Disappearing

"Among the Xiongnu, there is a technique for training eagles, used for reconnaissance. This is bad, our position has been exposed," Wang Wu's expression suddenly changed drastically.

"Damn it, we were careless. This is a reconnaissance eagle trained by the Xiongnu. We might have fallen into a trap. Those three small transport units were bait, deliberately luring us," Guo Xiaoping said with an equally grim expression.

Sheng Huai'an frowned, immediately picked up a bow and arrow, nocked an arrow, drew the bow, and injected his True Essence into the arrow, shooting it towards the eagle.

However, with his current archery skills, he couldn't shoot the eagle down.

The soldiers behind him frowned when they saw that Sheng Huai'an hadn't shot the eagle down.

If this eagle were allowed to follow them, they would not be able to escape the pursuit of the Xiongnu Cavalry.

Sheng Huai'an immediately consumed Slaughter Value to upgrade his Archer level.

He spent fifty Slaughter Value, upgrading his Archer level to Gold.

He then continued to spend two hundred Slaughter Value, upgrading his Archer level to Divine Archer.

Sheng Huai'an immediately nocked another arrow and drew his bow, aiming at the eagle in the sky. At this moment, his divine sense seemed to merge with the entire bow, injecting powerful True Essence into the arrow.

As the arrow shot out, it streaked across the sky like a golden stream of light, heading towards the eagle.

The soldiers who witnessed this scene were all stunned. Only a Divine Archer could shoot such a terrifying arrow.

The eagle, sensing danger, spread its wings to flee, but it was too late.

The arrow shot by the Divine Archer was unavoidable; it could only be destroyed by immense power.

"Chii!!"

The arrow pierced the eagle's chest, and the eagle in the sky plummeted down under the gaze of the soldiers.

"Let's go, leave this place."

Without paying any attention to the shot-down eagle, Sheng Huai'an led his subordinates and quickly departed.

Not long after, a cavalry force of four thousand arrived at their previous location.

They saw the shot-down eagle.

"Damn it, we've been discovered. It seems there's a Divine Archer in this group," Tuoba Tao said.

"They shouldn't have gone far. Pursue them! We can't let them escape," Hu Nanlei said, looking at the dead eagle, its blood not yet congealed.

These four thousand cavalrymen were two units combined.

"Dare to cause trouble on the grasslands? Then let them be buried here, so the grass grows more lush next year."

The four thousand cavalrymen, in a mighty surge, followed the hoof prints on the ground.

Upon realizing they were targeted by the Xiongnu Cavalry, Sheng Huai'an and his men ran for over a hundred kilometers without stopping.

"Battalion Commander, running like this isn't a solution," Guo Xiaoping said.

If they continued to run, they would eventually be caught.

"What else can we do but run? If the pursuers were only one or two thousand, we could still handle them. But if there are more than two thousand, our small group might be surrounded and annihilated on this grassland," Sheng Huai'an said.

The cavalry unit they were part of wasn't very strong. Including himself, there were only three Houtian Martial Practitioners, barely making them noteworthy.

The remaining soldiers weren't very powerful. There weren't many Martial Masters and Martial Practitioners; the vast majority were soldiers at the Martial Disciple realm.

Once they encountered a large Xiongnu cavalry force, their only option would be to flee.

"We need to figure out how many Xiongnu cavalry are targeting us. If it's not many, we'll turn back and fight," Hu Bing said with fierce eyes.

"Battalion Commander, I'll take some men to scout ahead," Wang Wu said.

Sheng Huai'an looked at Wang Wu and slowly nodded, "Be careful, and return safely."

"Don't worry, I'm not ready to die yet. Xiao Cui from Yichun Tower is waiting for me to go back," Wang Wu said with a smile.

Then, Wang Wu, along with two scouts, turned back.

The three figures receding into the distance were like lonely rebels, and no one could guarantee their safe return.

After watching Wang Wu and the other two disappear from sight, Sheng Huai'an finally withdrew his gaze.

"Leave a signal and find a hidden place to wait for them," Sheng Huai'an said.

They stopped to rest at a nearby location. Sheng Huai'an sent out more scouts for reconnaissance.

He had to be as cautious as possible. Any slight mistake could lead to the annihilation of their entire army.

Now that the Xiongnu were using a large army to transport grain and supplies, they couldn't continue to attack the supply troops. Their combat objective, it seemed, had to change.

If they couldn't attack the Xiongnu's supply lines, they would target the smaller tribes, wiping out all the small Xiongnu tribes. This was Sheng Huai'an's plan.

During the break, the soldiers began to cook their meals.

Half an hour later, Wang Wu and the other two returned safely.

"They're finally back," Sheng Huai'an's worried heart finally settled.

