Let Me Explain, Fairy
Chapter 382 - 267: Provoking Battle_2

Chapter 382: Chapter 267: Provoking Battle_2

Xu Yuan then asked,

"But now that we can’t catch the Barbarian Tribes’ main force, what are your plans?"

Li Qingyan pursed her lips with a smile, glancing sideways,

"Do you.... want to hear the truth or a lie?"

Xu Yuan smiled wryly,

"A lie."

Li Qingyan chuckled, her slender, delicate fingertips tapping on the table,

"Block the pass at Northern Border City, dispatch high-level cultivators and flying scouts to scout the mountains, preventing them from detouring back to the plain. At the same time, arrange for the Sects’ heavy cavalry to search within our territory and trap the Barbarian Tribes to death inside Dayan Territory."

Upon hearing this, Xu Yuan pondered briefly,

"Now with the Northern Frontier under a snowstorm, besides those cities and the family forts built by landlords and gentries outside the cities, the common people in the outside villages either froze to death or have already fled. It’s a natural scorched earth defense. And it’s because the Barbarian Tribes were bold enough to attack cities for food that they exposed their position."

Li Qingyan stared at him, saying cheerfully,

"Prince Consort, what you said is quite true, but unfortunately, it’s a lie."

"......" Xu Yuan.

"Prince Consort, do you want to know what the truth is?"

"I don’t." Xu Yuan had a bad premonition and averted his gaze.

Li Qingyan raised her hand and twisted Xu Yuan’s head back with Origin Qi,

"I think you do."

Sighing, Xu Yuan looked into her bright eyes and asked,

"Why?"

"The scouts sent near Northern Border City reported back: the corpses of the Sects’ Border Army, the Barbarian Tribes’ corpses, and even those three huge ice beast statues are left with only half a carcass."

As she spoke, Li Qingyan’s eyes narrowed slightly and she said in a low voice, "Prince Consort, how long do you think the Barbarian Tribes can hold out with these ’supplies’?"

Xu Yuan’s eyelid twitched and he was silent for a while,

"It seems during these past few days of lull, that Barbarian King has been transporting ’supplies’..."

Li Qingyan took a deep breath and then exhaled, her tense chest remaining motionless,

"That Barbarian Strange King is truly clever. The moment the war ended, he was already prepared to wear us down with these plundered ’supplies.’ With such a force hidden inside Great Yan Territory, we dare not transport supplies on a large scale to the north. We can only rely on the Sumeru Ring for resupplies, which we cannot afford to do."

At this point, Li Qingyan slightly clenched her fist,

"Moreover, Father Emperor also needs the Northern Border Army and Black Scale Army to join in the extermination of the Northern Border Sects. The longer the delay, the greater the risk of exposure."

High-level cultivators within the Sects are not like ordinary people; even with strict defenses, there’s always a possibility of them escaping, and if even one person escapes during the secret slaughter of Sects, the entire Northern Border Sects will learn of it in a short time.

The Northern Border Army and Black Scale Army’s involvement is the only way to ensure absolute security.

After a moment of silence, Xu Yuan suddenly asked,

"With such a huge Barbarian Army, it’s impossible for them to disappear without a trace. Can we track them?"

Li Qingyan replied with a hint of helplessness,

"The blizzard has completely covered their tracks, and it’s not easy to trace them after nearly ten days."

Xu Yuan was silent for a long time, then said in a low voice,

"So you’re thinking of venturing deep into the enemy territory alone? Using yourself as bait to lure the Barbarian Army into encircling you?"

"Yes."

"But what if the Barbarian Tribes return to the Northern Frontier plains via the mountain route they came from?"

"Master Zong has issued a strict order for the accompanying high-level masters to patrol intensively in designated regions between the Wanjun Mountain Range and Tianshui Mountain Range, leaving no chance for the Barbarian Tribes to detour back north," she explained.

"......" Xu Yuan.

High-level cultivators’ lives are valuable, and they generally wouldn’t undertake high-risk jobs like patrolling, because if discovered by the main force of the Barbarian Army, a single totem spell could send them to their deaths.

But likewise, if something happens to them within their patrol region, it can confirm the presence of the Barbarian Army troops in that area.

It seemed Zong Qingsheng and Li Qingyan had made up their minds for a quick resolution.

Li Qingyan stood up decisively and glanced back at the silent Xu Yuan, saying,

"Now, the only chance for that Barbarian Strange King to turn defeat into victory is to divide and encircle us with more to fight less. As long as I can hold the main force of the Barbarian Tribes and detonate the Cloud Qi Bomb, drawing Master Zong here for support, we can resolve the situation in the Northern Frontier in the shortest time possible."

...

...

...

Half a day later,

the Northern Border Army, serving as the vanguard, was the first to arrive under Northern Border City and began to reorganize.

