With this arrangement, the Minuo tribe immediately split into two groups. One team consisted of men who still had some fighting ability and some strong women, following Ha’er Bala and Chagan Bala across the desert.

The other team was made up entirely of the elderly, children, weak and sick women, and disabled men who couldn’t participate in battle – they would find a place to settle outside the desert.

Among those separating were mothers and sons, husbands and wives. But the physically strong men and those women willing to take up arms were going to fight for the tribe’s future, even willing to sacrifice their own lives.

To the tribespeople remaining outside the desert, they were warriors, heroes, and the hope for the tribe’s return to prosperity.

If the Minuo tribe were left with only the old, weak, sick, and disabled, then in the future the Minuo people could only be slaves, and their descendants would be bullied forever.

After preparing water and dried provisions and bringing along tribespeople skilled at finding water sources in the desert, Qin Yining’s group of approximately one thousand people set off toward the desert.

This was different from the last time they entered the desert. Back then, Si Qin hadn’t made adequate preparations but had been chased into the desert by pursuing troops. Though he had many people with him along the way, water and dried provisions were limited, so Si Qin had to abandon prisoners one by one along the route, finally even leaving the Qingtian Alliance members who knew the treasure’s location to fend for themselves in the desert.

This time, Qin Yining had planned to enter the desert long ago, and the Minuo tribe had made thorough preparations. Though the journey was exhausting and arduous, the thousand people could at least guarantee their survival and wouldn’t die from lack of water.

At this time, Khan Wutejin’s pursuing troops had also caught up with the Minuo tribespeople.

But everyone had already agreed to insist they didn’t know where the other tribespeople had gone. Si Qin indeed acted as Lu Heng and Qin Yining had calculated – a newly enthroned ruler, concerned about his reputation for benevolence, ultimately didn’t harm the Minuo people remaining outside the desert. He only ordered them to stay where they were and be self-sufficient, not to disturb other tribes, and not to enter nearby towns.

At this point, Si Qin could be certain that Qin Yining’s group had entered the desert.

“What courage indeed. This Khan underestimated these two people.”

He had originally thought that those from the Great Zhou were all cowardly bookworms – intellectually developed but weak in action. He hadn’t expected these two to dare enter the desert with a group of unfamiliar Minuo tribespeople!

The accompanying military officers looked at Si Qin’s expression and couldn’t help but fall silent as cicadas.

Although Si Qin had always been tolerant toward his subordinates and was a benevolent ruler, everyone knew that the Khan and Khan A’na Ri had been childhood sweethearts with the deepest affection.

The whereabouts of Khan A’na Ri’s assassins had been found, but they hadn’t been caught up with. No one knew how angry the Khan might be feeling now.

Having grown accustomed to Khan A’na Ri’s ruthless methods, even though Khan Wutejin wasn’t that type of person, they still felt afraid in their hearts.

The lead military officer was an old follower from Si Qin’s army days who knew Si Qin well and understood he wasn’t one to vent anger on others. Only he dared step forward to inquire: “Khan, shall we continue pursuing?”

Si Qin pressed his lips together in thought for a moment, then said: “Entering the desert would truly be difficult to pursue. First, it’s too dangerous. Second, the weather in the desert is too harsh, and it’s hard to maintain direction. We shouldn’t let the soldiers lose their lives in vain.”

“The Khan speaks correctly.”

Generally, when they encountered such harsh conditions during battles, they wouldn’t continue pursuing to avoid unnecessary casualties.

In his usual teachings to these military officers, Si Qin often said “good steel should be used on the blade’s edge” – needlessly sending warriors to their deaths wasn’t a wise approach.

Si Qin stood up, his tall frame nearly touching the ceiling of the simple tent.

He walked to a simple wooden table nearby and carefully observed the map with his hands behind his back.

Seeing this, everyone followed him over. Someone thoughtfully brought the lamp stand closer.

The map showed the Tatars’ mountains, rivers, grasslands, and deserts.

His rough fingers, coarsened from years of gripping weapons, traced along the desert’s direction and finally pointed to several locations near the Great Zhou border.

“Deploy people to guard outside the desert in the direction near the Great Zhou, paying special attention to these points. Once anyone emerges from the desert, immediately arrest and bring them back.”

“Yes!”

His subordinates’ spirits lifted as they responded loudly.

Seeing that Si Qin wasn’t disregarding his soldiers’ lives out of eagerness to avenge Khan A’na Ri, everyone’s respect for this new Khan grew even stronger.

Si Qin had previously earned the heartfelt submission of his soldiers through brilliant military achievements and excellent command.

Now his calm wisdom and benevolent heart made everyone feel secure.

Though it might be somewhat disrespectful to say, Si Qin as Khan was indeed much better than Khan A’na Ri had been.

In just the short time since taking the throne, the Tatars had taken on a new appearance. Everyone no longer had to worry about being arrested and killed for no reason. The new Khan wasn’t a tyrant who treated their lives as worthless – they only needed to work diligently to receive good treatment. Being able to follow such a Khan, they could work with peace of mind and fully display their talents and abilities.

