While Yaoying read the letter, Mobituo looked around, silently estimating A’le’s troop numbers.

A’le glanced at Mobituo, his lips curling into a smile. “Young man, I know you. Though I may have fewer men than you, my brothers have crawled out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood – each one is worth five others. Even the old chieftain of Wujili suffered losses at my hands. You’re his son, so you might as well call me uncle.”

Mobituo replied neither humbly nor arrogantly: “I’ve long heard of Chieftain A’le’s reputation.”

A’le stroked his beard and laughed loudly, his teeth sharp enough to easily tear out a person’s throat: “Don’t you want to reclaim glory for your father? Shall we have a contest?”

Mobituo’s face hardened, his right hand gripping his sword hilt tightly, his light brown eyes devoid of humor. “I am my father’s son and the tribe’s future chieftain. As a commander, I cannot accept the chieftain’s challenge with a great battle approaching. After the battle, I will seek guidance from the chieftain.”

A’le raised an eyebrow, looking at him sideways with a mocking smile: “Better than your father.”

Mobituo’s expression remained unchanged, the scar on his cheek appearing more fierce.

As the two crossed verbal swords, Yaoying finished reading the letter and asked A’le: “How many men did the chieftain bring?”

A’le glanced sideways at Mobituo.

Mobituo rode away.

A’le spurred his horse closer to Yaoying. He wasn’t strong or tall – rather small and thin, like a sharp knife – but when he drew his sword on horseback, no one dared underestimate him.

“I brought exactly as many men as the Princess requested. Though I, A’le, don’t distinguish between right and wrong and only care for money, once I make a promise and receive the deposit, I never break my word.”

Yaoying replied sincerely: “Thank you for your trouble, Chieftain.”

She had sought out A’le precisely because she knew he was a man of his word, and securing his promise wasn’t difficult – while others might die for their beliefs, he was willing to risk his life for gold and jade. Once paid, he would act without watching which way the wind blew or wavering between sides.

A’le picked his teeth with a dagger: “I’m just doing what I’m paid for, don’t mention trouble. But let me be clear upfront – I only serve the Princess. The Khanate’s people can’t order me around, and their war with the Northern Rong has nothing to do with me. No matter who wins, the Princess must give me several chests of gold and that spicy wine your merchants sell.”

Yaoying nodded: “Of course. Whether the khanate wins or loses, the Chieftain will receive everything I promised.”

A’le’s lips curled: “What if I die?”

Yaoying replied meaningfully: “If the Chieftain unfortunately perishes, the gold will be delivered to your tribespeople.”

A’le twisted his mouth and snorted.

If the Northern Rong werewolves, he and his subordinates were a flock of merciless vultures. They wandered everywhere, their curved blades ready to strike anyone they were paid to kill, even defenseless elderly, women, or children.

Over the years, they had accumulated many blood debts. Many tribes would love to skin them alive, eat their flesh, and drink their blood, but every member of A’le’s tribe was a warrior who came and went like the wind, without weakness. Small tribes dared not offend them, and large tribes didn’t want to wage all-out war. They lived freely, selling their souls for gold and silver.

Until one day, Princess Wenzhao sent a letter and a chest.

The letter detailed the locations of all A’le’s tribe’s secret camps – they weren’t as impregnable as rumored, having families and children, and camps specifically for wounded brothers. Fearing for their families, A’le’s tribe had always carefully guarded this secret.

The chest was filled to the brim with silver coins.

Faced with both threat and temptation, A’le’s tribe had no choice but to accept the chest of silver.

A’le had seriously discussed with his subordinates whether to finish things once and for all by killing Princess Wenzhao, who held their weakness in her hands. The price would be exposing the A’le tribe’s vulnerability. From then on, they would be hunted by enemies until their complete extermination.

His subordinates firmly opposed this – they would rather die during missions than implicate their families.

A’le was caught in this dilemma, hesitating until he met Princess Wenzhao in person and learned she was under the Buddha’s Son’s protection. Then he abandoned the idea.

Rather than mutual destruction, better to earn more money from Princess Wenzhao.

