Volume 1, Chapter 58: Here They Come, They Are Begging for Help!

Beneath the Black Wind Cliff, the remaining snow reflected scattered fires.

Wuman, Chimeier, and the others hurried back, still finding it hard to believe what had happened.

Over two thousand warriors of the Black Bear Tribe had not only failed to capture a crude earthen fort defended by mere hundreds, but had instead suffered heavy casualties and lost generals. This outcome was utterly unacceptable to them.

After waiting for about an hour, the distant, dull rumble of thunderous hooves finally echoed through the air, making the very earth seem to tremble.

The Chieftain, leading the main forces of the Black Bear Tribe and the Red Fox Tribe in person, made a majestic and triumphant return.

They had pursued the routed Northern Yan forces for dozens of li, driving Helian Chunshui and the Princess into such a chaotic and pathetic flight that they abandoned their armor and weapons like stray dogs. Had they not feared overextending themselves against the main Northern Yan forces, these blood-crazed Rong warriors would have chased them all the way to the gates of the Northern Yan capital.

The victorious army returned with banners flying and an unstoppable momentum.

"Chieftain!" Chimeier and Wuman hurriedly went out to greet him.

"What has happened to you?" The Chieftain reined in his mount, his gaze sweeping over their bedraggled appearances.

"Chieftain, it is like this..."

Originally, they were guarding the vanguard's provisions here, never expecting the Pacifying Border Army to come and seize the supplies while slaughtering the Black Bear guards.

How could they swallow such an insult?

Wuman and Chimeier had pursued them on the spot.

Who would have thought that those Pacifying Border troops would burn the provisions and retreat to the Huqiu encampment?

As a result...

The two sides clashed at the Huqiu encampment.

The enemy had actually thrown down jar after jar of wine, ignited a blazing fire, and burned or injured five or six hundred Black Bear warriors.

Originally, they intended to take the Huqiu encampment in one go, but out of concern for the Chieftain's safety, they had no choice but to fall back and reunite with the main force.

The Chieftain sneered, "Mere remnants in a tiny Huqiu encampment dare to be so arrogant and harm my warriors? Pass down my order! The entire army shall assemble and follow me immediately to trample that earthen fort into the dust! We shall use the heads of all Liang dogs to mourn the wandering souls of our tribal warriors!"

"Flatten Huqiu!"

" Slaughter all the Liang dogs!"

Thoroughly incited, the Rong warriors let out roars like a crashing mountain and a raging sea, their battle intent boiling to the extreme!

The Chieftain looked with satisfaction upon the high morale of his subordinates, waving his arm forward to issue the command for a total assault!

However—

Just as his arm rose, before he could even shout the word "Charge!", his face suddenly turned ashen, and without warning, he let out an extremely painful groan, as if an invisible ghost hand had violently clenched his heart!

His body shook violently, his vision instantly went pitch black, and it felt as though all his strength had been drained away in an instant.

Under the horrified gazes of all the surrounding generals and warriors, their invincible Chieftain, who had just thundered with wrath, toppled straight down from his horse like a chopped-down tree trunk.

Thud!

A heavy, dull impact!

The Chieftain crashed hard onto the cold snow, sending up a spray of white powder, and instantly lost consciousness.

"Chieftain!"

"Chieftain, what is wrong with you?!"

"Quick! Save the Chieftain!"

This sudden, earth-shaking development struck like a bolt of lightning from a clear sky, smashing down upon the heads of all the Rong warriors.

In a fraction of a second, the previously surging morale and towering battle intent froze and collapsed.

All war cries and roars abruptly ceased.

The entire main army plunged into a deathly silence of chaos and unprecedented panic.

Hiss!

Chimeier drew in a sharp breath, a bone-chilling cold rising from the depths of her heart.

Everything before her eyes matched Zhang Muyang's words down to the slightest detail!

That man... his calculations were so terrifying, as if everything was completely within his grasp.

The elderly shaman of the Red Wolf Tribe, who had hurried over upon hearing the news, clutched a wolf-bone staff and hastily leaned down to inspect the patient.

He lifted the Chieftain's eyelids and carefully examined the wound on his shoulder. His brows locked tightly together as he said in a deep voice, "The Chieftain's old injuries have not relapsed... He has been poisoned!"

"Poisoned?"

"How is that possible?!"

"Who is it? Who dares to poison the Chieftain?!"

Wuman and the surrounding generals were incredulous, struck by a mixture of shock and fury.

Chimeier raised her torch, bringing it closer to the wound on the Chieftain's shoulder. In the firelight, the arrow wound was clearly visible; the surrounding flesh was pitch black and terribly swollen, and a bluish thread was visibly creeping along the arm toward the heart at a speed perceptible to the naked eye, a truly shocking sight!

Wuman stammered, "How can this be? What kind of poison is this?"

Chimeier understood the truth in her heart and said angrily, "Have you all forgotten? When the Northern Yan cavalry launched a sneak attack on the Chieftain and wounded him with hidden arrows, they must have smeared deadly poison on the arrowhead long ago!"

"Right! Right! It must be so!"

"It was those Northern Yan dogs!"

Tie Li, a fox general of the Red Fox Tribe, immediately chimed in, firmly pinning the blame onto Northern Yan.

