Re-engagement

"If Arslang doesn't get a response, he'll immediately understand what's going on." Aoyun dismounted and flipped the corpse over. "Once you get closer to Shangjin, he'll rally his troops and surround Shangjin, preventing your return."

"Is this one of his confidants?" Xin Yi asked, looking at Alatan's face.

"At most, he's his dog." Aoyun folded his arms. "Arslang has no confidants; he only has himself."

"We must get closer to Shangjin." Xin Yi thought for a moment. "We... are the ones in ambush."

Aoyun looked at the corpse's robe, a look of disgust on his face.

When the cavalry sent to search for Xin Yi returned, Arslang was at the front lines. He noticed that Shangjin seemed to have regained its confidence, even more at ease than before, and he suspected that reinforcements had arrived in Shangjin. In search of clues for these unseen reinforcements, Arslang scoured the battlefield with his own eyes, so when the cavalry returned, he didn't immediately go to meet them.

It seemed there were fewer people returning this time, and the interrogators grew suspicious. The man leading the riders muffled his face in his fur collar, revealing only a pair of intimidating eyes. He glared fiercely at the questioning soldier and said gruffly in Great Yuan tongue, "Alatan is still behind; he went east to pursue someone. We've returned first."

"The Lion King did not issue orders to go east."

"But he did order us to catch the person." The man impatiently patted his scimitar. "Alright, brother, we were the ones out. It's proper for you to guard your camp entrance."

Those who could lead cavalry outside were usually influential figures in the military camp; a bit of arrogance was common. The guards dared not speak further and stepped aside to let them in. The man led his team inside, and the accompanying cavalry were all silently. Such a team was rare among Great Yuan soldiers, and the guard couldn't resist taking another look, only to be glared back by a cavalryman at the rear, making him immediately retract his head and dare not look again.

This group of people entered the camp but did not immediately dismount. The leading man searched around the logistics area, then contemptuously struck a water-carrying soldier's shoulder with his scimitar's sheath, saying in a deep voice, "Where's our meat? You dare make hunters drink the wind? Idiots."

The soldier's expression was grim. He glanced at the sheath pressing on his shoulder, swallowed his curses, and merely said, "The snow has made the roads impassable. The Borjigin Tribe only brought the sheep yesterday. The Lion King ordered that the scout teams have priority in selecting."

"Who cares for the Borjigin Tribe's old sheep?" The man spat. "You can keep them and gnaw on them yourselves!"

With that, he turned and left, his horse leaving foamy tracks on the water-carrying path.

"Peh." The water-carrying soldier cursed under his breath from behind, "Scouting dog!"

The horse was already far away, presumably hadn't heard, and didn't even turn its head.

Aoyun, on horseback, lowered his head and whispered, "Should we go?"

Xin Yi nodded lightly from behind.

This scout team immediately turned towards the buried frozen mutton, walking unhindered under the watchful eyes of others. When they arrived, several teams were already building fires on the ground, roasting mutton. When Aoyun brought his men, some people greeted him. He kept his face muffled in his fur collar and responded a few times in Great Yuan tongue. They sat together, and Aoyun used his scimitar to dig through the snow. The snow parted, revealing sheepskins underneath, all filled with mutton.

During winter patrols, Great Yuan soldiers couldn't do without mutton, so whenever the time was right, sheep would be provided by other tribes from the rear. They would be slaughtered clean here, then wrapped and buried in the snow. This allowed them to be stored for a long time and easily carried. Furthermore, even if they encountered a surprise attack, Great Lan people had no habit of digging.

Aoyun skillfully built a fire and used his personal dagger to cut the mutton into suitable pieces, which he then roasted over the flames. As he roasted, he asked Xin Yi, "This isn't like your granaries, something that can be burned down with a single fire. Unless we eat it all now, there's no way for us to steal it away."

