A Frenzied Release

When Xueya led three hundred warriors of the Wolf Tribe to the foot of High Pointed Mountain, a group of people had already gathered there—about three hundred people, men and women, mostly young and middle-aged women and teenagers, as well as some elderly people with gray hair but still quite agile. They huddled together, their eyes filled with fear and unease.

These people were "picked out" from the small tribes that the Wolf Tribe had coerced last year. Duzhu was very efficient; before Xueya and the others went down the mountain, he had already sent people to assemble this group of "logistics personnel".

Xueya, riding on his ponies, surveyed the group from above. His gaze was icy and devoid of warmth. In his eyes, these people were nothing more than walking tools, livestock used to carry spoils and perform chores.

"You, come here." Xueya pointed to an elderly man in front of the crowd who looked fairly clever and agile.

The old man trotted over tremblingly, his back bent so low it almost touched the ground. "Blood... Xueya Leader..."

What's your name?

"Reporting to the chief, my name is... my name is Xizhi, and I am... I was originally from the White Skin Tribe."

"Xizhi," Xueya's voice was calm, yet carried an undeniable command, "These people are under your command. You lead the others and follow them slowly. We'll leave a few men behind to guide you. Remember, don't even think about running away."

He pulled a piece of dry, hard jerky from his pocket and tossed it at the foot of the Xizhi: "This is a reward for you. If you do a good job, you'll get meat; if you mess it up..."

Xueya didn't finish his sentence; he simply drew the bone knife from his waist and patted it lightly twice in his palm.

Xizhi trembled with fear and nodded repeatedly, "Understood! Understood! I will definitely keep an eye on them!"

Xueya ignored him, turned his horse around, and waved to the warriors behind him. "Let's go!"

Three hundred warriors followed him, marching swiftly northward. Their pace was rapid, their goal clear: they had to obtain food in the shortest possible time, or the Wolf Tribe would not survive the winter.

Only after the Wolf Tribe members had gone far away did Xizhi dare to pick up the dried meat from the ground. He carefully patted off the dust, broke off a small piece and put it in his mouth, then stuffed the rest into his pocket. He turned and shouted to the terrified group, "Did you all hear that? We'll follow behind! Nobody fall behind, nobody runs away! Anyone who runs will be caught, and you know what will happen to them!"

A few suppressed sobs rose from the crowd, but no one dared to resist. Xizhi sighed and began to organize the people into a loose line. Several warriors left behind by the Wolf Tribe rode on horseback, patrolling the sides of the line with wary eyes. The line began to move slowly northward. They moved very slowly because they had to carry some heavy supplies that the Wolf Tribe could not take with them—animal skin tents, rough pottery pots and pans, spare weapons, and so on.

At this moment, Xueya had led the main force for three days. The Horse Tribe was about fifteen sunsets' journey (about fifteen days) north of the Wolf Tribe. Last year, the Wolf Tribe had been too aggressive in the west, causing all the small tribes within the three sunset ranges to flee—either into the deep mountains or to seek refuge with tribes further north.

But Xueya wasn't worried. He had already sent out scouts to scout the area. These scouts were all seasoned veterans skilled in stealth and tracking. They wandered like ghosts through the northern mountains and valleys, searching for targets to take action against. After traveling north for another sunset (a day), Xueya led his men to a secluded Little Mountain at dusk.

"This is it." Xueya reined in his horse and pointed to the entrance of the valley. "The Tree Bark Tribe, about two hundred people, make a living by growing rice and raising a small number of livestock, with about forty able-bodied men."

He said to Shichui, Duyan, and Yexiao beside him, "The scouts report that this tribe is very well-hidden. They think they're safe hiding here. They go to bed early and get up early. We won't attack now. Let's find a place to rest and make our move when it's almost dawn."

"Understood!" the three replied in unison.

The Wolf Tribe warriors found a secluded woodland outside the valley to rest. They took out the food they carried with them—rice balls made of rice and wild vegetables, and dried beef strips—and ate them silently with the cold water from their leather bags.

No one spoke. Everyone knew that blood would be drawn again early tomorrow morning. After eating, Xueya told everyone to take turns resting. He leaned against a big tree, closing his eyes to rest, but his ears were always perked up, listening to the sounds around him.

