Frenzied Plundering

As dawn broke, Xueya opened his eyes. He didn't get up immediately, but lay on the animal skin blanket, quietly listening to the sounds in the camp. After a day of cleaning, the smell of blood in the Green Vine Tribe camp had faded considerably, replaced by the aroma of roasted meat, the snoring of the warriors, and the suppressed sobs of the young women locked in the straw huts.

"Chief," a guard approached and reported in a low voice, "Our wounded soldiers and young women have been settled, and the captured supplies have been organized. We can set off as soon as the logistics team arrives."

When will the logistics team arrive?

The scout reports that it will be noon at the latest.

Xueya nodded. He got up and walked to the open space in the center of the camp, where more than 900 warriors had woken up one after another and were organizing their equipment. The veterans of the Wolf Tribe were skilled and quickly put on their leather armor and tightened their belts. The newly recruited young men—who could no longer be called "new recruits"—had become much more agile after several days of continuous fighting and bloodshed. Xueya's gaze swept across their faces.

He saw a young man from the Charcoal Fire Tribe named Tansheng. This young man, who had been working diligently in the Charcoal Fire Tribe just a few days ago, was now squatting on the ground, carefully wiping the bloodstains on his bone knife with a piece of coarse linen. His movements were slow and focused, and his eyes were so calm that they sent chills down one's spine.

He saw a young man from the Firewood Tribe named Chai Dao, who had been rewarded with a woman from the Green Vine Tribe for his "bravery" in the first massacre. At that moment, he was chewing on dried meat, licking his lips from time to time, his eyes gleaming with a satisfied and greedy light.

He also saw many other people. Just a few days ago, these people were honest and law-abiding farmers, hunters, and craftsmen. Now, their eyes held something unique to the veterans of the Wolf Tribe —a numbness to bloodshed, a thirst for violence, and contempt for the weak.

"Very good." Xueya nodded inwardly.

"Assemble!" he commanded in a deep voice.

More than 900 soldiers quickly assembled, Xueya mounted his captured black ponies and slowly walked to the front of the column.

"Today, we're going to attack the Small Tree Vine Tribe." His voice wasn't loud, but it was exceptionally clear in the quiet camp. "It's about a sunset's journey from here. Five hundred men, one hundred able-bodied men, and sixty or seventy horses."

He paused, his gaze sweeping across each person's face. "You did a great job yesterday. Continue today."

No one spoke, but Xueya could sense that the murderous aura within the group had intensified.

"Set off!"

The group of over nine hundred people left the Green Vine Tribe camp and headed towards their next destination. This time, they did not take the wounded or prisoners with them. Dozens of seriously wounded soldiers stayed behind to guard the supplies and the dozens of young women, awaiting the arrival of the logistics personnel.

The column moved quickly. After several days of continuous fighting, the young men had fully adapted to this high-intensity march. They followed behind the veterans with steady steps and sharp eyes, no longer showing the initial fear and fatigue. Xueya rode at the head of the column, with Shichui, Duyan, and Yexiao, the three leaders, and more than thirty elite cavalrymen beside him.

"The scout reports," Yexiao Owl said in a low voice as he rode closer, "The Small Tree Vine Tribe hasn't detected our movements. They were grazing their livestock as usual yesterday, without increasing their vigilance."

"Okay." Xueya nodded.

The Yexiao continued, "The Small Tree Vine Tribe is only a day's journey from Qingteng."

"Then we need to speed things up," Xueya said. "We must reach the vicinity of the Small Tree Vine Tribe before nightfall today, and launch our attack before dawn tomorrow to take them down in one fell swoop."

The Yexiao said no more. The sun slowly moved westward, and the group traveled through the mountains and fields without stopping. As darkness fell, the camp of the Small Tree Vine Tribe came into view of the Wolf Tribe. It was a tribe built by a small river. The camp was smaller than that of the Qingteng, and the wooden fence was also shorter.

