Chapter 411 Dead End

Chapter 411: Cornered

The tent was dim inside, cluttered with junk, and the air reeked with a sharp, stinging smell.

It was lamp oil—fire oil—with a few empty jars scattered around.

Cheng Ge's heart dropped. He suddenly remembered how, a few days back, Hutuke had publicly burned Bayan Tribe folks alive to make an example of them! This oil was probably what was left over.

"Don't come in! Take one step in and I'll run him through right now!" Cheng Ge's roar exploded out, cutting through the gaps in the ragged felt tent.

His arm, holding the blade, was rigid as iron, the cold, blue-tinged edge of the stolen curved saber pressed hard against the artery in Hutuke's neck.

The blade bit in just a little, and a thin line of blood appeared at once, beads of red seeping out and rolling down Hutuke's sable collar, making him flinch.

Hutuke could feel the heat coming off the body behind him—the leftover warmth of the fight, mixed with sweat, blood, and dust—and something else: a killing intent so real it felt solid, ice-cold, locked onto him.

Shadows moved outside the tent, blades glinting coldly, reflecting the sudden shift in the guards' faces.

The air went dead still. Only the distant sounds of battle and the heavy breathing nearby remained.

No more stalling! That wolf cub Wuliji could show up any second!

Fear hit him like ice water, drowning out the sting at his neck and firing up the ruthless cunning buried deep in Hutuke's bones.

His eyes swept the ground, landing on the stacked jars... A crazy, vicious idea flashed through his mind.

Just as Cheng Ge's focus slipped for a split second because of the soldiers shifting outside, Hutuke gathered every bit of strength he had left and slammed his heel back!

"Bang—crash!" The boot heel slammed hard into the half-full leather jar of oil!

The jar shuddered and rolled, oil gushing out, splashing over the dry, frayed felt and the packed dirt floor, spreading in winding streams as the stink got ten times worse.

"Throw fire onto the oil!" Hutuke roared like a madman, the blade at his neck digging half a finger deeper from his thrashing, sending sharper pain through him.

But he didn't care anymore. The shadow of death and the desperate need to turn things around twisted his face into a snarl.

The soldiers outside froze for a second at the sudden order, then snapped into action.

A few quick-thinking ones reached into their robes, pulled out their flint strikers, and little orange-red sparks flared up in the dark.

Without a second thought, they hurled those sparks with everything they had at the oil pooling at the tent entrance!

Time seemed to slow down.

The burning strikers tumbled through the air, leaving faint red trails, and landed at the edge of the oil.

"Ssss..." A soft hiss, and the sparks instantly licked up.

The built-up oil fumes caught fire in an instant, exploding from the spot where they landed and racing like crazy along the oil trail.

The dry, ragged felt tent and the scattered furs and junk were perfect fuel. The flames climbed, twisted, and devoured.

In seconds, it became a twisting, blazing wall of fire, swallowing most of the entrance, with thick black smoke rolling back inside!

"Ugh!" Cheng Ge grunted, choking on the blast of heat, and stumbled back half a step, still holding Hutuke.

In his eyes, the wild firelight danced, lighting up the once-dark tent in harsh brightness.

The firelight also cut through the tent fabric, clearly showing the faces of the royal guards outside—anxious, vicious, hungry, restless...

They gripped their blades and bows, scanning for any gap behind the leaping flames, like a pack of starving wolves waiting for prey to walk right into their jaws.

A classic bait-and-switch. Cheng Ge's heart sank.

Hutuke had figured out that Wuliji's reinforcements were on the way, which made him the only shield Cheng Ge had left—not someone he'd kill unless he had no choice.

So he used this burn-the-tent-down tactic to force him out!

The second he stepped out of this tent with his hostage, out in the open, surrounded on all sides, and having to keep one eye on the prisoner—one slip was all these hungry royal elites needed to take him down.

A living "big shot" with close ties to Wuliji would hit Wuliji's morale way harder than a corpse, and make a much better bargaining chip or leverage for blackmail!

The blade at his neck seemed to ease up a little from the sudden heat and tension.

Hutuke fought back the cough from the smoke and the sting of his wound, forcing a twisted grin that mixed pain and crazy excitement onto his contorted face.

"Cough... cough... So? Getting hot enough? Man of the Central Plains... put down the blade now, and come out with me nice and easy... I—I swear on my family's blood! I'll let you live, you worthless dog!"

The scorching air stirred the sweat-soaked, tangled black hair on Cheng Ge's forehead, strands brushing his blood-stained cheeks.

The fierce flames burned and reflected in his bottomless eyes.

He was silent for just a heartbeat, then the corner of his mouth twitched up almost imperceptibly, a smile with no warmth in it.

His voice, over the crackling of the fire, was eerily calm: "...Is that so?"

That reaction sent wild joy flooding through Hutuke's heart like weeds taking over! There's a chance! God or demon, in the end, he's still scared of dying!

He pressed his advantage right away, his tone getting more and more "sincere" and persuasive, with a gambler's crazy gleam flashing in his eyes:

"Of course! Every word! This Khan... this Khan respects real warriors above all else!

You're way better than those useless dogs under Wuliji! What future is there in following him? A traitor!

Just submit and help me kill Wuliji and crush this rebellion!

The most beautiful women on the grasslands, the fattest cattle and sheep, the sharpest blades—pick whatever you want!

Endless wealth and glory! Why die for him in this godforsaken place?!"

Cheng Ge listened quietly, and the strange glint in his eyes seemed to deepen, to grow heavier.

He glanced at the faces outside the tent, flickering in and out of the dancing firelight.