"We can make them too late." Xin Yi stretched out his hand to warm it by the fire, watching the mutton gradually gain color, and said, "If the rear is suddenly attacked and the tents burn, the front lines will surely fall into disarray. With added deception, Arslang definitely won't have time to deal with this mutton."

"What do you want these meats for?"

"The heavy snow makes the roads impassable; even the Borjigin Tribe won't be able to bring fresh food to Arslang immediately." Xin Yi cut a piece of thoroughly cooked mutton and put it into his mouth. The meat had no coarse salt and had a very strong gamey smell. "Unless he can enter Shangjin. Your grain indeed cannot be burned, but it's not impossible to remove. Later, when night falls and the next batch of front-line soldiers retreats, we'll make our move."

This action was a feigned attack.

The front-line soldiers, after retreating from the front, hardly drank any water before immediately returning to their tents to sleep. Wheel warfare relied on numbers to attack in shifts; once they had rested, they would relieve the current batch of soldiers on the front and return to the battlefield.

When falling asleep exhausted, the body had to fully relax, especially when there was a little warmth in the tent.

This batch of soldiers quickly fell asleep, and snoring gradually rose. Even this rear part of the camp seemed to be far from the roar of clashing weapons and warhorses. However, at this moment, fire ignited, starting from the tents and quickly spreading uncontrollably. Swiftly setting fires and then moving to another side to shout about a surprise attack left the unprepared soldiers abruptly awakened, still unaware of what had happened.

"Over there!" The man on horseback pointed his whip to the east. "They escaped that way! It's Beiyang people! Idiots, quickly pursue them!"

The fire suddenly spread towards the main tent, its light illuminating the Great Yuan military camp. Arslang at the front turned his head, then frowned. However, Wu Yu, who never missed an opportunity, gave him no time to turn back. Newly sharpened arrows pierced the night wind from the battlements, pinning around him and warning him of his direction.

Aoyun, who was leading men out of the camp to chase the "Beiyang people" from the rear, suddenly reined in his horse. They charged in one breath to a slightly sunken gully on the east side. Aoyun's horse took a few steps forward, then he heard an order from the elevated ground to the side.

"Release the nets!"

The original snowy ground suddenly collapsed, and all the men and horses tumbled into the snow. Xin Yi crawled out of the snow on the high ground, running and sliding down the slope. The Great Yuan soldier who had just reached out from the snow pit hadn't even had time to look up when the Heavenly Dao pierced down through his head.

Screams and horse neighs tangled chaotically, as fluffy snow and people rolled together.

The Qiyan Tribe set up bows and arrows pilfered from the Great Yuan military camp. They didn't even need to aim; anything that landed in the snow pit would surely injure both men and horses.

The Great Yuan soldiers at the front began to retreat like a tide, rapidly falling back with shields amidst the arrow rain from Shangjin. This method of disordering the rear while retreating the front was not clever, even somewhat foolish. But Arslang naturally had a compelling reason to retreat. He thought about how similar the style of this surprise attack was to the previous one in the snow.

Both were Xin Yi's doing.

If it was Xin Yi, then where did he get so many people? Unless he had secretly returned to Shangjin long ago, feigning absence all this time, deliberately targeting his rear. But how did he get into the military camp to start a fire? He couldn't even pass the inspection at the entrance, unless there were Great Yuan people helping him.

The various tribes of Great Yuan were not united.

This was what Arslang worried about.

"Fire!" The little one climbed onto Wu Yu's head, pointing at the Great Yuan camp. "Fire!"

Wu Yu ordered the archers to cease fire. He clung to the battlement, watched for a few moments, then steeled his heart. "Pursue them! The Lion King is retreating!"

Aoyun's horse galloped from one side, accompanied by Chiye. Xin Yi vaulted onto his horse and said, "We can't get bogged down in battle. Arslang's offensive line has retreated. Let's go!"

