Chapter 53: Northern Barbarians Attack the Camp? Pursuit

Situated near the buffer zone between the Great Qian and the Northern Barbarians, Yellow Sand Town was nominally a town, but in reality, it held not a single civilian, mirroring the former Longgu Town. Instead, it was garrisoned entirely by the "Thorn" Battalion.

Consequently, every single person encountered along the way was a soldier of the Thorn Battalion.

"I say, Xue Bing, who is this? A new face I've never seen before."

A few soldiers suddenly blocked the middle of the path, teasing with roguish grins.

Suddenly, one of them seemed to recall something and exclaimed in surprise, "Could he be the new recruit the boss mentioned?"

Another soldier looked Li Dao up and down and chuckled, "Don't tell me Xue Bing went soft and let him off easy? How come this newbie looks completely unscathed?"

Little did they know, Xue Bing was feeling extremely nervous inside at that moment.

He wasn't nervous for Li Dao, but rather for the soldiers standing before him.

The new recruit's temperament was still unclear; if he were to throw punches without measuring his strength, these fellows were going to be in for a miserable time.

Thus, he hurriedly blocked the eager soldiers. "Mind your own business. This guy is different, and I still need to take him to see the Grand Commander."

Hearing this, the group instantly grew displeased.

"Never mind what kind of guy he is; once he comes to Yellow Sand Town, everyone is treated the same," one soldier said with clear annoyance.

Xue Bing was equally disgruntled now, so he simply put on a stern face and said, "You can do whatever you want with him later, but only after I've brought him to see the Grand Commander."

In his heart, he thought: *Once I present him to the Grand Commander, I'll slip away immediately, and whatever happens after that will have nothing to do with me.*

In the end, Li Dao was successfully "rescued" from the encirclement by Xue Bing.

Before long, the two arrived outside the tent of the Grand Commander, Zhao Tong.

"Wait outside for a moment while I go in and report to the Grand Commander."

With that, Xue Bing stepped into the tent alone.

Zhao Tong was inside, whetting his blade, when he suddenly noticed someone entering. Irritated, he barked, "Xue Bing, neglecting your duty again? Do you want to be thrown into solitary confinement?"

Xue Bing wore a bitter smile. "Boss, it's not like that. I actually have something important to discuss with you."

"Spit it out then, and get the hell back to your post!"

"Boss, that new recruit you mentioned earlier has arrived to report for duty."

"A new recruit?"

Zhao Tong paused, then seemed to remember something as he demanded with a scowl, "You didn't break the new recruit by messing with him too hard and now you're here to beg for mercy, did you? Didn't I tell you all to exercise some restraint? You lot..."

With a dark expression, Xue Bing interrupted his Grand Commander. "Boss, can you listen to me first?"

"Listen to what? What is there to listen to?" Zhao Tong snapped angrily. "I've told you all before to tone it down. If this keeps up, how are we ever going to recruit anyone for the camp?"

Hearing this, Xue Bing couldn't help muttering, "Recruit people? Who in their right mind would want to run to this godforsaken place?"

Zhao Tong's ears twitched. His eyes widened as he snapped, "What did you say, you little punk?"

Xue Bing shrank his neck, hastily continuing, "Alright, Boss, let me explain the whole thing clearly, will you?"

Just as Xue Bing was preparing to recount the entire sequence of events, a commotion suddenly erupted from outside the tent.

"Report!"

The next second, a soldier strode into the tent, dropped to one knee, and cupped his fists. "Boss, those barbarians from the Northern Lands are at it again!"

"Damn it!"

Zhao Tong slammed his palm against the desk. "Don't these barbarians ever rest? Is running back and forth every single day supposed to be amusing?"

The soldier looked at his furious Grand Commander and asked in a low voice, "Boss, what should we do now?"

Zhao Tong glared back. "What else can we do? Call the men and go teach the bastards a lesson! This time, we'll make sure none of them return."

With that, he walked over to a wooden rack and pulled down his armor.

Catching sight of Xue Bing out of the corner of his eye, he furrowed his brow. "Why are you still standing around? Get out there and rally the men!"

"Boss, what about the new recruit..."

Before Xue Bing could finish, Zhao Tong cut him off. "New recruit, old recruit—anyone who steps foot here is one of my soldiers."

"If he's upset about being roughed up, take him along and let him vent his grievances on the barbarians. We'll deal with everything else after he manages to walk off the battlefield alive."

Having said that, he began strapping on his armor, paying Xue Bing no further heed.

Xue Bing wore a wry smile at the sight. Given the terrifying display of strength the newbie had shown him upon arrival, the barbarians would likely die a hundred times over before Li Dao met his end.

Lifting a five-thousand-jin heavy door with a single arm—who could possibly block that?

Yet, this could also be considered a blessing for them; having someone powerful around added an extra layer of peace of mind.

