"You..." The envoy's face turned the color of pig liver out of anger. "I won't engage in a war of words with you. You claim to be so formidable, so why didn't you dare to come out of the city and fight before?"
Xie Nanxiao sneered, "You came to attack us, so why should we go out? If you're so capable, come into the city and fight us."
The envoy didn't know what to say anymore. He realized that the people of Gefeng were all very glib, just like that woman from before.
Thinking of Jiang Jin, he suddenly noticed she was missing this time. He couldn't help but ask, "Where is the woman from before? Why did they send you to deal with me?"
Dong Si shook his head, ignoring his question, and instead asked, "I wonder what brings the Quzhao envoy to our Gefeng this time?"
The envoy didn't dwell on the issue either. "What brings me here? Was the incident at Mount Yuqiu your doing?"
Dong Si's acting skills immediately came online. He furrowed his brows exaggeratedly and tapped his head, making his 'thinking' gesture incredibly dramatic.
A moment later, he looked at the envoy with a face full of confusion. "Mount Yuqiu? Where is Mount Yuqiu? What happened there?"
The envoy gritted his teeth, suppressing the urge to vomit blood. "Over five thousand of our soldiers were ambushed and killed at Mount Yuqiu. Do you dare say you didn't do it?"
Xie Nanxiao scoffed, "We don't even know where Mount Yuqiu is. Don't push everything onto us."
"You, you..." The envoy was so angry he was at a loss for words. "If not you, then who else?"
Dong Si raised an eyebrow slightly. "Are you sure they were killed by someone? Could it be that they were careless while walking and fell to their deaths?"
Let alone the envoy, even the Quzhao cavalry behind him couldn't listen to this anymore and shouted angrily, "You're talking nonsense! Even if our five thousand elite soldiers tripped, could they all fall to their deaths?"
The envoy was speechless. Why did those words sound a bit strange?
Dong Si asked again, "Are you sure they are all dead? Could it be that they entered the dense forest, found some delicious wild fruits, and then fought each other for them, leading to mutual slaughter?"
There was a moment of silence at the scene. Everyone was stunned by his bizarre and sarcastic train of thought.
After a good while, the Quzhao cavalry snapped back to reality. They drew their swords with a swish, pointing them at Dong Si and roaring, "You've gone too far! How dare you humiliate our Quzhao soldiers like this!"
Click, click, click...
On the city walls of Gefeng, the Jinyang Army held Dragon Feather crossbows. Pitch-black arrows were aimed straight at the Quzhao cavalry, ready to pierce them with ten thousand arrows the moment they dared to move.
The envoy's brow twitched. He quickly raised a hand to stop them. "Don't attack, nobody make a move."
He turned around and reprimanded his men, "What are you doing? Put your swords down quickly. We are in Gefeng's territory, so we have to hold it in, otherwise they could wipe us out in the blink of an eye."
Although he was speaking to the Quzhao soldiers, his words were meant for the people of Gefeng to hear.
Dong Si didn't care at all. "What are you saying? Even if you weren't in our territory, our Jinyang Army could still easily wipe you out."
The envoy felt his anger rising. Just as he was about to speak, he saw a woman actually shuffling right up to him.
He hurriedly took a step back. "Who are you? What are you doing?"
Luo A'man paused her shuffling steps and waved at the envoy somewhat awkwardly. "Sorry, my foot slipped. I accidentally slid over to you. I'll go back right now."
After saying that, she quickly returned to her original position, thinking to herself what a pity it was. She had almost touched the envoy. Fortunately, she had gotten close enough; it should still have some effect.
The envoy found this utterly baffling. "You, ah..."
Before he could finish his sentence, he felt a sharp pain in his tongue. He had actually bitten his tongue, and bitten it extremely hard. He felt like he might have bitten off half of it, and blood spilled from the corners of his mouth.
Dong Si gasped. "No way, are you trying to frame us by self-harming? How can you Quzhao people be so despicable?"
The envoy was furious. "We are not, not as despicable as you think! You're the despicable ones..."
