Shaman Smoke Fills the Hills, Obscuring the Sun; Hidden Armor Conceals Schemes, Setting a Treacherous Stage

Lufan Lie's military orders rang out like hammer blows, and the chaos in the camp was instantly suppressed by orderly command.

Fifty thousand Xiongnu soldiers cast off their earlier panic. Under the command of the tribal generals, they shouldered their weapons, led their warhorses, and galloped toward the complex hills to the rear.

The Lufan Tribe had already been situated within the hilly region. Retreating into more complicated terrain was not far for them. At the very least, before the Blood-Clad Army arrived, they still had time to make some preparations. That was precious time, worth fighting for inch by inch.

Hooves pounded over the yellow sand, kicking up clouds of dust that filled the sky.

Footsteps, shouted orders, and the neighing of warhorses intertwined, yet there was little disorder. Only the taut tension saturating the air, like an invisible net, foretold the suffocating pressure of a storm about to break.

Tuoba Gu, Huyan Du, and Lanye Shan followed closely behind Lufan Lie.

Their expressions were somewhat panicked. As they hurried along, the anxiety in their eyes was impossible to conceal. Every so often, they looked back toward the rear of the camp, as though even the faint wind carried from afar had become the thunderous charge of enemy iron cavalry.

Tuoba Gu clenched the whip at his waist and cast a frantic look toward Lufan Lie, his eyes full of worry and unease.

"Lord Lufan Lie, we have no grasp at all of this mysterious army's true strength, much less whether those nine thousand ambushers are alive or dead at this moment.

"If things are truly as you previously surmised, and they have all been wiped out by the enemy in the mountains and forests, then even if we retreat into the hills, I fear we still won't escape