When the first scouts rushed out of the valley, they stopped dead.
The men behind them piled into those ahead, and curses erupted through the ranks.
Xiahou Yuan flew into a rage. "Why have you stopped? Are you still not dying fast enough?" He spurred his horse forward as he spoke.
But when he reached the valley mouth, his voice cut off.
Ahead stood a dark mass of armored cavalry. The air around them felt cold, heavy, and oppressive.
"Who the hell are you?"
Xiahou Yuan's scalp prickled as he shouted the question.
They were definitely not horse bandits.
A large band of horse bandits on the Three Kingdoms Plane might muster several hundred men... but their formation would never be this disciplined, nor would their equipment be so fine and uniform!
Every one of them was Elite Tier, too.
At last, Xiahou Yuan's gaze settled on the young man riding a giant wolf—
Bai Xiaowen had no desire to talk. He cast Insight on Xiahou Yuan instead.
"Loose!"
Cecilia drew her greatbow and fired Split Arrow, producing a rain of arrows that rivaled the volley of dozens of cavalrymen!
That was the signal. The other Winged Cavalry raised their Iron-Core Bows, and arrows poured down on Xiahou Yuan's disordered ranks.
"Are they... light cavalry?"
Seeing the enemy cavalry shoot instead of charge, Xiahou Yuan felt a flicker of doubt. Their armor hardly looked like a light cavalryman's kit, but he had no time to dwell on it.
His soldiers' screams kept rising around him. He had to make a decision on the spot!
"Charge! Get close to them and we win!"
Xiahou Yuan roared, and a cyan halo suddenly spread over every soldier under his command.
Bai Xiaowen immediately received a notification:
``` "Yingchuan Governor Xiahou Yuan has activated