After Lu Dongzan returned to the camp, the first thing he did was order a full army retreat. His deputy general hadn’t yet figured out why when he saw Lu Dongzan say viciously: “Our warriors are brave and skilled in battle, but they cannot be meaninglessly consumed at this camel city. In the remaining years, we will have very difficult days ahead. Preserving our strength is first priority. Withdraw! Moreover, I’m worried that after the black storm stops, the Tang army will counterattack. This defeat is not a crime of war. All the fault lies with me. The entire army will retreat to Black Stone Mountain without stopping for a moment.”

The Tubo people quickly packed their baggage. The transformation from attacking to retreating left many people puzzled. Lu Dongzan led the large force across the trench once again and said to the Turkic envoy responsible for liaison: “Go back and tell Great King Tu Shi that this time our army will use all its strength to attack. Success or failure hinges on this one battle. We only hope the Great King can fight with all his might to jointly destroy this stronghold. After the battle, our Tubo will certainly not dare compete with the Great King for merit!”

Seeing the Tubo people full of tragic heroism preparing to go into battle, along with the corpses everywhere, the Turkic envoy’s heart was also greatly moved by feelings of sympathy for fellow sufferers. He performed the grassland people’s most noble courtesy to Lu Dongzan, then hurriedly took his subordinates along a small path back to the Turkic camp, preparing to tell Tu Shi what he had witnessed at the Tubo camp.

The Turks stood at the upwind position, so their attack seemed easier. The Tubo people stood at the downwind position, so their attack appeared incomparably difficult. Since the Tubo people were all persevering, preparing to win this battle, the Turks had no reason not to continue participating in the fierce attack.

The already wounded Tu Shi, after hearing the envoy’s words, swept his gaze around the nobles of various tribes, then said to the Tuyuhun elder: “Elder, order the troops to withdraw. Lu Dongzan is leaving. We have a long road to travel, and it’s against the wind, very troublesome. Beneath the camel city, we’ve lost no fewer than forty thousand warriors in scattered deaths. No one understands better than us what kind of existence the camel city is.”

“Lu Dongzan’s losses in this battle should be very great. He may have also felt that nothing can be achieved. Perhaps he’s already withdrawing, using us to hold down Yun Ye’s camel city so he can escape easily.”

“Ha ha, we’ve already annihilated Guo Xiaoke, which counts as great revenge. Now we can set our minds at ease to look toward the west. May we find a way to survive there.”

The envoy still wanted to speak, but Tu Shi waved his hand and said: “You are a warrior, not a strategist, so I don’t blame you for bringing false news. The Turkic people need each and every one of us to live well from now on. Only in this way can we open up new territory…”

The Tuyuhun elder sighed, then began to transmit the military order. The Turkic allied forces began to fully disengage from contact with the camel city. For every additional moment of contact, the allied army would lose more people.

The black storm had passed. Without the support of wind, the yellow sand and dust in the sky began to slowly fall down. Yun Ye stretched out his hand. In a moment, a thin layer of yellow earth covered his hand.

At this time, heaven and earth were all withered yellow. All things in the world were the same color. Liu Zhengwu constantly received loss reports transmitted from various parts of the camel city. The greatest losses in this battle were the livestock, especially the pack horses. The warhorses had silk hood protection so the problem wasn’t major, but many pack horses had already lain on the ground covered by yellow sand and long since fallen silent.

The catapults were still constantly throwing fire oil outward. This indicated that the Tubo people were still on the battlefield. However, according to news transmitted by the officers, they were desperately retrieving their own people’s corpses and weren’t fighting at all.

“The war should be over. The Turks are retreating, the Tubo people are collecting their own people’s corpses. It looks like they also have thoughts of withdrawing. At this point, this old man doesn’t believe the Turks still have the mind to advance east?”

Du Ruhui wasn’t wearing a pig snout, but instead had several thick layers of silk wrapped around his face. He spoke in a muffled voice, appearing extremely bizarre in this withered yellow world.

“No matter what they’re planning, those who should be killed still must be killed. The Anxi Army’s account cannot go unsettled. Li Jing will deal with the Tubo people, so we can’t control that. Since the Turkic main force is right here, we must certainly supervise their western expedition and go take a look at distant places.”

After saying two sentences, Yun Ye already appeared extremely strained. In such hellish weather, even saying two more sentences was a luxury. Naturally, this wasn’t a good time for lamenting. He had thought cavalry could pursue them, but now it simply wouldn’t work. During the time when sand was falling, the best response for people and animals was to be like camels—stay in place and breathe slowly with their mouths tucked under their bellies.

The Tubo people stubbornly used ropes to loop around the necks or limbs of their already fallen comrades, dragging them out from the dangerous catapult zone. The camel city didn’t dare randomly throw fire oil bombs or gunpowder bombs at this time because they could easily cause a dust explosion. Yellow earth normally wouldn’t explode, but after being contaminated with fire oil, it was hard to say. The last explosion had almost killed the attacking Tubo people completely clean—it was a fluke. If another large-scale dust explosion occurred now, Yun Ye himself didn’t know what the consequences would be.

Under the might of heaven and earth, human activities became incomparably insignificant. After the Tubo people and Turks had all withdrawn from the trench, the soldiers in the camel city began to re-erect the barbed wire and prepare new defenses. When all this was done, the entire camel city fell into boundless silence. Only the flickering firelight proved signs of life existed here.

