Chapter 331: The Arrogant Southern Garden King

At the North Garden Royal Court of the Dahar Khan Kingdom, thousands of yurts formed a mobile city. Surrounding the Royal Court, countless cattle and sheep gathered in herds, as numerous as the stars in the sky.

Smoke from cooking fires fueled by dried cattle dung drifted lazily into the air, carrying a peculiar aroma.

At the very center of these yurts stood a great yurt, twice as tall as the others, with a wolf-head banner planted on top.

That was the residence of the North Garden Great King, Goyerno.

Inside the royal yurt, the North Garden Great King, who bore a strong resemblance to Goyelda, sat on a large chair draped with a White Tiger Hide. He had a delicate young woman in each arm.

The two young women looked incredibly tender and were probably only fourteen or fifteen years old.

Held in Goyerno’s arms, they looked like two little lambs.

Inside the yurt, besides the three of them, there were eight burly men, each with a woman in his arms. Two of them already had their groping hands inside the women’s collars.

Waves of loud laughter and soft murmurs echoed throughout the yurt.

“Great King, the Young Prince Goyelda must have broken through the border towns of the Eastern Domain by now and is driving deep into their territory, right?”

A burly man drained the wine fed to him by the woman beside him in one gulp, then laughed heartily.

The burly man to his right laid the woman beside him across his lap, his hands kneading her body. He spoke in a grating, duck-like voice, “With Young Prince Goyelda’s combat power, forget an army of hundreds of thousands. He could wipe out the entire Eastern Domain Cultivation Realm by himself! Isn’t that obvious? All we have to do is wait for the good news.”

Goyerno also laughed loudly. “How could a tiny little Eastern Domain possibly withstand the might of our South Garden Wolf Army? I told Goyelda before he set out: since those Eastern Domain People dare to challenge the authority of our Dahar Khan Kingdom, this time, we will utterly crush all their Cultivation Sects, plunder all their wealth, and bring all their women back to the Grassland. We’ll give every man on our Grassland a fair-skinned ‘two-legged sheep’.”

At this, everyone roared with laughter.

One of them chuckled, “The Eastern Domain may be barren and mountainous, but their women are no worse than those from Hua Xu. I’ll have to pick a few fair-skinned ones for myself.”

“Great King, what’s the real story with that merchant caravan from the Central Domain?” asked a skinny, middle-aged man with a goatee, sitting at the far end of Goyerno’s left side, his timing inappropriate.

“Oh? Do you have some doubts, Mo Qianzhi?” Goyerno asked, glancing at him sideways.

Qianzhi was just this man’s official title in the South Garden, equivalent to Goyerno’s military advisor. He was actually from the Central Domain, and his real name was Mo Chensun.

“This old slave has felt uneasy for the past two days. I’ve been thinking it over and over, wondering if this whole affair might be a trap. So, this old slave sent people to contact our agents in the Central Domain. I’ve learned that the man named Chu Fan was highly valued by the Carefree Monarch—who is the former Crown Prince Hua Xu and the father of the current Hua Xu Emperor. Although Chu Fan supposedly died in the Hua Xu Secret Realm, he was sent there by the Carefree Monarch. We can’t be sure if he’s truly dead or just faking it!”

“Furthermore, our Dahar Khan Kingdom and Hua Xu have always been mortal enemies…” Mo Chensun’s words stopped abruptly, but everyone present understood his unspoken meaning.

Goyerno waved his hand dismissively. “I didn’t tell you the identity of that merchant caravan before for certain reasons. But now that the army has been dispatched, there’s no harm in telling you. That caravan was sent by Long Haixin, Prince Fuling, the eldest son of King Chen of Hua Xu.”

“Prince Fuling, Long Haixin?” Mo Chensun’s expression changed abruptly upon hearing the name.