It was obvious he was truly enraged. Ignoring the pain in his mouth and the fact that he kept spraying blood whenever he spoke, he continued to lash out, "Who is framing you? You are judging the heart of a gentleman with the mind of a scoundrel..."
Before long, a lot of blood had sprayed onto his lapels, and even the ground in front of him was heavily stained with blood.
Even as an enemy, Xie Nanxiao felt that the man looked quite pitiful. Seriously, how badly did he bite himself? Why was there so much blood? Was this even logical?
Just as he was thinking this, the envoy spat out a white object mixed with blood from his mouth.
Pfft.
The white object fell to the ground, rolled a few times, and mixed with a lot of dirt before coming to a stop.
Only then did everyone see clearly that it was actually a tooth!
Everyone was speechless.
What in the world was going on? Talking was one thing, and spraying blood was another, but what was the meaning of spitting out a tooth?
The envoy himself was dumbfounded. Looking down at the dirt-covered tooth, he suddenly broke down and cried, "Wuwuwu, my toof fell out..."
He had indeed had a loose tooth these past few days due to internal heat, but he never expected it to fall out so suddenly.
He found it completely unacceptable. He was only a little over forty years old; how could he be losing teeth?
Thinking of this, he glared fiercely at Dong Si and slurred a harsh threat, "I won't argue wif you anymore. You Gefeng must give Quzhao an explanation."
Dong Si shrugged. "What explanation? We haven't even asked you for one yet. Your people die and you come looking for us. What, are we your father? Do we have to take care of everything for you?"
Xie Nanxiao chimed in, "Exactly. You're not trying to extort us, are you? Let me tell you, we in Gefeng aren't easily frightened. Even if you called me 'Father,' I wouldn't want an unfilial son like you."
The envoy was so furious that his vision darkened in waves. His body swayed and he almost lost his footing. Fortunately, a servant supported him and gently patted his chest. "Ambassador, are you alright?"
It took a good while for the envoy to recover, his voice becoming much weaker. "You refuse to admit it, right?"
Dong Si nodded. "It wasn't our doing, so naturally we won't admit it."
The envoy looked at him with a sinister gaze, then turned to mount his horse. He wasn't going to get anywhere today, so he might as well just go back first.
His mouth hurt, he had lost a tooth, and he had completely lost face. He was in no mood to continue this war of words.
No, after returning, he would request the Grand Chanyu again to let him go back to Wuqin. This place was unbearable; he couldn't do this job for even one more day.
Once Quzhao conquered Gefeng in the future, he would skin all these people alive and pull out their tendons to relieve the anger in his heart.
A thousand thoughts flashed by in an instant. He stepped one foot into the stirrup, but before he could swing himself onto the horse...
The horse suddenly reared up on its front legs, let out a loud neigh, kicked up its hooves, and bolted.
Bolted!
Because the envoy had one foot stuck in the stirrup and couldn't pull it out in time, he was forcefully dragged into a highly difficult split.
It was a genuine, full split, the kind where the two legs were at nearly a 180-degree angle.
The envoy was dragged for several meters in this split position before his foot finally slipped out of the stirrup, and he crashed to the ground with a heavy thud.
A miserable, bloodcurdling scream echoed through the skies above Gefeng.
Everyone was left completely dumbfounded by this sudden turn of events.
For a moment, apart from the envoy's screams, no one at the scene made a sound.
After a long while, the servant anxiously rushed forward. "Ambassador, Ambassador, are you alright?"
The cavalry commander also hurried over to help him up. "Ambassador, how are you?"
"Ah, ah, don't, don't move me!" the ambassador howled in agony. "My... my legs might be torn apart, my balls... my balls might be crushed, boohoo..."
Xie Nanxiao drew in a sharp breath, suddenly feeling a phantom chill in his own nether regions.
Dong Si sneered coldly, "With that pretty-boy face of his, what difference does it make if they are crushed or not?"
Xie Nanxiao gasped again. "Are you saying he might be..."
While they were busy gossiping, the ambassador, supported by his servants and generals, finally managed to bring his legs together.
Well, not completely together. He stood up on trembling, bowed legs. Opening his bloodied mouth, now missing a tooth, he stammered in a shaky voice, "Was... was that divine retribution?!"
