Half the sky was burned scarlet by the flames, and soaring sparks mixed with black smoke shot straight into the night sky.
A pasture on the Helian northern line was in complete chaos.
The wooden fences of the sheepfolds were entirely kicked away, and hundreds of fat sheep were bumping blindly in the mud.
The startled herd of cattle galloped wildly, trampling patches of tents and felt blankets into pieces.
Several Helian guards, wielding scimitars, had just stumbled out of their tents but could not even catch a glimpse of the attackers' shadows.
In the darkness, bowstrings twanged with a muffled sound.
Several wolf-fang arrows pierced through the wind, directly penetrating their faces.
Two of them fell into the mud pits without even making a sound.
Xu Zhan sat on horseback upon a dirt slope, his hand resting on his long saber, listening to Old Wu report the wind direction.
"Southeast wind, it's blowing hard!" Old Wu grabbed a handful of yellow dirt and tossed it into the wind, clapping the dust off his hands. "Lord Xu, we can burn it!"
"Light the forage piles, don't burn the empty ground!" Xu Zhan pointed the tip of his saber downward, his voice cold. "Focus on burning their winter livestock and rations!"
As soon as the words fell, several dark figures darted closely into the forage sheds.
The moment the fire starters were brought close, the dry grass caught the wind, and with a whoosh, the flames leaped three feet high.
Immediately after, the fire took advantage of the wind, licking the adjacent salt bag carts in one gulp.
"Satisfying!"
A few veteran soldiers crouched in the corner, their hands moving in a blur, desperately stuffing air-dried meat into their saddlebags.
"These Helian dogs rely on their fast horses to raid our lands every autumn. Today, it's finally my turn to come to their door and collect some interest!"
The veterans were extremely nimble, specifically picking the fatty sheep leg meat to pack.
Xu Zhan held a bamboo whistle in his mouth, puffed his cheeks, and blew a sharp signal of three longs and one short.
Retreat!
Once the whistle command was given, the premium rock salt that could not fit on horseback was smashed into powder with stones. The bright white salt particles were all scattered into muddy puddles, never to be washed out again.
The whole beef and mutton that couldn't be taken away were kicked straight into the fire.
Bundles of fine fur were slashed into ragged strips with short knives and similarly thrown into the flames.
Three or five jars of fine strong liquor sent from Great Qian were picked up and smashed directly against the dirt ridges. The liquor seeped into the mud, and a pungent smell of alcohol mash quickly rose in the air.
This was leaving absolutely no way out for the Helians.
Niu Dali stared blankly, carrying two large sacks of dried meat on his left shoulder, with two strings of air-dried sausages forcefully wrapped around his neck.
He grunted and puffed as he climbed onto the horse's back. The blue-roan horse was pressed so hard its four hooves trembled, its back sagging straight down.
Smack!
A whip lashed down right over his head, striking heavily on the mud by his feet and splashing a puddle of murky water.
Xu Zhan urged his horse forward oppressively, glaring at him with cold eyes.
"Lord Xu, this is premium sheep leg meat!" Niu Dali still wanted to hug the sack, refusing to let go. "The brothers have been braving the wind and sleeping in the dew beyond the pass, our mouths have long tasted like nothing. What's wrong with bringing some grease and fat!"
"Drop one sack," Xu Zhan spat out three words.
Niu Dali stiffened his neck and didn't move.
Xu Zhan backhanded another whip, directly lashing onto Niu Dali's meat-filled sack.
The sack instantly ripped open, dropping a few pieces of fatty meat strips.
"The rule I set before we left is that whatever we can't take gets burned! If the horses are overloaded and we actually run into Helian heavy cavalry, can your two legs outrun their four?" Xu Zhan flipped his wrist and put away the horsewhip. "Choose one sack to hang up, and throw the rest into the fire pit for me!"
