Translator: Legge
The enemies from the north were getting closer and closer as they made their way through the water over the white salt pool. Yan Liuyuan urged his horse forward as well. It was a grand sight to behold, as though the people on both sides were standing on top of a huge mirror where the boundaries were limitless.
Yan Liuyuan looked silently at the enemies in the distance. They were clearly much taller than the nomads. If the average height of the nomads was 1.75 meters, then these enemies from the north were probably at least 1.9 meters tall. Some of them even towered up to 2 meters in height.
The enemies wore brown fur hides on their backs, showing off firm pectorals across their bare chests while their muscular thighs were exposed to the cold wind.
But it was a little strange. In front of that group of burly northern men, there was actually someone else dressed in a black robe walking slowly.
The edges of that black robe even seemed to be sewn with gold threads. It made him look strange and mysterious, like he was some sort of a… priest.
However, Yan Liuyuan felt that this black-robed person did not seem to be on the same side as the group of Northerners. This was because the two were clearly very different in their physiques. This black-robed person was shorter than the others by almost a head.
His height made him look more like a Central Plains person.
“Could Black Robe be their leader?” Bulan Zir asked, “Master, why don’t we capture their leader first?”
“I think Black Robe looks more like a spy that escaped from the Central Plains.” Yan Liuyuan said with a smile, “He might even be someone with status in the Central Plains. If he weren’t afraid of being recognized, he wouldn’t be so bundled up and act so mysteriously.”
When everyone heard Yan Liuyuan’s relaxed tone, they started to feel at ease.
Thinking about it carefully, it did make sense. If their master could topple a mountain with a wave of his hand, why would they need to be afraid of these enemies from the north?
Next to him, Bulan Zir said in a low voice, “Master, they aren’t using swords. It’s no wonder they could cut someone in half. So it’s because they were using axes.”
Yan Liuyuan looked at the group of people in the distance. Bulan Zir was right. All of them were carrying metal axes.
“Those axes aren’t light at all.” Kirghiz Yan said, “However, our warriors of the steppe have nothing to fear either. Master, just say the word and I, Kirghiz Yan, will lead the charge.”
At this moment, more and more enemies appeared in the distance. Their tall figures made the nomads’ scalps tingle.
Yan Liuyuan frowned. At first, they only saw a few dozen people, but now, several hundred of them were appearing. “It’s not a coincidence that these people are heading south. Their entire tribe is migrating southwards. Something must’ve happened in the north that caused them to head in this direction. Look at them. Some of them are carrying cloth bags on their backs. This encounter at the salt pool was probably a coincidence. They were here to harvest the salt as well.”
The two sides were caught in a deadlock at the salt pool. No one took another step forward.
However, Hassan noticed that the group of beastly men in the distance were slowly changing their formation. It looked like they might even start suddenly charging at them.
Then soft footfalls came from behind the nomads. When Bulan Zir turned around, he was surprised to see that over a 1,000 huge wolves had arrived at the border of the salt pool. They were coldly sizing up the group of “beasts” in the north with their fangs exposed.
It was the first time Bulan Zir and Kirghiz Yan’s tribes had seen such a huge pack of wolves. They had only heard about it before and thought it was just Yan Liuyuan’s way of scaring people into submission!
Only now did they realize the gigantic wolf pack really existed. And they really obeyed Yan Liuyuan’s orders!
The silver Wolf King walked slowly to Yan Liuyuan’s side. The horses were so frightened they did not even dare to move.
The appearance of the wolves tipped the balance between the two sides. Yan Liuyuan watched as the Northerners slowly retreated. He turned his horse around and said, “Let’s go back to the tribe. That’s definitely not everyone they have. I heard from my brother that the Northern Territory was much vaster than the steppe before The Cataclysm. It seems like those people are coming south now.”
After returning to the tribe, Xiaoyu asked in concern, “How was it? I heard that you encountered those Northerners?”
“Mhm.” Yan Liuyuan nodded. “We’re going to leave the steppe. I’ll have Hassan bring some people to collect enough salt first. After that, we’ll head east to avoid their route south. Their target is the Central Plains, not us.”
“Central Plains? Why?” Xiaoyu wondered.
“Because there’s someone among them who is a Central Plains person.” Yan Liuyuan sighed. “There’s a traitor from the Central Plains.”
“But why are they heading south?” Xiaoyu could not understand. “It doesn’t make sense for an entire tribe to leave their home.”
“What sense is there left in the world?” Yan Liuyuan said with a sigh, “I heard from Mr. Zhang that the oceans flooded much of the lands. Perhaps the Northern Territory is also about to be submerged soon. Or perhaps the weather in the north has become too cold for them to survive for much longer.”
No matter what the guesses, anything could be possible. But the problem that Yan Liuyuan had to face now was how to lead the nomads to carry on surviving.
He had only just unified the steppe, yet they were already faced with a predicament. Actually, Yan Liuyuan was also feeling a little helpless. But if those people really wanted to find trouble with him, he would not mind telling them they had picked the wrong person.
Xiaoyu asked, “Do they have any supernatural beings?”
Yan Liuyuan thought back and said with uncertainty, “Actually, I think that that group of Northerners might have evolved in a different direction from those in the Central Plains. The Central Plains has produced a small number of individuals with powers, but it seems that they… have evolved as a population. I wonder if it has anything to do with the region. On the contrary, the steppe is slightly in a more awkward position since there aren’t any powerful supernatural beings that evolved here.”
The steppe was vast and sparsely populated. Although it was now unified, there were only several tens of thousands of people across the nine tribes combined. Yan Liuyuan had asked around and found out there were only two supernatural beings among the nomads, and they were both serving in his imperial court.
Yan Liuyuan pondered for a long time before finally having Xiaoyu coordinate the migration.
Then he took out three bowls of kumis and made a small cut on his fingertip with a small dagger.
As the dark red blood dripped into the kumis, the entire bowl of milky white alcohol turned scarlet.
Yan Liuyuan let out a long sigh before getting Tsetseg to summon Hassan, Bulan Zir, and Kirghiz Yan over.
After the three of them gathered and knelt at the entrance of the royal tent, Yan Liuyuan signaled for Tsetseg to serve the blood wine to them. “Today, I bestow upon you three wine to help you become unparalleled warriors under my command. Drink up.”
Hassan and the other two looked at each other before drinking the blood wine in one gulp without any hesitation. Then their eyes turned crimson red. Endless power surged within their bodies. It rushed into their minds and helped them unlock the door to a new world!
The entire tribe fell silent. Everyone looked enviously at Hassan and the two other tribal chiefs. This was a gift from the gods.
Yan Liuyuan watched all of this quietly. Actually, there were still some things he had not told Xiaoyu. With the increased usage of his powers, he had gained some new memories in the process.
