I Built a Territory in Ancient Times Chapter 154

Chapter 154

Ming Yu was in Liangcheng, and it had already been over a month since Xie Yixiu’s army had left, with no news at all. This left him more worried than he had ever been before.

Logically, it shouldn’t be like this! When they first received the distress signal from Vice General Yang and his team, Ming Yu and Xie Yixiu had understood the full situation.

It was Tuoba Ren who led 5,000 soldiers to intercept them. In all of Suixi Kingdom, only Tuoba Ren was capable of such a strategic move, not to mention that now he had Song Lian by his side, who was offering even more strategic advice.

Together, these two could bring about unexpected changes.

Tuoba Ren’s ability to gather 5,000 soldiers could be largely attributed to Song Lian’s contribution. When they first received the news, they had not underestimated the strength of the enemy. So, besides the Red Robe Army, they also mobilized 10,000 new troops.

These new recruits had been trained using newly developed methods, making them far stronger than the frontier garrison. With a total of over 15,000 battle-hardened soldiers led by General Xie, there was no way they would struggle against 5,000 barbarian troops.

Yet, despite the overwhelming odds, Ming Yu had still not heard any updates. He felt uneasy, unsure whether Xie Yixiu’s decision to pursue Tuoba Ren was truly the right one.

The barbarian soldiers escorted Wang Ye’s carriage, with their pursuers close behind. They were in such a rush that they didn’t even have a clear route, but fortunately, the general kept reminding them, ensuring they didn’t stray off course.

What was strange, however, was that Wang Ye did not appear to give any orders along the way.

Wang Ye was the backbone of the army. At first, no one noticed his absence, but as time passed, Wang Ye remained out of sight. Not even a word had been spoken. If not for the presence of Wang Ye’s personal guards by the carriage, they might have started doubting whether Wang Ye was even inside.

Wang Ye’s guards explained that he had fallen ill, which was why he had not appeared. That made sense to some extent. It was a situation that should have been easily handled. After all, they were up against only a few thousand enemies. Wang Ye, being a skilled strategist, would have planned an ambush for their return journey. Though it was unclear why the enemy had detected their trap, they should have been able to defeat them without issue.

But the reality was different. They were now being chased, and not even Wang Ye had expected things to turn out like this. Wang Ye’s health was fragile, and it was essential to avoid anger in order to stay safe. Given the current situation, it seemed impossible to avoid anger. It was reasonable to assume Wang Ye’s illness had worsened.

Though exhausted, they did not stop. They knew that if they stopped, survival would be impossible. They could only hope that Wang Ye remained unharmed, so that their families wouldn’t be affected.

A Bing had received orders to be the vanguard, and his team was the one chasing the hardest.

The frustrations of being surrounded and attacked earlier were now being released. They had been so arrogant, but now the tables had turned so quickly, bringing a sense of satisfaction.

A Bing knew that General Xie was coming with the army to capture Tuoba Ren and Song Lian. So now, they were trapped with no escape.

When they reached a valley, they found that the fleeing enemy had already entered.

The vanguard soldiers hesitated. They knew the rule: never enter a forest, and the same applied to valleys. The terrain inside was unclear, and who knew if there might be an ambush?

Upon hearing this, A Bing personally went to the valley entrance to assess the situation and sent someone to report back to General Xie.

When they arrived at the valley, a terrible stench filled the air, and everyone covered their noses, wondering what could be causing such a foul odor.

“Do you really think they went in?” A Bing asked.

One man stepped forward. “Yes, I personally saw those fleeing soldiers escorting Tuoba Ren’s carriage into the valley.”

A Bing thought for a moment but couldn’t make sense of it. With General Xie’s army far behind and unlikely to arrive soon, he made a quick decision, “I’ll go take a look.”

“Young general, that’s unwise. We still don’t know what’s inside, and if there’s an ambush, what should we do?” someone advised.

A Bing frowned, considering all possible scenarios. They had confirmed that Tuoba Ren’s group had entered the valley. If they hesitated and missed the opportunity, it would ruin their mission. He couldn’t accept that.

He waved his hand. “We don’t need too many people. I’ll take a small team to check the perimeter, and we won’t go deep. It should be fine.”

Before anyone could protest further, he stopped them. “No need for more discussion. I’ll handle it.”

He then led a small group to the valley entrance. It wasn’t very large and could fit two carriages side by side. At first glance, everything seemed normal, but as they got closer, they saw something strange: the entrance was piled with the bodies of cattle, sheep, and horses.

No wonder the terrible smell had been noticeable even from a distance. But what was the purpose of these carcasses? Did they really think these rotting bodies could stop them? It was ridiculous.

“Young general, I noticed dead cattle and sheep on the road earlier too. Why did they throw these animals here?” someone pointed out, puzzled.

“What’s the point of it? They probably hoped to slow us down so they could escape,” someone else responded.

The first person thought for a moment and shook his head. “But these animals are already rotting. They couldn’t have just killed them to block the road. And where did they even find so many dead cattle and sheep? Could they have predicted their defeat and prepared the carcasses in advance? If they had that much time, they might as well have set traps to block us.”

This made a lot of sense, and even A Bing nodded in agreement.

“But if they knew it wouldn’t stop us, what’s the point of this? Or is there some other plot?” This question left everyone stumped. They couldn’t figure it out, but they concluded that the barbarians’ way of thinking was too unpredictable.

