Chapter 53: Mochuo, the Junior Khan of the Jiuli Tribe

On the battlefield of life-and-death combat, two tower-like figures stood facing each other.

Wulianke, the proud falcon of the grasslands, stood bare-chested with a copper-toned physique. His rugged, powerful muscles rippled, veins bulged on his sharply defined face, and his eyes stared round as bronze bells.

In his hand he wielded a short mountain-splitting battle-axe weighing over a hundred catties, its blade gleaming with a frigid light against the dancing torches.

Blockhead Wu had learned from Wulianke, going shirtless into the fray as well. His jawline was set like cast steel, and a simple, honest smile hung at the corners of his mouth.

Dragging a hundred-and-some-catty spiked mace behind him, every step he took sank deep into the mud.

"Boy, I'm going to twist your head off and use it as a ball to kick around!" Wulianke roared, violently swinging his battle-axe.

"Come on!" Blockhead Wu's shout exploded like a thunderclap on flat ground, sending his heavy mace sweeping out in a blur of afterimages straight toward Huyan Lie's face.

With a violent collision, the gale generated by the two of them whipped up the surrounding air with a snapping sound, forcing all the onlookers to cover their ears and step back.

"Not bad strength! Come on, let's clash again!"

"Clash it is, who's afraid of whom!"

A fierce glint flashed in Wulianke's eyes. As they collided once more, a single, deafening *clang* rang out.

Both men clenched their jaws tight.

The muscles on their cheeks bulged fiercely, resembling a sudden peal of thunder in the sky.

The instant their weapons met, Blockhead Wu felt a mountain-moving force surge up through the shaft of his mace, causing the flesh on his face to quiver uncontrollably.

Wulianke's blood surged as well, his hands tingling faintly from the impact. With a muffled grunt, he raised his foot and fiercely kicked at Blockhead Wu's waist.

Borrowing force with force, Blockhead Wu violently twisted his torso using the rebound energy, turning his spiked mace to parry the blow.

A trace of blood spilled from the tightly pursed corners of both men's mouths; clearly, they had exerted every ounce of their strength.

Two dull thuds rang out in rapid succession.

Both figures were forced back three steps. Qin Meng left deep footprints where he trod, while Huyan Lie knocked over a fine steed.

"Exhilarating! Again!" Wulianke's eyes burned red as glowing embers. He raised his giant axe, conjuring a sky-full of hammer-like afterimages, every strike carrying the momentum to shatter mountains and split rocks.

...

"How long have they been fighting?" Chen An asked, panting heavily.

"Who knows, thirty or fifty rounds by now." Xiao Gui rubbed his shoulder, which had already gone numb.

The battle had come to an end, and this proud cavalry unit of He Dahe's forces was completely annihilated.

Perhaps realizing that he wouldn't be able to leave today, after exchanging twenty rounds, Wulianke let out a long, fierce howl. His axe techniques shifted abruptly as he raised the mountain-splitting weapon high; the blade caught the sunlight and seemed to transform into a rainbow.

"Die!" With an angry roar, his eyes bulged slightly from the extreme exertion, and the giant axe descended upon Blockhead Wu with the force of a thousand jun.

At this, Blockhead Wu's eyes widened like bronze bells, his jaw clicking as he tightened it. He crossed his spiked mace above his head, his muscles rapidly expanding all over his body, and took the blow head-on.

After a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering crash, Blockhead Wu panted heavily, sweat dripping down the tightly pursed corners of his mouth as his feet sank deep into the mud.

The perimeter of the battlefield had long since fallen into dead silence; everyone was struck dumb with astonishment by this duel of sheer strength. Chen An looked at the two men, who could truly be called fierce warriors, and gave a bitter smile: "These two are absolute beasts."

"Pfft!"

A mouthful of spray-like blood erupted as Wulianke's eyes widened, and he crashed heavily to the ground.

This battle had finally given Chen An a true glimpse of the combat power of the eighteen prairie tribes.

