The reason Miao Youfang lowered his bow and sensed something different about these people wasn’t due to wisdom, but because his martial artist’s sense of crisis hadn’t triggered.

This meant the flying beast unit harbored no hostility.

“What’s wrong?”

Second Young Master Xu raised his hand to ward off the centurion trying to forcibly escort him away, turning his head toward Miao Youfang.

Miao Youfang described the group’s characteristics and explained: “They show no hostility.”

After listening, Xu immediately made a judgment: “Southern Borderlands people?”

Dark skin, naturally curly hair, blue-green clothing mixed with beast hide garments.

Whether from book records or personal experience (referring to Lina), Xu could determine these were people from the Southern Borderlands.

Southern Borderlands people, could it be… Miao Youfang slapped his forehead, exclaiming joyfully: “I understand now!”

Without explaining further, he tossed aside his bow and stood on the battlements, excitedly waving both arms at the approaching flying beast unit.

Seeing the response, the lead rider guided his beast away from the formation, diving toward the city wall, while the other riders remained vigilantly circling overhead, maintaining their distance.

“Whoosh…”

The membrane wings stirred up fierce winds that swept away debris and sand. The black-scaled beast landed on the wall walk, slowly folding its wings.

Miao Youfang ran to meet them, asking urgently: “Are you from the Poison Tribe?”

The middle-aged man on the black-scaled beast’s back spoke: “I am Tamo, commander of the Heart Poison Tribe’s flying beast unit. By order of Leader Chunyan, we’ve come to aid Qing Province.

“The Heart Poison Tribe has reached an agreement with Licensed Xu.”

His Central Plains dialect was quite poor—Miao Youfang had to listen three times to understand.

*So it was him who called them here…* Miao Youfang breathed a sigh of relief. He and Xu Qi’an had parted ways on the road to the Poison Tribe, and now the Poison Tribe’s forces appeared at this moment showing no hostility toward Great Zhou’s garrison.

Even thinking with one’s toes, one could figure out these people were reinforcements brought by Licensed Xu.

Miao Youfang turned back, nodding to Second Young Master Xu to indicate they were safe and reliable, then waved him over.

Xu approached under the wary centurion’s escort.

“I told you before, I parted ways with Licensed Xu on the road to the Poison Tribe,” Miao Youfang explained casually, then said excitedly: “They’re reinforcements Licensed Xu brought.”

*Reinforcements brought by Licensed Xu…* The centurion was stunned.

Miao Youfang had spoken loudly, and the distant defenders who heard were startled out of their vigilant hostility.

Second Young Master Xu scrutinized the Southern Borderlands man on the beast’s back. His skin was dark, his lips full, his frame lean but not weak—on the contrary, his taut muscles suggested explosive power.

Xu’s gaze flickered as he asked calmly: “My elder brother sent you?”

“This is Licensed Xu’s cousin,” Miao Youfang interjected.

Hearing this, Tamo’s gaze toward Second Young Master Xu changed, becoming respectful with a touch of ingratiation: “Yes.”

Xu nodded, asking casually: “How did you find this place?”

Under normal circumstances, his brother would surely have sent the Poison Tribe reinforcements to Qing Province City first to coordinate with the provincial leadership—there was no reason to come directly to Songshan County.

His seemingly casual question was testing this self-proclaimed Heart Poison Tribe member Tamo’s response.

“Licensed Xu told us to come here, and he gave us a map of Songshan County,” Tamo said while pulling out a map from his chest: “Although I visited Great Zhou many years ago, we still got lost on the way. We should have arrived last night.”

He glanced at the Great Zhou flag on the wall and said thankfully: “Fortunately, we weren’t too late.”

*Brother sent them to Songshan County… We’re saved, Songshan County is saved, the people are saved…* Xu closed his eyes, his body trembling slightly.

He took a deep breath, suppressing all his emotions, nodded slightly, and asked: “How did my brother know I was in Songshan County?”

This was indeed characteristic of his brother’s style.

He just didn’t know how his brother had learned of his stationing in Songshan County.

Tamo shook his head, indicating he didn’t know.

He then asked: “May we land now?”

Seeing Xu Xinnian nod, he raised his head and blew a sharp whistle.

The circling flying beast unit received the order and systematically lowered their altitude, landing steadily on the city wall. But due to their numbers, most of the black-scaled beasts had to land below the wall.

A soldier in the distance, weapon in hand, carefully approached and asked: “Lord Xu, we heard General Miao say they’re reinforcements brought by Licensed Xu.

“The brothers… we all want to know if it’s true.”

Xu Xinnian’s gaze passed over him to see several wounded soldiers gathered together in the distance, looking eagerly in their direction.