A day after that,

the Black Scale Army, led by the trusted aide, also reached Northern Border City.

After the two armies had transferred the necessary supplies and military equipment, Li Qingyan took command of the two townships of Northern Border Army and the twenty thousand Border Army troops from Luo Qingfeng, directly braving the snowstorm to bypass Northern Border City and continue heading south in pursuit of the Barbarian Army.

Truth be told,

Xu Yuan did not quite approve of such risky actions, especially since this risk could very likely cost him his own life.

Unfortunately, he was of little significance and his words carried no weight.

Even though he was surrounded by Armored Warriors in armor and had the madwoman Li Qingyan by his side, marching through the blizzard still made Xu Yuan feel very insecure.

However, fortunately, Zong Qingsheng generously allocated most of the Black Scale Army’s Scouts to be under Li Qingyan’s command.

Hundreds of well-trained Scouts roamed ahead of the main force, continuously relaying information back, providing early warnings for the Central Army.

As Li Qingyan’s trusted aide and Prince Consort, Xu Yuan found it boring, yet he could also review these military reports.

The information that could be reported to Li Qingyan was essentially the important details that had been filtered by the deputy generals below.

Well, relatively important.

On the first day, there was no military intelligence but due to the blizzard, two Scouts were non-combat casualties.

On the second day, two villages destroyed by the blizzard were discovered to the southwest and southeast of the main force. The frozen corpses of the villagers had not been disturbed.

On the third day, a few flying Scouts encountered the Barbarian Tribes’ bone-winged birds, losing seven men, and ground Scouts were ambushed by the Barbarian Wolf Cavalry in a canyon, resulting in nine deaths and thirteen missing. The main force turned and pursued towards the abnormal canyon.

On the fourth day, skirmishes between the two armies’ Scouts started to become frequent, with over a hundred casualties reported in one day.

On the fifth day, Scouts reported that there were only a few injured Barbarians in the canyon, who were all exterminated by the accompanying Great Grandmaster.

On the sixth day, the main force entered Ningyuan County and forced local gentry to donate grain for supplies.

....

....

On the thirteenth day, the Barbarian Tribes launched small-scale harassments, causing the Sects’ Border Army to lose one hundred thirty-seven men and fourteen men to non-combat reductions.

On the fourteenth day, the Barbarian Tribes launched small-scale harassments, causing the Sects’ Border Army to lose thirty-six men and the Northern Border Army seventeen.

On the sixteenth day...

"Snap!"

Xu Yuan casually threw the scroll in his hand onto the table inside the beast-drawn carriage, sat back down on the soft couch, and heaved a long sigh:

"Honestly, when will there be an end to this guerilla warfare?"

The Barbarian King really was as slippery as an eel. The Northern Border Army had been winding its way through the far north of Tianshui Continent for nearly a month and hadn’t even caught a hair of them. On the contrary, the entire army was weary from the constant harassment by the Barbarian Tribes.

It was a clear understanding of guerilla tactics.

Li Qingyan got up and sat down beside Xu Yuan. The soft couch sank slightly. She spoke in a gentle voice:

"Prince Consort, this is the norm in warfare with the Barbarian Tribes. The strategy of exhausting the enemy; expecting that Barbarian King to bet it all on an attack is simply impossible. After all, war is no child’s play. If he loses once in such a gamble, the entire Barbarian Tribes could be doomed."

"......."

Lying on the soft couch, Xu Yuan placed his hands behind his head and crossed his legs, staring at the ceiling of the carriage, he suddenly said:

"Hey, let’s put some pressure on that Barbarian King."

"Pressure?" Li Qingyan raised an eyebrow.

Xu Yuan looked at her profile and said in a low voice:

"Just tell him that your Uncle Mu has gone to the Extreme Black Lands to raid their homeland."

"....." Li Qingyan was momentarily stunned.

Xu Yuan turned, his gaze peculiar:

"What, we can’t tell the Barbarian King that piece of information?"

"No, of course we can."

Li Qingyan smiled sweetly, her phoenix eyes sparkling for a moment, and with a smile she asked, "Such a vicious move, Prince Consort, why didn’t you suggest it sooner?"

Xu Yuan slowly sat up and said in a low voice:

"Dali Mountain reaching the Extreme Black Lands takes time. If the Barbarian Tribes have a way of long-distance communication, it could very well alert them to our moves. By now, Marquis Wucheng has probably already been there for some time."

Li Qingyan’s eyes flickered for a moment, and the corners of her mouth unconsciously curled up slightly:

"I will immediately have the Scouts in the army spread the news. If that Barbarian Strange King wants to move south, it’s for his people to have a land to survive. But now, if his people are slaughtered to the last one... hehe."