Compared to those pampered aristocratic soldiers who knew only empty military theory and those cowardly bandits who only bullied the weak, He Dahe's cavalry had earned a measure of respect from Chen An.

For this reason, Chen An made an exception and ordered that all the fallen soldiers be buried separately.

While cleaning up the battlefield, Xiao Gui tallied the losses:

"Our operation was swift, and we didn't let a single one escape. We eliminated a total of three hundred and thirty-six enemy fighters. We lost one hundred and sixty-seven, with no critical injuries and a dozen or so minor ones."

"We've suffered nearly a third of our force in casualties," Chen An said with a hint of heartache.

Xiao Gui appeared relatively calm. "To be honest, most of the dead are new recruits. Every soldier goes through this phase. After this battle, the coordination among these recruits should improve, and besides, we can already consider this a massive victory."

At this point, Xiao Gui did not forget to praise: "Having said that, though, we owe a great deal to this Zhuge repeating crossbow. Otherwise, I estimate another dozen or so of our men would have died."

"Xiao Gui, what do you say? Should we continue the pursuit or withdraw?" Chen An explained, "I reckon we've captured quite a hefty bounty of spoils—hundreds of warhorses. If we continue the pursuit, giving every man two mounts, our mobility should increase drastically."

"Yet we are an isolated force after all. If we fail to locate the enemy's command center and stumble into another two battles like this one, it probably won't be of much use."

Just as the two men were pondering, a commotion of shoving suddenly broke out not far away.

"Quick, move, step lively!"

A new recruit pointed his spear at a half-dead cavalryman from He Dahe's tribe as he marched him forward.

Perhaps out of urgency, or perhaps from anger, the Tiger Battalion recruit showed the cavalryman no courtesy whatsoever.

With a final shove, he kicked the man sprawling onto the ground.

In the face of life and death, the prairie cavalryman's backbone had been worn away significantly.

As his whole body twitched, a lingering look of terror remained in his eyes.

Chen An frowned in displeasure: "Do you want to live?"

The prairie cavalryman let out a cold snort, spat a bloody phlegm directly onto the ground, and glared fiercely at Chen An, showing no intention of answering.

Undeterred, Chen An squatted down slightly: "Are there troops stationed around Zhamuhu? Your tribe is renowned for its valor; the person capable of dispatching you here to scout must be someone of importance, right?"

"Hmph!"

The prairie cavalryman still kept his mouth shut.

However, possessing a fair understanding of psychology, Chen An was well aware that this prairie cavalryman kept avoiding eye contact.

He definitely knew some details.

And those details happened to be precisely what Chen An needed most right now.

"Since you won't talk, I have no choice. Take him back and send him to the Slave-Taming Office!"

The moment the words "Slave-Taming Office" were uttered, the prairie cavalryman's expression underwent a dramatic change.

As the name implied, the Slave-Taming Office was a place specially designed to break in and train slaves.

Just as a wild falcon cannot be domesticated by keeping it cooped up, for a prairie cavalryman, becoming a slave was the most unacceptable outcome imaginable.

With a casual wave of Chen An's hand, Xiao Gui hoisted the prairie cavalryman up, preparing to hoist him onto a horse.

"I'll talk, I'll talk..."

The prairie cavalryman suddenly wailed like a breached dam.

"It's Mocuo! Khan Mocuo is coming to Zhamuhu to offer sacrifices to the heavens."

Knowing he could not escape death, the prairie cavalryman cried out in grievance, "Just give me a quick death!"

"Mocuo."

Siyu, who had been walking over slowly, looked as though she had been struck by lightning. She repeated the name in a low, heavy voice over and over again.

"Mocuo is the Lesser Khan of the Jiuli Tribe, which is to say, the crown prince of the Jiuli Tribe," Xiao Gui explained from the side. "The Hezhe we killed at the gates of Xulao Pass was his sworn brother and one of his leading generals."