If one day she ran out of money, he could decide whether to kill her then – if she was driven out of the khanate.

…

Yaoying knew well that A’le’s tribe could become a blade in her hands but could also become others’ weapons and couldn’t be fully trusted. She discussed with him briefly, establishing methods for urgent messages and support, maintaining strict secrecy throughout without revealing the khanate’s deployment plans.

Mobituo listened from the side, his lips curling involuntarily – she spoke with A’le like a shrewd, heartless merchant.

After finalizing plans, they left White Spring, with two of Yaoying’s guards tearing off their clothes and staying behind.

Mobituo asked: “Why aren’t they returning to camp?”

Yaoying answered: “If A’le acts suspiciously, they can report quickly.”

This time Mobituo laughed out loud.

After traveling several li through wind and sand, they suddenly heard horn blasts nearby. Mobituo galloped to the front of the group, and calmly made several hand signals, sending light cavalry forward while others retreated, with several soldiers going ahead as scouts.

The group climbed a hill, and a soldier galloped back to report: “Forward station scouts have discovered a Northern Rong light cavalry unit, about fifty or sixty men, heading right toward us, Prince. Should we shake them off or engage?”

“Confirmed only fifty or sixty men?”

“Just that many – if it were several hundred, they would have been spotted earlier!”

Mobituo glanced at Yaoying, hesitating.

Yaoying removed her face covering and asked: “Does the Prince wish to engage?”

Mobituo nodded: “No one knows why this light cavalry unit appeared here. Shaking them off could leave hidden dangers – better to conserve horse strength and engage directly, our chances are better. We outnumber them several times over. The Regent ordered camps to form a blockade line to eliminate all isolated Northern Rong scout cavalry. The western, southern, and northern directions all have sufficient forces; only the east hasn’t been properly garrisoned yet. If we let these dozens of Northern Rong light cavalry escape, they might break through the encirclement.”

Yaoying immediately said: “Then the Prince need not worry about me – engage them.”

“If I’ve underestimated them, the Princess should immediately retreat with her men, don’t worry about me.” Mobituo saluted Yaoying, turned his horse, drew his long sword, and called out: “Men, prepare for battle!”

The soldiers drew their swords in response, centering around Mobituo. Over two hundred cavalry spread out to both sides like a slowly opening fan, with several fast horses shooting out from the flanks like arrows leaving the string. Mobituo held his curved sword, spurring his horse forward, the entire formation like a fully drawn bow, bowstring taut, arrow ready to fly.

Yaoying retreated to the gentle slope of the hill under her other guards’ protection, gazing toward the horizon.

Hidden behind the hill, they couldn’t be seen by those coming from the west, but they could see the others.

The Northern Rong light cavalry was indeed fast. As the horn blasts still echoed in the air, rolling yellow sand rose several zhang high in the distance, and dozens of mounted warriors emerged from the dust, galloping toward them.

Mobituo signaled the guards to wave the flags: “Form ranks!”

The soldiers responded quickly, quietly advancing.

Mobituo watched the approaching Northern Rong light cavalry, sweat beading on his forehead, but his hands remained steady on his curved sword.

The soldiers waited for his command.

Mobituo raised his hand, and just as the soldiers were about to loose arrows, he suddenly shouted: “Wait!”

Ahead, battle cries shook the heavens, mixed with agonized screams, but these sounds weren’t from them – they came from the Northern Rong light cavalry. The rear cavalry were hunting down the front riders. Both groups wore the same uniforms yet fought each other as they galloped forward.

“What’s happening? Northern Rong internal conflict?”

Mobituo frowned.

“Which way do we go?!”

“We can’t escape – fight these Northern Rong dogs to the death! Let’s die together!”

“The message must be delivered!”

On the dune, Yaoying heard the angry shouts carried by the wind and trembled: “Prince, they’re Han people! The ones being chased are Han people!”

When the messenger relayed her words to Mobituo, he frowned deeply, looking more carefully at the intertwined Northern Rong cavalry. Everyone wore the same armor – he couldn’t distinguish who was Han and who was Northern Rong.