The people of the Tree Bark Tribe in the valley knew nothing of this. As usual, they went to bed soon after dark—they had to get up early to work in the fields the next day and needed to be well-rested. The entire valley fell into silence, with only the chirping of insects and the occasional call of birds.

Xueya opened his eyes, glanced at the sky; the moon was already setting in the west, and dawn would break in two hours. He stood up, stretched his stiff limbs, and the surrounding soldiers gradually woke up, beginning to check their weapons and organize their equipment.

No one spoke, but a suppressed killing intent filled the air. As dawn broke on the horizon, Xueya gave the order.

"Shichui, you take fifty men and circle around to the west side of the valley."

"Duyan, you take fifty men and circle around to the east side."

"Yexiao, take fifty men and block their retreat."

The three men accepted the order and silently disappeared into the morning mist with their respective groups. Xueya led the remaining hundred-plus men, slowly approaching the entrance to the valley. They walked slowly, trying not to make a sound. Their feet made a slight "rustling" sound on the fallen leaves, but in the morning breeze, the sound was almost inaudible.

The camp of the Tree Bark Tribe was in sight. Dozens of simple thatched huts were scattered across the valley floor, with a few slightly larger wooden houses in the middle, presumably where the chief and elders lived. In the open space in the center of the camp, the ashes of last night's campfire still lingered. Everything was quiet, and most people were still asleep.

Xueya drew his bone knife and raised it high.

"Kill!"

A loud shout shattered the morning tranquility. The Wolf Tribe warriors, like hungry wolves unleashed from their cages, charged madly towards the camp. Their footsteps and battle cries instantly awakened the entire valley.

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"

Finally, some people in the Tree Bark Tribe reacted and cried out in terror, but it was too late. The Wolf Tribe warriors rushed into the hut and hacked at anyone they saw. Many Tree Bark Tribe members had just woken up from their sleep and hadn't even had time to pick up their weapons before they were cut down to the ground.

Forty or so able-bodied young men hastily accepted the challenge, but outnumbered, poorly equipped, and unprepared, they were no match for the blood-soaked warriors of the Wolf Tribe. The battle was almost entirely a one-sided massacre.

Xueya didn't personally join the battle. He rode on his horse, calmly observing the situation. He saw Shichui charge in from the west, splitting the head of a young man who tried to resist open with an axe; he saw Duyan leading his men in pursuit from the east; and he saw Yexiao intercepting those trying to escape from the rear.

The resistance of the Tree Bark Tribe was quickly crushed. The remaining elderly, children, and women huddled together in terror, their cries and pleas filling the air. But the Wolf Tribe warriors did not stop; they had been suppressing their anger for too long and needed a complete frenzy to vent their frustration.

Children were hacked down, old people were stabbed, and young women were dragged out to become the objects of the Wolf Tribe warriors' lust. The entire camp turned into a living hell, with screams, cries, and savage laughter mingling together. Xueya watched all this indifferently, not stopping it, but instead feeling a morbid satisfaction.

The Wolf Tribe needed this frenzied and bloody victory to rekindle the almost extinguished flames of savagery in the warriors' hearts, and this unbridled slaughter to tell everyone—the wolf is not dead.

In one morning, of the more than two hundred people in the Tree Bark Tribe, except for a few dozen young women who were left behind, the rest were all corpses. Xueya ordered the corpses to be piled up, doused with animal oil plundered from the Tree Bark Tribe, piled with firewood, and burned. Thick smoke rose into the sky, spreading through the early morning air and emitting a nauseating stench of burning.

The warriors of the Wolf Tribe sat around the center of the camp, laughing and sharing the food they had plundered—rice that the Tree Bark Tribe had just harvested. They themselves couldn't bear to eat much of it, and now it was all going to these bandits. Xueya also sat by the fire, slowly gnawing on a piece of roasted beast meat. He looked at the warriors around him, their faces covered in blood and their eyes filled with fanaticism, and nodded to himself.

Morale returned, and that familiar, terrifying killing intent returned to the Wolf Tribe. At dusk, Xizhi arrived with the three hundred support personnel. When they saw the horrific state of the camp and smelled the heavy stench of blood and burning in the air, many of them vomited.