Li Dao stood outside the tent, watching with mild curiosity as soldiers suddenly swarmed out from the surrounding encampments.

At that moment, Xue Bing emerged from the tent.

"What's going on?"

Because his five senses were excessively acute, countless unnecessary sounds and scents constantly bombarded his awareness. To cope, he habitually suppressed his senses, only opening them when necessary, which naturally left him out of the loop regarding his immediate surroundings.

Xue Bing answered bluntly, "The barbarians are harassing the camp."

Li Dao raised an eyebrow. "Then what should I do now?"

Xue Bing replied, "The boss wants you to join us on the battlefield first. We can settle other matters after we deal with these barbarians."

Hearing this, Li Dao's eyes lit up.

There's no timing quite like perfect timing; he had barely reported for duty when blessed with such a delightful event as a "camp raid."

Seeing Li Dao fall silent, Xue Bing assumed he was dissatisfied with the arrangement—after all, what army sent a rookie straight to the battlefield before he had even officially reported? He quickly explained, "The Yellow Sand Town garrison operates this way. If you're not used to—wait, what are you doing?"

He stared in absolute bewilderment as Li Dao vaulted smoothly onto a horse.

Li Dao looked perplexed. "Didn't you say we were going to the battlefield?"

Xue Bing thought to himself: *I was trying to ask why you're so damn eager!*

Yet, there was no time to dwell on that; lingering any longer could be construed as the crime of dereliction of duty.

He hastily snatched a random horse from the nearby stables and called out, "Follow me!"

And just like that, the two men and two horses surged out of Yellow Sand Town along with the rushing tide of troops.

...

Meanwhile, within the buffer zone near the Yellow Sand Town encampment, several hundred mounted Northern Barbarian cavalrymen were scouting back and forth.

This provocative display left the two Yellow Sand Town sentries stationed nearby burning with rage.

"Damn it, it's these accursed bastards again. I really want to charge over there and slaughter them," one soldier growled in frustration.

"Hold on. They haven't crossed the buffer zone yet; we can't strike without authorization," the other soldier replied. Though equally furious, a shred of rationality kept him grounded.

According to the established rules between the Great Qian and the Northern Barbarians, hostilities were strictly forbidden within the buffer zone. If either side initiated an attack, it would trigger a cascade of diplomatic complications.

They could only strike once the enemy crossed the warning line.

This was precisely why the hundreds of Northern Barbarian cavalrymen acted with such impunity.

The moment the Qian side attacked, the barbarians would have a pretext to target the border garrison, and after a prolonged round of bureaucratic bickering, the Great Qian would only suffer greater losses.

Some might argue that Great Qian could employ the same tactics to harass the Northern Barbarians.

In reality, if such a method worked, they would have used it.

The Northern Lands were renowned for producing fine steeds, and the majority of Great Qian's horses were acquired through trade with the northern tribes.

Naturally, everyone reserved the finest goods for themselves; compared to the mounts ridden by Great Qian soldiers, the barbarian horses were vastly superior.

This disparity in mobility meant that Great Qian cavalry struggled to catch up to the nimble barbarian horsemen, whereas the reverse was effortless. Such mobility constraints prevented Great Qian from retaliating in kind.

Furthermore, a deeply vexing reason compelled Great Qian to remain perpetually on guard against these maneuvers.

Everyone knew that certain barbarian tribes were locked in fierce, escalating conflicts with the Great Qian.

Drop your guard for a single day, and you risked handing the barbarians an opening—and when that happened, the consequences wouldn't be mere trifles; they would be catastrophic.

Though the soldiers of the Yellow Sand Town garrison were thorns to handle, they mobilized with astonishing speed.

Within less than the time it took to burn half an incense stick, led by Zhao Tong, a detachment of Yellow Sand Town cavalry galloped fiercely toward the warning line.

Li Dao rode his horse amongst them.

Upon catching sight of the distant barbarian cavalry in the distance, his eyes lit up once more.

Due to the thunderous commotion of the cavalry charge kicking up billows of dust, the barbarian scouts quickly spotted Zhao Tong's approaching reinforcements.

A wide, sinister grin spread across the face of the barbarian leader. He shouted to the subordinates behind him, "Lads, get those horses moving!"

"Whoop! Whoop! Whoop!"

Accompanied by a chorus of wild whoches and hollers, the barbarian leader spurred his men across the Great Qian warning line in the blink of an eye.

"Those bastards, pulling this trick again?"

Zhao Tong's expression darkened as a familiar irritation flared up within him.

With a wave of his hand, he roared, "After them! Try to trap as many of them within Great Qian territory as possible!"

The formation wheeled around, giving chase to the fleeing barbarian horsemen.

Seeing this, the barbarian riders shouted even louder, dissolving into uproarious laughter while continually turning back to taunt the pursuing Yellow Sand Town cavalry.

