Chaotic World Book-Chapter 270 - 265: Win Over

Hu Lie was talking to the leader of the raiding merchant convoy from last night at the military encampment outside the market, when suddenly a soldier came to report, "General, Ba Tu says he’s come to see General Hu Lie, claiming he was invited by General Hu Lie."

Hu Lie was taken aback, "He just said he wasn’t in the mood."

The leader lowered his voice to ask, "What are you inviting him for?"

They were a tribe directly under Great Khan Tie Muer, with ideas different from other families. At a time when various Alliance Armies were marching south, Tie Muer wasn’t inclined to start complications by swallowing the War Lion Tribe, but by all accounts, he should be mediating. Instead, he let the infighting within the War Lion Tribe go on without his interference, naturally harboring his own ulterior motives.

All Tie Muer wanted was for Ba Tu to know his place by surrendering the treasure for protection, then effortlessly take over the entire tribe without losing a single soldier, which would sound respectable too.

Hu Lie smiled, "The Great Khan doesn’t want to start anything unseemly at this time of joint march south, but it can be handled elegantly. For example, if Ba Tu were to die at Yue Hongling’s hands, and we then kill Yue Hongling, wouldn’t that be just perfect?"

The leader realized, "So that’s the plan. Quickly, have Tribe Leader Ba Tu come in."

Ba Tu entered the tent with a few guards in tow, which Hu Lie and the others barely noticed. Despite Ba Tu’s current destitute state and the ongoing factional strife within his tribe, he was after all the legitimate Clan Leader, in possession of the He Lei’s secret treasure, and supported by a group of loyal tribespeople, so having a few guards was quite normal.

Hu Lie then smiled, "So what brought the change of heart?"

Ba Tu grunted, "Since I can’t sell that item anyway, might as well catch Yue Hongling; after all, she’s the one causing trouble here from the Central Plains, and I should avenge my uncle."

Hu Lie chuckled to himself at this simpleton, but outwardly said, "Exactly! At times like this, our tribes should unite and work together! If you could assist in capturing Yue Hongling, the Great Khan would surely take high regard of you, and some matters might be more easily managed."

Ba Tu asked, "Do you know where Yue Hongling is?"

"We didn’t know initially, but after she showed up by the market’s merchant convoy last night, we could roughly guess – she’s most likely in the Rocky Mountain of the Northwest."

"But she isn’t foolish, the vast view of Rocky Mountain allows her to see an army approaching from the horizon miles away, and she would be gone without a trace," Ba Tu said, "Hasn’t there been similar incidents before? It’s not so easy to encircle her."

Zhao Changhe was puzzled by this point; even if you could guess Yue Hongling’s exact location, given such a wide view from the high ground, she could see anything amiss and escape immediately, so what made you think you could catch her?

The leader from last night smiled, "A man from the Central Plains once advised us, saying that Yue Hongling, being a knight devoted to righteousness, might attempt a rescue if we find two Central Plains female slaves in the animal pit and bring them out."

Ba Tu said, "She definitely won’t if she sees many people, knights aren’t brainless."

Hu Lie said, "That’s why we’re only going with a few people, disguised as recently kidnapped respectable ladies... Seeing a small number of us, and being unused to encountering strong opponents, might she try a ’lone horse bandit’ rescue?"

Ba Tu fell silent, not answering.

Considering Yue Hongling’s character and her previous actions as a lone horse bandit, this plan was absolutely possible.

Moreover, other armies didn’t need to close in, they could initially wait out of sight. Once an actual skirmish occurred here, the armies could suddenly attack and encircle. Even if Yue Hongling could escape from Hu Lie, she wouldn’t be able to escape from the surrounding armies.

The chances of success were actually quite high.

Hu Lie continued, "Originally, we don’t have many masters, so it’s not a sure thing. Now that Clan Leader Ba Tu has arrived, being a Hidden Dragon and having presumably advanced thanks to the inherited treasure, you should be able to stand a round or two against Yue Hongling, which would be great support; that’s why I invited you."

Ba Tu replied, "I see—when do we go?"

Hu Lie glanced at the sky and smiled, "We can’t wait until night falls; she’d be more cautious then, likely to run at the sight of someone, not causing more issues, so it must be day time. We should leave now, as it will take a while to get there, aiming to arrive before dusk."

Ba Tu nodded, "Then let’s go."

As he spoke, he glanced subconsciously at a wild-looking barbarian beside him, who was expressionless.

In fact, Zhao Changhe felt this plan wouldn’t work on Yue Hongling at all... Yue Hongling was no naïve maiden from the stories, despite her youth, she’d been around the Worldly Society for many years, a completely old hand. The turbulent life of the Worldly Society was harsh, she had seen all sorts of ruses; had she been so easy to deceive, would she be the famous Yue Hongling of today?

Nevertheless, since others had set the trap here, he had to lend a hand regardless... Zhao Changhe silently mounted the horse with them, speeding towards Rocky Mountain.

Before long, the army behind them moved out, quietly closing in. The group, numbering over a thousand just to capture one person, was a grand gesture indeed.

On the way, Ba Tu moved closer to Zhao Changhe, looking quite troubled, "Hey, how did I actually end up being dragged into this plan against Yue Hongling? Wasn’t it agreed we’d only exchange information?"

Brother, you only just realized that... You’re involved so you can gather information, but how could you not go once you’re part of it?

Zhao Changhe chuckled inwardly, whispering, "Brother, do you really think they lack just one ’master’ like you? Or is it perhaps our few ’guards’ they’re short of?"

Ba Tu was stunned for a moment, his expression suddenly changed.

It seems he wasn’t overly foolish.

