If I made you cannon fodder, how did you manage to achieve your goal of conquering the wolf's l

The dry ditch on the east side of Bailangji has no water all year round, and the bottom of the riverbed is covered with gravel of all sizes and withered shrubs.

The night wind howled and swept along the river, making a chilling, mournful sound.

A dilapidated mule cart struggled across the riverbed. The wooden wheels creaked and groaned under the weight of the stones, the sound carrying far into the silent, snowy night.

The mule cart was moving very slowly, and the mules pulling it were already exhausted, puffing out thick white breaths from their nostrils.

Six guards from the Chen family of Yunzhou followed around the carriage. They held unsheathed weapons in their hands, their eyes constantly scanning the dark snowstorm behind them, their steps hurried.

Inside the carriage, the leader of Black Wind Stronghold leaned against a corner, panting heavily. His black cloak was tattered, and the wounds on his right arm and leg had reopened due to the bumpy ride, with warm blood seeping from his trousers and dripping onto the wooden floor of the carriage.

The steward of the Chen family sat by the carriage door, his hands tucked into his thick sleeves, staring expressionlessly at the head of the household.

"Manager Chen, how much longer?" the chief asked through gritted teeth, enduring the pain. "This broken carriage is shaking me so badly my bones feel like they're about to fall apart. Why don't you prepare a faster horse?"

Manager Chen snorted coldly, his tone carrying an undisguised contempt.

"Chief, you are now a wanted criminal by the imperial court and a major criminal on the Zhenbei Army's wanted list. Riding a fast horse will make you too conspicuous and leave obvious tracks. Taking this dry riverbed will be slower, but it will be more discreet. Once we get out of this wasteland, there will naturally be a cavalry team waiting to meet us."

A flash of anger crossed the leader's eyes, but he knew that he was now living under someone else's roof and could only suppress his anger.

He clutched a sandalwood box tightly to his chest, as if it were his last straw.

After walking for another mile or so, the terrain of the ditch gradually narrowed. The earthen slopes on both sides acted like two high walls, blocking out the night wind, and the surrounding atmosphere became eerily quiet.

Manager Chen suddenly raised his hand, signaling the mule cart to stop.

The mule pulling the cart finally caught its breath and stood motionless. The six guards from the Chen family quickly dispersed, forming a circle around the mule cart.

Upon seeing this, the four remaining loyal followers of the leader immediately gripped their weapons more tightly.

"Why did you stop?" the leader asked in a deep voice.

Manager Chen jumped off the carriage shaft, straightened his long robe, and turned to look at the head of the household inside the carriage.

"Boss, if you go any further along this dry ditch, you'll reach a fork in the road. The waiting cavalry is just ahead, but they only have a limited number of horses and can't carry that many people."

Manager Chen's gaze swept over the four trusted men behind the boss, and his voice turned cold.

"Second Master instructed that I was only here to receive you, the accountant, and the silver ledger you have. As for other irrelevant people, they are not on the receiving list."

Upon hearing this, the expressions of the four trusted men behind the leader changed drastically.

"What do you mean?" one of the henchmen roared. "We brothers have risked our lives with the boss, and now you want to just leave us here to die?"

Manager Chen completely ignored the trusted confidant and only stared at the boss.

"Boss, you know the rules. The more people you bring, the greater the risk of being exposed. The new identity and travel permit that Second Master prepared for you are only one set. If you bring them along, none of you will be able to leave."

The head of the gang did not reply immediately; his gaze swept back and forth between Steward Chen and the six guards around him.

Having spent so many years fighting on the border, he was all too familiar with this kind of tactic of crossing the river and then destroying the bridge.

Manager Chen claimed it was for safety, but in reality, it was clearly an attempt to isolate him.

Without his four absolutely loyal confidants by his side, this severely wounded bandit leader, traveling with the people of Yunzhou, was like a fish on a chopping board. Once he handed over the silver, they could kill him at any moment in the wilderness, silencing him completely.

The people of Yunzhou wanted him dead even more than the Zhenbei Army.

The veins on the back of the leader's hand, which gripped the wooden box, bulged as he rapidly assessed the current situation. The accountant had been left behind at the old dyehouse, and now his only bargaining chip was this wooden box.

"Manager Chen, these brothers of mine must come with me." The leader's voice was deep, carrying an unyielding resolve. "Without them, I'm not going anywhere tonight."

Upon hearing this, Manager Chen's face turned completely gloomy.

"Boss, you seem to be unaware of the current situation." Steward Chen took a step forward, his tone filled with chilling murderous intent. "I'm not discussing this with you. Hand over the account books, and you're coming with me. As for these four people, they must stay here."

As Steward Chen finished speaking, the six guards of the Chen family all stepped forward, their short swords gleaming coldly in the dim light of the snow.

The atmosphere became extremely tense at that moment.

Seeing the undisguised murderous intent in Steward Chen's eyes, the chief's last shred of hope vanished.

He knew that Yunzhou had no intention of letting him enter the inner city alive. The so-called rendezvous was nothing more than a meticulously planned assassination attempt.

"You want me to stay here and wait to die?"

A ferocious red light flashed in the leader's eyes. He suddenly raised his left hand, and a cold light flashed from his sleeve.

A poisoned dart hidden in a sleeve was released from the bow.

The distance was too close; a guard from the Chen family standing next to the carriage had no time to react before a hidden arrow pierced his throat.

The guard's eyes were wide open, his hands clutching his bleeding neck, and he fell straight down into the rubble. He twitched a couple of times and then went still.

"Fight your way out!"

The leader let out a deafening roar.

The four trusted men, who had been waiting for their turn, were like four hungry wolves driven to the brink of despair when they heard the leader's order. They brandished their weapons and pounced on the Chen family guards around them from the carriage.

