Chapter 499
Our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/PazjBDkTmW
You can buy coins here to unlock advanced chapters: https://gravitytales.com/coins-purchase-page/
Chapter 499: Settling Scores
“Oh, right, Chief Siqin, during the grain raid earlier, your Charhan tribe’s forces seemed to retreat earlier than anyone else.”
Hearing this, Siqin took a sip of the mare’s milk wine in his hand.
Then he met Batel’s gaze, which clearly held a hint of suspicion.
Siqin clearly hadn’t expected that in such a chaotic state of war, Batel would actually notice the movements of their Charhan tribe’s forces.
This truly surprised him.
However, this alone was not enough to unnerve him.
He slowly spoke, his expression unchanged.
“It seems there was such a thing. As for whether we were the first to retreat, I wouldn’t know.”
Batel’s eyes were fixed on Siqin’s, as if he wanted to discern something from the other’s gaze.
“It just so happened that the grain bags transported by that grain transport team were all filled with sand. Did Chief Siqin know this from the start?”
“Hehehe…”
Hearing this, Siqin immediately let out a light chuckle.
Then the smile on his face slightly faded.
“Chief Batel, are you suspecting me?”
Facing this question, Batel retorted without backing down.
“No, it’s just a bit strange. The transport team just happened to be carrying sand, the Central Plains people just happened to set up an ambush, and your Charhan tribe’s forces just happened to retreat the earliest, with the fewest casualties. Isn’t all this a bit too coincidental?”
“It is indeed quite coincidental.”
Siqin nodded generously.
“However, Chief Batel, you’ve got one thing wrong.”
“What thing?”
Batel frowned slightly upon hearing this.
“Your Khanar tribe arrived a step earlier than our other four tribes. The information about the grain transport team was provided by you, and it was your father, Bileg, who invited us to meet and proposed to jointly raid the grain.”
“But it turns out the transport team wasn’t carrying grain at all, but sand. Our dispatched forces were also ambushed by the Central Plains people, suffering considerable losses.”
“We didn’t get any grain, but many men died. If it were Abucha’s hot temper, he probably would have been furious enough to kill at that time, right?”
Hearing this, Batel’s face visibly darkened as he recalled his father’s death.
Siqin, as if suddenly realizing, then spoke again.
“If I inadvertently reminded you of some unpleasant memories, then I apologize. But before that, we had just arrived here and had no contact with the Central Plains people. How could this account possibly fall on our Charhan tribe?”
Faced with this explanation, Batel was momentarily unable to refute.
Because the truth was, his father, Bileg, had single-handedly orchestrated this joint grain raid among the five great tribes.
However, his suspicion of Siqin was not without reason.
His father, Bileg, had warned him after that meeting to be wary of Siqin.
Moreover, his father had suspected that Siqin had seen through his intentions at the time.
As thoughts raced through his mind, Batel simply asked again.
“Then what about the retreat of your forces?”
Siqin’s face was full of innocence in response to Batel’s questioning.
“There’s nothing to say about that.”
“What do you mean?”
Batel frowned at Siqin’s innocent expression.
To this, Siqin slowly spoke.
“When discussing this joint grain raid, we and Bileg agreed that each side would send 700 men to attack the Central Plains people’s grain transport team.”
“But no one could command anyone else, so after one wave of attack, we simply fought our own battles to avoid mutual dissatisfaction.”
“Under this premise, before the operation, I instructed Bazar to prioritize safety. If things looked bad, he was to retreat immediately.”
“Our Charhan tribe doesn’t have many men. After sending out 700 men, the tribe was basically empty.”
“If we didn’t get grain, we could still find other ways; at worst, we could slaughter some cattle and sheep, and we’d still get by.”
“But if men died, they would truly be dead. Our Charhan tribe cannot afford to lose this group of men. Is there a problem with that?”
Siqin’s words were flawless and perfectly reasonable, leaving Batel unable to find any fault.
After all, the fact that the Charhan tribe had the fewest men among the five great tribes was no secret.
At the same time, after thinking it over carefully, Batel immediately realized that the Charhan tribe’s forces had retreated when the Central Plains people launched their attack.
And they, too, quickly realized the grain was fake and then retreated separately.
After a simple deliberation, Batel realized that in that amount of time, the 700 men led by Bazar would have had no time to slaughter their Khanar tribe.
Let alone also taking away the cattle, sheep, and horses.
Moreover, by the time he returned to the tribal camp, the surrounding tracks had already been covered by snow, meaning at least half a day had passed.
In other words, by this calculation, when their Khanar tribe was massacred, Bazar was leading his 700 men, waiting with them for the Central Plains people’s grain transport team to appear.
A hint of shame appeared on Batel’s face as he thought of this.
“Chief Siqin, this time I was overly suspicious.”
Having said that, Batel directly turned and walked out of the chief’s tent.
Then Bazar, who was waiting outside, led him out of the Charhan tribe’s camp.
Seeing Batel emerge safely, Mobigan, who was waiting outside, visibly sighed in relief and quickly went to meet him.
“How was it?”
Batel shook his head upon hearing this.
“He said he doesn’t have any extra grain to lend us.”
Facing this answer, Mobigan, who was already mentally prepared, patted Batel’s shoulder and spoke.
“Let’s go. For the grain, we’ll think of other ways.”
Meanwhile, inside the Charhan tribe’s chief’s tent…
Siqin drained the mare’s milk wine in his bowl and wiped the wine stains from the corner of his mouth.
His expression held a hint of contemplation.
This Batel, though still green, was not stupid.
He actually noticed something was off right away and suspected him?
Fortunately, his arrangements were thorough and his response was smooth.
At that time, the Charhan tribe, with 700 men, including Bazar, their first warrior, all outside the tribe, what ability did they have to slaughter the Khanar tribe?
This scapegoat, by all accounts, had been completely pushed off him.
At the same time, over this period, the Khanar tribe and the Sunite tribe had fought more than one battle, and the hatred between them had long since deepened.
Batel, unable to borrow grain and at the end of his rope, basically had only one way out: to lead his men to attack the Sunite tribe’s camp and plunder their cattle, sheep, and horses.
And he, Siqin, only needed to watch a good show from the sidelines.
