Before Xu Fengnian met with General Wei Jingtang, the cavalry under Yu Luandao had already engaged in battle with the twenty thousand Northern Liang cavalry. The latter were light cavalry hastily dispatched from Gu Jiantang’s eastern front, originally intending to execute a swift and thunderous raid, aiming to swallow up the two isolated border cities of Hengshui and Yin Yao. Once this was achieved, the ten thousand cavalry of Youzhou would be compressed into the Jibei region, where they would inevitably face supply shortages and retreat without achieving anything. However, the presence of General Wei Jingtang and Hengshui City forced the hesitant Northern Liang cavalry not to recklessly advance southward. When their scouts discovered that Yin Yao, further west, had already withdrawn its forces as agreed, the two previously enraged Northern Liang commanders calmed down and decided that they could simply abandon Hengshui and occupy Yin Yao instead, still exerting pressure on the Youzhou cavalry. However, battlefield opportunities are fleeting. After the Northern Liang forces hesitated for a day north of Hengshui, they finally marched toward Yin Yao. When they were about a hundred miles from the border city, their column was suddenly struck from the flank by five thousand Youzhou cavalry. Both commanders understood that both forces were exhausted; the key was whose nerves would snap first.
After Yu Luandao’s cavalry received confirmation of Yin Yao’s withdrawal, his deputy suggested an immediate retreat. However, Yu Luandao’s stubbornness was fully displayed at this moment. He insisted on launching a fierce attack before the Northern Liang forces could seize the border cities, even at the cost of exhausting their horses and losing many riders. Although his two cautious deputies disagreed, their instinctive obedience to orders prevented them from opposing their commander. As a result, Yu’s cavalry split into three groups during their forced march of five hundred miles in three days. Yu Luandao himself led the vanguard of five thousand elite riders, who finally reached the battlefield in time. Like a sharp arrow, they struck the Northern Liang army’s flank without warning, fulfilling the strategic intent of engaging the enemy beyond the Jibei cities.
The sudden arrival of the Youzhou cavalry shattered the Northern Liang formation. Two subsequent powerful charges further severed their front and rear, cutting off communication. The two enraged Northern Liang commanders, experienced and battle-hardened generals from the easternmost border, refused to surrender despite the unfavorable circumstances. They knew that in cavalry battles, thousands of deaths were common, but once the battle turned into a pursuit, even ten thousand casualties could be considered light. Therefore, the two commanders decided to encircle the five thousand Youzhou riders. Although victory would come at a heavy cost, it was still preferable to allowing this small force to achieve a devastating victory, such as killing over ten thousand Northern Liang riders with only five thousand. However, the impact and lethality of the Youzhou cavalry shocked every Northern Liang commander. Despite the Youzhou forces having the advantage of surprise and superior numbers in the initial charges, the deaths of over two thousand Northern Liang riders left them in awe. Even the most seasoned cavalry units along the Liang border of the Liyang Empire could barely match this level of destruction.
Yu Luandao did not lead the five thousand riders into prolonged combat. After several successful charges, he deliberately shifted the battle further west. The two Northern Liang commanders assessed their cavalry’s stamina and made a subtle tactical adjustment. The rear Northern Liang force attempted to switch horses and rejoin the fight, while the force closer to Yin Yao pursued the Youzhou cavalry directly. This deviation, though minor compared to the overall numerical advantage of the Northern Liang forces, was not a fatal mistake. The front Northern Liang force, still numbering over eight thousand riders, could still close the gap by aggressively pursuing the Youzhou cavalry and linking up with the rear force, creating a decisive numerical advantage along the cavalry front. However, the arrival of a second Youzhou force of over three thousand riders disrupted all Northern Liang plans. Although all Youzhou cavalry were light cavalry, this second force had clearly sacrificed speed for superior equipment. The Northern Liang force of over eight thousand riders, chasing Yu Luandao’s cavalry along the Jibei border, was suddenly struck in the flank by this new Youzhou force. Like a wild horse crashing through a wheat field, they instantly killed over a thousand Northern Liang riders. At the same time, Yu Luandao’s main force launched a well-timed charge. With over seven thousand fresh and morale-boosted Youzhou riders facing off against the battered and terrified Northern Liang force of equal numbers, how could the latter possibly win? The rear Northern Liang force of over ten thousand riders was also fierce, quickly turning their horses to retaliate and attempt to cut the Youzhou cavalry in half.
