Chapter 54

Li You, panting heavily, returned the long sword to its scabbard. His blood-soaked clothes made him feel extremely uncomfortable, but fortunately, all the blood was from the Xiongnu! Looking around at the others in the group, apart from Pan Feng, who still appeared energetic, everyone else showed varying degrees of fatigue. The most exhausted, Chen Qingzhi, was already slumped on his horse, too tired to speak!

"Father Tangyi, how much longer until we find a place to rest?" Li You asked, forcing himself to stay alert. After entering the territory of the Kunye King, the situation had suddenly changed. This was already the third wave of interception they had encountered in a few days! Fortunately, they had only met small groups of Xiongnu, and after a fierce battle, they managed to shake them off. However, despite this, the number of people in the entire envoy had decreased again. They had lost about the same number of people and horses as they did when crossing the Wushaoling Ridge, and now the envoy was down to less than a hundred people.

Moreover, these survivors all had various injuries and could not continue fighting like this! The most pressing need was to find a place where the Xiongnu would not easily discover them and rest for a few days.

"Twenty li ahead, there is a small mountain. The area is remote and rarely visited by people. We can rest there!" Father Tangyi, also panting heavily, replied. He had sustained minor injuries in the battle and was now gritting his teeth to keep going.

"We can't go directly there; we need to circle around to confuse the pursuers!" Despite being extremely tired, Chen Qingzhi still gritted his teeth and reminded them.

"A small river lies ahead. We can use it to shake off our pursuers!" Father Tangyi also thought of this. After traveling another seven or eight li, they indeed found a river about six to seven meters wide. Without stopping to drink or rest, they rode their horses into the river and followed it downstream for several li. Along the way, Father Tangyi led a group of lightly injured soldiers to the shore to circle around and mislead the pursuers!

After traveling in the water for over an hour, they finally came ashore and headed for the small mountain Father Tangyi had mentioned. As night approached, they finally reached the mountain. The mountain was covered with jagged rocks, with almost no greenery, and the surrounding area was barren. It seemed unlikely that any herders would visit such a place! Li You finally felt a bit more at ease.

They circled the mountain and found a sheltered ravine to set up camp. After arranging the sentries and helping the healer treat the wounded, they were busy until the moon was high in the sky before Li You could finally catch his breath.

"Sir, perhaps the Kunye King received orders from Zhong Xingshuo, which is why he is纠缠 us like this!" Father Tangyi said. The grasslands were vast, and it would not be easy to encounter them by chance unless a large number of troops were deliberately sent to search for them.

"We haven't even reached halfway through the Kunye King's territory! The closer we get to his encampment, the more enemies we will encounter! We need to come up with a plan!" Li You frowned, knowing that this part of the journey was much more difficult than the one in the Xiutu King's territory.

"The Kunye King is more strict and decisive than the Xiutu King, making him a formidable opponent!" This Kunye King was more ambitious. He might be trying to strengthen his control over the various tribes by intercepting the Han envoy, or he might want to show off in front of the Great Chanyu. He was certainly not like the Xiutu King, who just went through the motions.

"Sir, we don't have much medicine left! If we encounter more battles in the future, it might be..." During the discussion, the healer brought another piece of bad news!

"I understand!" Li You nodded, indicating that he had noted it down. From all perspectives, it was not advisable for the envoy to engage in direct conflict with the Xiongnu. They either needed to choose another route or find a way to divert the Xiongnu cavalry scattered across the grasslands, clearing the path for the envoy.

After hearing Li You's question, Father Tangyi thought for a moment and finally shook his head. "Sir, we are now roughly in the center of the Kunye King's territory. The distances to the south, north, and west are about the same. The east is shorter, but that is the direction we came from, and we can't just turn back!"

"Moreover, winter is approaching, and the tribes have already finished gathering their hay. The young men have nothing else to do! They have plenty of time to wear us down! It will be very difficult to divert them from the west!" The nomadic tribes were busiest during the spring and autumn. In the spring, they needed to drive their herds to find pastures, and in the autumn, they needed to prepare hay for the winter. These two seasons were crucial for them. In the winter, the weather was cold, and the grass did not grow. The elderly, women, and children could take care of the herds, so the young men had time to engage in the Kunye King's orders and harass them.

Seeing that both options were rejected by Father Tangyi, Li You fell into deep thought. Father Tangyi stood up and looked up at the night sky. "Alas, it has been sunny for several days. If only there were a snowstorm! We could use the snowstorm to avoid the enemy!"

Hmm? Snowstorm? A spark of inspiration flashed in Li You's mind, and he felt as if he had grasped something. He quickly asked, "How long has it been since it last snowed here?"

"Since we came down from the Great Snow Mountain, we haven't seen much snow!" Father Tangyi kicked a small hole in the ground with his toe, squatted down, and scooped up a handful of dry soil from the hole. He rubbed it between his fingers, and the dry soil turned into fine powder and blew away in the wind, leaving no trace of moisture on his hands.

Father Tangyi looked at his fingers and shook his head. "It seems it hasn't snowed here for at least a month! This is not a good sign!"

The nomadic tribes feared snow in the winter. If there was too much snow, the surface would freeze after a warm spell, making it difficult for the livestock to graze and causing them to be injured by the ice, leading to a white disaster. If there was little or no snow in the winter, the livestock would lack water, and diseases would spread, leading to a black disaster. Both of these disasters would cause significant losses for the Xiongnu. It seemed that a black disaster was now looming.

"Given the dry weather and lack of snow, it now depends on how much hay the tribes prepared in the autumn! If they have enough hay, they might survive. If not, the tribe will face a catastrophic disaster!" Father Tangyi's face showed a look of sorrow, as if he was recalling his past life as a herder in the Xiongnu.

"Good! Since their young men are all out intercepting us, let's pay a visit to their tribes!" Li You finally smiled. Given the dry weather, the thing to fear most was fire. Dry hay was extremely flammable. I will lead a group to visit each tribe and burn their hay. We will see if they return to defend against our attacks or continue to block our path!