Taking a last look at the lights on the camel city, Lu Dongzan urged the army westward with extremely complex feelings. Only by returning to the plateau could he feel a trace of comfort. There, the epidemic given by ancestors—the altitude sickness—was the final barrier protecting his own people. With thick hemp cloth covering his face, Lu Dongzan really wanted to spread his arms wide and explain to heaven that his failure wasn’t because the fighting was unfavorable, but because the current warfare had already departed from the scope of combat. Brave warriors charging forward could only suffer terrible strikes. Personal martial prowess couldn’t compare to a small iron lump. Warriors who had eaten barley for eighteen years to grow up would become a piece of charcoal after one flash of fire. How could such a battle be fought? Perhaps it would only be effective after using human lives to exhaust these terrible weapons, just like how the Turks dealt with Guo Xiaoke. But the price of tens of thousands of people was too high. Tubo couldn’t bear it.

It wasn’t until evening that a pale sun could be faintly seen in the sky. Below that pale sun was that gray camel city. The siege by more than a hundred thousand people seemed to have caused it no harm. Under that pale sun, it remained completely intact. This was the last time Tu Shi would see the camel city while alive.

Guo Ping blew away the floating earth on the water surface and carefully took a sip of water, then poured out the remaining water. The fine floating earth had formed a greasy layer on the water surface, looking filthy.

Everywhere was the earthy smell, everywhere was dust. They seemed to be omnipresent. Every night when Guo Ping washed up, the yellow earth on his hair would rustle down. His eyelashes were full of yellow earth. In the morning, he didn’t dare rub his eyes and needed to wash his eyelashes clean first.

Chen Shu was obviously more adapted to this kind of life than Guo Ping. He ate a rice ball with crunching sounds, not caring at all about the mud and sand in the rice ball. Guo Ping almost wanted to cover his ears listening to it.

“Bear with it. In two or three days it will pass. When the dust settles clean, it will be fine. Just make do for now. Coming to the Western Regions without eating a few taels of sand doesn’t count as having come to the Western Regions.”

Guo Ping looked at the still gray sky and said: “The Turks have already left, the Tubo people have also left. Why does the Commander still remain stationed here without moving? Just letting them slip away for nothing?”

Chen Shu laughed and pointed at Guo Ping, saying: “A few days ago you were still worried about repeating the same mistakes. How did you change your tune today? Does ‘a strong city emboldens a cowardly person’ describe you?”

Guo Ping glared at Chen Shu and drilled into the house. Who could explain this hellish weather clearly? Obviously, the sky was gray and overcast, yet the ground was burning hot, and there wasn’t a trace of wind in the air.

The soldiers led the small stream from the stone crevices into the camel city. One stream of water was used for drinking; the other stream was allowed to flow beneath the camel city. Only in this way could it bring a trace of coolness to the camels under the camel city.

Everyone was like fish floating to the water surface, breathing hard yet still feeling suffocated beyond endurance.

Du Ruhui used his hand to brush away a layer of floating earth from the ice mountain and said: “This black storm was very large. It’s estimated that many oases in the desert will disappear. Whether returning safely to Suiye City or returning safely to the Black Mountain Pass, neither is an easy matter. The Tubo people and Turks both feed on cattle and sheep. This old man just doesn’t believe that after experiencing this storm, how many of their cattle and sheep can remain.”

Yun Ye hugged the teapot and said thoughtfully: “After the storm, some sand dunes will shift, some roads will change. There are too many uncertain factors. Even the camel city doesn’t dare move out easily. Under conditions of lacking food and water, who knows how far they can go?”

“That’s not necessarily so. Every ethnic group that can survive must have their own unique special skills. The Western Regions are, after all, the Western Regions people’s. We’re only passing guests. When it comes to familiarity with this land, we’re far inferior. We cannot view it lightly.”

The weather was stuffy hot, so they could only keep drinking water. The stench of camels kept coming up from beneath the wooden grid. Yun Ye still wasn’t quite accustomed to it, but seeing Du Ruhui slurp a mouthful of tea and wave a fan seemingly leisurely, the old fellow didn’t seem anxious at all to return to Chang’an.

“Now that the road has been cleared, shouldn’t you return to Chang’an? The Ministry of War has sent a total of six documents, five of which questioned why this junior placed you in a dangerous location. If you don’t go back, I’m worried a heavenly envoy will come to arrest me and bring me to the capital for interrogation.” Yun Ye had always wanted to throw off this big burden that was Du Ruhui. Always carrying him on his own back wasn’t the way to do things. If anything happened to him, when he returned to Chang’an, Li Er could skin him alive.

“You child, you’re really not honest. Your Uncle Du finally found a good method for living leisurely days, and you’re already driving me away? Not going back. Going back is useless anyway. Might as well stay here with you. Every day there are endless desert beautiful sights to see, endless delicacies from land and sea to eat, and divine light to bathe in. Of course, most importantly, there’s also military merit to be gained.”

“Young fellow, did you write in the military report that this old man personally braved arrows and stones and bravely supervised the battle? This old man doesn’t want to miss such great merit as beheading fifty thousand and breaking out of heavy encirclement.”