On the third day in the Gobi, the wind already carried a faint scent of rust and slaughter.
Xiao took Huiye along another route, then concealed himself in a field of jumbled rocks on a slope about eight li from Yanqi Crossing.
Unlike the deathly silence of the previous two days, Yanqi Crossing today was permeated by a suffocating sense of frantic activity and fervor.
Even from this distance, Xiao could still feel faint tremors coming from the earth.
It was the sign of large numbers of horses, heavy grain carts, convoys transporting timber, and organized formations of soldiers moving back and forth with great frequency.
This was no longer an ordinary patrol.
It was the mobilization of an army on the eve of a great war.
Beidi, this sleeping giant, had completely awakened and begun its massive wartime deployment.
Xiao took a deep breath and led Huiye to the most concealed dead corner behind a huge boulder, securely tying it there.
The look in the herdsmen’s eyes yesterday had left him feeling as though thorns were pricking his back. Today, he absolutely could not allow Huiye to appear in anyone’s line of sight again.
He skillfully set up his equipment and launched Xiao Qi on its first sortie.
Yanqi Crossing—the “pulse” of Beidi’s military network according to the intelligence—was responsible for continuously transporting provisions and troops to various locations.
Xiao Qi’s camera pierced through the thin mist and locked onto the broad river.
The intelligence had stated with absolute certainty: “Beidi has constructed three iron-chain floating bridges, completely blocking the river.”
However, when the AI’s optical camera zoomed in, Xiao’s gaze suddenly sharpened.
There were no three bridges.
Spanning the turbulent river were only two main floating bridges, built on heavy warships and secured with thick iron chains.
But along the central riverbank between the two bridges, there were mountains of pre-cut wooden planks, iron chains, and spare boats and rafts.
Xiao understood instantly.
The intelligence source had stated: “Yanqi Crossing has three iron-chain floating bridges.”
But the reality was: two fixed floating bridges, one bridge-material staging area, and large quantities of iron chains, wooden planks, and boats.
It was—a “spare bridge” that could be erected in a short period of time, a stockpile of “mobile bridge materials” that could be rapidly assembled at any point along the river.
The intelligence was not entirely wrong.
It was simply that the “three bridges” actually referred to “three river-crossing capabilities.”
Two were fixed bridges.
One was a temporary bridge that could be rapidly constructed.
In intelligence warfare, truth and falsehood were intertwined. Any piece of inaccurate intelligence was enough to make any Dasheng general who blindly trusted it pay a terrible price.
And that was precisely why he had risked his life to come here and verify it.
When the second sortie took off, Xiao had Xiao Qi expand its reconnaissance radius.
What he saw this time revealed a truth even more shocking than the “fake bridge.”
Less than five li east of Yanqi Crossing, behind a concealed bend in the river, there was an enormous assembly area.
Dense formations of cavalry, mountains of provisions, rows upon rows of hastily constructed tents, and even dozens of heavy warships ready to enter the water and sail at any moment.
Xiao stared at the astonishing troop and supply figures marked by the AI on the screen, and a layer of cold sweat seeped down his back.
Xia Lanshi’s deduction that Yanqi Crossing was the “pulse” responsible for transportation was only half right.
This place was not merely a channel.
It was more like a “super node” capable of swallowing and deploying large armies at any time and rapidly changing the direction of troop projection.
With provisions and troops stockpiled here, they could advance down the waterways and strike directly at Dasheng’s eastern defenses, or retreat and rapidly reinforce Baishui Pass and Duanyun Fortress.
The strategic assessment of “shield, heart, and pulse” had to be overturned and rewritten immediately.
◆◇◆◇◆
In the afternoon, the setting sun dyed the Gobi a dark red like blood, and the sky gradually grew dim.
Xiao launched today’s final sortie—the last flight of this reconnaissance mission.
The mission was nearing completion.
Xiao Qi completed its final data collection high in the distant sky, and Xiao pressed the “one-touch return” command.
Xiao Qi had already entered its return route.
But Xiao suddenly noticed an area east of the crossing that was concealed by the tents.
He hesitated for a moment, then still had Xiao Qi lower its altitude and capture another set of images.
This was a deviation from its predetermined route.
Although flying low carried risks, too many aspects of the situation had changed this time. He wanted more complete intelligence and a more complete picture of the crossing.
After the images were successfully captured, Xiao pressed the return button again.
“Return procedure initiated.”
The AI’s cold notification sounded through his earpiece.
At that exact moment, Xiao’s extraordinarily sensitive hearing caught a strange sound that did not belong to the wind.
