The young leader’s eyebrow lifted slightly as his gaze swept over everyone present. His eyes narrowed slightly, and he suddenly spoke in a deep voice: “How far is this place from Reneya?”
Everyone was startled—they hadn’t expected him to suddenly ask such a question. They stood dumbfounded, with no one responding.
The young leader frowned, then asked again: “Does no one know? Then have any of you seen large numbers of Han soldiers dressed like my subordinates pass through here?”
His previous sentence was spoken in Turkic, but now he used Latin, speaking both with exceptional fluency. Seeing that the crowd still showed no reaction, he suddenly asked in Mongolian: “Can you understand what I’m saying?”
“I understand! I’ve seen them! If you save us, I can lead you to find your companions!” the red-clothed girl suddenly shouted loudly. However, just as she cried out, the big man holding her stepped hard on her mouth.
The young general’s brow furrowed slightly as his gaze swept over the trembling women and children behind them. He suddenly turned his head and said indifferently to a subordinate beside him: “Clean up these beasts.”
The girl was immediately overjoyed. The bearded man shouted in alarm and anger: “I’m from Yelan Mountain, you dare…”
Before he could finish speaking, a pitch-black crossbow bolt suddenly shot forward, piercing his throat with a whoosh. The bearded man’s eyes immediately bulged wide, and with a thud, he fell from his horse.
Bloody slaughter immediately began, except this time the killers had instantly become the killed. In mere moments, not a single living bandit remained on horseback.
“My lord, it’s finished.”
“Mm,” the young leader nodded and said: “Let’s go.”
The troops acknowledged and were about to march west. The red-clothed girl stood to the side and immediately hurried forward several steps, grabbing the young leader’s horse reins and calling out: “How can you leave? Aren’t you going to ask me about your companions’ whereabouts?”
The young leader sat high atop his warhorse, his back straight as a rod. His phoenix eyes slowly glanced down at the girl’s face, then he suddenly spoke, his voice carrying a trace of mild mockery: “Do you know?”
The girl was immediately embarrassed. The young leader raised his head and no longer spared her another glance. With a pull of the reins, his warhorse immediately reared up, and the riders behind followed, departing like a whirlwind.
The girl stood in place, staring blankly at their departing figures, suddenly feeling an emotion she had never experienced before. She glanced at the heavily damaged caravan and said to another old man: “Uncle Cuixi, you take everyone to find my father. Also tell him that Aluobei has something to do and will join up with you all later.”
Having said this, she turned and leaped onto her red horse, raised her whip, and without heeding her tribespeople’s shouts behind her, chased after the departing army.
The desert at night revealed its desolate and magnificent appearance even more starkly. The black-clothed, black-armored warriors were like a group of silent stones, quietly encamped on a wind-sheltered sand dune, resting.
The general with a white eagle embroidered on his sleeve carried a helmet filled with bright red wine and walked to the young general’s side, saying: “My lord, the night air is heavy with cold. You’ve just recovered from a serious illness—drink some wine to warm your body.”
The young general made no sound, merely shook his head slightly. He held a rolled sheepskin map in his hands, carefully marking it with a charcoal pencil, his expression extremely focused.
A sand eagle suddenly swept low overhead, releasing a sharp, long cry that echoed far into the distance.
After a while, the young general finally set down the map in his hands. Turning slightly, he saw that the general holding the helmet still stubbornly crouched beside him. His expression shifted slightly as he accepted the helmet and drank it down in one gulp. This was premium wine from the Western Regions, taken from a merchant caravan they’d found buried by sandstorms in the Dragon Tooth Desert. Those people had encountered a sandstorm and all perished in that stretch of desert, leaving only these life-sustaining items buried in shallow sand for later travelers to find.
The wine was potent. After drinking, the young general’s pale complexion showed a slight flush. He wiped his mouth and turned to the general: “Song Yang, have the scouts we sent out returned?”
This force was indeed the Nanchu warriors who had left Baideng Mountain that day to penetrate deep into the desert, and the young leader was naturally Qing Xia. They had departed Baideng Mountain that day and traveled westward. With Qing Xia, an experienced guide, leading the way, their progress was naturally swift. Qing Xia was deeply versed in tracking methods, and since Chu Li’s large force had passed through, it was impossible not to leave traces. Qing Xia easily found clues and tracked them all the way. However, a recent sandstorm in the Dragon Tooth Desert had caused her to completely lose the trail. She could only cast a wide net to search, naturally slowing their progress. By now, half a month had passed. If they hadn’t found Leaf Lake three days ago and encountered a large wolf pack near Leaf Lake, killing wolves to store meat for supplies, they might have run out of provisions long ago.
“Reporting to my lord, they haven’t returned yet.”
