A family of loyal martyrs, starting with nine wives to continue the family line.

Nie Yinniang led her team forward for a short while when the lead scout reined in his horse and looked back towards the sand dunes.

"Someone is catching up."

Nie Yinniang did not turn around, but heard the sound of camel footsteps coming from afar.

The sound was deeper than a horse's hoof, but much faster than the Black Flag Army's usual march. In just a few breaths, it had already approached from afar.

"How many people?" she asked.

"There are more than twenty riders, and there may be others behind them."

"banner?"

"Black Wolf Flag".

Nie Yinniang raised her eyes and looked ahead.

Six spies from the Embroidered Uniform Guard were escorting Fang Zhaoru as they traveled northeast along the sandy terrain.

Fang Zhaoru was old and had been traveling for so long that even with a horse, he couldn't go fast.

The pursuers behind them didn't have this problem.

They rode tall white camels, their armor identical to that of the Black Flag Army, but their formation was widely spread out, with no shouts or urging among them. Each person stared straight ahead, their long swords already drawn.

This is a hunt, not a search.

Nie Yinniang's hand rested on the hilt of the knife.

The main force of the Black Flag Army is still near Yangguan. Those who were able to catch up here must be the most capable fighters around Bai Tukui.

The other side arrived too quickly.

If they continue to flee with everyone, Fang Zhaoru will not escape, and the twenty elite members of the Embroidered Uniform Guard will also be dragged to their deaths on the sand.

If we divide our forces, we will have to use fourteen men to hold off more than twenty camel soldiers.

It's not a good deal.

However, on the battlefield, some situations cannot be judged solely by the number of people.

Fang Zhaoru cannot die, and the remaining six people cannot be entangled.

As long as they send their people back to Northeast China, even if everyone on our side dies, it won't be considered a loss.

"Stop," Nie Yinniang said.

The cavalry stopped between two sand dunes.

Nie Yinniang looked at the six spies.

"Take Mr. Fang to the Northeast. Don't go in a straight line; follow the back of the sand dunes. Get back to Yangguan in two and a half days. No fires are allowed along the way, and no stops are permitted."

"And what about you?"

"I led my men to stop them."

"We'll stay."

All six people spoke at the same time.

Nie Yinniang glanced at their faces.

These six people had followed her for many years. Some of them had shielded her from arrows in the capital, while others had followed her from the northern border to Yangguan.

She knew they weren't fearless, but at this moment, no one wanted to leave her behind alone.

Fourteen people remained.

"I'll stay too," Fang Zhaoru said.

Nie Yinniang looked at him: "Do you know how to use a knife?"

Fang Zhaoru remained silent.

"Won't."

Nie Yinniang answered for him: "Then don't stay."

Nie Yinniang didn't delay any longer and pointed out six people.

"Escort Mr. Fang and leave immediately."

The six men dismounted and transferred Fang Zhaoru to the horse with the best stamina.

Fang Zhaoru turned and glanced at Nie Yinniang, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he only said, "Don't die."

Nie Yinniang did not answer.

She doesn't like those kinds of words.

It sounds like concern, but at times like these, staying alive isn't something that can be accomplished with just a few words of advice.

The six riders quickly circled the sand dunes and headed northeast.

Nie Yinniang then led the remaining thirteen people off their horses and led them to a low-lying area.

She squatted on the sand and drew several lines with the tip of her knife.

"The pursuers will pass through here."

A scout looked at the lines: "What if they don't go this way?"

"If they see six horses heading northeast, they won't go astray."

"What if they split their forces?"

"At most, three to five people will stay behind to chase us, while the rest will chase after Mr. Fang."

Nie Yinniang looked up and pointed to the back slope of the sand dune in front of her.

"So let them think that we're all here first."

The fourteen people quickly sprang into action.

Someone led several horses back and forth across the sand, leaving messy footprints.

Someone hung scraps of cloth on a dead tree in the distance to create the illusion that a procession was passing by.

Some people even lay on the other side of the sand dune and dug a shallow pit in advance, big enough to hide half a person.

There were no extra weapons, nor any bows or crossbows.

The short swords they carried were best suited for close combat.

Nie Yinniang tightened the cuff of her left sleeve, inspected the wrist crossbow, and then held a short knife upside down in her hand.

She wasn't going to drag it out for too long.

In the desert, the longer the fighting goes on, the faster a person's physical strength is depleted.

They were riding camels on the opposite side, looking down at them from a high vantage point. Their long swords were heavy, and if they were allowed to create distance, the members of the Embroidered Uniform Guard would be hacked to death one by one.

You just have to stick it on.

Use the shortest route to kill the fastest person.

The sound of camel footsteps grew closer.

Twenty-seven black-armored cavalrymen charged out from behind the sand dunes.

They saw the hoofprints on the ground, but instead of stopping, they chased after them.

The man at the front pointed northeast and shouted something. Immediately, seven cavalrymen split off and chased after the six men in the direction they had gone.

Nie Yinniang narrowed her eyes.

As expected, they split their forces.

She didn't move immediately.

Closer.

Take another ten steps closer.

The black-armored cavalryman charged to the foot of the sand dune, only to find no one ahead. He reined in his camel, his long sword held horizontally in front of him.

