Isolated town in northern border region

"Waaah~"

A long, drawn-out bugle call came from the north.

The Northern Barbarian army began its attack.

The northern barbarian cavalry parted in the middle, and two rows of yak oxen leisurely walked out.

The two rows of yak oxen were covered with ropes, and a huge ramming cone was tied to each rope!

"Timur has learned his lesson!"

"Knowing that I had just captured Youzhou City and hadn't even had time to dig a trap, you still managed to create the 'Li Niu Chong City'?"

"This is interesting!"

Xiao Lie looked around from the city wall, but his tone was not tense at all; instead, it had an indescribable ease.

Unlike Xiao Lie's relaxed demeanor, the soldiers on the city wall were visibly panicked.

Zhou Xun, in particular, was a scholar who had never studied the rules, and he was completely dumbfounded when he saw this scene.

Xiao Lie looked around and instantly realized what was going on.

The yak is an excessively robust creature, and now it's tied with a huge ramming spike. Anyone seeing it for the first time would probably be a little flustered.

Xiao Xiong also noticed the situation of his soldiers and immediately clasped his hands in a gesture of respect, requesting permission to lead the troops.

"Your Highness! This humble general requests permission to charge out of the city and fight our way through; we must not allow the yak to get close to the city walls!"

Xiao Lie waved his hand.

"No need, General Xiao can remain calm and collected."

Xiao Xiong thought Xiao Lie was unaware of the gravity of the situation, so he quickly explained.

"Your Highness! That's a sacred ox from the snow-capped mountains of the grasslands!"

"Not only is he incredibly strong, but once he starts running, he's unstoppable!"

"When I was young, I witnessed firsthand a divine bull go berserk and rammed into a caravan of several hundred men!"

Xiao Lie smiled, turned over and patted Xiao Xiong's arm.

"Didn't you think about how to deal with this 'divine cow'?"

Xiao Xiong shook his head repeatedly.

"That's the divine ox of the Snow Mountain! It's a messenger from the Eternal Heaven!"

"How dare we grassland people?"

Xiao Lie waved to the soldiers beside him.

"Bring over the city defense crossbows, and fetch some wolf dung!"

Then, he smiled and looked at Xiao Xiong.

"Just wait, I'll show you how to deal with this messenger from the Eternal Heaven."

In his previous life, Xiao Lie had cycled the Sichuan-Tibet Highway with his classmates and learned from the herdsmen how to deal with yaks.

Unexpectedly, it has come in handy now.

Thinking about the scene that would unfold later, Xiao Lie's smile never stopped.

Xiao Lie turned the winch, loaded the crossbows with bowstrings, and then had the soldiers wrap wolf dung around the arrows.

"call out!"

"call out!"

"call out!"

Three arrows were fired in quick succession, the arrows covered in wolf dung plunging deep into the herd of yak.

"Your Highness!"

"That didn't hit either!"

"Moreover, this divine bull has thick hide and tough flesh; if it cannot be killed with a single arrow, its power will be even greater when it goes berserk!"

Xiao Xiong looked nervous, but Xiao Lie pointed to the herd of lizards.

"Look, do you think the cattle will dare to go any further?"

Zhou Xun looked in the direction Xiao Lie was pointing and immediately exclaimed in surprise.

"It stopped! It actually stopped!"

"Could it be that wolves are the natural predators of these cattle?"

Xiao Lie nodded.

"That's right!"

"But there's something even more exciting!"

The yak charge was not particularly fast to begin with, and now that they smelled wolf dung, their momentum suddenly stalled, and dozens of yak oxen huddled together in a heap.

"Archers, launch fire arrows!"

Xiao Lie seized the opportunity to give the order.

The next second, countless sparks flew from the city wall, heading straight for the yak's head!

"stop!"

But just as he fired a volley of arrows, Xiao Lie suddenly called for a halt.

"Your Highness! The divine bull's hide is incredibly tough; even a spear might not be able to pierce it!"

"A few arrows won't kill!"

"Your Highness, please continue firing arrows!"

Xiao Xiong urged him on, but Xiao Lie's smile only grew wider.

"It's okay, it wouldn't be fun if we shot them dead!"

"The yak has thick hair and lives on the snow-capped mountains year-round, which makes its hair extremely dry."

"These arrows, though they cannot kill, can ignite fur."

"Guess what? A yak that's been burned and is afraid of the smell of wolf dung, but will charge in that direction if it goes berserk?"

As soon as Xiao Lie finished speaking, the herd of yaks burst into miserable howls!

One by one, the yak struggled frantically, broke free of their ropes, and charged towards the Northern Barbarian army!

"Amazing! Your Highness is amazing!"

"With just one volley of arrows, they breached the Divine Ox's Fortress!"

Xiao Xiong clapped his hands excitedly and cheered, while Zhou Xun looked at Xiao Lie with a surprised expression.