"Stop," Xueya ordered.

The group of over nine hundred people silently disappeared into a Mulin next to the camp. As was customary, no fires were allowed, and no noise was permitted. Everyone rested on the spot, ate dry rations, and waited for dawn. Xueya leaned against a crooked tree, slowly chewing on a piece of dry, hard jerky. He didn't sleep, but instead repeatedly rehearsed tomorrow's battle in his mind.

The Small Tree Vine Tribe, with five hundred people, including a little over a hundred able-bodied men and sixty or seventy horses, was not much of a threat to the current Wolf Tribe. The key was to be fast and ruthless, and not let a single person escape. He finished his dried meat, drank some water, and closed his eyes. As dawn approached, Xueya opened his eyes.

"Stand up."

More than nine hundred warriors emerged from the ground like ghosts, silently donning their armor and gripping their swords. Yexiao led all the cavalry to disperse to the perimeter of the camp, forming an encirclement. Duyan led one hundred men to control the stables, Shichui led three hundred men for the main attack from the front, and Xueya led the rest as a reserve force.

Once the deployment was complete, Xueya pulled out the Niujiao horn.

"Waaah--"

The sound of bugles broke the dawn.

"Kill!"

As usual, Shichui was the first to rush out, leading his men to smash open the camp gate.

"Open it!"

With a series of fierce ramming attacks, the camp gate collapsed with a crash, and the Wolf Tribe warriors surged into the camp like a tidal wave. The people of the Small Tree Vine Tribe were awakened from their sleep. They hastily engaged in battle, but a hundred able-bodied men were no match for the frontal assault of more than three hundred. The battle lasted less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn. When the last able-bodied man who put up a fight was cut down, the old, weak, women, and children of the Small Tree Vine Tribe were driven to the center of the camp, kneeling on the ground like livestock, trembling with fear.

Xueya rode slowly into the camp. He glanced at the terrified faces and said calmly:

"Young woman, pick her out."

Dozens of young women were dragged out, their cries and pleas for mercy rising and falling. Xueya ignored them and turned to look at the young men who had been abducted.

"Let's do it."

This time, no one hesitated. Tansheng from the Charcoal Fire Tribe was the first to rush into the crowd. His bone knife accurately pierced an old man's chest, then he quickly pulled it out and turned to slash at another middle-aged woman. His movements were swift and decisive, his face expressionless, and his eyes terrifyingly calm. The Chai Dao followed closely behind. He used a Shifu seized from the Green Vine Tribe, and each strike was both fierce and precise. Blood splattered on his face, but he didn't flinch; instead, he stuck out his tongue and licked it. The other young men also rushed forward.

In the short time it takes for an incense stick to burn, more than three hundred corpses lay strewn on the ground. The air was thick with the stench of blood, which, mixed with the morning mist, formed a nauseating, viscous substance. Xueya nodded in satisfaction. These young men had completely transformed. They were no longer the terrified prisoners they had been a few days ago, but true warriors of the Wolf Tribe.

"Inventory the supplies."

The spoils were quickly inventoried.

Horses: More than sixty adult ponies.

Grain: More than 40,000 jin of rice.

Livestock: more than 600 sheep, more than a dozen cattle, and more than a dozen pigs.

Weapons: Several Shimao and bone knives.

Xueya did a quick mental calculation.

With these sixty-odd horses, the Wolf Tribe's cavalry force had reached approximately four hundred men. Four hundred cavalrymen! This number made his heart race and his breathing quicken. Four hundred cavalrymen, coupled with these infantrymen, meant that the Wolf Tribe was a force capable of rivaling any medium-sized tribe in this land.

"Chief!" Shichui ran over excitedly, his face beaming. "We now have four hundred cavalry! Four hundred! If this were last year..."

He paused, not continuing, "Last autumn, at its peak, the Wolf Tribe had only a little over a hundred horses."

