After shaking off their pursuers, Sheng Huai'an's unit did not linger on the grasslands. Instead, they entered a small desert and hid within it.
"Pah, this sandstorm is fierce!" Tang Yunshan spat out the sand that had blown into his mouth.
"This damned place isn't fit for people to stay in." Hai Dahe felt that if he was not careful, he would get a mouthful of sand.
By hiding in the desert, they made their traces vanish even more completely.
They had brought sufficient food and water, so they stayed in the desert for an entire day.
They did not emerge until the next day.
Once they left the desert, everyone looked over the grasslands and felt that the grasslands were better after all—full of life.
"Battalion Commander, what should we do now?" Guo Xiaoping asked as he looked at Sheng Huai'an.
Unable to attack the Xiongnu army's supply and grain transport units, they had lost their purpose for fighting on the grasslands.
"I don't want to slink back in disgrace. If we can't attack their supply and grain units, can't we attack those small tribes?" Sheng Huai'an had no intention of returning to Anning Pass to help defend the city now.
"Move out. Our target has changed. We'll target small Xiongnu tribes. Kill all their able-bodied men, burn all their food supplies, and make sure these Xiongnu don't have an easy winter."
After changing their target, they resumed wandering the grasslands. Whenever they saw a small Xiongnu tribe, they struck with an iron fist.
They killed all able-bodied men and every male taller than a cartwheel, burned the grain, and drove off and scattered the cattle, sheep, and horses.
In a single day, they swept through over twenty small Xiongnu tribes.
A thousand-man unit of Xiongnu Cavalry discovered that these small tribes had been raided and immediately found Sheng Huai'an's unit's trail.
After sending word, the commander leading them took his troops in pursuit.
Early the next morning, as Sheng Huai'an and the others assaulted a tribe of over a thousand people, a unit of Xiongnu Cavalry hurried over.
Seeing Sheng Huai'an's unit slaughtering people within the tribe, the Xiongnu commander was furious and immediately ordered his troops to charge.
With over a thousand cavalrymen suddenly appearing, Sheng Huai'an and the others naturally spotted them.
Seeing that the other side had only around a thousand riders, Sheng Huai'an immediately ordered his troops to form up and prepare a countercharge.
They could not handle the main force of the Xiongnu Cavalry, but against a thousand riders, they were confident they could wipe them out.
"Kill!"
"Charge!"
There were no wasted words, only the thunderous rumble of charging hooves echoing across the grasslands.
Among this unit of Xiongnu Cavalry, the commander was an early Houtian expert.
The moment the charge began, Sheng Huai'an locked onto him. The Xiongnu commander had the same intention and fixed his gaze on Sheng Huai'an.
Then, he completely underestimated Sheng Huai'an's strength.
The instant they collided, he was defeated.
"Sshk!"
That early Houtian Xiongnu warrior could not even withstand a single strike from Sheng Huai'an. His chest was pierced through by a spear, and he was lifted high into the air.
With a powerful fling, Sheng Huai'an hurled the corpse into the charging Xiongnu Cavalry.
"Kill!"
After killing the Xiongnu commander with one spear, Sheng Huai'an charged fiercely into the oncoming Xiongnu Cavalry.
The Overlord Spear Technique in his hands swept across the four directions and six bounds, ceaselessly harvesting the lives of Xiongnu cavalrymen.
Like an unrivaled heavenly god, he led his subordinates through the Xiongnu Cavalry.
Their commander had been slain at the very start, and the Xiongnu Cavalry was horrified. Their momentum plummeted sharply.
Sheng Huai'an, like a god of slaughter, terrified the Xiongnu Cavalry so badly that they could not summon any will to resist.
Quite a few Xiongnu soldiers turned their horses around and fled.
Yet they were still caught up to and slaughtered to the last man.
When facing the Xiongnu Cavalry's main force, they avoided its edge. When they encountered smaller Xiongnu cavalry units, they launched powerful attacks.
They took all useful supplies—tents, grain, water, meat, horses, and more—then swiftly left the battlefield.
By the time the main Xiongnu cavalry force arrived, all that remained was a devastated tribe and a battlefield littered with corpses.
Tuoba Tao was furious as he looked at the bodies scattered everywhere.
"Ah... Damn Wei rats! If you have the guts, come out and fight a decisive battle!"
Hu Nanlei looked at the weeping married women and young women in the small tribe, as well as the able-bodied men who had all been slaughtered. He clenched his fists so tightly that veins bulged across his face.
"If I do not kill them, I, Hu Nanlei, swear I am not human."
