Chapter 9: Delivering a ‘Grand Gift’

Xiao Zhan said no more, turned, and strode toward the outside of the hall. In the courtyard, the corpses of the Imperial Guards lay in disarray, with the shattered head of Liu Gang being particularly conspicuous.

Looking at all this, a bold, perhaps even insane, idea began to crystallize in his mind.

"Someone!" Xiao Zhan called out in a low voice.

Several personal guards immediately stepped forward. "What are your orders, Heir Apparent?"

Xiao Zhan pointed at Liu Gang’s headless corpse, his voice devoid of any ripples. "Cut off his head, and the heads of his lieutenants and squad leaders, and pack them into a sturdy crate."

"Ah?" The guards looked at each other, not understanding what Xiao Zhan was planning.

Xiao Yunshang could not help but frown. "Brother, what are you doing..."

Xiao Zhan curled his lips into an arc that felt devoid of any warmth. "Hasn't Qin Cang already reached the gate? We must send him a 'grand gift' to open his eyes and let him weigh whether the Prince of Yan’s estate is a bone he can actually chew."

He turned his head, his gaze falling on Wang Yichuan, who was trembling like chaff in the wind. "You, you will have the honor of delivering this 'grand gift' to General Qin personally."

When Wang Yichuan heard this, his vision went black, and he nearly fainted on the spot.

Delivering heads?

And delivering them to Qin Cang, a man known throughout the world for his harsh military discipline and ruthless methods?

How was this any different from sending himself to report to the King of Hell?

"Heir Apparent... I... I absolutely dare not!" Wang Yichuan was terrified out of his wits; he wept and kowtowed like a man pounding garlic.

"Bang!"

A gunshot rang out. The bullet grazed Wang Yichuan’s scalp, exploding a crater in the ground beside him and sending gravel flying.

Wang Yichuan’s wailing was cut off as if a chicken’s throat had been pinched. All that remained was the chattering of his teeth and the rapidly spreading wet warmth in his trousers.

"You will dare, or you will die. You have three breaths to consider." Xiao Zhan’s voice was terrifyingly calm, the cold muzzle of his gun still trailing a faint wisp of blue smoke.

Wang Yichuan no longer dared to utter a single word of refusal. He crawled and kowtowed frantically. "I... I dare! I will obey! Whatever the Heir Apparent commands, I will do!"

The efficiency was remarkable. Before long, a heavy wooden crate was carried up. Blood seeped through the cracks, and the thick, pungent smell of iron was almost nauseating.

Xiao Zhan asked for paper and a brush, wrote a few lines in a bold, sweeping script, stuffed the note into a prepared bamboo tube, and tossed it to Wang Yichuan.

"Take this and deliver it to Qin Cang yourself."

Xiao Zhan’s voice was not loud, but it carried an unquestionable pressure.

"Tell him that everyone in the Prince of Yan’s estate would rather be a shattered jade than an intact tile! If he persists in attacking the city, the contents of this box will be the fate of his own soldiers tomorrow!"

"Tell him to think clearly: are the heads of his thousands of Dragon Cavalry guards enough to withstand my 'Thunder Cannons' one by one?"

Xiao Zhan paused, enunciating every word with perfect clarity. "And tell him that I, Xiao Zhan, am waiting right here in the Prince of Yan’s estate for him to come and take my head! If he has the guts, let him bring it on!"

Wang Yichuan took the cold bamboo tube with trembling hands, feeling as though it were not a tube, but a death warrant. His legs gave way, and he nearly collapsed to the ground.

"Open the main gate and see Lord Wang on his way!" Xiao Zhan waved his hand, his tone tinged with mockery.

The guards suppressed their laughter, hauled up the man who had turned into a puddle of mush, and with a shrill, piercing creak, slowly pushed open the weathered vermilion main gate of the Yan estate.

In an instant, the dark, dense formation of troops outside flooded their vision.

Thousands of capital garrison soldiers, clad in gleaming armor with spears like a forest, had surrounded the estate so tightly that not even water could seep through. A cold, murderous aura, woven of iron and blood, surged toward them, nearly tangible.

Beneath the central banner, a military officer stood clad in heavy black iron armor, his face as cold and hard as iron. It was none other than the current commander of the Dragon Cavalry, General Qin Cang.

He had been growing wary because the men he sent to scout under Liu Gang had not returned, sensing that something had gone awry and preparing to order an all-out assault.

At that very moment, the heavy gates of the Yan estate swung open without warning.

A ragged, filthy Imperial Guard soldier crawled out over the threshold, clutching a waist-high wooden crate to his chest. Behind him, several of the estate’s guards pushed him out a few steps with expressionless faces before retreating back inside. With a thunderous "bang," the gates slammed shut again.

The moment Wang Yichuan left the estate, he caught sight of the majestic figure beneath the central banner. As if grasping at a final straw, he scrambled and clawed his way forward, weeping and wailing, "General! General, save me!"

Qin Cang’s face was as dark as water. Before he could speak, his personal guards stepped forward, their iron-like hands pinning the frantic Wang Yichuan to the ground.

"Who is this? Where is Liu Gang?" Qin Cang’s voice was low, carrying an undeniable weight.

Wang Yichuan crawled forward, holding the heavy crate above his head with one hand while trembling to produce the bamboo tube with the other. His throat felt obstructed, his voice sharp and distorted.

"General... General Qin! General Liu... they are all dead! They are all dead!"

He howled, his face smeared with tears and snot.

"The Prince of Yan’s heir, Xiao Zhan... he... he is not human! He is a sorcerer! He uses black magic!"

"This... this is the 'grand gift' he told me to present to you! And this letter!"

Qin Cang lifted his chin, and his guards stepped forward to efficiently take the crate and the bamboo tube.

With a "snap," the crate was pried open.

Even though these guards were hardened veterans who had crawled through mountains of corpses and seas of blood, they could not help but let out a stifled gasp upon seeing the layers of staring, dead eyes inside.

The stench of blood mixed with the smell of earth, instantly permeating the air.

Qin Cang’s expression remained unchanged as he took the bamboo tube from his guard and extracted the letter.

He read it quickly. The paper crinkled in his grip, emitting a faint "creak" as if it were about to be crushed into powder at any moment.

"You brat! Utterly arrogant!"

With a roar of fury, the concentrated, tangible killing intent surrounding Qin Cang erupted.

The thousands of Dragon Cavalry soldiers behind him, sensing their commander's towering rage, gripped their weapons. A frigid, cold light linked them all together; they were waiting only for the command to trample the Prince of Yan’s estate into the ground!

Wang Yichuan lay on the ground, shaking like a sieve, his breath nearly ceasing.

However, just as everyone expected Qin Cang to order the assault and flatten the estate, he merely stared at the tightly closed vermilion gates. After a moment, the hand he had raised to signal the attack slowly lowered.

There was no assault.

Instead, he lowered his voice and gave a few instructions to his deputy.

The deputy accepted the order and departed quickly. Before long, he returned with a middle-aged man dressed as a scholar.

Qin Cang spoke a few more words in a low voice to the scholar.

Immediately, the scholar spurred his horse forward, stopping some ten yards from the gates of the Prince of Yan’s estate, and called out loudly.

"Listen, Xiao Zhan, Heir Apparent of the Prince of Yan!"

"My General invites you! Please step out of the estate to have a word!"