"Not enough." Xueya suppressed his excitement and said calmly, "More is needed."

He ordered, "Eat as much as you want at noon, and as much as you want in the evening! Enough meat, enough to eat!"

A deafening cheer erupted in the camp. The warriors who had been as calm as butchers during the slaughter were now sitting around the campfire, eating, drinking, and laughing wildly. They boasted to each other about how many people they had killed and how much they had looted that day, their voices growing louder and their expressions more and more excited.

Tansheng sat in a corner, slowly gnawing on a leg of lamb. His eyes remained calm, but his hand holding the lamb leg trembled slightly—not from fear, but from excitement. He also wielded the Chai Dao with great pleasure. He embraced a young woman who had just been given to him as a reward and boasted loudly about how he had cleaved the heads of two enemies with a single axe blow that day.

As Xueya watched all this, a strange sense of satisfaction welled up inside him. The Wolf Tribe had finally come back to life. No, they were stronger than before! Early the next morning, Xueya left behind a few dozen wounded soldiers to wait for the logistics team to arrive so they could escort the supplies and prisoners back to High Pointed Mountain. He himself led the remaining nine hundred or so men and continued north.

Their next target: the Great Grass Vine Tribe.

The scouts reported that the tribe had over 800 people, with about 160 able-bodied men and over 100 ponies. Moreover, the tribe was very vigilant, and the wooden fence around their camp was taller and thicker than that of the Green Vine Tribe.

"It won't be easy to wipe them all out." Yexiao looked at Xueya, hesitating to speak.

"We have to fight, even if it's tough," Xueya said. "We need their horses."

A group of about nine hundred people marched toward the Great Grass Vine Tribe under the midday sun. As the sun set, the Great Grass Vine Tribe's camp came into view. Xueya carefully observed the camp. Indeed, the defenses here were much stronger than those of the previous tribes. The wooden fences were at least two people high, and there were watchtowers at intervals. Shallow ditches were also dug around the camp.

Moreover, he noticed that the people in the camp were not sleeping peacefully like other tribes; some were patrolling behind the fence, others were looking out from high places, and the entire camp was on high alert.

"They may have already heard the news," Yexiao whispered.

Xueya remained silent for a moment.

"No attack tonight," he said. "We'll make our move before dawn, following the usual procedure."

The Wolf Tribe about nine hundred people hid and rested in a grove of trees near the Great Grass Vine camp. That night, Xueya did not sleep. He lay on the cold ground, staring at the dark night sky with his eyes open. A strange anxiety surged in his chest—not fear, but some kind of inexplicable premonition.

Will the Great Grass Vine Tribe be so easily taken down?

As dawn approached, he stopped thinking about it.

"Stand up."

Around nine hundred men stealthily made their way to the Great Grass Vine camp. Yexiao led the cavalry to disperse and encircle them, Duyan led his men to charge towards the stables, and Shichui led his men to launch the main attack from the front.

Everything was the same as usual, but this time, it was different. When the Shichui smashed through the wooden fence and the Wolf Tribe warriors poured into the camp, the people of the Great Grass Vine Tribe did not panic like the tribes before them.

"Kill!" Shichui Shifu and felled a strong young man who was charging towards him.

"Chief!" A veteran of the Wolf Tribe ran over, his voice urgent, "We've succeeded at the stables! The Duyan chief says they've captured over eighty horses!"

"Over eighty?" Xueya frowned. "The scout said there are over a hundred here."

"There are still... dozens more that they've led to the back of the camp! Our men are intercepting them!"

Xueya's heart sank. Just then, a commotion suddenly arose from the west side of the camp.

Someone rode off on horseback!

Xueya turned his head sharply and saw that the wooden fence on the west side of the camp had been pushed open from the inside, and more than a dozen ponies rushed out. The riders on the horses lowered their bodies and whipped the horses desperately. Yexiao's cavalry immediately gave chase. Although most of them were intercepted, some horses were too fast and quickly broke out of the encirclement.

