Chapter 250 Crisis Averted

The air was thick with the acrid smell of burning and the sharp stench of blood, while severed limbs and mangled corpses lay in a scene too horrific to behold.

Every member of the Xunlong Guard bore injuries, panting heavily as they leaned against the charred pillars, their eyes full of relief and lingering fear after surviving such a catastrophe.

If it hadn’t been for Shen Jue and Lu Yan today, this group, along with the wooden box carrying the hope of vengeance, would have surely been consumed by the flames.

Su Hewan stepped back from Shen Jue’s embrace. Pushing aside the debris, she walked into the midst of the bodies.

Her skirt was dust-streaked, but her delicate face showed not a trace of panic.

“Qin Feng, Aunt Lin, do you see clearly now?”

Her voice was soft, yet in the dead silence of the ruins, it carried clearly.

“This is war. This is the struggle for power.”

She pointed at one corpse whose eyes remained wide open in death. Her gaze was both compassionate and piercingly clear.

“Today it was only a few dozen fanatical killers sent by the Zhennan King. If you truly raise the rebel banner and attempt to restore the kingdom, tomorrow it will not be a handful of men lying here—but hundreds of thousands of the Wei cavalry.”

“By then, the ones falling in the blood won’t be just these assassins. It will be you. Your wives. And those infants still in swaddling clothes.”

Her words struck like a hammer blow, sinking deep into the hearts of every Xunlong Guard present.

Qin Feng’s hand trembled violently around his sword.

Looking at the blood-soaked ground and recalling the near-death horrors they had just survived, it felt as if his throat were stuffed with cotton.

Indeed—what right did they have to think that a few men hidden in the Ten Thousand Mountains could stand against the entire world?

Su Hewan turned to face the grim-faced comrades.

【Obsession is terrifying because it blinds people.】

【Today, I must completely shatter their delusions!】

She drew a deep breath, exuding an unprecedented solemnity.

“I can let Lu Yan and Shen Jue spare you, and I will not report your existence to the court.”

At this, the entire group gasped in shock.

Qin Feng shot his head up, a glimmer of incredulous joy flashing in his eyes.

Lu Yan held his blade, brow furrowed, yet miraculously said nothing in objection.

Shen Jue merely twirled his folding fan with a faint smile at the corner of his lips, as if indulging them to the utmost.

“But…” Su Hewan emphasized, her gaze burning into Qin Feng.

“You must also agree to one condition: remain in the Southern Frontier for all eternity, and never set foot in the capital again!”

“From now on, there will be no Xunlong Guard in the world—only ordinary hunters and farmers in the south, who will never speak of restoring the kingdom again!”

“Completely erase that illusory Dragon Throne of the Great Wei from your minds!”

Her voice rang out with authority.

“Your descendants deserve their own lives. They should study, farm, and see the vast world—not bear the hatred of your generation, forcing themselves into living shadows, spending their entire lives amidst bloodshed and blade.”

This was a compromise both sides could accept.

The Xunlong Guard abandoned their impossible obsession with restoring the kingdom, in exchange for freedom from the court’s pursuit and the chance to avenge their ancestors.

And Su Hewan, in her own way, had prevented a potential border rebellion for the Great Wei without shedding a drop of blood.

She had given this weighty chapter of history its most fitting resolution.

The night wind blew through the burned window frames, dispersing the stench of blood from the room.

Qin Feng looked at this princess, whose thoughts differed so greatly from his own yet whose heart held such profound compassion. That heart, frozen for decades, finally shattered in the darkest hour before dawn.

Slowly, Qin Feng knelt.

But this time, it was no longer blind loyalty compelled by the late emperor’s edicts, nor was it for that long-destroyed empire—it was out of gratitude!

Gratitude for giving them, the people who had been living in the gutters, a chance to see the light of day again.

Qin Feng’s voice choked with emotion as he slammed his head heavily onto the ground.

“By your command!”

At his response, the surrounding Xunlong Guards dropped the bladed weapons in their hands.

In unison, they knelt deeply to the ground, bowing respectfully to Su Hewan.

Decades of dark clouds finally dissipated that night—the greatest crisis in the southern frontier had been resolved.

Su Hewan exhaled deeply, turning to meet Shen Jue’s faintly smiling phoenix-like eyes and Lu Yan’s unfathomably deep black gaze.

“All right, southern frontier cleared!”

Yu Qing peeked out from beneath the broken table, half her head sticking out, witnessing this epic scene.

She couldn’t help but fangirl wildly in her mind.

“Wuwuwu, Wanwan, you are my one and only goddess!”

“This aura, this presence… she’s basically a female emperor in action.”

Lu Yan closed his eyes in helplessness, grabbed Yu Qing by the collar, and dragged the little drama queen out from the ruins.

The crisis was completely over.

The night wind over the Ten-Thousand-Mountain Range no longer carried the nauseating scent of blood. Instead, it brought the rich, heady aroma of roasted meat and strong liquor.

To celebrate this bloodless rebirth, the Xunlong Guards lit a massive bonfire beside the charred ruins, flames leaping straight into the sky.

The joy of survival ignited the hearts of these southern frontier people who had lurked in darkness for decades.

Rough bullhorns blared, and goat-skin drums pounded with deafening rhythm.

A group of burly southern frontier men, bare-chested, danced a wild war dance around the fire, flames flickering.

Their sculpted muscles were highlighted in the firelight, each line deep and defined like a work of art.

Yu Qing, placed by Lu Yan on a long wooden bench, looked up and was instantly overwhelmed by the sight of the handsome men before her.

She even forgot the sword wound she had just brushed over her head, her peach blossom eyes sparkling like stars.

“And I get to see this for free?”

“This is a million times better than those prim and proper official dances back in the capital.”

“Look at those chest muscles, those abs, those perfect obliques—this is the pinnacle of male virtue!”

Yu Qing screamed inwardly with excitement, grabbed Su Hewan’s arm beside her, and shook it violently.

“Wanwan, look! Look at the leader over there!”

She whispered excitedly, pointing at a southern frontier youth by the bonfire, wearing a silver collar.

“Wow, this physique, this stamina… none of those weak, panting young lords back in the capital can compare.”

Su Hewan, unfazed, let her shake her arm while holding a freshly brewed cup of tea, using it to mask the dizziness that almost made her throw up.

Though calm on the surface, her peripheral vision couldn’t help but take a glance.

“Indeed, from the perspective of human biology, mathematics, and anatomy, these southern frontier youths are nearly perfect specimens.”

Shen Jue’s face darkened the moment he heard her inner thoughts!

As if no one else knew about this!

Leaning close to her ear, he murmured with a teasing, low voice, “So, Wanwan, you like looking at this, huh? Later, back in the room, I’ll let you see all you want!”

Su Hewan nearly choked on her tea, immediately blushing and shaking her hand frantically.

“No need, no need!”