Qing Xia nodded and said slowly: “General Du and the others should also be withdrawing. In another ten days, the Xiongnu will surely retreat westward. If we still can’t find them by then, things will be difficult to handle.”
“My lord,” Song Yang frowned, wanting to say something but hesitating.
Qing Xia smiled faintly, turned her head and said: “Are you trying to say that His Majesty’s actions must have deep meaning, and by rashly following him into the grasslands like this, not only can I not help, but I might even cause trouble?”
Song Yang was startled and immediately knelt on one knee, saying solemnly: “This subordinate wouldn’t dare!”
Qing Xia waved her hand and said: “In the army now, you’re probably not the only one with such thoughts—you’re just the only one who dares voice them. I know what you’re all thinking.”
Song Yang thought for a moment, his sword-like brows furrowing as he said: “It’s because we subordinates are dull and don’t understand your good intentions, my lord.”
Qing Xia smiled: “Song Yang, when did you learn to speak in such roundabout ways? If you want to ask me something, why not speak directly?”
Seeing Song Yang’s embarrassed expression, Qing Xia smiled bitterly: “You all consider His Majesty wise and mighty, with flawless strategies. You all think that any decision he makes must have its reasons. This isn’t necessarily bad—it can make you more loyal to the court. But only I know that he is actually an impulsive person too.”
“I’ve thought about it thousands of times but still can’t understand what benefit there is in attacking the desert. Does he also want to learn from Huang Biao and wipe out the Xiongnu’s main base camp in one stroke? The dangers hidden in this desert are beyond your imagination. One sandstorm, one unreliable guide, one stroke of bad weather, and thirty thousand men could be swallowed whole without even bones remaining. Since I already know this, I cannot let him act impulsively. I won’t return without seeing him.”
“But my lord…”
“No need to say more,” Qing Xia interrupted Song Yang’s words: “I know what you’re worried about. Don’t worry—I have ways to handle it.”
“My lord, that woman is following us again.”
A messenger suddenly ran forward. Upon hearing this, Qing Xia and Song Yang both stood up and looked in the direction the messenger indicated. They saw a girl in bright red clothing mounted on a date-red horse atop a high sand dune, waving enthusiastically at them. Then with a crack of her whip, she galloped toward them.
The girl rode straight to their vicinity but didn’t enter the camp. She stopped by a withered tree not far from them, tethered her horse, spread a felt blanket on the ground, and sat down with the appearance of someone preparing to rest and sleep. Just as she was about to lie down, she suddenly remembered something and jumped up, drawing her small curved blade and shouting threateningly: “Anyone who dares crawl over here at night will get what’s coming to them!”
“My lord?” Song Yang’s tone rose slightly, asking inquiringly.
“Don’t mind her,” Qing Xia shook her head. “This little girl really doesn’t know the height of heaven or the depth of earth.”
The next day they continued marching. Beyond the Dragon Tooth Desert, it was no longer an endless expanse of sand dunes. Occasionally there were oases and rivers. After two more days of travel, they would reach the settlements of various small Xiongnu tribes. Further ahead lay the cities of the Western Region kingdoms. That evening, the army rested at Green Grass Lake. Having not seen vegetation or water for so long, the Chu army finally recovered some strength, replenished their water supplies, and caught some game. The rabbit warrens in this area were practically turned upside down by the army—presumably from now on, rabbits in the Green Grass Lake region would be extinct.
The girl named Aluobei had been trailing the army at a moderate distance throughout the journey. Huang Biao and others even suspected she was an enemy spy and wanted to eliminate her. If not for Qing Xia’s intervention, this little girl might have died hundreds of times over.
This morning, they finally reached the first Xiongnu settlement—the Tukuohun tribe.
Today’s Tukuohun tribe was vastly different from what Qing Xia had seen three years ago. Although the rich pasture grass was even more luxuriant than before, there were no cattle or sheep grazing on it, nor any herders tending them. All the felt tents had disappeared. The grass was trampled and disordered—clearly large numbers of people had passed through. Corpses and blood covered the ground, attracting countless eagles and vultures to hold a magnificent feast here. The stench of decay assaulted the nose, and even the air itself carried the smell of blood.
Even battle-hardened men couldn’t help but feel nauseous at this sight. Several young new recruits immediately retched.
“My lord,” Song Yang’s face was somewhat pale as he crouched down to pick up a black helmet, presenting it to Qing Xia. His voice was slightly hoarse: “His Majesty was here.”
Qing Xia’s expression remained unchanged, but her eyes narrowed slightly. Her sharp gaze swept the surroundings, remaining silent for a long time.
The entire army fell into silence. No one dared speak a word until Aluobei rushed forward from behind, letting out a terrified scream that finally broke the deathly quiet.
Huang Biao’s eyes widened. After thinking for a long while, he suddenly spoke: “This… His Majesty’s methods are too ruthless, aren’t they? These are all women and children!”