Xueya stared intently in that direction. He saw a burly middle-aged man riding the lead horse. As he galloped, the man glanced back at the camp, his eyes filled with resentment and hatred. Then, he and the three remaining cavalrymen disappeared into the northern morning mist.

"Chief," Yexiao Owl rode back, his face ashen, "Four have escaped, we can't catch them."

Xueya didn't get angry. He stood quietly in that direction for a very long time.

"Tengjiao," he said slowly, "The chief of the Great Grass Vine Tribe."

The Yexiao lowered its head. "It's our fault."

"It's not your fault." Xueya shook his head. "This tribe was prepared. They left their best horses behind for escape."

He paused, then said in a low voice, "The Horse Tribe will find out soon."

The battle at the camp continued. Although the able-bodied men of the Great Grass Vine Tribe fought desperately, they were no match for the Wolf Tribe. Half an hour later, the last fighter fell in a pool of blood.

What followed was the massacre. Xueya gave the order for the able-bodied men he had coerced to act. This time, no one hesitated, no one trembled, no one vomited. Their movements were swift and decisive, their eyes cold and numb. Hundreds of lives were lost within the time it takes for an incense stick to burn. Xueya watched this scene, but felt no joy.

Four people escaped, including the tribal chief. News of this will soon reach the Horse Tribe.

"Chief," Yexiao approached, "The inventory is complete. This time, we seized over ninety horses, over sixty thousand catties of grain, over a thousand sheep, and over thirty cattle and pigs each."

Xueya nodded.

"Send word," he said, "That the five tribes and a dozen smaller tribes should evacuate immediately."

He paused, then added, "Tell them that the Horse Tribe will soon retaliate. Those who don't want to die should take their food and families and head south to High Pointed Mountain."

"Yes!" Yexiao immediately went to make the arrangements.

Xueya added, "Half of the messengers were chosen from the most active young men we'd recently recruited. They'll tell us firsthand what we've robbed and how many people we've killed these past few days. The more exaggerated their stories, the faster those tribesmen will run."

Yexiao accepted the order and left. Xueya stood in the Great Grass Vine Tribe's camp, looking at the blood-soaked ground, the mountains of corpses, and the young women locked in the grass huts. He knew that from this moment on, the Wolf Tribe's "silence" had come to an end.

Every battle that followed would be against well-prepared enemies, and even against the cavalry of the Horse Tribe.

"Rest for the night," Xueya ordered. "Tomorrow morning, we'll move on to the next target."

"Still going to plunder?" Shichui's eyes widened.

"Yes," Xueya said, "Seize as much as we can before the Horse Tribe catches up."

Shichui opened his mouth but didn't say anything more. That night, there was no revelry in the camp. Although Xueya ordered everyone to eat and drink freely, the atmosphere was noticeably more subdued. Although the warriors were eating and drinking heartily, their voices were much lower and their laughter was much less. They all knew that the runaway leader would soon return with the Horse Tribe's cavalry.

Xueya sat alone by the largest campfire, slowly gnawing on a leg of lamb. The firelight illuminated his face, making the scar flicker like a lurking venomous snake.

"Leader." Yexiao walked over and sat down beside him.

Xueya remained silent.

"How many more do we... need to fight?"

"Three," Xueya said, "the Mound Earth Tribe, the Frog Marsh Tribe, and the Sparrow Nest Tribe, each with five hundred people and sixty or seventy horses."

The Yexiao remained silent for a moment.

"After taking down these three, our cavalry will have at least six hundred."

"Right."

Yexiao asked no more questions. The next morning, Xueya left behind dozens of wounded soldiers to wait for the logistics team to escort supplies and prisoners back south.

Then, he led the remaining eight hundred warriors northward. Over the next four days, the Wolf Tribe, like a ravenous wolf, pounced on three tribes in succession.