“Save those people – the ones being hunted by the Northern Rong might be useful to us.”

He ordered.

Everyone acknowledged.

Seeing those few about to be surrounded by Northern Rong cavalry, Mobituo hesitated no longer and charged out from behind the hill, abandoning battle formation.

“Follow me and attack!”

The soldiers roared and followed him, two hundred men suddenly charging forth like divine troops descending from heaven. The Northern Rong light cavalry below the dunes were shocked but didn’t retreat, instead more frantically trying to kill the remaining Han people. They seemed to know they had no escape and would kill the Han at any cost.

Long swords fell, Han people dropping one after another.

The guards escorted Yaoying to a safer higher position, but she kept looking back, her heart suddenly racing.

The great wind whirled up dust and sand. The pursued Han people had been speaking in the Wei Dynasty’s official language.

Yaoying’s hands began to tremble as she turned her horse.

“Raise the flags! To help them, tell them to run this way!”

Four of her guards responded, raising flags and galloping down.

Below the mountain, the pursued Han people were also startled to see Mobituo charging out. One of them saw the moving flags on the hill and his face showed wild, disbelieving joy.

“Princess Wenzhao!”

“Run that way!”

Several tried to break through the encirclement, but the Northern Rong elite cavalry would rather give up escape than let them go. Mobituo’s soldiers couldn’t identify them and were somewhat restrained.

They darted left and right, attempting to break through again and again.

Yaoying followed her guards down the hillside, her heart beating faster and faster, her palms sweating.

The guards raised flags as they galloped ahead, shouting repeatedly in dialect, directing the Han people’s escape route.

Through a rain of arrows, a black horse was the first to break through the Northern Rong cavalry’s encirclement, brushing past Mobituo as it galloped toward the flags.

Yaoying’s heart ached terribly as she rode to meet them.

Amid surrounding soldiers locked in combat, the black horse galloped toward her. Its rider wore no armor but rather common herder’s narrow-sleeved leather garments, wielding a pair of golden hammers that flashed brilliantly.

Yaoying’s entire body went rigid.

For a moment, she thought she was dreaming again.

But the roars of battle around her were so clear – horses neighing, flesh and blood flying, weapons clashing, arrows sweeping past like urgent rain, hooves trampling the dunes, yellow sand rolling like ground-covering clouds.

The scene from her dreams truly appeared again. Immense joy was instantly replaced by terror as her body went ice-cold. She spurred her horse toward him, her mount’s four hooves flying.

“Brother-“

The man seemed to hear her call, his narrow phoenix eyes fixed unblinkingly on her as if afraid she would disappear. He guided his horse toward her at full gallop, reaching out his hand.

Each hoof beat seemed to pound in Yaoying’s heart.

Don’t be so reckless, don’t let it be like the dream!

“Look out!”

The black horse moved swiftly as lightning, reaching them in the blink of an eye when suddenly, it stepped into a hole. After a terrible neigh, its front hooves stumbled, throwing its rider.

The man rolled several times on the ground, his helmet falling off as he staggered to his feet, black hair scattered, face splattered with blood, his phoenix eyes red as blood.

Yaoying reined in her horse, dismounted, and stumbled toward him, tears blurring her vision.

There was no sword suddenly thrusting from the side, he wasn’t run through, there was no gushing blood – he stood before her whole and well, tall as ever…

Yaoying was wild with joy. At this moment, three years of separation, fear, worry, and pain instantly vanished. She could think of nothing else as she opened her arms and threw herself into his embrace, holding him tight.

“Brother!”

The man swayed several times, and looked down at her, his narrow phoenix eyes fixed unblinkingly on her. His lips moved, but his voice was drowned in the heaven-shaking battle cries.

She had called out for Li Zhongqian.

He should correct her.

But she had rushed to him like this, urgent, overjoyed, clinging to him dependently, tears in her eyes, as if he were the person she valued most in the world…

He closed his eyes and raised his arms to embrace Yaoying.

Ah Yue, I’ve found you.