“…”
He did not act rashly. He merely slowly raised his head and looked through the gaps between the rocks toward the distant ridge.
A squad of roughly twelve Beidi light cavalrymen appeared on the ridgeline like ghosts.
They looked as though they were merely conducting a routine expanded patrol.
However, at this critical moment, one of the cavalrymen seemed to notice a tiny black dot reflecting against the setting sun high in the sky. He suddenly raised his head and pointed upward.
Xiao Qi happened to sweep past at an extremely high altitude diagonally above them.
Although dusk had already settled in, the Beidi people’s eyesight was exceptionally sharp.
To people of this era, it might have been nothing more than a strange bird.
But to Beidi patrol cavalry on high alert, anything unusual was worth being wary of.
The squad’s ten-man captain followed the direction of the finger, then suddenly dug his heels into his horse’s belly.
The entire squad of cavalry changed course like a pack of wolves that had caught the scent of blood, charging directly along the flight path of the strange little object—in other words, toward the direction where Xiao was hiding.
Xiao’s heart sank.
Nothing like this had ever happened in his memories.
This field of rocks had always been a safe blind spot.
And now there was another fatal variable.
He glanced at the steadily shrinking return distance displayed on the screen, and his mind made a decision within a thousandth of a second.
He absolutely could not allow Xiao Qi to land in his hands.
Otherwise, this squad of cavalry would completely pinpoint his location, and they would wipe out both him and his equipment in one sweep.
“Xiao Qi, immediately stop returning. Switch to Class-B evasive route.”
Xiao growled into the terminal controller.
“Received. Return procedure terminated. Switched to Class-B evasive route.”
Xiao Qi rapidly climbed higher, deviating from Xiao’s location and entering another return route.
It was the second recovery point Xiao had preset before every launch.
Xiao tore off his earpiece, stuffed the controller into his combat pack, then swung the heavy pack onto his back and fastened it tightly.
He leaped out of the rocks, yanked open Huiye’s reins, and vaulted onto its back.
“Go!”
Huiye gave a low neigh, its four hooves suddenly driving forward. Like a streak of snow-white light, it burst out from the other side of the rock field.
Almost the instant he emerged from cover, the Beidi cavalry also crossed the ridge and immediately locked onto the overly conspicuous divine steed and the figure on its back.
“Enemy! Loose the arrows!”
The Beidi ten-man captain roared fiercely.
Whoosh—whoosh—
The shrill sound of arrows tearing through the air came from behind.
The first stray arrow skimmed past Xiao’s right shoulder, leaving a streak of blood.
The second arrow struck the outer layer of his combat pack with a heavy thunk, embedding itself in the bullet-resistant fiber and making Xiao grunt.
The third arrow screamed past his ear.
The fourth pierced through his camouflage combat uniform and scraped against the special protective clothing underneath.
Huiye displayed the extreme intelligence and explosive power of a native northern frontier wild horse.
It raced left and right across the rugged Gobi, unbelievably dodging wave after wave of arrows.
But the distance continued to close.
The Beidi people’s horsemanship was simply too exceptional.
Xiao reached backward and pulled two military smoke grenades from his tactical belt. He bit open the pins and hurled them hard onto the ground behind him.
Boom! Hiss—
Thick, pungent white smoke instantly erupted, forming an impenetrable wall of smoke in the narrow valley.
The Beidi cavalry formation immediately fell into chaos, their warhorses startled and whinnying.
Xiao’s hand touched Huiye’s mane.
But the next moment, he gritted his teeth hard.
“…Sorry.”
Taking advantage of those few seconds of blindness, Xiao guided Huiye toward a steep slope with a drop of roughly two zhang, its base covered in rocks and bushes.
He half-crouched on the horse’s back.
At the instant Huiye was about to slow down, he leaped off without hesitation.
Xiao rolled repeatedly across the ground, with bushes and loose stones absorbing the impact. Then his body pressed tightly against the shadow of a huge boulder like a gecko.
At the same time, he picked up a stone and hurled it hard at Huiye’s hindquarters.
Huiye cried out in pain, throwing its head back with a sharp neigh.
It did not stop.
Instead, it followed another slightly gentler path along the edge of the cliff and continued galloping wildly without looking back.
A few breaths later, the Beidi cavalry burst out of the smoke.
Amid the increasingly deep night and lingering smoke, all they could see was that conspicuous snow-white warhorse racing in the distance.
They immediately cracked their whips and gave chase, disappearing into the dust after Huiye.
Xiao had successfully separated man and horse, using Huiye to lure away the deadly pursuers.
He watched that streak of snow-white disappear into the night, his fingers slowly curling inward.
