Frontier Hero: From Receiving a Convicted Woman to Becoming an Emperor for All Time

When Lin Shang uttered those three words, Shen Chuxiao's eyes lit up.

"Strike the snake at its seven-inch mark; that's the crucial point."

After Shen Chuxiao finished speaking, he looked at Lin Shang with admiration. After all, he was a captain of the scout battalion. He was so injured that he could barely stand, but his mind was still sharp.

Tie Niu stopped wiping his knife, raised his head and looked north, as if the place called Wolf Den Gully was right in front of him, at the end of the snowstorm.

Sun Ergou propped himself up from beside the fire, his left leg trembling.

"Captain Lin, you are familiar with all the terrain around Black Wind Ridge, draw it out for me."

In fact, Shen Chuxiao knew the approximate location of Wolf Den Gully; he had known it when he killed Chen Liang on the first day of his transmigration, but he couldn't say the reason, nor did he need to.

Lin Shang took out a charcoal pencil, spread a rag on the ground, bent down and began to draw.

As the charcoal pencil glided across the coarse cloth, lines seemed to come alive, spreading from the tip of the pencil to mark the locations of mountain ridges, valleys, caves, Wolf's Den Gully, the southern entrance, and the northern mouth of the valley.

"Wolf's Den Gully has only one entrance, on the south side." The charcoal pencil touched the bottom of the cloth. "Once inside, it's a narrow path with steep walls that look like they've been cleaved by a knife. It only widens at the end. If the grain stacks and tents are really there, they'll definitely be piled up at the widest part of the valley floor." He paused, then moved the pencil tip up two inches. "There's a small exit on the north side, only wide enough for two people to walk side by side. Most people don't know about it."

Shen Chuxiao stared at the drawing, memorizing every line and every bend. The wind blew in from the north, making the corners of the cloth flutter, and he reached out to hold them down.

"Do the barbarians know about the exit to the north?"

Lin Shang frowned and thought for a moment, then shook his head: "That exit is blocked by rocks, you can't see it until you get close. I've used it twice, both times when the barbarians chased me so hard I had to run through. If the barbarians are stockpiling grain there, they probably won't use that opening—it's too narrow, the grain carts can't get through."

Shen Chuxiao nodded, stood up, and walked towards the fire.

Tie Niu had already emptied all the ordinary arrows from his quiver and was squatting with Sun Er Gou, frantically winding fire arrows. The strips of cloth were torn from their clothes, soaked in kerosene, and a pungent smell wafted around the fire, mixed with the stench of blood and burnt flesh.

"How many?"

"About thirty." Tie Niu didn't even look up, his hands still busy. "Including the ones you guys have, it's less than fifty."

"That's enough." Shen Chuxiao placed the repeating crossbow on his lap, his fingers running over the arrow groove and trigger, examining every part. His voice wasn't loud, but every word was firm and clear. "We're not going to fight a war; we're going to set fires. Setting fires doesn't require killing everyone."

He raised his head, his gaze shifting from Tie Niu to Sun Er Gou, and then from Sun Er Gou to Zhao Wu. All three men had wounds on their faces, were covered in blood, and dried, dark red blood peeked out from the cracks in their armor.

But no one avoided his gaze.

"Tie Niu and I will lead the charge, dousing the kerosene." He held up two fingers. "Er Gou and Zhao Wu will follow behind. Once the rockets are lit, retreat immediately. Whether they're burning or not, run as soon as you hear me shout 'retreat.' Nobody is allowed to look back."

The three of them nodded in unison, and none of them said a word more than necessary.

Shen Chuxiao stood up and hung the crossbow back on his waist. As he turned around, Wang Yilu was standing at the entrance of the barracks.

The firelight illuminated her face, casting a long, long shadow that stretched all the way to Shen Chuxiao's feet.

Shen Chuxiao walked over and hugged her.

"Your husband is going to do something important."

"I know."

"If you succeed, you'll get promoted and make a fortune, and I'll take you to live a good life."

Wang Yilu's eyes reddened, but she didn't shed tears. She simply gave the other person a tight hug, then let go and stepped aside.

"Come back alive."

Shen Chuxiao nodded and then turned around.

Tie Niu and Sun Er Gou were already on horseback. Zhao Wu rode at the very back. Shen Chu Xiao mounted his horse, pulled on the reins, and turned around from the saddle.

