Way of Overlord

Chapter 685: Candle Swaying

Aeryon look at Chayun. And Chayun look at Aeryon

Both of them are young people. The candle between them slowly sways. Aeryon eyes narrows.

"hmm’ he mutters. The candle light keep flickering.

No, swaying. The candle fire keep swaying.

The wind from the outside is minimal, but the candle fire keep swaying. That alone shows something is wrong

Sometimes this fire, it is leaning toward Aeryon. Sometimes, it is leaning toward Chayun.

Aeryon notices something in this moment and then he smiles. A smirk, really. Chayun saw it but his face did not show any change.

Aeryon however understood one thing.

Aeryon eyes turns sharp and he looks Chayun like an eagle surveying his prey from the sky.

he wanted to see whether....whether...this person....Aeryon did not finish his thoughts

Because if this person did "that" then tonight and after this, they would have a tough battle ahead of them

And while Aeryon did not mind a tough battle....if he could have a bloodless victory, he is keener to have that kind of victory.

"this young chief did not come inside without a plan. And that plan might have been more sinister than I thought. But....he is hesitating. Was it because he have many plans?"

Aeryon also has some thought in his mind but he did not say anything. He lets the candle sways and after a while, the candle fire slowly become stable.

Aeryon eyes

For a moment there is only silence between these two people.

This silence stretches on.

Chayun then close his eyes and then in that moment the candle fire between him and the Khan slowly stabilized.

He takes a deep breath and then opening back his eyes, his heart that is unsettled is now calm and silent

"I will observe this young Khan" he thought to himself.

Chayun was not trying to impose or trying to do some mind games with the Khan.

He is simply observing him.

Aeryon knows this.

Chayun is unlike some of his brother.

When Chayun is observing him, he is also observing Chayun.

He is young but not that young.

He has beard and he trimmed it neatly.

His hair is long but tied in an elflock manner.

His eyes however is what Aeryon focused on.

Faces.....all of this is something he would forget.

Sometimes, he see a few faces here and there and after a while, he would forget them

This is probably one of his flaws.

Everything else he is good at. But this is something he is not good at. Remembering people faces.

But what he does rememebr....is people eyes.

And the eyes of Chayun is calm.

He has one of the calmest eyes he had ever seen.

It is different from the kind of eyes he is used to seeing people around him have the same kind of eyes.

Mayeux for example has an eyes filled with ambitions.

It is the kind of eyes that seems to see ahead. Ten years, twenty years to the future

Belarion eyes is honest.

You could tell what he is feeling.

Whether he is sad or happy, whether he is angry or calm, whether he is afraid or excited. His face shows it and his eyes reflect it.

Then he remembered Jayeux. That child has an eyes that is cunning.

The eyes of an eagle, the tongue of a snake

Why cunning? Because when Aeryon see that child, when he smiles, his eyes did not show the same feelings. It is like there is always a secret hiding behind those eyes.

A good liar , a good deceiver.

And he also sees the eyes of his generals and commander. Many of them filled with ambitions. But one thing all of these eyes have in common.

And that is that there is a fire in them. Aeryon could tell what a person is simply by looking at their eyes.

This is not some ability he got form the system. It is his own way of judging people. Of course, there is a few other methods he uses to discern talents.

After all, appointing people just by judging their eyes are not a hallmark of a good leader. It would be like appointing people by consulting the turtle shell.

The eyes are just a way of him trying to assess someone inner strength of character. Rarely he is wrong.

However, the eyes of Chayun....there is no fire in it. There is no apparent ambition. No passionate eyes that screams desire. Only a calm eyes.

No fear, no anxiety, no....nothing

The only time his eyes shows some kind of feeling as when he is seated in front of him. When the candle fire sways left and right.

At that time, Aeryon caught his eyes for a moment. And he saw it. That eyes. That eyes is full of fire.

And suddenly Aeryon understood why Chadha pick Chayun as the chief of the Chagai tribe. And why Chayun sent such a letter to him

"You have come here to negotiate a deal?" Aeryon ask.

And Chayun nodded.

Aeryon close his eyes and his mind wander

A few days after he had attended Chadha funeral, there was a letter that was given to him. It was sent by the servant of the Chagai tribe.

That servant is the personal servant of Chayun.

The personal servant of the chief of Chagai tribe.

Aeryon was puzzled why the chief of Chayun tribe would send him a letter.

Aeryon strategy to deal with Chagai has changed when Chadha died.

Before Chadha death, Aeryon wanted to blitzkrieg the Chagai position.

He wanted to make sure that the foes of the Chagai tribe is overwhelmed so that they could not aid Nergui tribe on their north.

The hills in the western part of the Southern Greta Steppe might not be as flat as those hills in the central region of the Southern Great Steppe, but it is not that tall either.

It is different when you are closer to Zhou territory or in the east near the mountainous range of Yindu.

Hence, there is no passes.

No obstacles like one would find in Zhou or Yan or even Yindu.

The Steppe plains.

While there is mountains in the Steppe it is no so tall and not so challenging to traverse.

And if Chagai tribe wanted to send tehri men to help Nergui, they could find many routes to go to.

But what they could not do is to get the news.

One of the things Aeryon focused on was to block the news.

And to anticipate where Chagai would send their soldiers to go.

As long as he could find where the army of Chagai wanted to go and block or ambush them it is possible to delay the information.

And the more they delay the information, the more advantage would his forces have.

But this strategy change the moment Chadha died. For Aeryon, this is like the burning of supplies in the Battle of Guandu between Yuan Shao and Cao Cao

It changes everything.

Aeryon knows it best.

That the moment Chadha dies, the slower he advances, the easier it would be.

The reason he was adopting blitzkrieg method is because he knows Chadha could unite the three tribes.

The more he delays, the more Chadha could use it to his advantage.

After all, the advantage of time always favoured the defender.

Rarely does it favoured the attacker.

Hence when attacking one have to have a large force to intimidate and to offset the morale advantage of the defender.

Then there is also a need for speed.

There is many things that favours the defender.

And as long as the defender is wise, they could always cement their name in the annals of history by defending against a larger force.

Just look at how the empires around the Steppe.

Does the emperors and kings and rulers around the Steppe does not know that the Steppe is a danger?

They know.

But they couldn’t do anything about it.

Each time they attacked; the Steppe people learns more about these people that attacked them.

In the initial war during the time the Steppe was defeated, the Steppe knew they were outmatched and more importantly outgunned.

But does the Steppe people just lie down and then wait for death while the Yan people, the Zhou people, Roma, mountain tribes feast on their blood and flesh?

Of course not.

The Steppe people were already hardy people, birthed by the harsh environment that surrounded them

So, they activated one of the most powerful human ability.

The ability to adapt.

They did not attack like the people of the mountains and the people of the rivers.

When the Steppe goes to cities, they are at a daze trying to break down city walls, but when these people who have never lived among the Steppe enters the Steppe, then they would be harassed, they would be attacked at night, they would be attacked when they are at rest and when the enemy have the advantage, the Steppe would run.

In many of these empires running from the battlefield is a punishable offense that would lead to extermination of entire clans.

But the Steppe is different.

Survival is paramount.

Run and fight another day. Survive at all cost

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