Niu Dali was intimidated by his fierce momentum and didn't dare to be stubborn anymore. Cursing under his breath, he untied one sack of meat and swung it into the burning forage shed as if venting his anger.
As soon as the meat touched the open flames, it sizzled with oil, emitting a fragrant roasted aroma.
A few veterans nearby burst into jeers.
"Big Niu, if you keep your life, what won't you be able to eat in the future! Lord Xu said it, the first rule of our raiding camp is to snatch, and the second rule is to go back alive in one piece!"
Niu Dali mounted his horse, patted the only remaining meat bag with his big hand, and muttered, "I have to live, sure, but even if I die, I'd rather be a full ghost."
Old Wu wasn't idle on his side.
He led a few veteran scouts to clean up the perimeter, grabbing thick leafy branches to sweep away the hoofprints at the raiding camp's assembly point cleanly.
Along the way, they overturned a few half-burned broken ox carts, forging a chaotic scene of two bands of bandits fighting over goods.
Before leaving, Old Wu untied three captured Helian warhorses, pulled out his dagger, and stabbed them viciously in the rump.
The warhorses neighed in pain, kicking up their hind legs and galloping frantically toward the northwest.
"Going south by driving the chariot north, just a little trick." Old Wu hopped onto his horse's back and grinned at Xu Zhan. "Tomorrow morning, when the Helian pursuers investigate these bloodstains and hoofprints, they'll end up chasing all the way to their grandmother's house."
"Change horses!" Xu Zhan yanked the reins.
Fifty elites swiftly transferred to their spare mounts, protecting a heavy horse loaded with spoils in the inner circle.
The squad formed a tight, long column, plunging headlong into the night, heading straight for Black Water Gully.
Behind them, only a scorched pasture burned to ruins remained.
In the second half of the night, the north wind blew even fiercer, and all the withered grass flattened to the ground.
The terrain of Black Water Gully suddenly cut downward, flanked entirely by dirt cliffs.
In the middle was a nearly dried-up riverbed covered in pebbles and crushed stones; the warhorses slipped continuously when stepping on them.
Old Wu, riding at the very front, suddenly pulled his reins and threw his upper body flat against his horse's back.
He raised one hand high, giving the silent signal to halt the march.
The fifty riders were dead silent.
Coarse cloth muffled the horses' mouths, not even letting a snort slip out.
Old Wu dismounted and silently crawled up the dirt slope, his movements agile.
After lying in the grass nest at the top of the slope for the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, he slid smoothly back down to the gully floor.
"Lord Xu, we've caught a big fish," Old Wu kept his voice low, drawing his short knife to quickly sketch on the ground. "There's a convoy down there, fifteen large connected wagons."
"The wheels are all wrapped in straw ropes, and the torches are covered with rags. They're sneaking through the bottom of the gully."
"How many guards?" Xu Zhan's face darkened.
"About forty cavalrymen." Old Wu licked his cracked lips. "I saw it clearly; the escort flag on the lead wagon is embroidered with a wolf fang pattern. Those are the Right Luli King's men!"
Right Luli King.
Xu Zhan quickly ran through the military intelligence maps in his mind.
The great chieftain of the Helian tribe in charge of the western pastures and trade routes.
"These guys aren't taking the flat, broad roads of the Royal Court. Sneaking into a treacherous place like Black Water Gully in the dead of night, they are definitely transporting shady contraband."
Old Wu said with certainty.
Xu Zhan dismounted, clinging to dead tree roots as he peeked over.
By the moonlight, he could clearly see that the fifteen large wagons were heavily loaded, with sacks piled up to a peak.
In the very center, they were guarding several heavy wooden chests secured with copper locks.
He could faintly smell fine tea and premium spices, and even saw the hay buffer packaging unique to Great Qian's official kiln porcelain.
This piece of fat meat was just too thick.
To attack or not?
"Wrap cloth around the horses' hooves too!" Xu Zhan drew his long saber with a backhand motion.