◆◇◆◇◆
Night finally descended completely.
The temperature on the Gobi dropped sharply. The difference between day and night during Beidi’s spring was enormous.
The wind-chill made the cold even more severe. Although the temperature had not fallen below freezing, the perceived cold was still bone-chilling, leaving his skin numb.
Xiao did not choose to flee toward Dasheng.
For a scout who had lost his warhorse, the most rational choice now was to immediately find a way to conceal himself and survive.
But he did not.
Dragging his legs and body scraped by rocks, he moved through the pitch-black night like a shadow, stealthily retracing his route in reverse.
Weapons could be abandoned.
Equipment could be abandoned.
Even Huiye, the horse he loved, could be lost.
But the memory card in Xiao Qi still carried the data from all three sorties on the third day.
It absolutely could not be lost.
That was the lifeline capable of determining the life and death of tens of thousands of soldiers in the Northern Frontier, and capable of allowing Xiao Yuan to turn the tide!
One hour later.
Using the tracking function of his terminal controller, Xiao finally found Xiao Qi beside an abandoned cave deep within the field of rocks. Because its battery had been too low, it had automatically made an emergency landing on the ground.
He knelt on one knee and, with slightly trembling fingers, pulled the memory card from Xiao Qi’s side.
When the tiny black chip fell into his palm, the nerves he had kept taut for three days and three nights finally relaxed.
He let out a long breath of turbid air that turned white in the cold.
He found a cave and confirmed that the location was temporarily safe before checking the phone inside his pack, making sure it had not been damaged during the escape and that the files inside were intact.
The mission… was complete.
But when he slumped down inside the cold cave, looking at the empty surroundings and the countless stars outside, Xiao became truly aware of a problem for the first time.
He had no horse.
There were still a hundred li to Linbei City.
On this Gobi filled with enemy patrols, returning on foot alone was no different from a fool’s dream.
Worse still, those hundred li were no longer the past he knew.
Tonight’s patrol cavalry were more numerous than before.
Troops around the three lost strongholds were also being mobilized.
He did not even know whether the cavalry squad that had chased him earlier had discovered that there was no one on Huiye’s back and sent more men back to conduct a comprehensive search.
Xiao lowered his head and looked at his leg.
The rocks had torn through his trouser leg, and blood seeped from the outside of his lower leg. The wound on his shoulder was still aching faintly.
He took out the little sachet Xia Lanshi had given him from his pocket and gently brushed his fingertips over it.
He had promised that he would bring his life—and himself—back.
So no matter what, he had to return.
He carefully put the sachet away.
Travel on foot.
The first thought surfaced in his mind.
He quickly rejected it himself.
A hundred li.
In his current condition, he would need at least an entire day.
He could not move during the day, and at night he would have to avoid the patrol cavalry.
What was more, he was still carrying the combat pack.
No.
The second plan.
Find a concealed location, wait until the Beidi patrols relaxed, then retreat along the old route in his memories.
Xiao’s gaze darkened slightly.
No.
Beidi was no longer the Beidi he remembered.
The patrol schedule at Baishui Pass had changed.
Duanyun Fortress had gained another hidden passage.
The troop movements at Yanqi Crossing were completely different from the past.
Even the herdsmen’s huts that had originally been possible hiding places were now occupied.
If he once again treated the experience of his past life as an absolutely accurate map, it would be no different from seeking death.
The third plan.
Follow the dried-up riverbed.
This route was closest to the safe line in his memories and was also the easiest way to avoid the main patrols.
Xiao rapidly simulated it in his mind.
Then rejected it.
Beidi had clearly increased its patrols today.
Although the riverbed could conceal one’s movements from view, it was also a natural passage that cavalry could search most easily.
Far too unpredictable.
The thought had barely flashed through his mind when he frowned slightly.
The fourth plan.
Find a water source.
Beidi lacked water. All patrol cavalry, herdsmen, and military activities were inseparable from water sources.
As long as he found a water source, there was a chance he could find a Beidi settlement and obtain a means of transportation near it.
Xiao remained silent for a moment.
…The risk was too high.
If he approached a Beidi settlement alone, even if it were only to steal food or water, he could leave traces.
What’s more…
He lowered his head and looked at the equipment on his body.
These things might be able to conceal him in the darkness.
But once he approached firelight, they would become the most unusual things there.
The fifth plan.
Steal a horse.
Xiao’s gaze finally turned toward the pitch-black Gobi outside the cave.
The Beidi cavalry had plenty of mounts.
As long as he found a temporary camp and slipped inside at night, there might be a chance.
He had already rapidly outlined several possibilities in his mind.
Stables.
Grazing grounds.