A Bing felt uneasy. If it had been anyone else, they might not have thought too much of it, but with Tuoba Ren and Song Lian involved, he couldn’t help but feel concerned.

A Bing had followed Xie Yixiu for a long time and learned a lot about Tuoba Ren’s deeds from General Xie. He knew how much Xie Yixiu valued Tuoba Ren. Even though Tuoba Ren had been severely injured by General Xie a few years ago, which had weakened his health, his military leadership skills were still formidable. Moreover, with Song Lian backing him with strategies, A Bing couldn’t believe that there was any other conspiracy behind this. He was certain of it.

A Bing paused for a moment and instructed someone to immediately return to the central army to report everything that had happened here to General Xie.

Meanwhile, he led his small group further into the valley to continue their investigation.

They hadn’t gone far when a few scattered arrows shot down from both sides of the mountain walls. One person didn’t notice and was hit in the arm. But most of the arrows were blocked by their vigilance.

After that, there was no further movement.

Was this it? This was supposed to be an ambush? The group nearly laughed out loud. This so-called ambush was more like an insult than a real threat.

They had expected some fierce attack, but this was such a letdown. Even A Bing couldn’t believe that this was truly Tuoba Ren’s army. Even the bandits in the borderlands could set better ambushes than this.

The wounded pulled out the rusted arrows, still stained with dark red blood. The impact wasn’t strong, and the wounds weren’t deep. They were so accustomed to such minor injuries that they quickly wrapped them up and spat in frustration. “Damn luck! If I hadn’t tripped over a rock, I wouldn’t have gotten hit by this lousy arrow!”

The others laughed heartily. “Bad luck? Who can you blame for that?”

The person muttered, “Looks like the barbarians are no different. They boast about elite soldiers and fine weapons, but look at these arrows, rusted and falling apart. Who would take these seriously?”

He spoke softly, and only a few nearby people heard him. Even those who overheard didn’t think much of it.

When Xie Yixiu received the news from the front, he too was puzzled. What was Tuoba Ren trying to do with all of this? He never believed that Tuoba Ren would engage in such a pointless action. Given Tuoba Ren’s ruthlessness and cunning, he was sure there was a purpose behind it.

Though Xie Yixiu wanted to capture Tuoba Ren alive, they had already infiltrated the enemy’s territory and had to proceed with caution.

“Tell A Bing to wait at the designated spot and not to act recklessly,” Xie Yixiu ordered. They needed to figure out Tuoba Ren’s objective before making any moves to minimize unnecessary losses.

Before the message could even be delivered, A Bing had already returned with his men. They had found Tuoba Ren’s carriage in the valley. The guards around it were all dead, and after searching the area thoroughly, they found that the carriage was empty. Tuoba Ren was nowhere to be found and had likely escaped while making a feint.

A Bing reported everything that had happened in the valley, and one thing was clear: this was no simple matter.

Xie Yixiu felt uneasy. “Are you saying all the soldiers who escaped are dead? It wasn’t you who did it?”

“Yes,” A Bing confirmed. “When we pursued them, they were all shot by arrows and died.”

“Do you know who attacked them?”

A Bing shook his head. “We didn’t see anyone else. From the looks of it, they were ambushed before we even entered the valley. After we finished searching, there was not a single survivor, and the rotting bodies of cows and sheep inside were unbearable.”

So, what was Tuoba Ren up to? Xie Yixiu knew it couldn’t have been their own soldiers. That left only one possibility: Tuoba Ren had done it himself. But why would he slaughter his own soldiers? It was truly baffling.

Tuoba Ren had escaped. A Bing felt frustrated. Their army had set out specifically to target Tuoba Ren, and to return empty-handed would be demoralizing.

“General, it’s just Tuoba Ren. I’ll lead three thousand scouts and find him for sure. There’s no way he can escape,” A Bing declared. He refused to believe that Tuoba Ren could vanish into thin air.

No one paid A Bing any attention. Xie Yixiu was still deep in thought, trying to understand Tuoba Ren’s intentions. If he were in Tuoba Ren’s shoes, what would be the purpose of all this?

He didn’t believe Tuoba Ren would resort to infighting. If that was the case, then Tuoba Ren had essentially used his five thousand soldiers as bait, along with the thousand soldiers surrounding them as further bait.

It made sense now why they hadn’t fully attacked Yang’s thousand soldiers before—if they had, even with traps and defenses, it would have been impossible to stop the full force of five thousand soldiers. Tuoba Ren had planned this from the start, using the thousand soldiers as bait to buy time for reinforcements.

They had received news that Tuoba Ren only had five thousand men, and this reinforcement would also serve as a counterattack. This was a prime opportunity to capture Tuoba Ren alive, which would deal a heavy blow to the Suixi Kingdom.

But Tuoba Ren had already foreseen all of this. He had used himself and his soldiers as bait to lure them in.

They had already fallen into his trap, but Xie Yixiu couldn’t see the full scope of Tuoba Ren’s plans yet. He felt a sense of unease, knowing that the situation was more complicated than it appeared. How far had they come in their plan? Had they succeeded? What was their next move?

Xie Yixiu furrowed his brows, his mind clouded with uncertainty. He regretted that Ming Yu wasn’t there—perhaps he could have offered some reliable advice.

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