At the entrance of the barracks, two figures stood side by side.

Neither of them spoke, but their eyes held the same thing—the dilapidated granary, the blood and fire of that night, and the hope of turning the tide of the war soon.

It all rests on him.

"Walk."

Six horses charged out of the granary's side gate, their hooves shattering the thin layer of ice at the entrance. A biting north wind lashed at them, chilling them to the bone. The firelight receded into the distance, while the shadow of Black Wind Ridge grew larger, like a colossal beast crouching on the ground, its mouth agape, waiting for them to enter.

Two hours later, they abandoned their horses and walked on the northern slope of Black Wind Ridge.

Further north, the mountain slopes narrowed abruptly, with jagged rocks protruding from beneath the snow, too large for the horses to cross. Shen Chuxiao tied the reins to a dead pine tree, unloaded the oil canisters and repeating crossbows from the horses, and gave each person two fire tumblers, tucking them into the closest place to their bodies.

The snow was deep; when you stepped into it, it went over your ankle, and when you pulled it out, it made a dull thud.

After walking for another half hour, they climbed over a mountain ridge.

Shen Chuxiao lay down, and Tie Niu and Sun Ergou followed suit. Zhao Wu, along with two other scouts, spread out on either side, bows nocked, guns pointed outwards, their eyes fixed on the surrounding darkness. The wind blew in from the north, creaking the dry branches and masking their suppressed breathing.

Wolf Den Gully is just below.

The scene at the bottom of the valley was clearly illuminated by the grayish-white sunlight.

Forty or fifty tents were scattered at the bottom of the valley, like a cluster of low burial mounds. Stacks of grain were higher than the tents, one after another, with tarpaulins on top and stones on the tarpaulins.

Hundreds of barbarian logistics soldiers moved around the camp. Some were carrying grain sacks, some were repairing sleds, and some were sitting around the fire roasting food. The firelight cast their shadows on the grain stacks, flickering back and forth.

"Vice Captain, there are at least a hundred people here."

"Logistics soldiers, not combat soldiers." Shen Chuxiao's gaze swept across the entire camp, as if counting sheep. "No heavy armor, no long weapons. Most people don't even have a knife hanging on their waist."

It's estimated that no one expected someone to launch a sneak attack here.

He glanced at the sky and said warily, "Be careful, no one is allowed to make a sound until we reach the bottom of the valley."

Six people slid down the ridge, like six withered leaves falling from a tree, silently.

Upon reaching the outskirts of Wolf's Den Gully, they lay down behind a low embankment and finally saw the entire campsite—the tents pitched in the snow, their greyish-white animal hides blackened by smoke, bulging and deflated in the night wind, like something enormous breathing.

There were only two sentries on the outskirts, wrapped in animal skins, their torches flickering in the wind. They didn't move, huddled on the leeward side of a rock, their torches stuck in the snow beside them.

That wolf-skin-clad youth, despite all his calculations, probably never anticipated that—while the battle at Ling Shuang Pass raged on, Shen Chuxiao didn't go to the North Gate, but instead sneaked to the entrance of his granary.

Shen Chuxiao gathered Tie Niu and Sun Ergou together, his voice so low it was almost inaudible.

"Tie Niu, go down from the west and sneak along the mountain wall to the back of the grain stacks. Pour the kerosene on the innermost row, not on the outside, pour it on the inside. After you're done, retreat back to the base of the mountain wall and crouch down, waiting for my signal."

Tie Niu nodded and tightened the strap on the kerosene can.

"Ergou, go to the east side and lie down behind that protruding rock. After Tieniu finishes pouring the kerosene, you set the tents on fire. Start with the big ones in the middle to scare the barbarians. Once they're in chaos, no one will be able to control the fire."

Sun Ergou gripped the bow tightly, his knuckles cracking, then quickly loosened his grip.

"The rest of you, come with me to the northern entrance of the valley. Commander Lin said there's a small exit to the north, and the barbarians will run that way if they're driven to desperation by the fire. I'll seal that exit and not let a single person out."

Tie Niu and Sun Er Gou nodded at the same time, their eyes cold and hard.

These damned barbarians deserve to taste death.

"Walk."

The three men climbed over the low embankment and disappeared into the shadows of the mountainside.