He headed north from Jade Gate Pass.
At dawn, a lone rider galloped onward.
He wore a bamboo hat and was dressed as a traveling merchant, with an Embroidered Spring Saber hanging beside his horse's belly.
Though he followed secluded trails, more than twenty Tatars were stationed beside the lake ahead, each clad in heavy armor, Wolf Banners fluttering above their horses.
"Hyah!"
The Tatars reacted swiftly, spurring their horses in pursuit.
With war raging, what merchant would be traveling here?
He had to be a covert scout!
Twenty-seven heavily armored cavalrymen surrounded him.
Rather than flee, the rider leaped off his horse and smoothly drew his Embroidered Spring Saber.
A cup of tea's time later, twenty-seven headless corpses lay on the ground.
Jia Huan wiped the blood from his clothes, chose a fine horse, and continued on his way.
He had not used any inner qi.
Until he reached the military camp, he would preserve his strength as fully as possible!
He rode hard, urging his horse onward. Every ten li, he encountered Tatar armored cavalry, killing and changing horses all along the way.
At last, night fell, and the steppe's chill pierced to the bone.
Jia Huan tethered his horse to a boulder, changed into black robes, and slipped through the darkness along the route shown on the military map.
After walking six li and silently eliminating the scouts, he finally saw the endless stretch of tents. The golden pavilion at their center housed the prince of Northern Mang.
Banners and bonfires stood everywhere. Several thousand armored elites surrounded the tents, dozens of messenger pigeons soared through the night sky, and officers paced back and forth at every camp gate.
Even near midnight, it remained this way.
Jia Huan's gaze was as keen as a hawk's. After a