Just at that moment, two fresh forces appeared on the battlefield’s flanks. Though small in number, their impact on Northern Liang morale was immeasurable. One was a force of two thousand Youzhou riders bearing the Xu family banner, and the other was a smaller force of six hundred riders from Hengshui City under General Wei Jingtang. However, the Northern Liang commander at the rear was already overwhelmed with fear and naturally considered retreat. He had come to Jizhou expecting an easy victory without losing a single soldier, but now, without even touching the city walls of the two border cities, he had suffered a devastating defeat. It wasn’t that he couldn’t rescue the remaining few thousand riders, but doing so would reduce him to a mere thousand-rider commander. Thus, the Northern Liang commander Hui Li Lü, still fighting desperately on the battlefield, was left utterly disheartened when the commander who had shared wine with him the previous night simply fled! Fortunately, Hui Li Lü and his six hundred personal riders managed to break through a gap to the north, and soon more Northern Liang riders followed. Yu Luandao, fully aware of this, did not even glance at Hui Li Lü and his remaining fewer than three thousand riders. Instead, he fixed his gaze on the other Northern Liang commander, Lang Si’en, who was beginning to retreat slowly. Yu had intentionally left that gap open. If Lang Si’en and his ten thousand riders had resolved to fight to the death, Yu’s Youzhou force might have been reduced to only two or three thousand riders. This was not out of fear of battle; otherwise, Yu would not have come north of Yin Yao and Hengshui to fight this battle. However, engaging in a direct clash with Gu Jiantang’s two thousand riders would have been meaningless for the Northern Liang cause. But sacrificing one life to claim ten was not meaningless. Therefore, Yu deliberately allowed Hui Li Lü’s disorganized and fragmented force of three thousand riders to disrupt Lang Si’en’s ten thousand riders.
Yu Luandao, hailed as the next “Western Chu’s Delight” after Cao Changqing, had defied convention by traveling alone to the northwest of the empire. After entering the Northern Liang region, he deeply understood the meaning of “border iron cavalry” and gained a comprehensive understanding of the Northern Liang cavalry. He knew that it was difficult to achieve a decisive victory over the Northern Liang elite and then pursue them at will. However, if he could redirect the conflict northward, there was an opportunity! In fact, he did not need to make overly detailed troop arrangements. When he and his eight hundred riders first pursued Hui Li Lü’s three thousand riders, many riders who had no one to kill quickly joined in. Along with the six hundred riders from Hengshui City and the final two thousand Youzhou riders entering the battlefield’s left flank, they began charging north together.
After Hui Li Lü led his remnants in a frantic escape northward, Lang Si’en, watching those reckless fools charging toward his forces, was furious and wanted to kill them all. However, seeing the Youzhou riders leisurely firing crossbows at the fleeing Northern Liang riders or simply accelerating and using the momentum of their galloping horses to slash their blades across the Northern Liang riders’ throats with minimal effort but deadly efficiency, Lang Si’en roared orders for his forces to accelerate their retreat.
The Northern Liang force of twenty thousand riders had arrived at the Jibei battlefield in haste. Although they, like the Youzhou cavalry, had two horses per rider, Lang Si’en was well aware of the consequences of being pursued by cavalry. At this moment, he could only wish his horses had eight legs.
When Hui Li Lü and his personal riders caught up to the rear of Lang Si’en’s forces, over two thousand of the three thousand surviving riders had already been silently eliminated. In the following three hours of relentless pursuit and escape, Lang Si’en also lost over two thousand riders to the tireless Youzhou cavalry. Like a cat toying with a mouse, the Northern Liang riders were constantly dying and small groups were breaking away from the main force, scattering in panic. Finally, just before nightfall, the elegant and refined Youzhou commander, who had personally beheaded Hui Li Lü, ceased the pursuit.