Places where patrol cavalry changed horses.
But within a few breaths, he abandoned the idea.
Not worth it.
Stealing a horse itself was not the biggest problem.
The biggest problem was—the horse would expose him.
Beidi warhorses had fixed markings.
If he appeared in the next patrol area riding a stolen military horse, he would essentially be telling Beidi outright:
Someone escaped from here.
And that person was alone.
The other horses did not possess Huiye’s explosive power, and there was no time to tame an unfamiliar warhorse again.
Once he was discovered, he would not even have a second chance to escape.
Xiao leaned against the stone wall and slowly exhaled.
Don’t steal a horse.
Then… what else?
…The sixth plan.
Open the Gate and go back directly.
He could use the power of the Gate to travel to any place he had “been to in his memories.”
The price was that he had to sacrifice part of his own “life” to the Gate.
This was a choice to be made only as a last resort.
Although remaining in Dasheng would also consume his lifespan, the degree and speed of the consumption were different.
He closed his eyes.
In his past life, he had died too many times on this land.
Shot to death by a rain of arrows.
Caught and killed by cavalry.
Poisoned after being struck by an arrow.
Bleeding to death from his wounds.
Buried beneath a blizzard.
There had even been one time when he was less than thirty li from Linbei City.
Because he misjudged the movement schedule of a patrol squad, he hid for two whole days, only to be discovered in the end.
Those memories swept through his mind like a tide.
Xiao suddenly opened his eyes.
…Wait.
He reached into his pocket and touched the terminal.
Since Huiye had already run away…
what he truly needed now was not a horse at all.
It was—
a way to retreat without having to walk the entire hundred li.
Xiao’s fingers gently brushed over the terminal’s casing.
The seventh plan.
He began observing the surrounding terrain again.
The valleys.
The riverbeds.
The wind direction.
The routes the patrol cavalry might take.
And…
how much physical strength he had left.
One possibility after another rearranged itself in his mind.
Just then—
Rustle.
From extremely close behind him came an almost inaudible sound of fabric brushing against something.
All of Xiao’s thoughts instantly converged, and his eyes became terrifyingly sharp.
His right hand almost simultaneously reached toward his waist.
The folding knife was out within half a second.
He stared at the cave entrance, lowering his breathing to the absolute minimum.
Someone was there.
And…
they were already within ten paces.
Only the howling wind surrounded them.
He tightened his grip on the knife, ready to throw it the instant the other person revealed himself.
“—Mr. Liu Chu’s vigilance is even better than I imagined.”
A black shadow that blended completely into the night slowly emerged from the shadow of the rocks ten paces away like a ghost.
The shadow’s voice was low and devoid of fluctuation, speaking fluent Dasheng official speech.
Xiao did not loosen his grip on the knife. He stared fixedly at the other man.
“How long have you been following me?”
“We have been nearby since you entered Baishui Pass territory,” the hidden guard replied calmly.
“How many of you are there?”
“Two.”
“…”
“One was responsible for watching you. The other was responsible for watching the horse.”
“Why didn’t I notice?”
“Because we did not follow you directly. Magistrate Xia ordered that if you discovered us, the mission would be considered a failure.”
Then the other man gave a faint, bitter laugh.
Because Xiao had still detected him.
Xiao fell silent.
Only then did he suddenly realize that he had never truly been fighting alone.
Xia Lanshi—the seemingly refined and elegant magistrate who was, in truth, frighteningly intelligent—had actually anticipated long ago that Xiao’s three-day deep infiltration into enemy territory might lead to trouble because of those “unknown variables.”
So, without telling anyone, Xia Lanshi had dispatched the most elite hidden guards to secretly track him from a great distance, solely to save his life in the final dead end.
The hidden guards had originally already prepared themselves to die.
They had intended to use their own lives to lure away the Beidi cavalry.
But Xiao had resolved the crisis himself.
“Your horse isn’t dead.”
Seeing Xiao put away his knife, the hidden guard calmly dropped this piece of information.
Xiao abruptly raised his head.
“We found it,” the hidden guard said. “Come with me.”
The hidden guard led Xiao two li through the night until they reached a concealed dried-up river valley.
There, another hidden guard was quietly keeping watch.
And nearby, a tall snow-white warhorse was anxiously pawing at the ground.
It was Huiye.
Using its speed and agile running style, it had successfully shaken off its pursuers.
After all, it was the Horse King of the northern frontier wilderness that dozens of veteran hunters had spent a full two months capturing.
Huiye recognized the roads Xiao had ridden it along during these three days.
It recognized Xiao’s scent, Xiao’s traces, and the familiar water sources.