Goyerno nodded. “Long Haixin met my blood brother back in the Miracle Secret Realm. He personally witnessed my brother being killed by that Eastern Domain Cultivator, Chu Fan. It’s obvious that Long Haixin wants to use me. If I couldn’t even see that, then I wouldn’t be worthy of this position as the Southern Garden King. However, this gives me the perfect excuse to send troops to the Eastern Domain. As for a trap… Long Haixin wouldn’t do that.”

Mo Chensun frowned and asked, “Why not?”

“You were born in Hua Xu, so you should know. Those princes in Hua Xu seem incredibly noble, but they are forbidden from touching power. That’s the bottom line. So, what’s the difference between those princes and livestock raised in a pen? Besides, they even sent us three thousand Profound-Breaking Arrows. You can imagine that King Chen’s line is not exactly loyal to their Little Emperor.”

“Pillaging the Eastern Domain is the first step of my plan. Everyone here is my trusted confidant, so there’s nothing I need to hide from you. The new Khan has not been on the throne for long; his foundation is still unstable. This time, we found an excuse to invade the Eastern Domain purely for plunder. Once we’ve saved up enough military funding, we can go and buy the allegiance of some of the major tribes. The position of Khan of our Dahar Khanate is for the capable to take. Why shouldn’t I make a bid for it?”

“When the time comes, I’ll give Prince Fuling some benefits in return for more Profound-Breaking Arrows. It’s entirely possible. These are just the first two steps. Once I’ve taken the Khan’s throne, I can coordinate with Prince Fuling from the inside and out. At that point, forget a tiny Eastern Domain—even the Central Domain will be our backyard.”

Goyerno roared with laughter as he finished speaking.

“Your Majesty is wise!” several of the burly men exclaimed, shamelessly flattering him.

One man was already lost in daydreams, saying, “Your Majesty’s plan is brilliant! Once you have achieved all that you’ve said, your accomplishments will far surpass those of all previous Khan Kings! And we who have followed you to glory will surely be remembered in the annals of history.”

Goyerno acted as if everything he spoke of was already within his grasp. He puffed out his chest and declared with utter arrogance, “As long as you follow me and serve with all your heart, I guarantee you will have more wealth and women than you can ever enjoy.”

Mo Chensun remained silent while the others broke into songs of praise.

These officials and subordinates of the South Garden were all wildly arrogant. They didn’t even give Hua Xu a second thought, let alone the Eastern Domain, which was considered nothing but a land of Barbarians in the eyes of the Hua Xu people.

After everyone had calmed down, Goyerno’s gaze turned to Mo Chensun. “Mo Qianzhi, do you still have other concerns? Has your unease subsided even a little?”

Mo Chensun pushed the woman beside him away, stood up, and slowly walked to face Goyerno. Under the confused gazes of the others, he spoke, “Great King, do you truly believe that Goyelda can break through the defenses of the Eastern Domain’s border towns and drive deep into their territory?”

A look of displeasure appeared in Goyerno’s eyes. He said, somewhat reproachfully, “Mo Qianzhi, are you drunk?”

Mo Chensun didn’t answer, his gaze fixed on Goyerno.

“Mo Qianzhi, are you questioning the Great King?” the man with the grating, duck-like voice snapped at Mo Chensun.

“It’s just the piddling Eastern Domain! A Void Realm master is already considered a top-tier existence there. Goyelda has eleven Void Realm experts with him, over a thousand Cultivators, and an army of more than four hundred thousand! What does the Eastern Domain have to resist that?”

“General, are these the eleven Void Realm experts you were talking about?” Mo Chensun said, then flicked his right sleeve.

Twelve heads rolled across the floor.

One of them was, unmistakably, Goyelda’s.

The sudden turn of events made the women shriek. The burly men, after a moment of shock, shot to their feet, their eyes fixed in disbelief on the heads on the ground.

“Mo Qianzhi, what is the meaning of this?” Goyerno’s gaze was sharp as a blade as he stared at Mo Qianzhi.