The six hundred riders from Hengshui City followed the Youzhou cavalry, collecting the spoils of war. They were primarily known for defending cities along the Liyang border and had not participated in battles involving as many as thirty thousand cavalry riders. However, they had engaged in small-scale skirmishes with enemy scouts over the years, occurring frequently enough to establish their reputation as elite cavalry in Jizhou. Yet, they had never imagined that killing Northern Liang “barbarians” could be as simple as harvesting wheat in June or July. As seasoned veterans of Jizhou, like the Northern Liang, they were stationed in border regions and possessed a natural arrogance forged through years of battlefield experience. Therefore, in previous years, when they heard that Cai Nan, a direct subordinate of Gu Jiantang, had brought six thousand troops to the Northern Liang border, they were shocked to learn that not a single soldier dared to fight upon encountering the old Northern Liang King with only ten thousand riders. It was even said that Cai Nan’s knees buckled and he was the first to kneel, making it seem as though he had brought six thousand troops merely to parade before Xu Shao. This farcical incident was widely circulated in Jizhou and the capital, leaving outsiders puzzled as to why Cai Nan, who earned the nickname “Six Thousand Kneelers,” was neither reprimanded by the Ministry of War nor seemed to incur any dissatisfaction from the Grand Pillar of the State, Gu Jiantang. After this battle, the Hengshui City of Jizhou finally understood. The thirty thousand border troops of the Xu family, collectively known as the Iron Riders of the Xu family, actually had around twelve or thirteen thousand cavalry, with the main forces stationed north of Liangzhou. Among them, the Youzhou infantry had less than two thousand cavalry. Yet, a previously “unknown” Northern Liang newcomer, Yu Luandao, casually led out ten thousand riders and, with fewer than three thousand casualties, easily eliminated over twelve thousand Northern Liang riders.
On the return journey, the commander of the six hundred riders from Hengshui City could not resist his curiosity and approached the young general Yu Luandao, who was covered in blood, to ask a question. He cautiously inquired whether all the cavalry along the Northern Liang border were as formidable as Yu Luandao’s ten thousand Youzhou riders. Yu Luandao first shook his head. The Hengshui commander felt relieved. Then Yu Luandao smiled and said that the Liangzhou cavalry were much stronger than the Youzhou cavalry. The Hengshui commander, who considered his six hundred riders to be elite, was utterly devastated. Finally, Yu Luandao added that there was a saying among the Northern Liang border troops. Including the Northern Liang, Liangzhou, and the Liyang Empire’s two Liaos, there might be over a million cavalry in the entire world. However, all cavalry ultimately fell into only three categories.
“One is the Iron Riders of Northern Liang, and the second is all other cavalry in the world.”
The Hengshui commander was completely puzzled, “And the third?”
Yu Luandao smiled and said, “That is the cavalry that scared Cai Nan’s six thousand troops into kneeling. It’s not a large force, only ten thousand.”
The Jizhou veteran swallowed hard and dared not respond.
At that moment, Yu Luandao softly mused, “You Jizhou doesn’t understand, and Liyang doesn’t either, because the Zhao family’s ancestors must have burned a lot of incense at the temple.”
The Hengshui commander dared not say anything.
Around the six hundred riders from Hengshui, the Youzhou cavalry remained silent, whether in battle or in victory.
※※※
After Xu Fengnian secretly met with Wei Jingtang while wearing a face mask, Yu Luandao personally accompanied Xu Fengnian back to Yin Yao. By then, the Youzhou cavalry had already entered the city openly and taken control of all military and administrative affairs in Yin Yao.
The battlefield is indeed the best whetstone. Yu Luandao, who had previously drawn attention solely for his exceptional handsomeness, now retained his striking appearance but had developed an aura of iron and coldness, naturally exuding a commanding presence.
Xu Fengnian said softly, “The situation at the Hulu Pass in Youzhou is not optimistic. With ten thousand against twenty thousand, killing twelve thousand enemies with only three thousand casualties, your decisive victory is timely. You can now drop the word ‘same’ from your title of ‘General of the Same.’ In the future, no one in Youzhou will question your leadership. This skirmish between the two armies might even be regarded by future military strategists as a classic battle.”
Yu Luandao remained calm, “But this victory, though significant, is ultimately minor in the grand scheme…”
Xu Fengnian shook his head, “Although the Liyang court will ignore it and even deliberately suppress all news of the Jizhou battle, it is good news for Northern Liang. The Youzhou garrison also needs such a victory.”