The Mound Earth Tribe has about 500 people, with about 110 able-bodied men and more than 60 horses.

The Frog Marsh Tribe has about 490 people, with over 90 able-bodied men and more than 50 horses.

The Sparrow Nest Tribe has about 530 people, with about 115 able-bodied men and about 70 horses.

In every battle, Xueya used the same tactics: a surprise attack before dawn, cavalry encirclement, infantry main attack, control of the stables, and then slaughter. But each battle was more difficult than the last. These tribes seemed to have heard the news. Some strengthened their defenses; some moved some of their horses elsewhere in advance; and others organized a breakout as soon as things went wrong, desperately running north.

Although Xueya sent men to try his best to surround them each time, some always managed to slip through the net. Three days later, when the Wolf Tribe captured their last target— the Sparrow Nest Tribe — Xueya knew that they could not continue.

"The nearby tribes have all fled," Yexiao reported. "Scouts report that the three northern tribes all withdrew overnight, taking food and livestock, heading towards the Horse Tribe. Further north, they'll enter the Horse Tribe's core sphere of influence!"

Xueya remained silent for a long time.

"That's enough," he said. "This haul will be enough to feed us for a long time."

He ordered that all the supplies that could be taken away be taken, all the horses that could be taken be taken, and all the young women that could be taken be taken as prisoners.

The force of over eight hundred men, carrying mountains of spoils, began their retreat southwards, while orders to retreat to the south were also being carried out.

The twenty-odd cavalrymen split up and headed towards five medium-sized tribes and a dozen or so small tribes.

One of the young men, named Chai Dao, riding a dwarf horse he had seized from the Great Grass Vine, was the first to charge into the Charcoal Fire Tribe's camp.

"The Horse Tribe is coming!" He dismounted and shouted to the chieftain who remained behind, "Chief Xueya orders an immediate retreat! Take food, your families, and everything else you can, and head towards High Pointed Mountain!"

The leader left behind was stunned. "So urgent?"

"No rush?" Chai Dao sneered, lifting his leather armor to reveal a blood-stained linen garment underneath. "Look at this blood. It's from the Green Vine Tribe! From the Great Grass Vine Tribe! Do you know how many people we've killed and how much we've looted these past few days?"

He spoke loudly, deliberately making sure that the surrounding Charcoal Fire Tribe tribe members could hear him.

"The Horse Tribe will be coming to retaliate soon! When that happens, none of you who helped the Wolf Tribe kill, nor their families, will escape!"

The people of the Charcoal Fire Tribe turned pale. They stared at the Chai Dao, the bloodstains on his leather armor, and the human bone necklace hanging from his waist—clearly a trophy stripped from the warriors of the Green Vine Tribe. Fear spread like wildfire.

On the afternoon of the day they received the news, the Charcoal Fire Tribe began to evacuate. The elderly, women, and children, carrying grain and herding cattle and sheep, formed a long line on the road south. The other tribes that had joined the Wolf Tribe did the same.

No one dared to stay put; they feared the Horse Tribe's retaliation, and even more so, the Wolf Tribe's warriors, who were now bloodthirsty and ready to fight!

Xueya led a force of over eight hundred men and caught up with the main force retreating south a few days later at dusk. He rode on his horse and looked at the army stretching for miles before him—several thousand people, tens of thousands of livestock, and mountains of supplies.

Tired, but satisfied.

"Chief," Yexiao Owl rode up, "Everything is arranged. The able-bodied men will lead the way, the elderly, women, and children in the middle, and supplies at the rear. The daily distance and campsites are all planned."

Xueya nodded.

"Over at the Horse Tribe..."

"The scouts report that the Horse Tribe has received the news," Yexiao whispered. "Their leader is furious and is gathering his riders. They'll probably be here soon!"

Xueya looked up at the southern sky, where the direction of High Pointed Mountain was!

"Speed up," he said. "We must get back to High Pointed Mountain as soon as possible."