"No!" Aoyun reined in his horse beside the snow pit. "If we don't kill these Zadalan Tribe people, your Shangjin will still fall to his offensive! Once he realizes he has no food, he will surely launch a full-scale assault on Shangjin!"

"You don't believe Shangjin can hold?"

"No." Aoyun drew his scimitar. "If it were Xin Jing, he would never leave such a lingering problem."

Even Xin Yi was about to curse out loud. He turned back. He couldn't leave Aoyun here! If Aoyun died here, all his previous arrangements with the Qiyan Tribe would be invalidated, and the ambushing forces meant for a pincer attack would be useless!

Aoyun's persistence was not without reason. His objective was in the territory of the Habugeqin Clan, not here. He couldn't, out of a moment of hot-headedness, bury future troubles under the name of his own tribe.

Arslang's kin must be eliminated, including Arslang himself. The Zadalan Tribe must die!

The pit edge was a slaughter; those who crawled out, pierced by arrows, also couldn't escape the soul-reaping scimitar.

"Go!" Xin Yi grabbed Aoyun's collar from his horse. He said coldly, "They are heavily wounded. If we leave here, we can still ambush them once more. If we stay here, we'll only wait for Arslang's main forces!" He suddenly choked Aoyun's throat, pulling him from his horse in front of himself, and whispered, "You only brought three hundred men, and I am only one person. If we encounter Arslang's main forces, what will you rely on to fight him head-on?"

The fingers at his throat tightened slightly. Aoyun heard the young man, who had been gently smiling all this way, say chillingly, "Otherwise, I'll kill you right now, and Beiyang and Qiyan will die together!"

Aoyun glared angrily. Xin Yi released his hand. Aoyun rubbed his throat and ordered a retreat.

But it was too late.

Arslang had already arrived.

His eagle broke through the long wind, first shrieking above their heads, sharply warning Xin Yi. Hearing the eagle's cry, Xin Yi's left fingers immediately twitched involuntarily, as if remembering this sound and the blade that followed it.

This was the painful memory acquired from losing his pinky finger.

Even the heavy cavalry had arrived!

The snowy ground trembled under the heavy sound of horse hooves. Arslang's scimitar, trailing blood, stopped a dozen steps away from the two.

Dense ranks of Great Yuan soldiers followed behind. Xin Yi already recalled the terror of being heavily surrounded.

"Aoyun." Arslang's golden pupils were piercing. He leaned slightly on horseback, as if trying to see Aoyun more clearly, yet also as if bowing. "Is the Qiyan Tribe hunting here?"

Aoyun's hand, gripping the reins, trembled slightly. He straightened his back and declared, "Yes, I am hunting."

Arslang's old leather armor stood firm in the strong wind; a cracked mark on his shoulder was also an old scar. He was clearly old, yet as he stood there, he still resembled a lion.

"Tell me, what are you hunting?"

Aoyun felt as if a blade was pressed directly against his neck. He even forgot to swallow his saliva. In such cold weather, sweat began to roll down his back.

"I am hunting." Aoyun suddenly gripped the leather at his chest tightly, as if clutching some courage. He stared into Arslang's golden pupils and said slowly and firmly, "I am hunting an old lion."

Arslang looked at him, as if looking at a young eaglet on Jianan Mountain, and said, "You want to hunt a lion, yet you choose to walk alongside Beiyang's wolf cubs."

"The Habugeqin Clan isolated my tribe, usurped my throne, and forcibly took my mother." Aoyun gritted his teeth. "No one in Great Yuan will help me hunt the Lion King, only Beiyang. Even if they are wolf cubs, I dare to trade flesh and blood for them."

"That's a pity." Arslang removed the fur hat from his head and bowed towards the cold night sky. "Qiyan King, I wish you good luck." Then his gaze shifted to Xin Yi, and his scimitar flipped up. "Prince of Yan, I hope tonight you leave your entire self, and not just a pinky finger."

Xin Yi lowered the Heavenly Dao and softly said, "Likewise."