Zhao Changhe continued, "Keep waiting, then. If Yue Hongling really gets caught later, the next moment their swords would turn against you and me alike. Or during the battle with Yue Hongling, when her sword is directed at you and me, don’t expect anyone to come to our aid..."

Ba Tu’s expression was depressive, lost in contemplation without a word.

It appeared that after the days of distress, he had come to understand the cruelty of human hearts, knowing full well that the analysis made by that yellow-faced Han could very well occur.

But what could he do?

Switch sides during battle and instead help Yue Hongling attack Hu Lie? If he could wipe out Hu Lie’s forces before the troops arrived, that would be one thing, but if he couldn’t completely annihilate them, and the subsequent troops saw it, his entire tribe would face annihilation!

Yet, on what basis could he wipe out Hu Lie’s forces? The forty-first on the Human List—who could wipe out whom?

How could the information become like this? Ba Tu was so angry he almost spat blood, almost losing his grip on the whispering, "Anyway, you’ve got the information now, and I’m just going to tell Hu Lie that I can’t make it; he can’t force me to go. Where is your information? Where is the food?"

Zhao Changhe had no intention of deceiving him, offering a fair trade without deceit, "Qiao Er’s food was originally meant to be sold to you, right? But it turned out the wagons were empty at Yellow Sand Market, and you couldn’t do anything about it, correct."

Ba Tu became even more shocked, "How did you know?"

"Because I know he sold the food to the Wild Wolf Tribe halfway through."

Ba Tu’s face grew even more unsightly.

The Wild Wolf Tribe was indeed just a small tribe with only a few thousand people. In terms of paper strength and morals, he could completely wipe out that tribe and take back the food without spending any money. But the problem was he was currently overwhelmed and lacked the strength on paper. Also, why would the Wild Wolf Tribe dare do such a thing, was it backed by the Great Khan? Or at least was it backed by Wu Balu, the commander of this region?

Zhao Changhe said mildly, "Brother Ba Tu, I suggest you stop hoping for luck. The one who wants to swallow your tribe isn’t someone else. It’s the Great Khan."

Ba Tu suddenly asked, "Who are you?"

Zhao Changhe felt slightly embarrassed, as He Lei was supposed to be injured by "Wang Daozhong," and pretending to be Wang Daozhong might lead Ba Tu to chop off his head first, but using his real identity could stir up unpredictable troubles. After much thought, he came up with a brilliant idea: "I am the Buddhist proponent of the Maitreya Sect from the Northern Border, Brother Ba Tu, when you first went down to Jiangnan, you had connected with our sect, we do have some karmic ties."

Ba Tu: "?"

Since when did Maitreya Sect start having a proponent in the Northern Border?

"It’s not that I don’t trust you, but can you prove it somehow?"

Zhao Changhe turned to glance at him, his eyes suddenly deepened, seemingly with a Vortex spinning in their depths, the lotus platform hidden.

Ba Tu felt a haze over his spirit, almost causing him to fall from his horse, unable to help himself from saying, "Enough... Indeed, it’s the authentic Extreme Joy Method. Buddha, what brings you here?"

Zhao Changhe said, "I merely want to play with Yue Hongling and see if I can monopolize the opportunity."

Ba Tu believed him then, thinking, this is really the real Maitreya Sect.

Then he heard Zhao Changhe continue, "What I intend to do is none of Brother Ba Tu’s concern. But seeing your current situation, I really find it regrettable for you. To be honest, if I were you, I would consider gathering all forces now, quickly annihilating the Wild Wolf Tribe, capturing manpower, obtaining the food and using it as a basis to sweep up other rebellious brothers, integrating the War Lion Tribe. Only when the entire tribe is in your hands will the Great Khan not dare to act rashly against you, otherwise people are like fish meat and your head might early be cut off by traitors to serve as a wine pot. It’s better to wake up and not rely on others."

Ba Tu replied, "Doesn’t Upper Buddha have an alliance with the Great Khan? Why would you help me?"

Zhao Changhe coldly said, "Our alliance is to respond to the rallying call, but if we could break through Central Plains, friends and foes would change."

Ba Tu silently nodded, despising such behavior of inter-fighting before accomplishing anything, yet he said nothing, having seen too much of such things recently.

Then he heard Zhao Changhe say, "The reason I want to help you is simple. If Brother Ba Tu gains power, not to mention other things, just speaking of the slaves from the Wild Wolf Tribe, could I possibly play around with them?"

Ba Tu nodded, "If it’s really like that, naturally you can select as Upper Buddha pleases."

Zhao Changhe chuckled vulgarly twice, looking at Hu Lie moving fast on horseback ahead, then once again lowered his whisper, "Falls and rises of tribes on the grassland are common occurrences. Whoever has the biggest fist is the king. Today it’s the Golden Horde, but who says War Lion cannot rule tomorrow? Brother Ba Tu, how could a man remain depressed under others forever?"

Ba Tu took a deep breath, "Upper Buddha, how many people can you help me with?"

"Our hidden influence is quite large, do you believe it, Brother Ba Tu?"

Ba Tu nodded, as he was still willing to believe this, having known in Jiangnan just how skilled Maitreya Sect was in manipulating people in the shadows.

If the Maitreya Sect was willing to secretly support, and he could gather forces, sweeping the Wild Wolf Tribe quickly like lightning might just work...

Ba Tu pondered for a long time and was about to speak when Hu Lie ahead slowed down his horse.

Zhao Changhe and Ba Tu also subconsciously slowed down, lifting their heads to look. The far sky was filled with evening glow, clusters of rocks piercing the clouds, the scenery spectacular and marvelous.

In the vaguely visible high rocks, a figure in red fluttered, blending with the evening sky as if standing amid the sunset and gazing afar.

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