Troops Before Houting County

Standing alone upon the battered gate tower, the Barbarian Heterodox King listened to wave after wave of cheers from the people of the Sacred Race. Capturing this colossal city, which had barred the Sacred Race from heading south for centuries, drove all of them into a frenzy. Countless people chanted his name, echoing across Beifeng City. Yet not a flicker of joy showed on the Barbarian Heterodox King's face. Expressionless, he gazed into the distance at the sprawling, unbroken Great Yan military encampment. The howling blizzard did nothing to obstruct his vision; he could even discern the grain of the stone bricks on those rudimentary stockades. Crunch... crunch... The sound of footsteps crunching in the snow approached. A deep, raspy voice rose beside the king, tinged with a chuckle: “My King, will you not celebrate? Many among our Sacred Race now place you alongside the Ancestral God.” The Barbarian Heterodox King turned his gaze. “Zhaye, the Ancestral God does not exist. The so-called Ancestral God is merely a projection our Sacred Race invented to sustain our spirits in that desperate snowfield.” “...” Zhaye's ferocious, grinning face froze at his words. Looking back toward the Great Yan encampment outside the city, the king asked without emotion, “Did you come to see me for something?” Having grown up alongside the king, Zhaye could tell he was heavily burdened. He wiped the smile from his face and reported solemnly, “The tribes have taken control of Beifeng City. The High Priest has compiled our spoils and casualties. Please take a look, King.” Taking the report without glancing at it, the Barbarian Heterodox King simply ordered, “If there is nothing else, Zhaye, you may withdraw. Leave me be for a while.” Seeing this, Zhaye hurriedly added in a low voice, “My King, there is one more thing.” “Speak.” “Great Yan has sent an envoy who wishes to see you.” “...” The Barbarian Heterodox King fell silent for a moment. Finally, a trace of relief surfaced in his deep blue eyes. “Bring him here.” *** The freezing wind cut like a blade, stinging the face. Bundled in a thick fur coat, Xu Yuan watched the snowstorm outside the cave. The intelligence dispatch in his hand suddenly flared with bloody flames, turning to a handful of ash. Lou Ji's latest briefing: Beifeng City had completely fallen. Wuyuan was heading north to Houting County with the few remnants of her army. Looking out from the cave, the torrential blizzard had buried everything beneath a boundless expanse of white. The cave where Xu Yuan and Lou Ji now stayed was a contact outpost established by the Black Scale Guards in the snowfields—or rather, a safehouse. It was equipped with a spirit-screening formation to prevent intent-soul detection, along with a communication crystal for long-range contact. The Northern Border was perpetually embroiled in war, and the outcome of a campaign largely depended on the volume of intelligence each side gathered. Outposts like this allowed scouts or high-ranking cultivators to relay reconnaissance immediately back to the main rear camp. Naturally, the Black Scale Guards were not the only ones to employ such measures; many factions had carved out similar caves or subterranean chambers throughout the northern snowfields. Unfortunately, most of these outposts had been destroyed during the barbarians' previous southward invasion. It was not because the barbarians possessed supernatural reach and could pinpoint these locations across the vast wilderness, but simply because the various factions of Great Yan were stabbing one another in the back, feeding the barbarians the exact coordinates. According to Lou Ji, the Black Scale Guards had once maintained nearly a dozen outposts across the snowfields, yet now only two remained. One lay in the mountains beside the Beifeng Plains, while the other was their current location, in the mountains a hundred li northeast of Houting County. “Changtian...” A gentle call made Xu Yuan look back. A voluptuous figure swayed out from the cavern shadows with a supple waist and full hips, laughing softly. “That little girl Wuyuan didn't seem to touch what you left behind.” Xu Yuan collected his thoughts and gave Lou Ji a slight smile. “Though she lacks plenty of information, Li Qingyan is a smart woman. She should have figured something out.” Hearing his praise for her, Lou Ji's eyes curved in a smile. “It seems you two got along rather well these past days, Changtian?” The bad woman's teasing maneuvers instinctively crossed Xu Yuan's mind. He chuckled and shook his head. “Tolerable enough. She's quite formidable.” After a pause, Xu Yuan glanced into the darkness behind Lou Ji and asked, “Sis, did the sects and the barbarians reach an agreement?” “...” Lou Ji pondered for a moment, crossing her arms over her chest and tapping her fair chin with a slender index finger, her emerald pupils gleaming with a serpentine glint. “Mmh... An agreement has likely been struck, but there is no foundation of mutual trust, so they're still in a deadlock.” “A foundation of mutual trust?” Xu Yuan muttered, piecing together the cause and effect, feeling rather speechless. Even if the sects wanted to let the barbarians pass through on their way north, the Barbarian King wouldn't dare trust them blindly. The Barbarian Heterodox