Xizhi, suppressing his fear, directed the men to begin their work—collecting spoils, moving food, and dealing with the abducted women. They worked with extraordinary diligence, afraid of angering these killing gods. After Xueya finished eating, he summoned Duyan, Shichui, and Yexiao to the largest wooden hut—the former residence of the Tree Bark Tribe chief, now serving as his temporary command post.

When the three entered, their faces were flushed with excitement, especially Shichui, who had been the most ferocious and had vented his frustrations the most that day, and was now in a state of high excitement.

"Sit." Xueya pointed to the animal skin cushion on the ground.

After the three sat down, Xueya spoke up, "The brothers are in high spirits right now, it's a good time to strike while the iron is hot, but it's too inefficient for us to be together."

He stood up and walked to the wall—where hung a simple animal hide map, drawn by the Wolf Tribe's scouts after their recent reconnaissance, marking the locations of more than a dozen small tribes to the north.

"Look," Xueya pointed to the map, "Within three or four sunset zones around here, there are more than a dozen small tribes. The largest has a maximum of four hundred people, and the smallest has one or two hundred. Most of them make a living by farming and animal husbandry, and there are about four hundred able-bodied men in total."

He turned around and looked at the three men. "I plan to split up. We'll split into three groups. Yexiao will lead a hundred men, Shichui and Duyan will each lead a hundred men, and I'll lead a hundred men myself. We'll go our separate ways and bring out the able-bodied men from these small tribes."

Yexiao frowned. "Splitting up? What if we run into a tough opponent..."

"No," Xueya interrupted him. "I've sent people to scout these tribes. There are at most eighty able-bodied men, and their equipment is poor. A hundred of us will be enough to handle them."

He paused, then continued, "Our mission isn't to slaughter, it's to coerce them. We'll capture their able-bodied men, control their leaders' families, and force them to work for us. Once their hands are stained with blood, there'll be no turning back."

The Duyan chuckled maliciously, "That's a good trick. We did it the same way last year, and it worked very well."

"Yes." Xueya nodded. "Once we have six or seven hundred men, even if the Horse Tribe discovers us, they won't be able to do anything to us unless they unite with other tribes to attack, but by then we'll have already retreated."

He walked up to the three men, his eyes sharp. "Remember, the purpose of this operation is to Dali, not to fight to the death. If we encounter resistance, try to use methods like surprise attacks and night raids to minimize losses. These tribes are farmers and livestock breeders, not just herders. We can bring them all back to the foot of High Pointed Mountain to increase our labor force."

Shichui patted his chest. "Don't worry, Chief! I'm good at this!"

Xueya glanced at him. "Shichui, I know you're brave, but this time you need to use your brain, don't act recklessly, and discuss things with Duyan!"

"Understood!" Although Shichui agreed verbally, the excitement in his eyes did not diminish in the slightest.

Xueya went over some more details, then pointed to a marked point on the map. "Five days from now, we'll meet at the old site of the Niujiao Tribe. First, gather the able-bodied men from those smaller tribes and take them to 'practice.' As for the rest of those tribes, leave them near the original camp for now, and we'll relocate them all back to the foot of High Pointed Mountain when we return."

"Yes!" the three answered in unison.

"Go ahead, get ready, we'll split up and leave first thing tomorrow morning."

After the three left, Xueya stood alone in the cabin. He walked to the window and looked at the darkening sky outside. In the camp, the warriors of the Wolf Tribe were still celebrating. They were gathered around the campfire, drinking heavily (fruit wine scavenged from the Tree Bark Tribe), laughing and talking loudly, completely immersed in the pleasure brought by this bloody victory.

The abducted women of the Tree Bark Tribe were locked in several thatched huts, from which suppressed sobs could be heard from time to time. Xueya watched all this expressionlessly. He knew that there was no turning back on this path. The Wolf Tribe would either grow stronger in madness or perish in madness.

But no matter what, he was going to take the gamble, for the tribe he had painstakingly built up over the past decade, for the brothers who followed him, and for... the ambition in his heart that refused to be extinguished.