Yu Luandao frowned, “We have sufficient horses and provisions, but among the ten thousand riders, only six thousand can immediately march to Hulu Pass, and even then, each rider would need three horses. However, the problem now is that Northern Liang not only knows our intentions but has already begun to respond. I fear that Gu Jiantang will continue to turn a blind eye. Moreover, General Wei Jingtang will likely soon lose his position. Yuan Ting Shan, who holds overall power in Jizhou, might even allow the private army of six or seven thousand riders from the Li family of Yanbao to take over the defense of Hengshui and Yin Yao. At that point, General Wei will struggle to defend Hengshui City, and the court and Jizhou will not give him the opportunity…”
Xu Fengnian, who had been patiently listening to Yu Luandao’s account, suddenly turned his head sideways. He looked at this youngest general in the Youzhou army and smiled without speaking.
Yu Luandao, whose lips were dry and cracked with blood, turned his head as well, thinking something was amiss. Instinctively, he touched his face.
Xu Fengnian shifted his gaze back and smiled, saying, “Yu Luandao, Youzhou needs generals like you who can win tough battles and also understand the rules of the court.”
Yu Luandao hesitated for a moment, then earnestly said, “I am delighted to see the Prince here in Jibei.”
Xu Fengnian nodded and said, “Jizhou was never our Beiliang territory to begin with; let Liyang deal with its life or death. Unfortunately, Wei Jingtang won’t agree to return to Youzhou with us; otherwise, I’d even consider tying him up and dragging him along. In that case, let’s rest briefly, regain our strength, and then head to the Hulu Pass!”
Yu Luandao hummed in agreement and gravely said, “As soon as the battle ended, I had already dispatched four hundred scouts and cavalry riders. One reason was to prevent scattered retreating Northern Man cavalry from causing trouble, and the other was to monitor Gu Jiantang’s eastern front as thoroughly as possible. From the information we’ve received in the past two days, Lang Si’en’s remaining forces have no intention of fighting again, only focusing on fleeing back to their headquarters to explain this major defeat to the Northern Man’s eastern commander. Even if the Northern Man dares to send more troops into Jibei, even if they gave their horses two extra legs, these barbarians still wouldn’t catch up with us.”
Yu Luandao quickly added, “However, there are still several renowned generals on the Northern Man’s far eastern front. The Northern Man Emperor tours throughout the four seasons, and his royal tent is divided into four ‘Nabo’ corresponding to spring, summer, autumn, and winter. Four young men from the Northern Man have been honored with these titles. Tuoba Pusa’s eldest son is the Spring Nabo among the four, and has recently become the leader of the Southern Court’s military council. Zhong Shentong’s son is the Summer Nabo, and was the vanguard general in this Youzhou campaign. On the Northern Man’s far eastern front are the Autumn and Winter Nabo, both of whom are superior commanders compared to Hui Lishun and Lang Si’en. If either of these two were to bring elite cavalry to reinforce, it would be somewhat problematic.”
At this point, Yu Luandao, who always gave the impression of a refined and scholarly general, couldn’t help but curse, “Are Gu Jiantang’s eastern forces only good for shitting?!”
Xu Fengnian couldn’t help but laugh and said, “Alright, Liyang has always been like this; don’t even expect them to add flowers to a brocade. No matter what we do, we must always assume they will take the opportunity to kick us when we’re down.”
As dusk fell, Yu Luandao, his face filled with anger and gloom, nodded.
Late that night, Xu Fengnian, who had never revealed his identity, received a secret report delivered swiftly by a Hai Dongqing. He then had Mi Fengjie locate Yu Luandao, who had not yet removed his armor and gone to rest, and informed him, “The Wo Gong City has been captured in a single day by the Northern Man vanguard forces.”
Yu Luandao hurriedly came to a side courtyard of the former General Yin Yao’s mansion, where Xu Fengnian was temporarily staying. Xu Fengnian was sitting on a stone bench, and as Yu Luandao approached, he looked up and said, “We’ll depart tomorrow morning, taking those six thousand cavalry with us. The more than one thousand cavalrymen who are seriously injured will temporarily remain in Yin Yao. Whether it’s subsequent Northern Man cavalry attacks or that Yuan Tingshan trying to trip us up, just leave Yin Yao and return to Youzhou!”
Yu Luandao nodded and said, “I’ll go issue the orders right away.”
Suddenly, a voice came from behind, “I’ll accompany you both to the outside of Hulu Pass.”
Yu Luandao turned around abruptly, his expression complex—shock, concern, but mostly joy!
Xu Fengnian waved his hand.
After Yu Luandao left the courtyard, Mi Fengjie, looking worried, asked, “Prince, is this really appropriate?”