"This prince is no ordinary man..."

"Xiao Xiong is a native of the grasslands, and even he doesn't know how to control a yak. ​​How come this prince, who has lived in the capital for so long, knows it all?"

As Zhou Xun pondered, a whooshing sound erupted from the city tower.

"Victory!"

"Victory!"

"Victory!"

Seeing that the li niu had already broken the Northern Barbarian army's formation, Xiao Lie turned around and kicked Xiao Xiong in the leg.

"Still howling?"

"Hurry up and lead your Wolf Riders to charge into the enemy lines!"

Xiao Xiong realized what was going on after being reminded like that.

"Here you go!"

Xiao Xiong turned and left, and Xiao Lie quickly chased after him.

"I haven't finished speaking yet!"

"You will lead your troops straight to the Northern Barbarian King's banner, but remember, if you encounter that Tuge who only has one ear, you must not engage him in battle!"

Xiao Xiong was truly confused now and quickly asked in return.

"Why? With such a golden opportunity, who knows, I might be able to take down the enemy chieftain!"

"Tugh is nothing but a baby; how could I possibly fear him?"

The opportunity was fleeting, and Xiao Lie didn't have time to explain it to him clearly, so he could only give the order with a stern face.

"Military orders are absolute!"

"If the Azure Wolf Cavalry encounters the Northern Barbarian Tuge, they must feign defeat and retreat!"

Seeing Xiao Lie's serious expression, Xiao Xiong stopped arguing, clasped his hands in acceptance of the order, and then gathered his men to fight their way out of the city.

Xiao Xiong led his Canglang cavalry at full speed, smashing through the gap created by the yak and heading straight for the central banner of the Northern Barbarian army.

Zhou Xun craned his neck, gazing at Xiao Xiong's retreating figure, and muttered to himself.

"Such a valiant general! I was indeed rude to you before!"

With a sigh, Zhou Xun slowly walked up behind Xiao Lie.

"Is Your Highness planning to sacrifice the father and keep the son, using military merit and prestige to push Tug to the position of Khan of the Northern Barbarians?"

Xiao Lie nodded.

"Your brain works really well!"

"If Xiao Xiong or Luo Daniu had your brains, my life would be much easier!"

At this moment, Zhou Xun was no longer as unruly as before, and quickly cupped his hands in reply.

"Your Highness flatters me. I am but a humble scholar in plain clothes."

"However, there is still one thing I do not understand."

"His Highness has clearly ordered that we feign defeat and retreat upon encountering Tug. What if Tug uses this opportunity to launch a counterattack?"

Xiao Lie smiled arrogantly, raising his chin high.

"Hmph! Do you know how I chopped off his ear?"

Before Zhou Xun could answer, Xiao Lie shouted sternly.

"The Trapped Camp!"

"kill!"

"kill!"

"kill!"

A deafening roar, like a mountain collapsing and a tsunami crashing down from the city walls, echoed from

Zhou Xun peered down from the crenellations and saw three thousand elite soldiers in black robes and armor, already silently guarding the city gate.

Xiao Lie patted Zhou Xun on the shoulder.

"If Tugh is smart enough, he might take the opportunity to gain merit in front of Timur, which is one thing, but I will grant him wealth and honor!"

"But if they don't know what's good for them and really think I'm easy to bully, then I'll kill them!"

"Anyway, he's not the only one on the grasslands qualified to succeed as Khan."

Zhou Xun was quite shocked by the overwhelming killing intent emanating from the camp below the city. His Adam's apple bobbed up and down before he softly asked the last question.

"Why did Your Highness choose Tuggenau as your first choice?"

"General Xiao mentioned before that the grassland people have a custom of ear-cutting!"

"Now that His Highness has cut off one of Tug's ears, wouldn't it be a disgrace to the nation if he were to succeed as Khan?"

Xiao Lie burst out laughing upon hearing this.

"Hahaha!"

"You may be smart, but you're also full of bad ideas. Ultimately, you're still a bit old-fashioned."

"Have you ever thought about what would happen if Tug, who was once the undisputed heir, were beheaded by Gu?"

"Now that Gu Bai has given him credit, allowing him to see hope again, how will he react?"

Zhou Xun narrowed his eyes, carefully considering Xiao Lie's question. As he thought about it, he felt a chill run down his spine!

"It will be like a dying, starving wolf, relentlessly lunging at the bait Your Highness throws out in its desperate struggle for survival!"

Even if these baits have already been poisoned!

Xiao Lie patted Zhou Xun's arm with satisfaction.

"Alright! You get it right away!"

"From now on, stop thinking about your underhanded tricks; they're never respectable."

"If you're going to play this game, you have to play it fair!"

"A calculated move that even if the enemy knows there's a bottomless abyss ahead, they still have no choice but to jump!"