"Pursue them! Even if we must chase them to the ends of the earth, we must find these Wei rats."
After losing a thousand riders, they had only three thousand cavalrymen left.
Having won a battle, Sheng Huai'an led his subordinates away. Whenever they encountered small tribes along the way, they raised their butcher's knives and killed their way in.
Wherever they passed, those small Xiongnu tribes were left with only the old, the weak, women, and children.
When word spread that cruel Wei iron cavalry had entered the grasslands and were specifically slaughtering small tribes, many small tribes were thrown into panic.
Upon hearing this, some medium-sized and large tribes also sent cavalrymen to join the campaign against Sheng Huai'an's unit.
Whenever they encountered small Xiongnu cavalry units, Sheng Huai'an and his men struck forcefully and killed them.
Whenever they encountered large Xiongnu cavalry forces, they ran, fleeing without a trace and refusing to engage the Xiongnu Cavalry at all.
Sheng Huai'an had perfected guerrilla warfare. They came and went across the grasslands like ghosts.
When the Left Virtuous King discovered that Anning Pass's iron cavalry, wandering the grasslands, had not been wiped out and were instead slaughtering small tribes without restraint, he was so enraged that smoke nearly poured from his seven orifices.
He immediately ordered every tribe under his command to send troops to join the encirclement.
Over several days, Sheng Huai'an led his men to wipe out forty or fifty small tribes and destroy over a thousand Xiongnu riders from smaller cavalry units.
Then, they were chased into the desert by a five-thousand-strong Xiongnu cavalry army.
That five-thousand-man Xiongnu Cavalry force followed them into the desert, but soon lost Sheng Huai'an's unit.
Using the Hoofprint Vanishing Technique once more, they shook off their pursuers. After spending a day crossing two hundred li of desert, they reached another stretch of grassland.
After resting briefly, Sheng Huai'an led the troops into action again, specifically targeting small Xiongnu tribes incapable of resisting.
When the news reached the encircling Xiongnu army and they rushed over, Sheng Huai'an's unit had long since fled far away without a trace.
"Damn it, are these people ghosts?"
"Find them! We must find them!"
"If we do not eliminate this unit, we will lose all face."
The Xiongnu commanders from every force participating in the encirclement were furious, yet helpless.
They could not catch even the tail of Sheng Huai'an and the others. They could only be led around by the nose.
While the various Xiongnu cavalry forces searched for Sheng Huai'an and his men, they were currently hiding in a small mountain range.
At that moment, Sheng Huai'an and the others were cooking beef and mutton.
On the grasslands, they could eat so much beef and mutton that they would practically vomit from it.
"Battalion Commander, more and more Xiongnu cavalrymen are joining the encirclement against us," Tang Yunshan said.
"I feel like we've stirred up a hornet's nest."
"This feeling of dancing on a blade's edge is too thrilling." Hu Bing gnawed on a lamb leg as he spoke.
Over the past two days, they had encountered several large Xiongnu cavalry forces. Had they not wrapped cloth around their horses' hooves and used the Hoofprint Vanishing Technique, they would likely have been caught long ago.
"This place is relatively safe for now. We'll hide here for two days first," Sheng Huai'an said.
With so many tribes sending troops to join the encirclement, the enemies they faced were growing ever more numerous. They could only avoid the sharp edge for now.
"I wonder how things are at Anning Pass!" Guo Xiaoping said with some concern.
They might be causing a great ruckus on the grasslands, but they had failed to cut off the Xiongnu food supplies. The Xiongnu army was probably still attacking the pass.
"Trust General Yang Ye and the others. Anning Pass will definitely hold," Sheng Huai'an said.
He was the commander of this unit. He could not say anything discouraging, as it would affect morale and fighting spirit.
"Not being able to drink is miserable. With so much beef and mutton, only wine makes it truly enjoyable." Wang Wu took huge bites out of a rack of lamb.
If they had wine to go with it, life would be far too wonderful.
"Endure it. Once we're back, I'll treat you all to three days and three nights of drinking," Sheng Huai'an said with a smile.
Everyone ate meat and chatted, while the entire camp filled with the rich aroma of meat.
After night fell, Sheng Huai'an began meditating and cultivating.
During these days of fighting from place to place, he had killed quite a few enemies. His Slaughter Value had already accumulated to over three thousand six hundred.
Several days had passed since he last raised his cultivation, and Sheng Huai'an intended to raise his cultivation realm once more.
The enemy forces they faced were growing ever more numerous. With his cultivation too low, he did not feel safe.
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