Looking back at the young soldier, Xu Xinnian nodded firmly: “Yes, these are the Heart Poison Tribe’s flying beast unit, reinforcements brought by Licensed Xu.”

The young soldier’s face suddenly trembled, his whole body shaking with excitement. Tears welled up in his eyes and rolled down his cheeks.

Miao Youfang jumped onto the battlements, his gaze sweeping from left to right across the black-scaled beasts on the wall, then looking down at more below.

His eyes gleamed, glistening with moisture.

Taking a sudden deep breath and fighting back the tightness in his nose, he roared: “Brothers, our reinforcements have arrived! Licensed Xu has brought us reinforcements. We have our flying beast unit now!”

His voice echoed repeatedly.

Excitement exploded in the hearts of the defenders and militia, raising a wave of clamor.

Some wept, mumbling: “We’re saved.”

Some turned red-faced with excitement, shouting.

Some jumped for joy, cheering endlessly.

The militia below, upon learning the news, excitedly ran through the streets and alleys spreading the word.

Telling the townspeople that reinforcements had arrived, brought by Licensed Xu.

Cheers soon echoed throughout the small county town.

Xu Xinnian took a deep breath, suppressing his excitement, and said: “Lord Tamo, the Heart Poison Tribe’s flying beast unit has come from afar. We should arrange accommodations for you, but in war, speed is of the essence, and opportunities are fleeting.”

Tamo patted his chest: “What are Lord Xu’s orders?”

…

When Zhuo Haoran received the scout’s report, he was entertaining himself with camp followers in his tent. These women were partly captured during the march and partly beautiful women collected from various counties when breaking through Qing Province’s first line of defense.

Even Grand General Qi Guangbo couldn’t criticize the seizure of women in the army camp.

Because camp followers were an essential component of any army.

For those in power, the necessity of camp followers lay in boosting morale and relieving the soldiers’ battlefield frustrations.

This was particularly effective when the war situation was unfavorable.

*Several hundred flying beast riders?!*

Upon first hearing the news, Zhuo Haoran’s initial reaction was that the scout was falsely reporting military intelligence.

Since when did the Qing Province have such a scale of flying beast units?

It was simply preposterous.

He immediately pulled up his pants, grabbed his weapon, and rushed out of the military camp, taking to the air to look toward the city walls.

Only after seeing it with his own eyes did he have to accept this “absurd” news.

The city wall was filled with black-scaled beasts with folded membrane wings.

“Since when did Qing Province have such a scale of flying beast units?”

Zhuo Haoran clenched his fists, his face twitching.

Just as the city was about to fall, the defenders suddenly received reinforcements of several hundred flying beast units. Zhuo Haoran was so angry his chest felt like it would explode. He quickly descended, returned to the military camp, and gave his first order to retreat.

The camp had only some Vermilion Bird riders remaining, completely unable to contend with the defenders’ flying beast unit.

Whether he admitted it or not, the situation had reversed—now they were the ones who needed to flee.

There was no option but to retreat.

The camp suddenly fell into chaos. The few hundred remaining soldiers abandoned everything at hand, discarding all heavy supplies, mounted fast horses, and under Zhuo Haoran’s leadership, fled the camp in a cloud of dust.

The thirty-some Vermilion Bird riders took wing, retreating at full speed.

But what Zhuo Haoran hadn’t expected was that as soon as they began retreating, deep roars came from behind.

The cavalry looked back, terrified to their core—in the sky behind them, the black mass of the flying beast unit surged forward like storm clouds.

The black-scaled beasts beat their membrane wings, quickly catching up to the cavalry. The Heart Poison masters on their backs let out long howls.

Instantly, the well-trained warhorses completely lost control, kneeling and collapsing mid-gallop. Horses and riders tumbled together in chaos.

The Heart Poison masters either dropped shells and oil containers or drew bows, raining arrows down on the routing army below.

“Xu Xinnian!”

Zhuo Haoran howled to the heavens.

Six thousand elite troops, all lost at Songshan County—his life’s brilliance ruined in an instant.

…

Half an hour later.

In the half-collapsed barbican, Xu Xinnian sat behind his desk, looking around at everyone, and smiled: “The flying beast unit eliminated three hundred enemy cavalry, captured twenty-eight. Eliminated twenty Vermilion Bird riders, captured three, and eight escaped.

“Zhuo Haoran and his deputy fled, whereabouts unknown.”

Second Young Master Xu hadn’t hoped the flying beast unit could capture a Tier 4 martial artist—that would have been too difficult. The current battle results were already very satisfying.