Xu Fengnian didn’t respond but began to meditate, sitting still until dawn.
At daybreak, Xu Fengnian opened his eyes. Yu Luandao, whose face was extremely solemn for reasons unknown, arrived at the courtyard on time. He seemed to want to apologize, saying that the army’s departure might be delayed by an hour. Xu Fengnian asked him what was wrong, but Yu Luandao hesitated and did not speak. Xu Fengnian, frowning, stared at this young general who had shone so brightly in the Jibei campaign. Whether it was the “rashly advancing for glory” of the cavalry galloping hundreds of miles, the orderly forced march, the timing and angle of entering the battlefield, or the subsequent maneuvering of the battle lines and “allowing” enemy cavalry to flee the battlefield, and finally the relentless pursuit to expand the victory, “Yu family’s pride” had proven that even among the elite generals of Beiliang, Yu Luandao had his rightful place!
Yu Luandao was stubbornly unwilling to reveal the reason, so Xu Fengnian, furious, decided to go with Yu Luandao to see for himself.
Xu Fengnian, Yu Luandao, Mi Fengjie, Yudi Long, and four others rode out, following Yu Luandao and two of his deputies along with twenty riders. Leading the way was a scout from Youzhou. They rode northeast for half an hour.
Along the way, the villages and fortresses were in chaos, filled with smoke and devastation. Though this area was not on the path of the Northern Man’s twenty-thousand-strong army, after the battle, Hui Lishun and Lang Si’en’s scattered remnants numbered nearly a thousand. These scattered soldiers, even when facing forty or fifty Youzhou riders, would flee at the first sign of trouble. However, the small riverside villages north of Hengshui suffered greatly. Over the past few days, the six hundred riders of Hengshui had constantly gone out to pursue and eliminate these remnants. But after the initial panic, groups of twenty or thirty Man riders gradually regrouped. One group of two hundred Northern Man cavalry engaged in a head-on battle with the Hengshui cavalry, and both sides suffered heavy losses. Moreover, in the desert beyond the border, whether it was a few hundred or a few dozen riders, once they moved far away from cities and fortresses, it was like searching for a needle in the ocean. Yu Luandao’s four hundred elite scouts encountered Northern Man cavalry in the wild but did not actively attack; they were only responsible for gathering intelligence. The Man riders dared to fight against the Hengshui cavalry, but when they saw the Youzhou riders wearing Liang swords and carrying light crossbows, even if they had a clear numerical advantage, they would retreat and scatter far away, generally keeping to their own affairs. However, if the Youzhou scouts encountered small groups of Man riders, they would seize the opportunity to earn some battle merits, and Yu Luandao and the other officers had no objections to this. After all, what reason would be needed to kill a few more Northern Man barbarians?
However, the reason Yu Luandao was so silent today was because of a squad of five scouts. In addition to the previously reported intelligence, only one rider returned to Yin Yao City with the latest news, a message that wasn’t even worth half a coin in military value. The scout said that they had encountered sixty Northern Man barbarians in a village outside the city. According to the Youzhou scout regulations, a squad should report the information without engaging in battle when facing such a large disparity in numbers, as engaging would not be considered a retreat without fighting. Moreover, this squad of scouts had just returned from the north and shouldn’t have fought the Northern Man cavalry but should have immediately returned to the city to submit the gathered intelligence to the cavalry camp. Yu Luandao was angry at the squad leader for taking initiative and violating the regulations, but deep down, he felt helpless. In Beiliang, where military discipline was taken most seriously, those four scouts might lose even the small amount of battle merits they had previously earned. Yu Luandao also didn’t know how to report this to the Prince of Beiliang, who was within the Youzhou cavalry.
In the border armies of Liang and You, retreating in battle, falsely reporting military intelligence, and killing innocent civilians for credit were the three unforgivable capital offenses. However, various violations of regulations were also considered capital offenses.
Shi Yulu, the deputy commander of the Youzhou cavalry, glanced at the strange four riders at the back of the group and softly asked Yu Luandao, “The four scouts must have already been killed. How should we report this afterward?”
Yu Luandao showed a rare expression of pain, “Report the truth.”
