Chapter 50: The Orchid-Breaking Cavalry

"By the way, how is your brother doing?"

Li Xiao's thoughts drifted back to the girl's brother, that heavily wounded young man who had been rescued from the cellar. He was about the same age as Li Xiao himself, though somewhat more gaunt and frail. Had he not laid eyes on this young girl just now, Li Xiao might have nearly forgotten him, mostly because he had been overwhelmed by so many pressing matters over the past few days.

"Not so good..."

Er Ya shook her head gently. At the thought of her brother, who remained unconscious and gripped by a relentless, high fever, her face clouded over with deep worry.

"The elders in my family have already tended to his wounds, but he still keeps lapsing in and out of consciousness," Er Ya said with a mournful voice.

Aside from her older sister, who had married far away, her brother was now her only remaining family in the world. She did not want to lose him. Yet, the boy's injuries were simply too severe!

"Take me to see him," Li Xiao said.

Because conflicts were a frequent occurrence in the Northern Frontier, the herdsmen were often injured, meaning none of them were novices when it came to treating external wounds. Li Xiao trusted that the elders of the Wei family had done a competent job dressing the girl's brother's wounds. The real problem, however, was that they were powerless against the onset of infection!

"My home is over there..." The girl nodded slightly, pointing toward a tent in the distance. That was where she and her brother were currently staying.

There were not enough houses within Hexi Fortress, so the people from Sanhe Fortress and Houzhai had no choice but to temporarily live in tents.

Stepping inside, Li Xiao found the interior remarkably sparse. Aside from a few everyday items brought back from Sanhe Fortress, there was only a single bed made of sheepskin pallets. Lying upon it was a young man.

He was roughly Li Xiao's age, with a frail physique and a haggard complexion—clearly enduring immense torment from his injuries.

Li Xiao stepped forward and pressed a hand to the boy's forehead; it was still burning hot! Although the necrotic flesh around the wound had been cleaned away, the inflammation raging inside his body had not yet subsided.

"What is his name?"

Li Xiao gently lifted the garment across the youth's chest to inspect the wound once more.

"My brother's name is Wei Xuan," Er Ya replied.

A hint of amusement flickered across Li Xiao's face, and he looked at the girl with a light smile. "Your brother has quite a scholarly name."

Though it was ostensibly praise for her brother, the girl had a lingering suspicion that this fellow was actually poking fun at her, implying that her own name was rustic and unrefined!

Very well... She had to admit to herself that the name "Er Ya" indeed lacked any sort of literary elegance. After all, the Han people of the Northern Frontier were a rough-and-ready lot, practically devoid of scholars and literati. The name Wei Xuan had been bestowed years ago when her grandfather had traveled to Xixia on official business and, taking the opportunity, paid a local tutor a handsome sum of money to think of it. The girl herself, naturally, had never enjoyed such treatment.

Meeting Li Xiao's half-smiling gaze, the girl's eyes slowly widened. Glaring at him with a puffy, indignant expression, she declared, "You are not allowed to laugh!"

"Why shouldn't I laugh?" Li Xiao asked with a chuckle.

"You—you! Anyway, you are simply not allowed to laugh!" the girl insisted, looking thoroughly miffed and rather adorable.

It was only then that she realized how terribly teasing this fellow could be.

Li Xiao shook his head gently. "Very well, I won't laugh." He added, "However, if you ever wish to have a nicer name, I wouldn't mind lending a hand. 'Li Xiao'—that's a name I chose for myself!"

Hearing Li Xiao's words, Er Ya pressed her lips together, muttered under her breath, and said, "I don't want your help!"

"Let's look at your brother first. His injuries are quite severe..." Li Xiao smiled faintly, stopping his teasing of the girl and turning his attention back to the youth resting on the sheepskin.

The number of Han people in Western Liao was scarce, and to Li Xiao, every single Han person represented a potential source of strength, let alone a young man.

"The wound has been treated reasonably well; it looks like the work of an experienced physician," Li Xiao said softly.

Er Ya nodded gently. "Mm. It was treated by my Fifth Grandpa. In Sanhe Fortress, anyone who suffers an external injury always goes to him."

"However, your Fifth Grandpa was only able to clear away the dead flesh on the surface of the wound; he had no way of thoroughly cleaning the deep interior," Li Xiao noted. "And that is precisely why your brother's high fever refuses to break."

"Then what can we do?"

Upon hearing this, Er Ya panicked instantly. At the horrifying thought that her brother might actually die, all other thoughts vanished, leaving behind only grief and anxiety. Her hazy, moist eyes turned to implore Li Xiao.

"It's hard to say, but it doesn't necessarily mean he will die," Li Xiao said, shaking his head slightly. Second Uncle's injuries had been even more severe than Wei Xuan's, and they had gone untreated for a much longer time. Yet, over the past two days, after ingesting large amounts of garlic extract, his condition seemed to have turned a corner for the better. By this morning, he had even regained consciousness and conversed for quite a while before drifting back to sleep. This proved that the garlic extract Li Xiao concocted was effective and possessed certain bactericidal and anti-inflammatory properties.

Li Xiao intended to administer the garlic extract to Wei Xuan as well.

"Really? Can you truly cure my brother?" Hearing Li Xiao's words, the girl's face instantly lit up with a glimmer of hope, and the tears welling in her eyes halted abruptly.

"Let's give it a try. But we need to prepare a few things first," Li Xiao said softly, careful not to make any absolute promises.

By evening, Li Xiao returned with a small cloth pouch in hand. "Go and boil a bowl of warm water," he instructed Er Ya.