Everyone’s spirits were high as they busily went about following Si Qin’s orders.

At this time, Qin Yining’s group of nearly a thousand people was huddled behind a sand dune, sheltering from the wind in the bitter cold.

The gathering place was completely quiet – no one had extra energy to speak. At this moment, they had to conserve strength wherever possible. Speaking even one unnecessary word seemed like a waste of water and food.

Qin Yining looked at Lu Heng lying beside her, wrapped in cotton clothes but still shivering from cold, his eyes tightly closed and lips pale white, and couldn’t help but frown with worry.

They had been walking very cautiously all along, but their speed was even slower than before entering the desert because Lu Heng had caught a cold with fierce symptoms. Without timely treatment and with medicinal herbs being rare among the Minuo tribespeople, Lu Heng’s illness was inevitably delayed.

Lu Heng had probably been pampered growing up in the Lu family, never experiencing such great upheaval or suffering such hardships. Since fleeing the capital, the taut string in Lu Heng seemed to have suddenly snapped. Unable to release his pent-up anger, combined with their wandering life under harsh conditions, falling so seriously ill was within expectations.

However, everyone had expected Qin Yining to fall ill, but it was Lu Heng, who seemed much healthier, who collapsed instead – everyone had guessed wrong.

With Lu Heng’s illness, the responsibility of caring for him fell to Qin Yining, Ha’er Bala, and Chagan Bala.

Qin Yining was careful and had given her horse to Lu Heng, walking alongside while leading the horse and taking very good care of him. Only when there were things inconvenient for her to do would she turn to Ha’er Bala and Chagan Bala for help.

They had originally thought Qin Yining was a delicate, pampered woman with refined features. Her willingness to give up her horse was already quite surprising. What they hadn’t expected was that Qin Yining could actually persist in walking through the desert on foot. Though her stamina was limited, she never dragged others down or acted willfully. Even when drinking water, she would restrainedly take just one sip, never causing others to drink less because of her.

Beautiful women inspired admiration.

Among the bold Tatar people, beautiful and strong women were even more captivating.

Her strength was unexpected and admirable, her intelligence and composure earned heartfelt respect. Even knowing she was a married woman, many young men in the tribe had good feelings toward her and were willing to share their dried provisions and water with her. But she never accepted.

Qin Yining could feel everyone’s goodwill but wouldn’t take others’ belongings. In the desert, water and food were the most important things for sustaining life. If she ate and drank what belonged to others, it would put them in greater danger of facing death – she would absolutely never do such a thing.

Lu Heng’s illness worried Qin Yining greatly. After all, they had shared hardships together, and Lu Heng was her lifesaver. This friend had truly given his all for her, and she was doing everything possible to repay him. She naturally couldn’t abandon him, but conditions were limited. Having to travel through the desert made it impossible for him to rest and recover, making Lu Heng’s condition appear even more critical.

Another difficulty was Qin Yining’s language barrier.

Qin Yining still only knew simple phrases like “eat,” “rest,” “relieve oneself” and such basic vocabulary. Anything more complex she couldn’t understand or express. If Lu Heng was unconscious and couldn’t speak, communication would become the biggest problem.

Lu Heng’s current condition was alternating between sleep and wakefulness, often missing important matters. When Qin Yining needed to give urgent instructions, most people couldn’t understand her.

Fortunately, there was Uncle Ar’han with the severed arm. If Qin Yining didn’t use complex vocabulary and only expressed simple meanings, Uncle Ar’han could understand and help explain to the nearby tribespeople. He could also translate the tribespeople’s words into simple Great Zhou language for her to hear, making it much more convenient for her to receive information and give orders.

“He’s still running a fever,” Ar’han said somewhat anxiously. “What can we do about this? We don’t have a doctor in our group, and his body doesn’t seem very strong either.”

Qin Yining was also very worried, pulling the cotton robe covering Lu Heng tighter around him. Ideally, they should use cold cloths on his forehead or rub alcohol on his body to bring down Lu Heng’s fever, but given their current conditions where even drinking water had to be calculated to keep from dying of thirst, using cloths for Lu Heng was even more impossible.

At this life-and-death moment, Qin Yining couldn’t consider anything else and placed her stiff, frozen hands on Lu Heng’s forehead.

Lu Heng seemed to feel more comfortable, nuzzling against her palm as his pale, cracked lips murmured: “So cool.”

Qin Yining frowned, feeling helpless.

If Lu Heng lost his life here, she would have failed him terribly.

If Mu Jinghu and Lu Heng hadn’t noticed something was wrong and followed that day, and if Lu Heng hadn’t disregarded the conditions already negotiated with Si Qin and helped at all costs, she very likely would have been violated to death already.

She would definitely repay Mu Jinghu’s kindness.

But she hadn’t yet had the chance to repay Lu Heng’s kindness – how could she let him die in this desert?