Starting with helping Zhao Kai ascend the throne in the snow

Sunrise and sunset, time flies like an arrow.

In the blink of an eye, three days had passed since the barbarian soldiers retreated. Shen Qing had already arranged for someone to send Li Ying's letter to the Li Yue tribe. He believed that as long as Li Ze received the letter, he would definitely give the antidote for the Gu worm. After all, compared to Li Ying's life, what was the antidote for the Sparrow Tongue Heart-Eating Gu?

As for Li Ying, Shen Qing did not lock her up again, but let her stay in the prefectural governor's mansion. With the presence of the old sword god and Xuan Yuan Qingfeng, a little girl like her could not cause much trouble. As long as she was smart enough, she would not be so foolish as to run away.

During this period, some martial artists with minor injuries chose to leave after the battle subsided, including Shan Eryi and Song Tinglu. More than twenty martial artists with more serious injuries chose to stay in Kuaiji City to stabilize their injuries.

Shen Qing was checking the situation at the soup kitchen set up at the city gate, with Xuan Yuan Qingfeng and the old sword god by his side, and Li Ying also came along out of curiosity.

Just then, Pan Yang rushed over with a report from a scout. "Report, Lord Shen, news has come from the barbarians."

"What happened?" Shen Qing asked as he spoke, his eyes fixed on the endless stream of people coming to collect porridge.

“The Li-Yue tribe has been wiped out,” Pan Yang said.

"What?" Shen Qing snapped back to reality upon hearing this.

"This is impossible!" Li Ying exclaimed in surprise, her face full of disbelief.

The next second, Shen Qing immediately took the intelligence from Pan Yang, read it, and handed it to Li Ying, whose face was pale.

The inscription reads that on their return journey, the Li Yue tribe was ambushed by the Chi Yue Hu tribe at Taohualing. Of the Li Yue tribe's 6,000 troops, only a hundred or so managed to break through the encirclement and flee towards Kuaiji City while fighting.

After defeating the 6,000-strong army of the Li Yue tribe, the Chi Yue Tiger tribe disguised themselves as Li Yue soldiers and tricked the Li Yue tribe into opening their stronghold. The entire Li Yue tribe of more than 30,000 people, regardless of age, were slaughtered by the Chi Yue Tiger tribe, and their heads were cut off and used to build a mound of heads.

The other Baiyue tribes within a hundred li radius of the Liyue tribe turned pale at the mere mention of the name of the Chiyue Tiger Tribe, and two or three tribes began to abandon their original territories and flee further south. After annihilating the Liyue tribe, the Chiyue Tiger Tribe pursued the fleeing remnants of the Liyue tribe all the way, and has now set foot within the territory of Kuaiji Commandery. If the Chiyue Tiger Tribe continues at this pace, they will be at the gates of Kuaiji City within two days.

"This isn't true, I don't believe it, Shen Qing, tell me this is a lie, right?" The intelligence slipped from Li Ying's hand, and she looked at Shen Qing in a panic, wanting a different answer.

"Senior, please take her down to rest first," Shen Qing said to the old sword god, looking at Li Ying, who was pale and distraught.

The old swordsman nodded, and with a gentle flick of his right hand, knocked Li Ying unconscious. He then grabbed her and headed back into the prefectural governor's mansion.

"Pan Yang, immediately send word to the people along the way, warning them to avoid the Chi Yue Tiger Tribe's forces. Also, starting tomorrow, Kuaiji City will be under lockdown again, and people will not be allowed to enter or leave at will." Shen Qing said, rubbing his temples.

Kuaiji City is truly plagued by misfortunes. It had just repelled the Liyue tribe when the Chiyue Tiger tribe came along. It just never ends.

Upon hearing this, Pan Yang immediately accepted the order and went to make the arrangements.

Shen Qing had no time to worry about anything else at the moment, so he immediately led Xuan Yuan Qingfeng back to the council hall in the prefectural governor's mansion to find a way to deal with the Chi Yue Tiger tribe.

The night passed in the blink of an eye. The next morning, just as Shen Qing was sitting down in the prefectural council hall, a soldier came to report that a barbarian cavalry of about a hundred men had been spotted twenty miles outside the city.

"A mere hundred barbarians dare to act so arrogantly! Shen Lang, I will lead fifty riders from the Xuanyuan family to wipe them out." Xuanyuan Qingfeng's pretty face showed disdain upon hearing that a group of barbarian soldiers had been spotted outside the city.

“No, no.” Shen Qing frowned slightly upon hearing this.

"What's wrong with Shen Lang?"

“These barbarian soldiers appeared too quickly. Given the speed of the Chi Yue Tiger Tribe’s advance, even if they sent cavalry, they shouldn’t have appeared so quickly, unless…” Thinking of this, Shen Qing stood up and said to Xuan Yuan Qingfeng, “Qingfeng, I will go with you.”

A moment later, Shen Qing, the Old Sword God, and Xuan Yuan Qingfeng, along with fifty riders from the Xuan Yuan family led by Hong Biao, quickly headed towards the direction where the barbarian soldiers had been discovered.

Ershilibao was the closest small town to Kuaiji City. It originally had more than 800 residents, but after news of the invasion of the barbarian army came, everyone fled within two days. It wasn't until the barbarians withdrew that more than 100 people returned to the town.

However, just last night, the people of Ershilibao were once again plunged into a nightmare. That night, they were captured by a group of about a hundred barbarians. All the food in the fort was stolen, and several young women and wives were harassed by the barbarian soldiers. If the barbarian leader had not shouted at them, they would have been insulted.

Just as dawn broke, the sound of the barbarian soldiers crying could be heard from the house of the wealthy Tian Youcai, which had been occupied by the barbarian soldiers.

"Leader, wake up..."

"Leader, you're dead, what are we going to do..."

It turns out that the barbarian soldiers occupying Ershilibao were actually soldiers from the Liyue tribe who broke out of the ambush of the Chiyuehu tribe. After breaking out of the encirclement of the Chiyuehu tribe, they were relentlessly pursued by the enemy's troops and could not escape back to their tribe. They could only rush towards Kuaiji City, where there were no pursuers to stop them.

During his battle with Chi Hu, Li Ze's ribs were broken by Chi Hu's spiked club. Coupled with the ambush and his shame and anger, he fell into a coma after escaping to Twenty Mile Fort.

Just as the barbarian soldiers were crying, Li Ze, who had fallen into a coma, suddenly woke up, and his complexion became much rosier. The surrounding barbarian soldiers were overjoyed. "Leader, you're awake! That's wonderful!"

"The leader has woken up..."

Only Li Ze's personal guard, Hama, looked extremely grim. He had seen this phenomenon many times in the tribe and knew it was a sign of a person's dying moments.

"Ha Ma." After regaining consciousness, Li Ze knew that his time was running out, so he immediately looked at his personal guard commander.

“I’m here, leader,” Hama said, stepping forward.

"After I die, you must find Li Ying and tell her not to seek revenge against the Chi Yue Tiger Tribe. She is no match for the Nine Chi Tribe. If possible, help her rebuild the Li Yue Tribe..."

"Rest assured, Chief, I, Hama, will definitely find Chief Li Ying..."

"Then...that's...good..." Upon hearing Hama's words, Li Ze closed his eyes without any regrets.

"Leader..."

The next moment, a deafening cry of grief filled the air, and all of Li Ze's personal guards wept uncontrollably.