The fifty veterans moved nimbly, without a single word of nonsense.
"We do it." Xu Zhan fished out three fire-thunder canisters from his chest leather armor, handing two to Niu Dali by his side.
"Lord Xu, use them all?" Niu Dali leaned in, his eyes wide and round, terrified that these iron lumps might blow him up.
"Bullshit! Every time we use one of these, we have one less!"
"Only one is allowed! The path in Black Water Gully is narrow. As long as we cripple the lead wagon with an explosion, none of the fourteen wagons behind will be able to turn around and run! Keep the remaining two as a last resort to save our lives!"
He directly assigned the tasks.
"Niu Dali, take ten men and circle around to the back. Seal off their retreat at the gully entrance."
"Old Wu, take ten archers and sneak up to the dirt slopes on both sides."
As soon as you hear the explosion below, don't bother aiming down. Just shoot your arrows at the shadows cast by their torches.
The rest of the brothers, follow me down.
Wait until they pass the big bluestone and their line of sight is blocked. I'll treat them to this black pockmark explosive first.
After blowing up the lead cart, we charge and slaughter for one round! Remember, strike and retreat immediately!
The veteran soldiers scattered into the night.
The Helian convoy was inching its way into the bend of Black Water Gully.
The few Helian cavalrymen leading the way were yawning constantly, weakly cracking their horse whips.
Xu Zhan half-crouched behind the boulder, having already removed the cap from the fire starter in his hand.
Fifty paces.
Thirty paces.
Ten paces.
Just at the moment the fire starter was about to touch the fuse, a sudden, piercing scream rang out from the direction of the gully entrance.
It tore through the long night, incredibly jarring.
The cart wheels stopped dead in their tracks.
Over forty cavalrymen simultaneously ripped off their torch covers, their scimitars unsheathing in unison.
The scream came from the front of the convoy.
Xu Zhan snuffed out the fire starter, lowered his body, and peered through a crack in the rocks.
Several blood-soaked figures stumbled out of the darkness and into the halo of the torches.
It turned out to be five Daqian slaves in tattered clothes.
Biting closely at their heels were over a dozen ferocious-looking Helian soldiers on horseback.
They were brandishing dripping scimitars, toying with their prey.
A blade rose and fell with a muffled thud.
The slowest-running slave had half his neck cleaved off in a single strike. With a muffled groan, he plunged into the gravel, twitched twice, and breathed his last.
Leading the escape was a half-grown teenager of about fourteen or fifteen.
The boy's back was covered in crisscrossing whip scars, his flesh torn and curled.
His arms tightly cradled an emaciated toddler of five or six.
Tripping over his own feet, the two crashed onto the sharp cobblestone bank.
The boy twisted his body mid-air, taking the brunt of the fall with his own back to act as a human cushion for the toddler.
The pursuers erupted into roaring laughter. They spurred their horses forward, raising their scimitars high while cursing in harsh-sounding Helian dialect.
Xu Zhan furrowed his brows tightly.
It was merely the killing of escaped slaves from the Helian camp; blood was spilled on this grassland every single day.
He raised a hand to press down Niu Dali, who was preparing to stand up behind him, planning to wait until this group finished their slaughter before moving in to hijack the goods.
Just at the split second the scimitar was about to strike down.
The boy sprawled on the gravel suddenly wrenched his neck around.
He couldn't see who was hiding on the dirt slopes on either side at all; he merely twitched his nose and caught the scent of dry tobacco in the air.
That was a scent only found on the veteran soldiers of the Daqian border army!
Giving up any thought of kowtowing and begging the Helians for mercy, he shouted toward that pitch-black dirt cliff.
Don't kill me!
My lords of the Daqian army! I know you are there!
The boy cried out shrilly in stiff Daqian speech, bracing against the blade chopping down toward his head.
Spare my life!
I have seen the map of the royal court's supply routes! I understand your language!
