A sickly fellow ridiculed by the entire army? I'll be the most beautiful woman in the barracks!

Upon receiving the distress signal, the main force of the Tatars slowed down their original travel speed to prevent any unforeseen circumstances.

The fifty-man squad that was scouting the area quickly returned to the main force after conducting a preliminary investigation, and the information gathered was reported up the chain of command.

Finally, one of them, after passing through layers of guards, was brought before the middle-aged Tartar man in the army, who wore a brocade robe over a chainmail.

"Report to Möngke Khan: Suspicious individuals, suspected to be from Bactria, were discovered five kilometers away. They killed twenty-three of us, three of whom appeared to have been interrogated."

"The man has now fled north, and several hundred of our troops have gone to pursue him."

Möngke Khan sat atop a tall horse covered in fish-scale armor. Upon hearing this, he frowned and his face darkened.

"Hmph! You bunch of useless trash! It takes hundreds of people from the Great Xia to capture that person! That person must be captured, and not a single word is to be leaked!"

Möngke Khan looked at the person who reported with displeasure, then turned slightly to the messenger beside him and gave instructions.

"Pass down the order: the army shall resume its original speed and continue south. We must catch the Great Xia off guard!"

After everyone agreed, they turned around to convey Möngke Khan's order. The main force of the Tatar army once again picked up speed, turning into a torrent and rushing south.

Meanwhile, after running south for another quarter of an hour, Zhao Daxuan had already created enough distance between himself and the main Tartar army. Feeling that it was about time, he stopped simply keeping the Tartar pursuers trailing behind him.

Zhao Daxuan's lips curled up slightly. He casually took the Sun Chasing Divine Bow from his horse's back, and while urging his horse to continue galloping, he turned his body and drew his bow to aim at the pursuers behind him.

The Tartar leader, who was close behind two hundred paces away, saw Zhao Daxuan turn around, draw his bow, and nock an arrow, a mocking look appearing in his eyes.

At this distance, even if the enemy could shoot an arrow right in front of them, by then the arrow would have lost its power.

It's likely that they wouldn't even be able to pierce the thick felt robes they're wearing; they would simply bounce off and slide off, posing no threat whatsoever.

"No need to hide, speed up and catch up with him!"

The Tartar leader shouted and led his troops without dodging or avoiding, wanting to see if Zhao Daxuan could actually shoot an arrow at him.

Zhao Daxuan looked at the pursuers behind him. Even after he raised his bow and arrow, they did not dodge or evade, and their formation did not change at all. He immediately raised an eyebrow.

These jackals on the grasslands haven't been taught a lesson in a long time. They think that if they can't do it, others can't either. Well, let's teach them a lesson.

With a slight pull on the bowstring of the Sun Chasing Divine Bow, at such a close distance, no force was needed at all.

Under the sunlight, several arrows emitted a faint golden light. The fingers loosened, and they shot out swiftly.

The Tartar leader felt a golden light growing larger and larger before his eyes. A hint of curiosity appeared in his eyes, but before he could react to what it was, everything went black and he instantly lost consciousness.

Even as he fell from his horse, the mocking smile on his lips hadn't faded, and a hint of curiosity still lingered in his wide eyes.

Not only did the Tatar leader die instantly, but four Tatar cavalrymen around him also had their heads explode in a burst of blood, and were thrown backward and fell off their horses.

The pursuers behind them suddenly slowed down and scattered, spreading out and no longer daring to huddle together as before.

However, they were not deterred by Zhao Daxuan's volley of arrows. No one paid attention to the men who had fallen off their horses. Instead, a fierce look appeared on their faces.

The group urged their warhorses on, continuing their pursuit, but their momentum was no longer as fierce as before.

Seeing the reaction of the team behind him, Zhao Daxuan was not surprised, but the smile on his lips widened even more.

He hoped they wouldn't be scared away too quickly; he was prepared to kill a few more.

So he continued to draw his bow and nock his arrows, and wave after wave of arrows shot out from his hand, causing the pursuers behind him to fall one after another.

Ten, twenty, thirty...

As more and more Tatar cavalrymen were shot down, the fierce look on the pursuers' faces gradually faded, and their cheeks became increasingly tense.

A hint of fear slowly crept into their eyes, and a sense of panic spread among the pursuers.

The pursuing troops slowed down more and more until, after more than a hundred men were shot dead, someone at the front of the column finally could not suppress the fear in their heart and reined in their horses.

When the others saw that someone had stopped, they also stopped chasing.

Fear and hesitation appeared on everyone's faces at the same time, leaving them in a dilemma.

If I return, how will I explain it when I go back?

Zhao Daxuan sneered when he saw them stop, not giving them any time to think.

With a soft shout, his warhorse immediately turned around and galloped towards the stopped pursuers.

The Tatar cavalry, who had just stopped their pursuit, saw the man and two riders ahead turn around and head towards them.

The conflicted look on his face vanished instantly, replaced by fear.

They cast aside all their worries and spurred their horses to gallop back the way they came at top speed.

The scene suddenly shifted, and a dramatic moment unfolded.

More than three hundred riders fled ahead, while one man and two riders chased after them alone.

It's like a sheepdog herding a flock of sheep.

As the galloping Tatar cavalrymen listened to the thuds of their comrades falling from their horses behind them, their expressions of anxiety grew increasingly heavy.

The cavalrymen wished their horses could grow wings and leave the Xia people behind them, people they would never forget.

After chasing for a while and killing dozens more, the pursuing troops completely collapsed and fled in all directions, never daring to look back.

Zhao Daxuan was too lazy to continue the chase. Instead, he turned his horse around, found the corpse of a Tatar cavalryman of similar build, and changed his clothes.

He then planned to continue north, and changing into Tartar clothes would reduce a lot of trouble.

Smelling the mixture of muttony and sweat emanating from the clothes, Zhao Daxuan frowned, then shook his head and spurred his horse northward.

After penetrating deep into Tartar territory, villages appear every so often, but most of them are abandoned and deserted.

In the few remaining villages, the majority of inhabitants are Han Chinese, mostly adults with few children and almost no elderly.

A small number of Tartars also lived in the village, living in family units, including the elderly, women, and children.

Half of the houses in these villages are now vacant, even after other villages have merged into them.

This shows how harsh the living environment for Han people has been on this land over the past decade.

In Zhao Daxuan's perception, all the Han people had a numb expression on their faces, like walking corpses, busy working under the whips of the Tartars.

Zhao Daxuan tightened his face, suppressing the murderous intent in his eyes. Time was of the essence, and he had no time to spare, so he could only keep his head down and continue forward.

Finally, as evening approached, Zhao Daxuan's face lit up with joy once more; he had finally found the most important goal of his trip.

On the horizon ahead, wisps of smoke appeared, marking the location of a temporary logistics camp where vehicles were lined up end to end in several concentric circles.