No one could give Yun Ye a definite answer. The vast distances caused delays in information. To clarify the actual situation in Suiye City, Talas City, and Almaty, Hei Feng, as the caravan leader, embarked on the long westward journey with Xiao Miao, Qu Zhuo, and Gou Zi.

Along the way, Qu Zhuo would teach Gou Zi and Xiao Miao how to roll their tongues to speak Western Region languages. The three people’s hair would also be dyed flaxen color by secret medicine in Yuan Shoucheng’s hands. Yun Ye very much hoped they could bring back useful information.

Di Renjie also left—he was driven away by Yun Ye. Cheng Chumo got thoroughly drunk and had no choice but to lead his soldiers to escort Di Renjie and Master Jin Zhu back. Xu Jingzong desperately longed to return home, yet was arbitrarily appointed by Yun Ye as Chief Administrator of the Beiting Protectorate.

They couldn’t stay in Loulan—they had to immediately set out for Tingzhou to bring those civil officials back. Any delay would bring trouble. The supply train was left for Xu Jingzong. He himself personally led twenty thousand cavalry, preparing to make a trip through Beiting.

Speed was essential in military operations. Yun Ye abandoned things that hindered the journey and began advancing toward Gaochang without stopping. The eight-ox crossbows were disassembled and mounted on horse backs. Gunpowder was also divided into small bags and packed in saddlebags. Without the isolation of water carts, Yun Ye had not the slightest confidence in the safety of the gunpowder he’d produced.

In July, the desert sun blazed like fire. Yun Ye dared not march during the day—he could only quickly travel a stretch of road in the evening and early morning. Whenever the sun rose, the desert became a death zone. The curling rising water vapor severely interfered with vision. In some low-lying areas, the appearance of mirages had already numbed the soldiers—they no longer felt the wonder they had upon first seeing them.

Having crossed through the basin, the Tian Shan mountains were already clearly distinguishable. Here Yun Ye had to stop to prepare for crossing the Tian Shan valley. Moreover, Jiaohe and Gaochang both had Great Tang administrative offices—recently assigned territories under Yun Ye. What’s more, this was the former location of the Anxi Protectorate. Many civil officials and their families lived here. Now Guo Xiaoke was far away in Kucha establishing a new administrative seat, ambitiously wanting to extend the Anxi Protectorate’s territory a thousand li farther. He naively believed this place was already pacified land that didn’t require many people. He only stationed a thousand garrison troops here with a huge number of auxiliary forces. He didn’t know the situation throughout the Western Regions had become even more complex, like a pot of boiling water—one improper response and there would immediately be danger of catastrophe.

If it were Li Ji, he definitely wouldn’t care about these people’s lives and deaths—he would only use these people to achieve his own military objectives.

Yun Ye contemplated for countless nights and discovered he still couldn’t do it. On the march, he encountered three bands of mounted bandits in total, all defeated by Yun Ye. In the vast and boundless Gobi, trying to annihilate mounted bandits was almost an impossible task to complete.

On the Gobi, a bandit group of three hundred was already quite large. These three bandit bands Yun Ye encountered each exceeded eight hundred men—precisely the size of a Xianbei Mohe unit. After interrogation, Fan Hongyi also reported to Yun Ye that these people were indeed Xue Yantuo military forces. They were plundering supplies everywhere, preparing for their own westward advance.

Officials from Jiaohe and Gaochang came to the camp after receiving orders. Before they could speak, tears were already streaming down.

“General, this humble officer stationed in Gaochang can be said to experience three alarms daily. Since Commander Su returned east and Commander Guo went west, Gaochang has become the world of mounted bandits. They either rampage through the wilderness or plunder villages. This humble officer has already dug down three feet throughout Gaochang’s territory, preparing to respond at any moment to the mounted bandits about to arrive. One thousand soldiers are exhausted from rushing about—battle losses have reached twenty to thirty percent. The auxiliary forces make excuses—toward the inside they’re like fierce tigers, toward the outside timid as lambs. This humble officer, having received the nation’s grace, naturally dares not flee from battle. I only ask that the Commander take away this humble officer’s family. Even if this humble officer dies in battle, there will be no regrets.”

Yun Ye knew Tian Yuanyi, the Gaochang garrison commander. In earlier years, he’d been Hou Junji’s staff officer. After Hou Junji conquered Gaochang, he appointed Tian Yuanyi as Gaochang garrison commander. After Hou Junji’s rebellion, he became an awkward figure. Fortunately, being far away in Gaochang, when Hou Junji rebelled, he didn’t notify him and he didn’t respond, so he was able to continue serving as an official here.

“Eagles fly in the sky, pheasants hide in the brush, cats roam the hall, rats rest secure in holes—each gets its place. How can they not live?” This was Ju Wentai’s answer to His Majesty. Since their king thought this way, the thoughts of Gaochang’s common people could be imagined. I’m leaving five thousand elite cavalry here. Guard Jiaohe and Gaochang well. Suppress those who are disloyal. In the short term, you must eliminate all mounted bandits within the territory and restore governance of Gaochang and Jiaohe.

“Since those auxiliary forces dare to comply in appearance but oppose in reality, use heavy measures to deal with them. The people here fear power but don’t cherish virtue. Chaotic times call for severe laws. Since the auxiliary forces violated military orders, disband them. All officers at squad leader rank and above shall be executed on the spot. Among the soldiers, implement the one-in-ten execution order. The urgent priority now is to thoroughly stabilize Gaochang. As for people’s hearts, we’ve never obtained them, so there’s no question of losing them.” Yun Ye pounded the desk heavily with his fist.

