Liu Cheng returned to Yingchuan seven days later.
It was not that he had failed to push himself hard enough on the return journey. On the way, he had run into some of the Imperial Army's "strength" preserved through his own efforts-Liu Shi, General Who Sweeps Across the Wilderness, had indeed saved a large quantity of supplies and many civilian laborers, but the narrowness of the Ying River, combined with fear of possible attacks by fortified manors and marauding troops, had left them bottlenecked along the stretch between Nandun and Xiang County.
There were temporary ferry landings and supply depots there, prepared during the earlier stay of Xie Shang's Western Pacification Traveling Secretariat, where they could rest briefly.
Yao, Liu, and Yuan persuaded Liu Shi to join them with scarcely the effort of blowing away dust... After his defeat at Huanyuan Pass, he had lost everything. Even his chance to salvage some supplies had come from Liu Cheng and Yuan Hong. Now those two had brought legitimate authorization from Xie Shang and an opportunity to counterattack. Never mind that the plan was feasible-even if it were not, he would have tried it.
Thus the Great Chanyu of the Qiang, his heart burning with anxiety, went on ahead, while Liu Cheng and Yuan Hong caught their breath with Liu Shi, who had joined them with abundant supplies and some civilian laborers. They planned and arranged the order in which some supplies would turn north before setting out.
Farther north, officers of the same Liu lineage dispatched by Liu Huzi arrived. Once the two parties met, everyone, from Liu Cheng to Liu Shi and Yuan Hong, felt a weight lift from their shoulders. Just as Liu Acheng had judged earlier, the Di main force had not crossed the river but had gone