At this point, discussing anything else was irrelevant; the crucial matter was how to detoxify the poison. If they delayed any longer, the Chieftain's life would be in grave danger.

Yet, they certainly could not go looking for Helian Chunshui. The two sides had just engaged in a fierce battle, and they had even pursued the enemy for dozens of li, inflicting heavy casualties on the Northern Yan vanguard. Going to them now would be equivalent to walking straight into a trap, and the enemy would shred them to pieces without a second thought.

Wuman paced back and forth anxiously. "Then what do you propose we do now? This won't work, and that won't either! Are we just going to sit here and watch something happen to the Chieftain?"

Everyone looked at each other in dismay, and a wave of despair began to spread.

"I do happen to have a method..."

Suddenly, a voice broke the silence.

Chimeier?

All eyes fell upon her.

Chixiao, a wolf general of the Red Wolf Tribe, asked excitedly, "What brilliant plan does the Young Chieftain have? Please share it at once!"

Chimeier took a deep breath, as if making a momentous decision, and said, "I have heard that in the Great Liang's Huqiu encampment, there is a miraculous physician with heaven-defying skills, particularly adept at curing poisons... Perhaps he can save the Chieftain."

"What? The Huqiu encampment?"

Everyone was stunned.

Impossible!

Wuman was the first to jump out in opposition, gritting his teeth as he said, "I share a feud as deep as the sea with the Huqiu encampment, irreconcilable! Ask them for help? You might as well kill me!"

Chimeier sneered, "Is your pride more important, or the Chieftain's life? If anything happens to the Chieftain, which of us can bear the responsibility? Which of us in the tribal alliance can bear it?!"

"I—" Wuman was instantly at a loss for words, his face flushing crimson.

"Master Shaman, fellow generals!"

Chimeier cupped her fists in a display of righteousness and heroic self-sacrifice. "For the Chieftain's life, and for the tribal alliance, I, Chimeier, am willing to risk myself and go personally to the Huqiu encampment to implore that divine physician to extend a helping hand!"

The elderly shaman pondered for a moment. Looking at the Chieftain, whose breathing grew fainter by the second, he finally nodded heavily. "Time is short; we can delay no longer... Pass the order! The entire army shall march at once and speed toward the Huqiu encampment!"

"Yes."

Military orders were like mountains!

Regardless of personal misgivings, the army immediately mobilized, surging like a tidal wave toward the Huqiu encampment.

By now, the Pacifying Border troops in the Huqiu encampment had cleared the battlefield. They had executed all four hundred and twenty-seven Black Bear warriors killed, as well as the two hundred and twenty-two severely wounded who could not be moved, leaving not a single one alive.

Pity...

Victory demanded a price.

Twenty-two men from the Sifang County reinforcements and Fan Zhong's hundred Pacifying Border troops had also fallen in battle, while over fifty others sustained injuries of varying severity, a truly heartrending toll.

Clatter, clatter, clatter!

The ground suddenly began to shake violently, far more intensely and densely than before!

They are coming!

The Rong people are coming!

Wu Kexiong, Fan Zhong, Zhang Muyang, and the others felt a shock in their hearts and swiftly rushed to the parapet.

In the distance, countless torches suddenly flared up, resembling endless ghost fires rising from the depths of hell, stretching continuously and illuminating almost half the night sky! Under the firelight was a dense, endless sea of Rong troops, exuding a suffocating, terrifying pressure!

It is over!

Everyone's heart instantly sank to the bottom.

The main Rong army had truly arrived, and judging by the momentum, there were at least ten thousand elite troops.

The atmosphere inside the encampment grew instantly tense to the extreme, freezing the very air.

Everyone gripped their weapons tightly, preparing for a final, bloody struggle.

Yet deep down, they all knew that facing an enemy of this scale, they likely stood no chance of survival.

With a pale face, Wu Kexiong cursed, "Zhang Muyang! Didn't you say they would come to beg us? Look at this! Does this damn thing look like someone coming to beg? They look like they're coming to flatten us!"

Zhang Muyang, however, remained calm and smiled, "Do not worry, Deputy Commander. You may set your mind completely at ease and prepare some silver to take the brothers to the brothel later."

"Brothel my ass!"

Wu Kexiong was so angry he almost passed out.

Ignoring Zhang Muyang further, he raised his arm high and roared at the top of his lungs, his voice echoing across the entire wall: "All troops listen up! Prepare for battle—"

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The city walls instantly erupted with the sounds of swords leaving their scabbards. Every archer pulled their bowstring taut, creating an atmosphere charged with explosive tension.

Yet, that terrifying tide of fire halted uniformly about five hundred meters from the encampment. The torches burned noisily in the wind, illuminating hazy and ferocious faces as the two sides fell into an eerie standoff.

Amidst this suffocating, deathly silence—

Trot, trot, trot!

A woman dressed in a crimson fox-fur cloak rode a white horse, approaching the wall leisurely.

She stopped right beneath the city wall.

Cupping her fists, she called out in a clear voice, "I am Chimeier, Young Chieftain of the Rong tribe's Red Fox Tribe. I have urgent matters and seek an audience with the commander of the Huqiu encampment. I request that you show yourselves for a parley!"