarian-Breaking Army! Form up today! Obey!"

ROAR!!!~

Nearly twenty thousand men shouted as one, sounding like well-trained soldiers.

Chen Cong casually tossed Yufuluo down from the high platform: "Enter the camp, Barbarian-Breaking Army, and drink the blood of the barbarians. But this man is this General's slave; if he dies, you have disobeyed military orders, your camp banners shall be destroyed, and your formation shall be disbanded."

With that, he grasped his long halberd, turned around, and walked down the high platform.

"Awoo!! Wuwuwu----!"

Yufuluo's eyes widened in terror as he swept his gaze across the surrounding fiends. Within moments, cold sweat soaked his entire body, and the unknown liquid seeping past his ropes was far more than just sweat.

He regretted it.
He regretted not fleeing the very first moment, and he regretted even more sparing the lives of these Han slaves.

...

The next day dawned bright and clear, with a very blue sky.

Early in the morning, after boiling rice in their pots, the rag-tag soldiers led oxen, drove sheep, and pushed mountain-like carts of grain out of Meiji.

A blazing fire could not burn away past sins, but it burned away every trace of those sins having ever existed.

Chen Cong led the Flying Bears, trailing far behind the main force, carefree and at ease.

"My friend, you are exceptionally silent today."

On horseback, Yufuluo shuddered violently, lowered his head meekly to reveal the crisscrossing scars on his neck. There were many scars, but all of them were very shallow, showing that the Barbarian-Breaking Army had exercised considerable restraint.

They had survived because of hatred, yet they had not completely lost their minds to it.

Yufuluo had survived, but he had also been left with such severe psychological trauma that he trembled merely at hearing the word "friend."

He had been such a fool.
He had actually believed, for even a fleeting moment, that Chen Cong could be his friend...

Now, he just wanted this journey through hell to end quickly, so he could hide in Luoyang and never come out for the rest of his life.

'I hope his father-in-law is a reasonable Han man,' he thought to himself, as a fresh surge of tears burst from his eyes.

...

Achoo!~

Cao Cao rubbed his nose, took the sweat towel handed to him by Xu Chu, and blew his nose.

Then he tossed the book in his hand aside and gazed into the distance.

"Zining always says that a sneeze means someone is thinking of you, two means cursing, and three means a fever. It seems my son-in-law has been away from home for a long time and is missing me."

Xu Chu was silent for a moment.

Then he rumbled, "My lord, that Chen Zining has the most heartless conscience; even if he were missing the maidens of the Cuihong Pavilion, he wouldn't be missing you."

"Hey!~ You blockhead!"

Before Cao Cao could hurl further curses, hurried footsteps suddenly sounded outside the hall.

"My lord! Splendid news! Wonderful news! Incredible news!"

Cao Cao abruptly raised his head to meet Xun Yu, who was walking in with brisk strides. For someone as modest and poised as Xun Wenruo to repeatedly exclaim three wonderful pieces of news, it simply had to be a victory report from Bingzhou!

After laughing heartily for a moment, he rose to greet Xun Yu: "Is there a victory from Bingzhou? Hahaha, Zining and I truly share a tacit understanding."

Xun Yu first bowed to Cao Cao, took two deep breaths to calm his emotions, and then drew out the battle report to hand to Cao Cao.

"My lord, the Governor of Bingzhou reports that on the twelfth day, a hundred horsemen launched a surprise attack on the Xiongnu royal court—a great victory! They captured several hundred thousand斛 of grain and countless livestock. Furthermore, he says that if my lord intends to seize the territory, you can dispatch troops to secure Shangdang first."

"Hahaha! Excellent!" Cao Cao cast a triumphant glance at Xu Chu, took the battle report, and began to read...

And then...

His old face grew darker and darker.

The handwriting was neat, the prose smooth, without even a single wrong character.
The crux of the matter was that the forms of address were far too respectful.
When had Chen Cong ever addressed him as 'Respected Father-in-law'? And what was this about 'kowtowing three times to send afar my yearning thoughts'?

This victory report was clearly not written by Chen Cong! It hadn't even been personally dictated by that scoundrel; it was entirely the product of a ghostwriter's wild imagination!

Moreover, given Chen Cong's personality, he would have undoubtedly sent a fast rider to report a city-capturing victory immediately.

A victory report from the twelfth day—did it really need to drag on until the twenty-third day to arrive?

Before Cao Cao could erupt, footsteps sounded outside the hall once more.

Xi Zhi strode in rapidly: "My lord! Splendid news! Wonderful news! Incredible news!!"

Cao Cao: .....