"There are no tribes nearby."
Gu Chi didn't need to recall the Northern Border Defense Map to remember the terrain around here. They had deliberately chosen this route. The Ten Crows tribes only settled in places that met certain conditions: there had to be plentiful water, abundant resources to feed their cattle, sheep, and horses, and some natural barriers to fend off wild beasts or warn of approaching enemies. But this area was none of those things. It was barren and remote.
There was little chance of finding prey, let alone water.
It was unlikely that a Ten Crows tribe would put down roots here. At the same time, this would make it less likely for their own army to be spotted on the march.
Jiang Sheng guessed, "Could they be refugees?"
Food was a scarce resource, with too many mouths and too little to go around. Just as commoners across the continent could lose their homes and land and be reduced to refugees, the Ten Crows' lower classes could be driven out and turned into refugees if they lost the pastures they depended on for a living. The former could easily take to banditry; the latter were no different.
"Most likely," Gu Chi said.
Shen Tang said, "Scout further, then report back."
After the soldiers left, Shen Tang asked the two men, "Could we bypass this valley and take another route?"
"It's not impossible," Jiang Sheng said. "But if we detour, we'll inevitably pass through the grazing lands of a large tribe, making it easy for us to be spotted. Even if we're lucky and nothing goes wrong, we'll lose an extra day and a half compared to taking the path through the valley."
By any measure, sticking to their original plan was best—unless there was an ambush in