King probably understood the sects' motives well enough and knew they didn't want the barbarians weakened too severely, but this was a matter of losing heads—and specifically, the heads of most of his race's fighting force. The Barbarian Heterodox King didn't know the sects lacked Cloud Qi Bombs. If the sects dishonorably dropped a Cloud Qi Bomb while they were detouring, dispersing the snowclouds, the barbarians would be forced into a pitched battle in the open field against them. And a pitched battle against the elites of Great Yan... After a brief silence, Xu Yuan exhaled a puff of white vapor and looked at Lou Ji. “Sis, if you had to rush from Beifeng to Mount Dali, how long would it take?” Without hesitation, Lou Ji replied directly, “Without concealing my presence, going all out would take less than half a day. But if I have to conceal my aura, it would take at least two days, maybe even longer.” “Two days, huh...” Xu Yuan murmured, eyes cast down, then smiled. “Nearly five days have passed since the barbarians first laid siege to the city. That Barbarian Heterodox King must know he's running out of time. He has to make a choice soon.” Lou Ji watched him with amused eyes and chimed in, “Oh? What choice?” Xu Yuan chuckled, breathing out another cloud of mist as he gazed at the falling snow outside. “Either make a desperate gamble to hold Beifeng City to the death, or place absolute trust in the sects and advance toward Houting County to trap Marquis Wucheng and Mr. Zong in the Northern Border until they die.” At this point, a playful glint showed in Xu Yuan's eyes, but he stopped there. As a seasoned intelligence operative, Lou Ji naturally caught the shift in his expression. She pinched the soft flesh at his waist with mock annoyance. “Changtian, say what's on your mind. Holding back on your big sister?” Wincing at the pinch, Xu Yuan sucked in a sharp breath and hastily stepped back. “Stop, stop, stop! I'll speak, I'll speak! It's just a possibility.” “Hmph.” Lou Ji chuckled softly and let go. Rubbing his waist, Xu Yuan smiled helplessly. “That Barbarian King is a madman, and a madman's actions can't be gauged by common sense.” “...” Lou Ji's eyes flickered slightly, immediately understanding. She murmured, “Changtian, you mean... the Barbarian Heterodox King might very well choose neither?” Xu Yuan nodded and asked, “Sis, what do you think of the defensive strength of the encampments those sect elites built north of Beifeng City?” Lou Ji recalled for a moment and curved her eyes in amusement. “All show and no substance.” After a brief pause, her tone shifted. “Still, Changtian, nauseating as these sects are, their ranks are not without capable men. The Barbarian Heterodox King shouldn't choose to take such a risk.” Xu Yuan shook his head with a grin. “If they end up tearing into each other like rabid dogs, it'll be an unexpected windfall. If they don't, we simply stick to the original plan, don't we? Yuan Hao has already gone to wait north of Houting County. Knowing he gets to kill people, that psycho is practically ecstatic.” Rubbing his arms, Xu Yuan shivered and turned to walk deeper into the cave. “This weather is bloody freezing...” Lou Ji watched his back, leisurely following him with dainty steps. “Changtian, that old fellow Zong Qingsheng says Marquis Wucheng's Beifeng Army didn't come south with him.” Xu Yuan froze in his tracks and looked back. “Mr. Zong couldn't persuade him?” Persuading Marquis Wucheng to march south without exposing the Heavenly Communication Crystal was indeed delicate business. Yet for figures of Zong Qingsheng and Marquis Wucheng's caliber, their actions could essentially be chalked up to 'battlefield intuition.' After all, it was through this very battlefield intuition that Zong Qingsheng had set up an advance ambush and relieved Li Qingyan's siege at Mount Dali. Musing on this, Xu Yuan said hesitantly, “If we rely solely on our one hundred and fifty thousand troops of the Black Scale Army, holding the defensive line around Houting County will be very difficult.” Lou Ji pinched his solemn cheek, smiling brightly. “Don't be so impatient. Big Sister only said Marquis Wucheng didn't march south, not that his Beifeng Army didn't. The Beifeng Army has four garrisons of troops in the snowfields; he ordered two of those garrisons to follow Zong Qingsheng south and placed them under Wuyuan's command once they reach Houting County.” Xu Yuan relaxed slightly, though doubt crept into his eyes. It seemed Mr. Zong had succeeded in persuading the Marquis. But if that was so, why did Marquis Wucheng leave two garrisons behind in the northern snowfields? A decisive strategic clash of concentrated forces was looming in the south; the principle of a lion using its full might even when hunting a rabbit was something Marquis Wucheng surely understood better than him. Lou Ji said gently, “Changtian, don't overthink it. Marquis Wucheng must have his reasons. We just need to take care of our own business.” After a moment of quiet, Xu Yuan let out a breath, walked over to a table deeper in the cave, sat down, and asked, “Then how long until our forces arrive north of Houting County?” “They're already there.” “What?” “Mmh... The Black Scale Iron Cavalry and Beifeng Iron Cavalry are just a teeny bit faster than heavy infantry, you know~”