At this point, Huo Jian and the remaining generals stood before the podium, facing Qin Feng. Behind Qin Feng, Liang Wude and Zhao Kun blocked the fifty soldiers who had stormed into the tent.
Huo Jian, his sword still pointed at Qin Feng, shouted,
"What are you waiting for? Charge!"
At his command, one of the generals beside him lunged forward, sword raised high.
He never completed the strike.
Before anyone could react, he was blasted backward, his chest caved in as he slammed into another general, snapping the man's neck on impact.
It happened in a split second — too fast for the eye to follow.
"Daring to strike at your superior… mutiny…" Qin Feng said calmly. "General Huo Jian, your bravery amazes me."
He began walking forward, each step slow and deliberate.
The closer he came, the more Huo Jian and his remaining generals retreated, their steps unsteady.
"Did you not hear me? I said charge!" Huo Jian shouted again at the soldiers on the other side of the tent—who still had not crossed the lines carved by Zhao Kun and Liang Wude.
But the soldiers did not move.
'Of course they won't,' Qin Feng thought.
It was a thankless task.
Being ordered by their superior to seize his own superior...
And said superior and his guards were so terrifyingly powerful that they were sure to loose hundreds if it came down to it...
Yea, no.
They were not going to throw their lives away for such a foolish cause.
Worse still, many of the veterans among them would sooner side with Qin Feng than raise weapons against him.
Realizing there was no other option, the remaining seven generals charged together, hoping to overwhelm Qin Feng with numbers.
They roared as they rushed him.
Qin Feng stepped forward — as if taking a stroll.
He caught the saber of the closest general, snapping the man's wrist in the same motion, and with a single sweeping arc, beheaded two generals at once.
He kicked the disarmed general into two others and hurled the captured saber like a spear — impaling all three through the torso.
A crushing kick caved in another's chest.
A precise punch shattered the last man's skull.
Moments later, Qin Feng stood alone before Huo Jian.
"Mighty General Huo Jian," Qin Feng said mockingly, as the man trembled before him, "how do you plead?"
Huo Jian's sword slipped from his fingers as he dropped to his knees.
"Commander… mercy," he said, but the words caught in his throat.
He swallowed and tried again. "I acted under orders. I had no selfish intentions."
Qin Feng regarded him with feigned curiosity.
"Orders?" he asked. "From the court, perhaps? Enemy forces infiltrating the Empire? A threat to His Majesty?"
The suggestion struck like a lifeline.
Huo Jian's head snapped up.
'Yes. That would work. Qin Feng and his father had always been loyal. Invoke the Emperor. Invoke duty.'
Fear sharpened the thought until it felt like truth.
"Yes, Commander," Huo Jian said quickly. Too quickly. "The capital was in danger. His Majesty was in danger. I had no choice but to mobilize the troops to defend him."
He emphasized the last words, as if volume could make them solid.
"Oh," Qin Feng replied, almost pleasantly. "General Huo Jian has been most diligent."
Warmth flooded Huo Jian's chest.
'It's working.'
"Tell me," Qin Feng continued, "how many enemy soldiers did you eliminate during this defense?"
The warmth cooled.
"How many?" Huo Jian repeated.
"Yes."
"They were… concealed," Huo Jian said, the words losing structure as they left his mouth. "Highly coordinated. We were forced to divide our forces—"
"So none?" Qin Feng asked gently.
Silence pressed down.
Huo Jian felt it physically — like hands on the back of his neck.
"Then why are you here?" Qin Feng asked. "If the capital remains threatened, should you not still be guarding it?"
The structure in Huo Jian's mind began to crack.
"We—we came to bolster the Commander's forces," Huo Jian said, regaining some confidence. "To ensure the Northern Khaganate does not think us weak."
Qin Feng nodded thoughtfully.
"I see. Without you and the majority of our troops, we truly did look weak."
He then turned his back to Huo Jian, gazing at the hundreds of soldiers being held at bay by Zhao Kun and Liang Wude.
"I often wonder how my father allowed a disease like you to fester in his ranks," Qin Feng said quietly. "Of all men… why you? How did it end up being you who gained command of the majority of the troops in that battle?"
Each word landed with surgical precision.
Huo Jian's vision blurred at the edges.
'Disease.'
The realization came all at once: he had already lost before kneeling.
He rose without remembering the decision to stand.
His fingers found the fallen sword. They did not feel like his own.
'If I kill him—'
The thought had no ending. It did not need one. It was the last fragment of pride he had left.
Qin Feng turned back toward him, a melancholic smile on his face.
"What do you think, General Huo Jian?"
By then, Huo Jian was already moving.
"Die!" he screamed — the word tearing from his throat, stripped of rank, stripped of dignity. "You fatherless—"
The blade descended in a wild, two-handed arc.
It struck.
And broke.
The steel split with a sharp, humiliating crack.
For a moment Huo Jian simply stared at the half-sword in his hands, unable to reconcile what he was seeing.
Qin Feng's bare hand then tightened around the remaining edge.
Metal snapped.
A light strike to the abdomen followed — not brutal, not dramatic. Just precise.
The air left Huo Jian's lungs in a small, animal sound.
He sagged instantly.
But Qin Feng seized him by his collar before he could hit the ground.
Holding him like a sack of grain, Qin Feng dragged him out of the tent.
The soldiers parted instinctively, then followed behind.
He hauled Huo Jian to the central podium used to rally troops and forced him onto his knees.
Facing the gathered army, Qin Feng amplified his voice with the strength of his enhanced lungs.
"I am Commander Qin Feng, son of the late Commander Qin and Defender of the Northern Frontier."
"Some of you know me. We once trained under the same formations. We once shared meat and wine."
"Once, we were the Beiguan Army — the Empire's shield in the north."
His gaze swept across the crowd.
"But through treachery and the greed of your superiors, you were forced to betray your oaths. Forced to abandon your brothers. Forced to leave the gates of hell open to your countrymen."
Shame flickered across many faces.
"I know your sins weigh heavily on you," he continued. "The shame. The self-loathing."
He met their eyes.
"I see it."
He drew his sword.
"You were led astray by a treacherous general—governed by greed and ambition. The burden of those sins is his alone to bear."
With a single clean stroke, he beheaded Huo Jian.
The head rolled across the platform.
"You are absolved of his crimes," Qin Feng declared. "Don your armor with pride. Atone with blood and steel."
He raised his voice in a thunderous roar.
"Tigers of Beiguan — roar!"
"Hu Hu Zhan!"
"Hu Hu Zhan!"
"Hu Hu Zhan!"
---
Author's Note:
Not gonna lie, writing this chapter left me feeling embarrassed. I feel like I didn't do it justice. If you have suggestions or advice, please let me know in the comments.
As always, I welcome discussion—whether about strategy, historical nuance, or corrections of any kind. I respond to every comment.
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Thank you.