So after escaping its pursuers, it instinctively ran in a familiar direction.
And the hidden guards had happened to establish a rendezvous point in that area based on the traces Xiao had left behind during the previous two days.
Thus, the hidden guard responsible for the rendezvous intercepted Huiye.
It was just that Huiye would not allow anyone to approach it, so they had no way to lead Huiye back to Xiao.
“This really is a fine horse,” the hidden guard said.
If it had been them, they absolutely would not have chosen such a conspicuous horse.
But he had personally witnessed Huiye drawing everyone’s attention while somehow dodging the Beidi cavalry’s arrows without suffering a single injury, successfully shaking them off.
When Huiye saw Xiao, it let out a low neigh and voluntarily approached him, rubbing its warm nose against his arm.
Xiao stood motionless.
His usually hard expression finally cracked slightly at this moment.
He raised his hand and gently stroked the mane along Huiye’s neck. The corner of his mouth curled into an extremely faint yet utterly genuine bitter smile, and his voice carried the subtle emotion of someone who had survived a disaster.
“You little bastard… you’re actually more capable than I am. You didn’t have to come back…”
At that moment, the choice he had made had been to prioritize saving his own life and the data that concerned the future fate of the Northern Frontier.
He had been the one who had abandoned Huiye with his own hands.
But Huiye had come back for him.
“Since you’ve come back, then stay with me a little longer.”
He raised his hand and gently stroked the extremely dark cross-shaped star marking on Huiye’s forehead. He spoke as though making a vow.
“I promise. Once everything is over, I’ll set you free and let you return to the wild.”
He knew that for this companion who had accompanied him through so many deaths in the past, running freely across the snowy lands of the Northern Frontier was what Huiye truly looked like.
It was just that in the past, he had never succeeded in letting Huiye return to the place where it had originally grown and regain its freedom.
He hoped that this creature that had walked through so many deaths with him would, at the very end, no longer be bound by war.
As though it understood something, Huiye quietly lowered its head and gently rested its forehead against Xiao’s palm.
In the end, Xiao chose the eighth plan—
to take Huiye with him and return alongside the hidden guards sent by Xia Lanshi.
◆◇◆◇◆
On the journey back, with the hidden guards providing cover and scouting ahead, the group avoided all the blockades.
When they reached the final resting point before entering Dasheng territory, dawn had not yet arrived.
Xiao leaned against a tree trunk.
The wounds on his body had already been treated simply.
He took the group’s specially manufactured phone from his pack.
He inserted the memory card and activated the final data aggregation function.
On the screen, countless green lines and points of light began rapidly calculating and stitching themselves together.
Very soon, Duanyun Fortress, Baishui Pass, and Yanqi Crossing—three seemingly independent strongholds—were reconstructed into a single picture through the AI’s powerful terrain mapping and data correlation.
A map of Beidi’s military deployment, far more complete and precise than Dasheng’s existing military map, appeared clearly on the screen.
Xiao silently stared at the map.
Suddenly, his pupils contracted slightly.
Within the terrain trajectories integrated by the AI, an enormous hidden troop-transport route ran through natural cracks in the mountains and modified underground waterways.
Like a scarlet venomous snake, it silently linked Duanyun Fortress, Baishui Pass, and Yanqi Crossing together.
Based on road width, depth of wheel tracks, bridge load capacity, camp size, and the visible number of convoys, the AI estimated:
This transport route might possess the capacity to conduct large-scale military supply transfers.
Xiao’s fingertip gently traced the line on the screen as he murmured,
“If Beidi uses this route for transportation… they can complete the rapid deployment of at least one main army corps within a single day.”
“If they assemble the troops in advance… the forces at all three locations can even support one another.”
This was not one fortress.
Nor was it three fortresses.
It was an entire war system that had been operating for twenty-five years.
And compared with the version in his memories, it was no longer the same system.
Duanyun Fortress was responsible for stockpiling.
Baishui Pass was responsible for defense.
Yanqi Crossing was responsible for projection.
And that transport route hidden beneath the mountains was what truly turned the three into one.
That scarlet transport route—
through his long cycle of deaths filled with countless tears and blood—
had never existed.
The cold wind on the Gobi made his bones ache.
Xiao stared at the glowing screen for a long time.
Finally, beneath the pre-dawn darkness, he slowly closed his eyes and let out a sigh so quiet it was almost inaudible.
“…It changed again.”
This time, the world he was familiar with had been completely overturned.
The Prince of Su was about to face no longer a battle whose course could be predicted from Xiao’s memories, but a true battle for life and death, filled with countless unknowns and murderous dangers.