In the narrow, dry ditch, the sounds of clashing weapons and screams instantly shattered the deathly silence of the night.

Despite the excruciating pain in his leg, the leader rolled off the cart, drew a short knife from his waist with his left hand, and leaned against the mule cart, preparing to look for an opportunity to break out.

Seeing this, Steward Chen shouted angrily, "You won't listen to reason, so you'll have to suffer the consequences! Kill him and take the wooden box!"

The remaining five Chen family assassins immediately sent two of them to charge at their leader without regard for their own safety.

Although the leader was seriously injured, he was still the head of Black Wind Stronghold, and his inherent ferocity remained. He brandished his short sword and fought desperately with the two assassins, but his strength was draining away very quickly, and after a few rounds, he had two more new wounds on his body.

Just as the two sides were locked in a fierce and evenly matched battle in the ditch.

Suddenly, a row of torches lit up the front of the dry riverbed.

The firelight extinguished the wind and snow ahead, and eight figures on horseback, like an unbreakable iron wall, silently blocked the path of the dry riverbed.

The breath of the warhorse turned into white mist in the cold wind.

The leader, clad in a jet-black fur coat, carried a steel sword that gleamed with a ghostly blue light. The torchlight illuminated his cold, icy face.

It was Xu Qingshan.

Beside him, Aman held a lasso, while Liu Ruyan held a repeating crossbow, coldly watching the people fighting amongst themselves in the riverbed.

"Boss, this mule-pulled cart really can't go fast."

Xu Qingshan's voice wasn't loud, but it echoed in the narrow ditch, carrying a suffocating sense of oppression.

Upon hearing this sound, both the head of the gang and Steward Chen stopped what they were doing.

The two turned to look, their faces drained of all color.

"Xu Qingshan!" The leader gritted his teeth and spat out the name, his eyes filled with despair.

He never imagined that despite his elaborate scheme to lure him with a fast horse, Xu Qingshan would not fall for it at all and instead successfully block his path in the dry ditch.

Manager Chen was also terrified, but he reacted quickly, immediately shouting to his men, "Block them! Cover my retreat!"

After saying that, he turned around and tried to climb up the steep slope on the other side of the ditch.

"Don't let a single one escape." Xu Qingshan pointed his long sword forward.

"kill!"

Eight Zhenbei cavalrymen spurred their horses and charged down the riverbed. The horses were incredibly fast, and in the blink of an eye, they were upon them.

The strings of the crossbows fired in rapid succession rang out in unison.

Before the three guards from the Chen family who tried to stop them could even swing their swords, they were riddled with holes by short steel arrows and fell into pools of blood, screaming in agony.

Seeing that his escape route was completely blocked, the leader's eyes blazed with even more madness.

He raised the sandalwood box high in his hand and held it against his neck.

"Xu Qingshan! Don't come any closer!"

The leader roared hoarsely, his voice echoing in the ditch.

"I know what you want! This contains the Black Wind Stronghold's account books, and irrefutable evidence that could bring down a powerful figure in Yunzhou! If you dare to force me, I'll destroy it immediately! We'll all fight to the death, and neither of us will get our hands on it!"

Xu Qingshan reined in his horse, stopping it about ten paces away from the chief.

He stared coldly at the wooden box in the leader's hand, his expression completely unmoved.

"You can't destroy it," Xu Qingshan said calmly. "You've used it as a lifeline, how could you bear to destroy it?"

Seeing that Xu Qingshan remained unmoved, the chief became even more flustered. He turned to look at Steward Chen, who was being forced into a corner by the Zhenbei cavalry.

"Xu Qingshan! If you let me go, I'll give you this box! The contents inside are enough for you to wield power in the North Wall!" The leader tried to use benefits as a bargaining chip.

Upon hearing that the head of the gang was going to hand the wooden box over to Xu Qingshan, Steward Chen, who was standing at a distance, immediately changed his expression.

"We can't let him get his hands on the box!"

With bloodshot eyes, Steward Chen recklessly gave orders to the two remaining guards.

"Go destroy that box! Kill it at all costs, kill the person inside and the box!"

Upon receiving the death order, the two guards from the Chen family turned around without hesitation, abandoned their resistance against the Zhenbei Cavalry, and brandished their long swords, rushing madly towards the leader's direction.

They completely ignored the leader's attacks, fighting in a suicidal manner, their blades aimed directly at the wooden box in the leader's hand.

Manager Chen's action precisely proved the importance of that wooden box.

"Protect the wooden box!" Xu Qingshan shouted coldly.

The soldiers of the Zhenbei Cavalry reacted swiftly. Two knights spurred their horses forward, their spears thrusting out with pincers, knocking the two crazed Chen family guards to the ground and relieving their leader of the crisis.

But the chief was not grateful to Xu Qingshan. Taking advantage of the chaos, he suddenly turned around, trying to overturn the mule cart behind him and escape towards the rocky slope on the other side.

He had just stepped onto the carriage shaft when a whooshing sound suddenly rang out.

Ah Man straightened up on the horse, and the lasso in her hand drew a perfect circle in the air like a venomous snake emerging from its hole.

The noose landed precisely on the leader's shoulder, then tightened suddenly.

"Get down!"

Ah Man pulled backward with both hands.

The chief lost his balance and fell heavily off the cart shaft, crashing onto the pebbles of the riverbed. He let out a painful groan, and the wooden box in his hand flew out and landed in the snow not far away.

Xu Qingshan spurred his horse forward, dismounted, and stepped on the chief's chest, the blade of his long sword pressed against his throat.

"Run? Can those legs of yours outrun a mule?" Xu Qingshan looked down at him.

The leader, utterly exhausted, lay on the snow, his eyes filled with a despairing sense of defeat.

He knew he was completely finished.