If Fan Fen, the leader of the four hundred scouts of Youzhou, had heard such cold and heartless words before the Jibei campaign, he would have cursed the commanding general Yu Luandao long ago. However, after the battle, the entire Youzhou cavalry deeply respected Yu Luandao. Fan Fen whispered, “General Yu, can’t we make some exceptions? At most, we won’t count their previous battle merits, and just report that ‘they encountered a large group of Man riders on the road and the four died on their way south’?”
Yu Luandao remained silent.
The cavalry unit galloped into the riverside village. Villagers’ corpses were everywhere. A village that should have had forty or fifty households was now completely devoid of life, except for a few twisted willow trees outside the village, which were sprouting a few green shoots in this early spring when everything should be growing.
In front of a farmhouse north of the village, on the wheat-drying ground, they saw the bodies of a family of five, old and young, brutally killed. Two elderly people were hacked to death at the door with Northern Man swords. The middle-aged farmer, who should have been in the fields sowing spring wheat, was still clutching his hoe when he died. His son’s head was right in front of him, and the small, headless body was closer to his mother. The woman had been stripped naked, violated by Northern Man cavalry, and then had her limbs chopped off.
The young scout sobbed, “The squad leader couldn’t stand it. He told me to bring the military report back to Yin Yao City and said he died further north, telling me not to worry about the other three. I refused to leave, so the squad leader kicked me hard and said if all five died here, who would deliver the report?”
On the wheat-drying ground, the four Youzhou scouts’ Liang swords and light crossbows had been taken, their armor stripped away, leaving only four corpses.
One man lay dead beneath a mud wall, his sword arm severed by Northern Man cavalry and deliberately placed on his head. Two others lay dead on the wheat-drying ground. The squad leader’s body was tied to a long bench and used as an archery target, his entire body riddled with bloody holes from arrows.
Yu Luandao, Shi Yulu, Fan Fen, and everyone else remained silent.
They had seen scenes far more brutal than this. In the north of Beiliang, every year there were endless battles until one side was completely annihilated. Who among them hadn’t buried their fallen comrades from Beiliang time and again?
But this was not Beiliang—it was Jizhou!
Fan Fen, the old scout who could clearly call out the names of the four men, said with red eyes, “It wasn’t worth it… you died for nothing…”
Then Fan Fen saw the young nobleman in a thick fur coat approaching the squad leader’s corpse. Fan Fen strode forward, wanting to shove the young man who so irritated him. Where were you when we were fighting on the battlefield? Now that the battle is over, you’re wearing a fur coat that the four fallen men might never have been able to afford in their entire lives. Who do you think you are, pretending to be a good person? I don’t care which noble family you’re from in Jibei! As Fan Fen reached out, he shouted, “Get out of here! As long as we Beiliang men haven’t all died, it’s not your place to handle the dead!”
But Fan Fen suddenly found that he couldn’t even budge the young man.
The young man, with his back to the others, squatted down slowly and carefully untied the cold ropes binding the corpse. He took off his fur coat and wrapped it around the body.
Fan Fen, enraged, quickly drew his Liang sword from his waist, and at the same time, even Shi Yulu began to draw his blade.
An old man quietly approached the young man, and suddenly the entire wheat-drying ground was filled with a mighty and fierce sword aura.
Yu Luandao said solemnly, “Fan Fen, stop! Do not act recklessly!”
Fan Fen was stunned. Yu Luandao’s sudden interference only deepened his grief and anger from twenty years of military life. As he raised his sword and charged forward, he saw the young man finish wrapping the fur coat around the corpse and then use his fingers like hooks to grab his own face, slowly peeling off a “face mask.”
The young man muttered to himself, “Yes, you died for nothing, dying here in Jizhou, dying in a foreign land.”
“Why did you, the Youzhou cavalry, insist on protecting these people that Liyang couldn’t even protect, knowing it meant certain death? Why did you insist on interfering, even knowing it meant violating the Youzhou scout regulations?”
The young man gently closed the eyes of the scout squad leader who had died with regrets and smiled bitterly, “If it were three years ago, I wouldn’t have understood either. Back then, I thought only the great heroes of the martial world would draw their swords to help the oppressed. But after I truly entered the martial world and walked through both the Liyang and Northern Man martial worlds, I realized it wasn’t like that at all. Even the martial heroes wouldn’t be as foolish as you were.”
The young man looked up at the only surviving member of the five scouts, the young Youzhou scout, and asked, “What are your names?”
The young scout instinctively blurted out, “Fan Liao, Hu Zonghan, Zhao Dian. I only know the squad leader’s surname is Lu; he never let us see his military badge.”