"I'm blessed with good fortune, I can't die yet," Wang Wu said with a grin.

"How's the situation, Brother Wang Wu?" Tang Yunshan was the first to inquire.

Everyone else also looked at Wang Wu, waiting for the news he brought back.

Wang Wu's expression turned grave. "Behind us, there are four thousand elite Xiongnu cavalry. They're about thirty li away."

After hearing Wang Wu's words, everyone's expression grew solemn. Four thousand elite cavalry.

They had just over nine hundred men, with no chance of victory.

Unless Sheng Huai'an could break through to the Xiantian realm right now and fight a thousand men alone.

This was a gap in numbers and strength.

"How can we escape this Xiongnu cavalry's pursuit?!" Hu Bing said heavily.

"If we could make the hoof prints disappear, the Xiongnu cavalry wouldn't be able to find our tracks, and we could easily escape their pursuit," Hai Dahe suddenly said.

"Isn't that just stating the obvious? If you erase the hoof prints, naturally the Xiongnu cavalry won't be able to track us. But how to make the hoof prints disappear, that's the real issue," Tang Yunshan said irritably.

"If I knew how, I would have said so already," Hai Dahe retorted, rolling his eyes at Tang Yunshan.

Their bickering reminded Sheng Huai'an. Right, if the hoof prints disappeared, wouldn't the Xiongnu cavalry lose their target?

"Did we get any leather or cloth from the supplies we captured?" Sheng Huai'an asked.

"Battalion Commander Sheng, what do you need leather for?" Guo Xiaoping inquired.

No one knew why Sheng Huai'an suddenly wanted leather.

"I have a great use for it. If we have it, fetch it quickly."

Tang Yunshan scratched his somewhat disheveled hair. "Battalion Commander, the supplies we captured and took with us were all food, weapons, and the like. No leather."

Sheng Huai'an looked at Tang Yunshan. A gentle breeze stirred Tang Yunshan's battle robe.

Tang Yunshan felt a chill as Sheng Huai'an stared at him intently.

"Battalion... Battalion Commander, I... I haven't done anything wrong, have I?" He couldn't help but swallow.

"Take off your clothes."

"What?"

Tang Yunshan was stunned. It was still daytime.

Wait, he wasn't into that sort of thing.

The others also looked at Sheng Huai'an in astonishment.

"Uh, well, Battalion Commander, I... I don't have that kind of hobby," Tang Yunshan said, terrified.

"Do you want to die? I mean take off your battle robe," Sheng Huai'an said, his face darkening.

"Oh, oh, you want the battle robe? You scared me to death." Tang Yunshan was extremely startled.

If Sheng Huai'an had forced him, he feared his reputation would be ruined. Fortunately, Sheng Huai'an didn't mean it that way.

Tang Yunshan quickly unfastened his battle robe and handed it to Sheng Huai'an.

"What do you need this battle robe for?" Wang Wu and the others were baffled, not understanding why Sheng Huai'an wanted Tang Yunshan's battle robe.

"I have a use for it!"

Sheng Huai'an didn't explain. Instead, he tore the battle robe into several pieces and used them to wrap the horses' hooves.

After wrapping the hooves, Sheng Huai'an rode his warhorse in a circle. The hoof prints left on the grass were much smaller and would disappear soon.

The crowd watched this scene, their eyes wide. It could be done like this?!

Guo Xiaoping and the others felt like they had learned something new today.

"Wrap all the horse hooves with cloth, quickly!" Seeing that it seemed to work, Sheng Huai'an immediately ordered.

Soon, his soldiers all took off their battle robes or used tent fabric to wrap their hooves.

After wrapping their hooves, they left the area. The traces left on the ground became indistinguishable after a short while.

When the Xiongnu cavalry arrived here, they saw signs of their encampment but couldn't find the direction they had left.

"Report, Commander. The tracks disappear here. We can't find any trace of the enemy's departure."

"What's going on? The tracks have vanished!" Upon hearing the report from his subordinate, Tuoba Tao frowned. This was not good news.

"The other party clearly camped here, but there are no departing hoof prints," the subordinate reported.

"Could these people burrow into the ground?"

Hu Nanlei was furious. Without tracks to follow, finding a group of people on this vast grassland was like searching for a needle in a haystack.

"Search, split up and search. Dig three feet deep if you have to, but find them," Tuoba Tao said, unwilling to give up.

"Alright, split up. Use the scout eagles to communicate. Once you find any trace of the enemy, contact us immediately. We'll surround them even if we have to." Hu Nanlei agreed.

If they returned empty-handed, their commander would be finished.

Sheng Huai'an's unit's sudden disappearance caught Tuoba Tao and Hu Nanlei off guard.

To find Sheng Huai'an's unit, they had no choice but to split their forces again.