Battle for Northern Frontier: The game begins with the grassland woman buying him.

The stench of blood from Black Wind Gorge still lingered in Su Zhan's mind.

Nearly 10 of the 30 large vehicles were damaged, 17 guards were killed, and 8 were seriously injured.

Although not all the goods were lost, every member of the Mighty Dragon Gang felt as if a heavy stone was pressing on their heart.

Su Zhan lay prone on the horse's back, the bandage on his right shoulder soaked with blood, and every jolt brought excruciating pain.

Old Zhou rode alongside, his face ashen, glancing worriedly at Su Zhan from time to time.

The few knife scars and wounds on his body had been simply bandaged, but the psychological impact was clearly greater.

The carefully selected guards were so badly beaten by a group of masked bandits of unknown origin. If Su Zhan hadn't led his men to ambush them in advance and arrived in time, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

"Master Su, your injury..." Old Zhou's voice was hoarse, filled with guilt.

"I won't die." Su Zhan's voice was hoarse as he stared intently ahead. "Did you see their movements clearly?"

Old Zhou gritted his teeth and said, "No mistake, that muttony smell and the style of the curved knife are wolf cubs from the grasslands. They are even more troublesome than the elite Black Bear tribe we encountered before, especially the leader and that bastard who shot the cold arrow. I have memorized their figures. If I see them again in the future, I will recognize them even if they are turned to ashes."

Su Zhan narrowed his eyes, the image of the black figure and the precise, vicious, and perfectly timed heavy arrow flashing through his mind.

It was a hunter's patience and ruthlessness, quite different from the temperament of ordinary, hard-to-live-on grassland people.

The key is the man in black who did the dirty work.

The convoy entered Stone City in a tense atmosphere.

The guards at the city gate gasped in shock at the sight of the convoy's miserable state and Su Zhan's pale face, and quickly ordered their men to clear the way.

When Su Zhan led his men back to the Fierce Dragon Gang's base, Su Zhan was helped off his horse and could barely stand.

Bai Zhanqiu had already rushed over with his men. When he saw the wound on Su Zhan's shoulder, his eyes narrowed sharply. "Quickly, go and call a doctor."

Bai Zhanqiu stepped forward and personally helped Su Zhan up.

Inside the council chamber, the strong smell of medicine mingled with the stench of blood.

The doctor carefully cut open the clothes on Su Zhan's shoulder, revealing the open wound underneath.

Fortunately, he was not seriously injured. The doctor then applied a dressing to Su Zhan's wound and re-bandaged it before leaving.

Meanwhile, Old Zhou, sitting to the side, began to recount to Bai Zhanqiu the events of the attack at Black Wind Gorge.

The story recounted in detail every aspect, from the masked man's bizarre entrance to his precise use of crossbow bolts and grappling hooks, to every detail of Su Zhan's later battle with them, with particular emphasis on the mysterious archer.

"They seem to be robbing us, but in reality they want to ruin our trade routes and break our foundation. If it weren't for Master Su saving us, we would be finished. Master Su's injury this time is all our fault." Old Zhou's voice was filled with lingering fear, and the council hall was deathly silent.

After a long silence, Bai Zhanqiu slowly spoke, "Good, it's good that these people can't hold back anymore. They should leave more clues so we can find out who they really are."

He walked to Su Zhan's side, looking at Su Zhan's pale eyes, "How are you feeling?"

"It's nothing serious, I just need to rest for a few days." A glint of light flashed in Bai Zhanqiu's eyes.

"We were well prepared this time, yet we were still beaten so badly. This shows that they are quite strong. But the more they are like this, the more it proves that everything we did was correct. They are just afraid of our strength recovering."

But the more this is the case, the more we must do it. From now on, all caravans must be heavily guarded, and whoever comes, kill them all. I think they will reappear very soon.”

Finally, he waved his hand dismissively, "Wild chicken neck!"

"Here!" A thin woman appeared beside him.

"Investigate the movements of all the grassland people in the vicinity, see if there are any of their spies in the city, use every means possible, you must find out who they are."

"Yes!" Pheasant Neck accepted the order and then disappeared outside the door.

Bai Zhanqiu looked at Su Zhan, his tone softening somewhat.

"You stay in bed obediently for the next month. I'll handle things outside. I'll settle this score with them slowly."

Su Zhan shook his head and said, "No, we don't have much time. I need to work with Wild Chicken Neck and the others to find out who the masterminds are as soon as possible."

Seeing Su Zhan's insistence, Bai Zhanqiu could only nod.

"Alright, but you need to take care of yourself and make sure you don't get injured again." Su Zhan nodded, and then he was helped to rest.

When Su Zhan returned to the courtyard, Lin Yuer was very worried to see that he was injured again.

But the wound had already been bandaged, so she only needed to take care of Su Zhan.

Then, Wild Chicken Neck brought Su Zhan his first message.

"Master Su, we've made progress!"

Su Zhan's spirits lifted, and he sat up straight.

"explain!"

"The spies in the city haven't found anything big yet. Those people are hiding very well and have done nothing wrong."

Wild Chicken Neck spoke rapidly, "But over at Black Wind Gorge, we found something really valuable. While cleaning up the battlefield, one of our brothers found this while clearing away rubble at a nearby archery spot."

As she spoke, she took out a small object wrapped in oilcloth from her bosom and carefully unfolded it.

Su Zhan took it and examined it closely; it was a fragment of a metal arrowhead, about two fingers wide.

The arrowhead is prismatic and triangular, entirely black, with a cold, bluish gleam in the sunlight. Its ridges are covered with intricate bloodletting grooves, and a strange pattern is faintly visible at the broken tip.

A totem resembling an animal head?

"What is this?"

Su Zhan's eyes showed doubt. "This arrow and the black arrow that shot me down have the same arrowhead. It uses a specially made armor-piercing spike, and the materials are extraordinary. This is not the kind of craftsmanship that ordinary grassland tribes would have. Do you recognize the totem on this?"

Pheasant Neck's eyes flashed even colder. "I recognize it. It's from the White Deer tribe!"

Lin Yu'er, standing nearby, exclaimed in shock, "Wasn't the leader of the White Deer tribe killed?"

Pheasant Neck shook his head. "The White Deer tribe was scattered, but not all of them were wiped out. Their elite unit, White Deer Horn, is said to be made up of the best archers and personal guards, selected from among the best."

That night, their leader was killed by Master Su. Unable to protect their leader, the group scattered and fled, their whereabouts unknown. Now it seems they didn't go far at all, but were taken in by someone, or perhaps they chose a new leader and are determined to take revenge.

Su Zhan stared at the token, realizing why the archer was so cunning and ruthless, and why he timed his attacks so perfectly. He was an elite of the White Deer tribe. This was no simple matter of a hidden hand. It seemed that the person behind it had big ambitions.

Pheasant Neck continued, "Our men followed the trail of their retreat and found the cave where they had temporarily hidden themselves at a secluded fork in the canyon. Inside, they found a few pieces of hide that hadn't been completely burned off."

The aroma seems to be from royal court-supplied ghee, along with the distinctive smoky flavor of black charcoal from the blood hoof cut.

"Golden Horde ghee and black coal?" These two pieces of information rushed into Su Zhan's mind.