Then slowly brought his gaze back, settling on the face in front of him—flushed red from the heat, twitching slightly with ambition.

He opened his mouth slowly, pulling in a breath of scorching, choking air, and his voice came out with a strange calm that almost sounded gentle:

"Well then... I really must thank the Great Khan... for going to all this trouble to make promises."

Hutuke felt the weight lift off his chest, joy nearly exploding out of him, and even the wound at his neck seemed to hurt less.

His lips moved, about to speak again—when the curved saber at his neck suddenly pulled back without any warning!

"Thud—rip!!" Dull! Heavy! Like a blunt weapon punching through thick leather, with a faint, teeth-grinding crack of bone snapping!

The blade punched through the leather robe on his back without resistance, slicing through flesh, snapping ribs, and driving deep into the soft, warm chest, grabbing hold of the heart still pounding with joy!

Time, in that moment, seemed to stretch out forever, frozen solid.

Hutuke's face, still twisted with malice and calculation, froze solid in an instant, like a lake surface flash-frozen by a sudden deep freeze.

His eyes flew wide, the dancing firelight reflected in his pupils now held nothing but boundless shock and horror, along with a deathly pallor spreading fast across his face.

With immense effort, he lowered his head bit by bit, his vision fighting to focus.

A bloodstained curved blade tip jutted out through the front of his robe, having punched clean through his body.

Thick, sticky blood beaded at the blade's tip and dripped off, quickly pooling into a dark red stain on the ground.

"Hah... uh... gurgle..." His throat worked violently, but only raw, guttural sounds came out.

Cheng Ge pressed close behind him, so close they could feel each other's last body heat.

He leaned in near Hutuke's ear, his voice dropped to a near whisper, cold as the deepest permafrost of the northern wastes, each word deliberate:

"Great Khan... your dream ends here."

Before the words even died out, Cheng Ge's wrist suddenly twisted with brutal force! Wrenched!

"Crack... gurgle..." The blade twisted and churned inside the warm chest cavity.

Hutuke's towering frame gave one violent convulsion, and the last guttural sound in his throat cut off dead.

Outside the tent, deathly silence held for maybe half a heartbeat.

Then—"GREAT KHAN—!!!!"

The sheer shock of watching their lord get assassinated right in front of them blew their minds, and they lunged at Cheng Ge with reckless abandon.

Erdene and the few remaining warriors had just shaken off the shock and moved to block.

But they were badly outnumbered—Erdene barely deflected the first two curved blades that came at him, only to get hopelessly tangled up in the next wave of royal guards, watching helplessly as a few others slipped through the gap and made a beeline for Cheng Ge!

Blades split the air, riding a wave of vengeance and scorching heat, already on him!

The cold glint and even harsher firelight danced in Cheng Ge's eyes, and the bloody corner of his mouth even twitched a little.

Just as the blade tips were about to reach him—

He suddenly ducked down, grabbed the front of Hutuke's still-falling corpse, and hurled it hard at the two men leading the charge!

"THUD!" The two, totally not expecting Cheng Ge to use a corpse as a weapon, got caught flat-footed and took that heavy "hammer" square in the chest and face!

Staggering back from the impact, they bowled over the guy behind them, and all three went down in a heap, stalling the charge for a second.

The royal guards closing in from behind stumbled to a halt, their faces going grim as they watched the flames start licking at the fallen.

They ringed the burning tent entrance with blades drawn, firelight throwing a row of twisted faces into stark relief.

The exit was completely sealed, flames closing in from every side, thick smoke choking the air.

Cheng Ge was now cornered in a death trap, with no way out!

The heat was brutal, flames nearly licking the toes of Cheng Ge's boots, his tattered robes whipping wildly in the thermal updraft.

He backed up two steps, his spine hitting the scorching support pole at the tent's center. Searing pain shot up his back.

He raised a hand and wiped the blood, foam, and soot from the corner of his mouth with the back of it.

His eyes swept across the corner of the tent—

The next second, he swung the bloodstained blade outward with everything he had, using it like a club.

The flat of the blade slammed into the stacked leather jars, sending them tumbling and bursting open on impact!

Thick, sticky fire oil gushed out toward the tent entrance, splashing right onto the feet of the soldiers blocking the way.

BOOM—!!!! Flames roared skyward!

Tongues of fire instantly devoured everything near the entrance, swallowing the caught-off-guard soldiers whole!

Everyone: "!!!"

Only now did it hit them—Cheng Ge never meant to come out!!!

A blazing wall of fire split inside from outside into two worlds—one side, the world of men; the other, a living hell.

And Cheng Ge had locked himself in the very core of that hell.

Erdene had just cut down the enemy who'd been tangling with him, taking a slash to the back in the process.

He whipped his head around, just in time to see the flames roaring skyward—and through the fire devouring the tent entrance, the silhouette of Cheng Ge standing tall in the middle of the inferno.

He hacked through the enemies in his way and charged straight at that all-consuming inferno!

But it was too late—the fire was too fierce!

This was no ordinary fire—it was an explosive hellfire fueled by a ton of oil!

The heat formed a solid wall, the scorching air twisting and churning, forcing Erdene to stop just a few steps short.

"ERDENE—!!! Tell Wuliji—don't forget what he promised me—!!!"

Cheng Ge's last words rang out like a wolf's final howl, echoing through the biting night wind over the grassland.

Erdene's entire body trembled violently, his lips moving but no sound escaping.

And almost in that very instant, as the echo of the cry had yet to fade—

A towering figure, radiating the savage killing intent of a bloody path carved through battle, smashed through everything in his way and hurled himself into the sea of fire at terrifying speed!