Before long, he poured half of the yellowish powder from the pouch into the warm water, stirred it, and had Wei Xuan drink it down. Then, handing the remaining pouch to Er Ya, he said, "In an hour, feed him the rest of this half-bag as well."

Though she had no idea what this substance was, Er Ya subconsciously chose to trust Li Xiao. After all, he was the one who had rescued the people of Sanhe Fortress; he had no reason whatsoever to harm her and her brother.

"Alright..."

Er Ya clutched the cloth pouch tightly in her hand, followed Li Xiao out of the tent, and watched as he swung up onto his horse.

"I'll come back tomorrow!" With those words, Li Xiao turned his horse and rode away.

Standing outside the tent in a daze, the girl watched Li Xiao's figure disappear into the distance before slowly turning back inside.

Over the next few days, Hexi Fortress remained calm and undisturbed.

Meanwhile, the news that the Four-Fortress Coalition had annihilated the Aslan Clan quickly spread across Jinzhou. Upon learning of this victory, the numerous Han fortresses and strongholds were all immensely uplifted. No one had expected that the Aslan Clan—one of the three powerful Karluk tribes in Jinzhou—would be utterly wiped out in such a manner. It was almost beyond belief.

The revelation shocked not only the Han people of the Nine Fortresses and Eighteen Strongholds, but also the various Karluk tribes and other nomadic clans throughout Jinzhou.

Acting like a powerful stimulant, it instantly steadied the wavering hearts of those who had previously grown hesitant. As it turned out, the Karluks were not nearly as formidable as people had imagined. The Battle of Northern Mountain must have been nothing more than a fluke.

Consequently, the resistance put up by Jinzhou's fortresses and nomadic tribes instantly grew fierce and unyielding. No one ever mentioned submitting to the Karluks again.

For the days that followed, the Karluks' offensive made zero headway. After all, even the Karluks themselves had fallen into self-doubt: could they still win this uprising?

It could be said that the destruction of the Aslan Clan had a profound impact on the entire course of the war. For a period thereafter, the situation in Jinzhou settled into a strange and delicate equilibrium, with no major developments reported.

Until this very day, when a troop of nomadic cavalry suddenly appeared to the southwest of Ta Fortress.

"Master, we have reached Jinzhou..."

"Ahead lies a Han settlement!"

Perched atop a high ridge, a group of nomadic men stood gazing far into the distance. Two scouts quickly galloped up to them and respectfully reported the results of their reconnaissance to the heavily scarred man at the very center of the group.

"A Han settlement?"

The scarred man let out a light, disdainful snort and shook his head, looking as though he held the Han people in utmost contempt.

"Just as one would expect of the Han style—they've actually enclosed themselves within a ring of earthen walls," a young man nearby chuckled.

Immediately afterward, a burly man's voice rang out: "That only proves the Han are as timid as mice. When faced with enemies, they only know how to hide and dare not charge forward to draw their swords in battle."

"That's right, aren't the Han just a bunch of steppe mice?"

"Hahaha!"

"If the Han ever dared to fight the Karluks, the garrison commander wouldn't have had to dispatch our Zhelan Clan all this way to suppress the rebellion."

The men bantered with unbridled arrogance, paying the Han people no heed whatsoever. After all, the Han were notorious for their forbearance and tendency to prioritize harmony above all else. Yet, among nomadic peoples who practiced the law of the jungle where the strong preyed upon the weak, this so-called harmony was merely synonymous with weakness.

"This Han settlement looks quite prosperous; they actually have so many cattle and sheep," a burly warrior of the Zhelan Clan suddenly remarked. He turned his head to look at the scarred man—none other than Nierdu, the chieftain of the Zhelan Clan.

"Chieftain, the Khitans conscripted us to fight the Karluks, yet they gave us nothing—we have to rely entirely on our own supplies. Along the way, the brothers have been surviving on dried meat alone; we're all craving some fresh mutton."

This time, the Zhelan Clan had been ordered to travel light, relying solely on the dried meat, coarse grains, and mare's milk they brought with them for sustenance. They had originally planned to plunder the cattle and sheep of the Karluks, but now that they saw the Han people's livestock, it amounted to the exact same thing.

"Plundering the Karluks' sheep is looting, and plundering the Han's sheep is also looting. There's no difference!"

"Chieftain, let's make our move!"

"The brothers are craving mutton!"

"It would be best if we could take this Han settlement and seize all their women to enjoy ourselves for a few days before going off to fight the Karluks."

"Indeed. We came to help the Han fight the Karluks; letting them bleed a little to reward us is only right."

The Zhelan cavalrymen discussed excitedly, growing increasingly convinced that this was a brilliant idea. They would plunder this Han settlement first!

However, Chieftain Nierdu did not act rashly. Instead, he looked toward his slaves—the scouts who had just returned from reconnoitering—and asked, "How many people are in this Han settlement?"

The slave thought for a moment before answering, "Including the women and children, there are about eight hundred people."

Eight hundred people: neither too many nor too few, the standard size of an ordinary nomadic settlement. And the Zhelan Clan, by contrast, was a major tribe under the jurisdiction of the Yinshan Military Governor's Office. This expedition alone had mobilized five hundred cavalrymen!

"Jie'erda."

Nierdu turned his gaze toward his son. As he grew older, he increasingly felt his strength failing him and had begun preparing his son to succeed him. And Jie'erda was the most outstanding of all his sons!

"Do you have the confidence to take this Han settlement?"

Hearing his father's words, the young Jie'erda's face immediately lit up with excitement.

"I do!"

"Father, please give me two hundred men, and I will take this Han settlement before sunset."

Looking at his fierce, tiger-like son, Nierdu nodded with satisfaction.

"Go!"