Hearing these words, Tian Yuanyi was greatly pleased. He took the command arrow from Yun Ye’s hands and led five thousand cavalry to handle Gaochang and Jiaohe’s administration. The grievances suffered these years vanished in the instant he obtained the command arrow. Yun Ye’s assumption of the position of Beiting Protectorate Commander was like life-giving rain for him. Therefore, he would absolutely execute Yun Ye’s orders to the end. When it came to killing, Hou Junji was a demon of slaughter. Now Yun Ye was still walking Hou Junji’s old path. Tian Yuanyi detected the same flavor. Following the new superior might be even more satisfying than following Commander Hou.

Yun Ye stayed in Jiaohe for three days. When Tian Yuanyi returned to report completion, Yun Ye could almost smell the scent of blood on him.

“How many beheaded?”

“One thousand six hundred and forty-eight!” The number Tian Yuanyi casually reported made the generals in the military tent gasp. No one expected this seemingly refined civil official would be so ruthless when killing people.

“Was there unrest?” Yun Ye was stunned. Even with the one-in-ten execution order, a force of five thousand couldn’t kill this many people.

“Reporting to the Commander, this humble officer also included Gaochang’s subordinate officials and yamen clerks in the count.” Tian Yuanyi remained very calm. Having just killed over a thousand people seemed not to matter to him at all.

Yun Ye nodded. It was his own oversight. He habitually dealt with military personnel but subconsciously avoided local civil officials. A Fifth Rank garrison commander, if not severely oppressed by those people, would never cry in front of him. After such slaughter, perhaps he’d vented all the resentment accumulated over these years. Gaochang could also be stabilized.

After replenishing supplies in Gaochang, Yun Ye led the army over the mountain pass to the administrative seat of Tingzhou on the other side of Zheluo Mountain (Bogda Mountain). If possible, Yun Ye planned to withdraw Tingzhou’s administrative seat and relocate it to Gaochang. Guo Xiaoke liked expansion—he himself would have to adopt a defensive posture. Perhaps this was also Guo Xiaoke’s thinking. A young man like himself climbing above this old general’s head made him dissatisfied. Especially after Gaochang was assigned to the Beiting Protectorate, his dissatisfaction perhaps rose to a new height. His twelve thousand troops being only thirty percent of Yun Ye’s further filled this old general with fighting spirit.

Since Yun Ye entered the Western Regions, contact between the two armies was very little. Most was information Yun Ye initiated first, and only then would Guo Xiaoke respond perfunctorily with a few sentences, not even observing protocol regarding superior and subordinate ranks.

The army advanced through the great mountains. The Guanzhong people were very unfamiliar with the scenery before them. At the mountain’s base, heat steamed upward. Not far away was the famous Flaming Mountain—eggs could be fried on a shovel there. Yet now they needed to wear cotton-padded jackets. The mountain had no vegetation whatsoever. Weathered gravel was piled piece by piece, densely adhering to the steep mountain body, as if it might collapse at any moment, making people’s hearts uneasy.

Mountain peaks rose on both sides, their summits all covered with thick accumulated snow. The southern slope was steep, the northern slope gentle. The terrain was perilous, the mountain surface covered with weathered stone. The main road passed through the mountain pass—actually crossing along a mountain ridge over ten zhang wide, like the backbone of a crucian carp, with steep cliffs on both sides. The perpetually snow-covered mountains were right beside the road, within arm’s reach. The pure white ice and snow were exceptionally cold. Standing beside the snowy mountain for a while, a wave of cold pressed in. Grabbing a handful of white snow, in just moments one’s hand would freeze stiff.

Perhaps because it was far from the mortal world with few people coming, the blue sky here was particularly pure blue, the snowy mountains here particularly pure white. Looking for a while made one’s head throb as if splitting.

This was altitude sickness. Only by quickly passing through here and descending the mountain would it improve. Fan Hongyi tied a strip of cloth around his head, walking back and forth through the ranks loudly urging faster marching.

“Old Fan, don’t urge anymore. This has nothing to do with the soldiers. It’s that the mountains here are too high. The current speed is already very good. If you keep urging, something will happen. Remember, if you go to Tubo in the future, you’ll also have this feeling, even worse than this. You must also be careful. Once past the mountain pass, it will be fine.”

Yun Ye glanced at Wu She and Yuan Shoucheng following behind him. He discovered these two old men seemed to perform much better than these young people.

“If your breathing is long and steady, it’s fine. Just slow your heartbeat. There’s nothing strange about it.” Wu She was still angry at Yun Ye. The thing he regarded as a treasure, Yun Ye paid no attention to—he even had an attitude of discarding it like worn shoes. This greatly hurt his self-esteem.

He looked again at Yuan Shoucheng beside him and dared to assert that if this old fellow knew of the miraculous nature of the four jade pendants in his bosom, he would definitely go mad trying to obtain them—would probably even kill for them.

Thus Wu She subconsciously wrapped his fur coat tighter. Yuan Shoucheng’s martial skills also seemed quite good. Especially those six middle-aged Daoists beside him—just by looking at their horseback riding posture, one could tell these people were not to be trifled with.

Yun Ye couldn’t be counted on. Wu She even felt that as long as Yuan Shoucheng offered a sufficient price, he would happily sell the jade pendants to Yuan Shoucheng without any consideration whatsoever.