Present were the two remaining centurions from the garrison, Zhu Jun, Miao Youfang, and the Heart Poison Tribe’s flying beast unit commander Tamo.

After hearing Xu’s “report,” everyone’s faces lit up with joy, sweeping away their previous defeat.

“I hadn’t expected Licensed Xu, while in the Southern Borderlands, could direct operations and achieve victory thousands of li away.”

“Of course—don’t forget, Licensed Xu is a military strategy master who’s authored military texts.”

The two centurions discussed excitedly, their words treating Xu Qi’an as divine, full of admiration.

Even the usually stern Zhu Jun showed a smile.

Xu Xinnian looked at Tamo and smiled: “The Heart Poison Tribe’s flying beast unit has solved Great Zhou’s urgent crisis. Shortly, I’ll write a letter for you to take to Qing Province City. Leave the alliance matters to Governor Yang to handle.”

The alliance between the Poison Tribe and Great Zhou was currently just a “verbal promise.” Yang Gong would need to petition the court and receive official documents. Only after the court agreed would it be valid.

In Xu Xinnian’s view, the court would welcome this eagerly, though the proper procedures still needed to be followed.

“When Governor Yang learns that Licensed Xu has brought five hundred flying beast units back for Qing Province, he’ll be overjoyed.”

Zhu Jun’s smile deepened.

Tamo seemed to recall something and said: “I forgot to mention, besides our Heart Poison Tribe, there are also brothers from the Force Poison, Corpse Poison, and Dark Poison tribes.”

The laughter in the barbican suddenly fell silent.

Xu Xinnian’s breathing quickened as he stood up, supporting himself on the table: “There are more? How many? Where are they?”

Tamo pondered for a moment, then said: “The three tribes combined, probably over a thousand more.

“As for their location, I don’t know. After we left the Southern Borderlands, we split up. After all, the flyers couldn’t carry that many people.”

Three Poison tribes combined have over a thousand more people… Xu Xinnian and the others grew excited.

Anyone familiar with the Shanhai Pass campaign would understand how formidable Poison Tribe warriors were.

Although the Poison Tribes had a small population, unable to compare with Great Zhou’s armies of hundreds of thousands, their strange and difficult-to-handle poison arts caused Great Zhou’s army many setbacks in the Shanhai Pass campaign.

If properly utilized, these thousand-plus Poison Tribe members, along with the five hundred flying beast units, could shine brilliantly on the battlefield.

Xu Xinnian’s face reddened with excitement, his fingers trembling slightly as he gripped his brush: “I’ll write to Governor Yang right away.”

He turned to his deputy and said: “You go back to Qing Province City with Tamo.”

Soon after, Tamo, carrying a Great Zhou flag, rode his black-scaled flying beast alone, leaving Songshan County and flying toward Qing Province City.

…

Two days later, in the main hall of the Administrative Office.

Yang Gong looked down at the map spread before him, staring at the three characters for “Songshan County,” and said gravely: “We must prepare ourselves mentally for the loss of Songshan County.”

Li Mubai and the other advisors felt heavy-hearted.

Although the dispatched scouts hadn’t returned with news, comparing Songshan County’s troop deployment with the enemy’s forces made it easy to predict the outcome.

Li Mubai sighed: “The reinforcements are ready to march. As soon as the scouts return with detailed intelligence, we can immediately send troops to Songshan County to retake the city.”

Based on the overall situation of the second line of defense, everyone had planned to protect Songshan County first. The reasoning was simple: Dongling had switched to field battles, able to advance or retreat, so there was no need to worry.

Wan County was surrounded by the Cloud Province rebels’ main force, with flying beast units circling overhead. Trying to relieve Wan County’s siege would require an unknown number of troops, with no guarantee of success.

In comparison, retaking Songshan County was the wisest move.

Strike while the enemy had just occupied Songshan County before Cloud Province’s army could arrive to garrison it—at this time, the hope of retaking Songshan County was greatest.

Then station troops there, hold firm and maintain the last stronghold of the second line of defense.

“The Second Young Master is well-versed in military strategy, not a pedantic fool. He shouldn’t die defending the city,” Li Mubai prayed internally.

Yang Gong looked around at everyone: “Does anyone have any clever strategies for dealing with the flying beast unit?”

An advisor said: “The best way to deal with a flying beast unit is naturally to have our flying beast unit.”

He paused, then continued: “Besides that, modifying ballistas for anti-air firing might counter the flying beast unit. When the forces aren’t too mismatched, having Tier 4 experts strike is also a good strategy.”

Just then, a clerk hurried in, announcing loudly: “Governor, there’s a flying rider outside the city carrying a Great Zhou flag, claiming to be from the Poison Tribe.”