Fan Fen said, “Lu Chengqing, served for twelve years, originally from the Liangzhou scout corps. He should have been promoted to squad leader long ago, but over the years, whenever he earned any military merit, he always gave it to his subordinates… And this kid, Liu Tao, was never a coward.”
The young man, dressed like a noble, not only helped the squad leader’s corpse stand up but also tied the corpse to himself with the same rope. He leaped onto his horse, carrying both the dead and the living on the same mount.
He said, “Yu Luandao, you take the three corpses back to Yin Yao City first, lead the six thousand cavalry to Hulu Pass, and I’ll catch up with your army in half a day at most. Remember to bring an extra set of armor when you leave the city. Scout Liu Tao, you need to stay here. I’ll help you retrieve your crossbow and armor, and then you can take them and your squad leader back.”
As he spoke, the three strange riders—a young man, an old man, and a young woman—mounted their horses one after another.
Yu Luandao gazed at him, the corpse of the squad leader tied to his back.
Xu Fengnian said softly, “I’ll accompany Lu Chengqing for a while.”
※※※
The four riders galloped away.
The killing intent radiating from those four riders made even the Youzhou cavalry deputy commander Shi Yulu and scout commander Fan Fen shudder.
Unaware of what had happened, Shi Yulu, after lifting a corpse onto his horse, couldn’t help but ask, “General, who were they?”
Yu Luandao was lost in thought.
He was born in the fertile lands of central China’s Jiangnan region and had traveled many places during his studies. Throughout the year, there were sounds of refined scholars debating, forest zithers playing, courtesan laughter, and the clinking of wine cups.
But only Beiliang fought in silence, with sorrow unspoken.
Yu Luandao drew his famous saber “Daluang” and pointed it southward, declaring, “Widen your eyes and witness Beiliang!”
The cavalry swiftly departed the village. Fan Fen, somewhat perplexed, quietly asked, “General Yu, who exactly is that man? A colossal figure in the Liyang Dynasty?”
Yu Luandao shook his head, “Outside Beiliang, who deserves such praise?!”
Yu Luandao laughed heartily, “Him? He’s called Xu Fengnian!”
All the Youzhou cavalry commanders, including Shi Yulu and Fan Fen, paused momentarily, then suddenly felt as if sand had blown into their eyes.
Fan Fen abruptly turned his horse around and shouted, “General Yu, I must inform Liu Tao about this immediately! He always said the person he admired most was the one who single-handedly defeated Wang Xianzhi! Liu Tao also often said he would never live to see that man! Now I bet this kid will dare to believe it!”
A young captain suddenly spoke timidly, “General Yu, I admire him too! Please let me stay behind in the village for half a day—I guarantee I’ll catch up with the army. If I fail, I’ll cut off my own head!”
Yu Luandao glared at him, “Have you lost your mind? The young lord will ride with us to the Hulukou Pass! You can stare at him all you want, as much as you like! If you can keep up with the young lord, I won’t stop you!”
The young captain thought again and nodded, smiling sheepishly.
※※※
It hadn’t even been half a day when the four of them raced across the desert sands, abandoning their horses and leaping forward until they caught up with the six thousand Youzhou cavalry.
When the six thousand riders saw the young man leading the group, they simultaneously drew their Beiliang sabers in salute.
The four mounted fresh horses, and Xu Fengnian caught the armor thrown to him by a young captain, swiftly donning it.
No one knew who first shouted those three words, but soon everyone, including Yu Luandao, cried out repeatedly in cheer:
“Great General!”
Back then at the military parade ground at Hulukou Pass in Beiliang, it was the first time Xu Fengnian had appeared before the border troops, though he had only worn a dragon robe at the time.
This was the first time Xu Fengnian had ever donned armor and led a charge into battle.
He turned his head, as if seeing an old man riding beside him.
Xu Fengnian bit his lip, took a deep breath, and looked again—only boundless yellow sands remained.
He drew his Beiliang saber, spurred his horse into a gallop, and roared, “Beiliang! Fight to the death!”
“Beiliang!”
“Fight to the death!”
The six thousand riders rode forth toward Hulukou Pass with the resolve of certain death.
They not only intended to sever the mighty supply line from the Northern Meng’s southern territories to Hulukou Pass, but also to utterly destroy it!
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