Regrettably, their mounts lacked the blistering speed of the barbarian horses, leaving them perpetually trailing in the dust.

And the moment the enemy grew tired of the game, they would slip back across the buffer zone, leaving the garrison helpless—yet they could not simply allow the intruders to linger unmolested on Great Qian soil.

Observing this cat-and-mouse routine, Li Dao frowned. "Are we seriously just going to chase them like this?"

Xue Bing smiled bitterly beside him. "What other choice do we have? We're afraid of no one in a head-on clash, but after getting burned a few times, they switched to playing this infuriating game."

"Can't we set up an ambush in advance?"

"In advance? How? They pick the time for these raids completely at random."

Xue Bing shook his head. "Besides, we're the only garrison in this entire vicinity; we can't coordinate with other camps to box them in. We're stuck dragging this out."

Hearing this, Li Dao glanced at the distant barbarian cavalry, deep in thought.

At that moment, a vast expanse of barren Gobi desert appeared not far ahead.

Nestled within it lay a canyon situated entirely within Great Qian territory.

Ten miles in length, once anyone entered this canyon, the only way back to the buffer zone was to traverse the gorge from end to end.

The barbarian leader rode at the forefront of the pack. One of his lieutenants chuckled merrily, "Chief, what are we playing at this time? Surely you don't intend to make use of this canyon?"

The barbarian leader laughed with absolute confidence. "Hahaha, of course! Great Qian horses can't match ours. No matter how fierce those people think they are, what good does it do them?

"Playing around on the open plains is getting boring; let's introduce a bit of a challenge.

"Racing horses through this canyon tests not only raw speed but also equestrian skill. Crushing these Great Qian weaklings on both fronts will be infinitely more satisfying."

With that, his gaze swept over his subordinates, and he proclaimed loudly, "If any of you get overtaken in this canyon today, take out your blades and end your own lives. To lose in horsemanship is to shame the Bear God and betray the grace bestowed upon you by the Great King!"

"Understood!"

Confidence radiated from the faces of the barbarian cavalrymen, clearly brimming with faith in their horsemanship—or perhaps, they simply held Great Qian cavalry in absolute contempt.

Under the leader's guidance, the barbarian formation slowed slightly before plunging directly into the canyon entrance.

Not far behind, Zhao Tong and his men caught sight of this maneuver.

A centurion riding beside him voiced his concern, "Boss, it looks like those barbarian bastards are trying to lure us deep into the canyon. Could this be an ambush?"

Zhao Tong's eyes remained fixed on the gorge entrance where the barbarian horsemen had vanished, the recent string of endless harassments surging to the forefront of his mind.

A searing wave of anger flared in his chest, prompting him to bark out an order: "Ambush or no ambush, I'm itching for a head-on fight with them anyway!"

Embodying the reckless spirit of the Thorn Battalion's leader, he shouted, "You lot, ride faster! If anyone falls behind, I'll have the whips out on your backs when we get back!"

Far from showing fear at such a command, the unruly soldiers grew even more spirited, though it was hard to tell who had infected whom with such madness.

At the very rear of the cavalry column, Li Dao watched the scene unfold with a faint look of surprise. The legendary Thorn Battalion truly lived up to its reputation.

Before long, the vanguard reached the mouth of the canyon.

Zhao Tong took the lead, charging into the gorge without a shred of hesitation.

It was precisely this fierce momentum that acted like fresh blood pumped into the veins of his men, driving the rest of the thorns forward with reckless abandon.

However, just as they were about to enter the canyon, Li Dao pulled hard on his reins, bringing his steed to an abrupt halt.

The sudden stop startled Xue Bing, who hastily slowed his own mount and asked, "Why did you stop?"

Li Dao raised his gaze to study the towering cliff walls flanking the canyon. "If we chase them like this, we'll never catch up to the barbarian cavalry. So, I'm going to take a different path."

"A different path?"

Xue Bing stared blankly. "What other path is there for you to take? There's only this single road, period."

Li Dao shook his head. "In this world, paths only exist because people walk them enough times."

He vaulted down from the saddle and picked up the heavy crate tied to his horse.

Xue Bing watched the display in a daze. "What are you trying to do now?"

Li Dao spoke plainly, "You go on ahead. Don't worry about me."

"You..."

Xue Bing barely managed to utter a syllable before he watched a figure break into a sprint, leap a dozen meters into the air, and land firmly halfway up the sheer cliff face.

Without the slightest pause, the figure scaled the vertical rock face in a blur of ascending bounds, vanishing over the ridge of the canyon in a matter of breaths.

Xue Bing's jaw dropped, shock rendering him entirely speechless.

*Could that possibly be what he meant by 'a path'?*

Suddenly, he cast a glance at the snorting horse left standing beside him, and hurriedly shouted toward the top of the canyon, "Hey, brother! You forgot your horse!"