Panic is contagious. A rout of Turkic soldiers would result in immediate execution by their commanders. But repeated defeats completely shattered the morale of the entire force. Once morale collapsed, the entire battle crumbled.
Lu Xuan, with two others, seized three warhorses and forced their way out of the encirclement.
The scattered Turkic soldiers behind them failed to mount a pursuit. Only a few soldiers drew their bows and fired a few arrows. But three bloodied figures had already broken through the Red Stone Gorge. Behind them, a dozen or so Turkic soldiers who had reached the exit hesitated and ultimately did not dare to give chase.
Under the setting sun, three figures, bathed in blood, raced wildly across the desert, their backs to the setting sun. The Red Stone Gorge receded further and further behind them.
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Chapter Fourteen: An Unexpected Encounter
In the Battle of Hongshi Gorge, Lu Xuan thoroughly intimidated the pursuing Turks, preventing their defeated generals from attacking in a short period. Then... more Turks arrived as reinforcements. Lu Xuan didn't know why the Tang army's response was so slow in Tang territory. But running was still the only option.
Once outside Red Stone Gorge, without the advantage of its complex terrain, Lu Xuan could no longer display his overwhelming combat prowess, capable of taking on a hundred enemies single-handedly. On the plains, without even engaging in combat, a volley of arrows would be enough to bring Lu Xuan to his knees.
After six days of frantic running, they were caught by the Turks several times, managing to escape each time. But on the seventh day, they were finally cornered. The horses were exhausted; all the horses were on the verge of death. Worse still, during the pursuit, almost all supplies had been lost. The entire group hadn't eaten anything for a whole day.
If Lu Xuan hadn't prepared a large amount of easily portable mutton and cooled boiled water in advance, the team would have completely collapsed two days ago.
"The Turks are about half a day's journey away from us. They also need to rest. But their supplies must be much better than ours. In fact, they don't even need to rush up to fight us now. Just keep us at bay from a distance, and in less than a day, we won't even be able to lift our swords."
Lieutenant Li, leaning on his sword, laboriously sat down next to Lu Xuan, casually took a piece of dried mutton from Lu Xuan's hand, and put it in his mouth. Then he continued speaking.
"Hmm, your mutton is really good. Do you have any more?"
"That's all. We threw away most of our load-bearings in order to break through," Lu Xuan said with a hint of helplessness.
"That's such a pity. How much camel blood do we have left?"
An old man nearby leaned over and responded.
"There are still four large bags left. But camel blood is very fishy and strong, and people can't handle drinking too much of it."
"You have to persevere even if you can't handle it. So, are you regretting it now? I told you long ago, this is a life-threatening job."
"These days, if you want to live like a human being, you have to risk your life, right? What's so special about this? Back in the day, I was a guard for a caravan. We were besieged by bandits and we were in the desert for three days and three nights without a drop of water. I still made it through."
The old man habitually boasted, and everyone laughed along. But after a few breaths, silence fell again.
Lai Xi reached out and took a piece of mutton, putting it in her mouth. She ate a few bites, swallowing with some difficulty. Without water, swallowing anything made her throat feel sore.
"Based on your skill in cooking mutton, you shouldn't be a butcher from the Western Regions."
"Indeed, I run a mutton soup restaurant."
"I'm not joking, who exactly are you?" Lai Xi's eyes turned more serious than ever before. He stared intently at Lu Xuan. Everyone seemed to understand what he meant, and no one spoke, only quietly watching Lu Xuan.
Lu Xuan poked at the campfire in front of him, remained silent for a long time, and finally looked up and spoke.
"An unknown person."
It wasn't that he didn't want to tell them; these people before him had been through thick and thin together. He didn't want to deceive them, but he still couldn't explain his origins.
Rachel seemed somewhat disappointed, yet also somewhat relieved.
“Although it’s like they didn’t say anything, at least they didn’t lie to us,” Rachel said, taking out the box containing the relics.
"It's at least four days' journey to Xiaogucheng. But given the current situation, even if we reach Xiaogucheng, we can't guarantee our safety. I don't know why the Tang Dynasty hasn't made any move. But we need to prepare for the worst. I need you to take the relic and Wenzhu and leave first. The rest of us will buy you time."
Aside from Lu Xuan, no one else showed any surprise. Clearly, they had reached a consensus sometime earlier. This gave Lu Xuan a headache. He never imagined that this kind of movie scenario would actually happen to him.
"Why do you think I would go back to save you?" Lu Xuan didn't answer the question directly, but instead asked it back.
“I don’t know, but I know I can trust you. I knew that from the moment you rushed back to save us. I’ve served in the military, and I know that someone like you is someone I can entrust with my life.”
"No, you shouldn't believe me like that. You don't understand, the reason I went back to save you was to protect my wealth and status. Do you really think that a swordsman from the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty could bring a relic to the Emperor? And even receive a reward for it?"
Such a crucial item, capable of influencing the war in the Western Regions, should have been brought back by a secret envoy of the Tang Emperor or a well-organized border army—that would have been the proper way. Without your endorsement, do you think I could have brought this thing all the way to Chang'an?
"No one knows that the relic is on you, so you can secretly enter Chang'an. Then use my token to contact your colleagues in the Secret Service. They can be trusted."
"Really? Nobody knows? It's as if nobody knows what's happening here? We're already over four hundred li deep into Tang territory. We haven't even seen a single Tang soldier. Why do you think that is?"
Lai Xi fell silent. Lu Xuan's words starkly revealed the aspect Lai Xi least wanted to face: the escort mission was indeed riddled with suspicious points. Firstly, how did the Turks know so precisely that the relic was in the Tang army? Secondly, this generation of Tang soldiers had been selected far too cleanly.
Given the intensity of the war, the border regions should have been teeming with Tang spies and patrols. Yet, there was nothing. Hundreds of Turkic cavalry pursued them for six days and six nights within Tang territory without encountering a single Tang reinforcement. This in itself clearly indicates that some enormous conspiracy is lurking within the entire affair.
“But now we…” Lai Xi wanted to say something, but Lu Xuan interrupted him.
"Don't speak, someone's coming..."
The sounds of swords being drawn filled the air. Lieutenant Li, Lai Xi, the old man, and even Xiao Si and the veteran all drew their blades. They quickly formed a circle, protecting Wen Zhu in the center. Lu Xuan casually tossed her the relic. Then he handed her a short knife.
“Keep an eye on things. If we all fall, you know what to do.”
Everyone was on guard, and at that moment, Lu Xuan noticed that there were far fewer people than he had expected. There were only about a few dozen, and the sound of their hooves was not like that of Turkic cavalry at all; it sounded more like that of bandits.
Sure enough, the bald man next to Mr. An soon arrived with a group of bandits. Lieutenant Li and his men were about to strike first, but Lu Xuan glanced at the enemy's group, had an idea, and stopped them.
"Don't be impulsive. There are too few people here. They don't seem to be here to kill us."
The bald man looked around at everyone, and finally his gaze fell on Lu Xuan.
"Mr. Lu, this is a small token of Lord An's appreciation." After saying this, he gestured for the bandits behind him to lead over several warhorses laden with supplies.
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Chapter Fifteen: Soldiers and Officials of the Tang Dynasty
The man surnamed An was a prime example of fickleness. Everyone present was completely baffled by his actions. Even Lu Xuan felt that the situation before him was rather surreal.