"stop!"

As soon as he finished speaking, three stones fell from above the sand dune.

The moment the black-armored cavalryman looked up, Nie Yinniang had already pounced down the slope.

She first plunged her dagger into the man's throat, then grabbed the reins with her other hand and used the momentum of the camel's forward surge to flip herself onto its back.

The carcass rolled into the sand, startling the camel, which rushed to the side.

The second cavalryman swung his sword and slashed.

Nie Yinniang bent down to avoid it, and the short knife was inserted under his armpit.

The blade pierced through, and with a twist of the wrist, the black-armored cavalryman immediately fell off the camel's back.

"kill!"

People rushed out from both sides of the sand dune at the same time.

Thirteen elite soldiers from the Embroidered Uniform Guard charged into the cavalry ranks. Short swords clashed with long swords, and blood quickly splattered onto the sand.

Camels are taller than warhorses, and cavalrymen stand taller as well.

But they were slow to turn around, and their feet sank into the loose sand.

The men from the Embroidered Uniform Guard didn't engage them head-on. They first cut off their legs, then seized the reins, using the camels' bodies as cover to approach from the side.

A scout crawled under a camel's belly and had just thrust his knife into the cavalryman's chest when a long sword came crashing down from behind.

He rolled away, the blade grazing his shoulder, tearing his clothes and flesh apart.

Another scout pounced from the side, dragged the black-armored cavalryman off his camel's back, and plunged three short swords into his chest at the same time.

The Black Flag Army did not retreat.

Seeing their companion fall, they urged their camels to rush into the crowd.

The broadswords came down one after another, and a Jinyige spy raised his arm to block it, but his arm immediately fell down.

He didn't shout, but simply grabbed the back of the enemy's knife with his right hand.

"kill!"

His companion slashed the neck of the black-armored cavalryman with a single stroke.

The scout let go and fell to the ground, sand quickly covering half of his face.

When Nie Yinniang saw this scene, she felt as if someone had pressed on her chest.

can't stop.

If he stops, he will have died in vain.

She turned and charged at the black-armored cavalryman who was wielding a sword, her dagger aimed at his eye.

The cavalryman dodged to the side, his blade slashing towards her left arm.

Nie Yinniang was a step too slow in retracting her arm.

The blade sliced ​​across his arm, and blood immediately seeped into his sleeve.

Without even flinching, she grabbed the other person's wrist with her other hand, pressed her body close to the hunchback, and stabbed another short knife into the gap in the armor plates.

The black-armored cavalryman's eyes widened, his body swayed a few times, and he fell to the ground.

Nie Yinniang pressed her hand against her wound and glanced back.

Of the fourteen people, only eight were still able to stand.

All twenty-seven cavalrymen on the opposite side have fallen.

Some people fell beside the camel's feet, some lay on the sand, and several camels, startled, rushed far away before finally stopping at the bottom of the slope, dragging their reins.

Nie Yinniang was not relieved.

We won this battle, but the price is already in front of us.

Six people died and eight were injured.

They only managed to stop twenty-seven riders, but Bai Tukui still had the main force of the Black Flag Army, as well as the Western Regions Allied Army that was gathering.

This is not the end.

He only bought a section of the road for Fang Zhaoru.

"Can you still walk?" she asked.

A spy clutched his stomach: "Yes."

"Where's the wound?"

"He won't die."

"Then let's get on the camels."

Nobody said much.

Nie Yinniang tore off a piece of fabric from her left arm and hastily wrapped it around her arm twice.

The strip of cloth was quickly soaked with blood, so she tied a knot on the outside.

pain.

But it wasn't so painful that I couldn't hold the knife.

She mounted a white camel and led the remaining seven people to chase after them along the same route.

Half an hour later, the sound of horses' hooves came from ahead.

The escort team stopped between two sand dunes, with six scouts protecting Fang Zhaoru in the middle.

Upon seeing Nie Yinniang appear, one person immediately came forward to greet her.

"Have the pursuers been dealt with?"

"They're all dead."

Fang Zhaoru dismounted and his gaze fell on her left arm.

"You're injured. I have some herbs here..."

"Getting on the road is the priority."

Nie Yinniang interrupted him.

"It's not too late to wrap it when we get back to Yangguan."

Fang Zhaoru frowned as he looked at the blood on her arm.

"If the cut had been any deeper, your arm would have been useless."

"It's not useless yet."

"Are all you martial arts practitioners only good at judging whether someone can still move?"

"Being able to move is enough."

Nie Yinniang mounted her horse, her movements a fraction of a breath slower than before.

She reined in the reins and looked back towards the northwest.

She couldn't see any pursuers there, but she knew Bai Tu Kui wouldn't give up easily.

"Sir, how many men did his brother bring?"

Fang Zhaoru remained silent for a moment.

"When I left the Western Regions, he only had three thousand men under his command."

Nie Yinniang's gaze fell on his face.

"Your brother brought 30,000 with him this time, but he died at Yangguan Pass."

Fang Zhaoru gripped the reins tightly, his voice lowering: "Bai Tukui won't only bring three thousand to seek revenge."

Nie Yinniang did not answer.

She cracked her whip on the horse's back.

"accelerate."