Yi Shangyun tilted her head, looking at her retreating figure with a puzzled expression, and asked, "What are you laughing at?"

However, the masked man in black did not rush to answer her question. Instead, he said as if it were nothing, "How about I answer your second question first?"

"The second question?" Yi Shangyun frowned, still lying obediently on the grass, trying to recall what she had asked in her second question.

Before she could react, the masked man in black angrily shouted, "Today I'm not only going to rob you of your money, but also of your virtue!"

As he spoke, he suddenly turned around and pressed down on Yi Shangyun.

In the midst of the chaos, there was no time to dodge, and Yi Shangyun was immediately pressed down and firmly controlled by him.

She could only instinctively use all the strength she had just recovered to kick the black-clad, masked man's lower body wildly with her feet.

The masked man in black was incredibly strong, and he held her hands firmly in place.

No matter how hard she tried to tear off the mask from his face to see who it was, she couldn't do it at all.

Her feet were kicking and thrashing like wheels of fire, while her arms were flailing wildly to keep herself moving.

Eyes focused intently, searching for any chance to escape.

To distract her, she gritted her teeth and began to curse: "Let go! Let me go! Who are you? There's no water source along the way, and no herders could possibly live nearby. Where did you start following me? If you're looking to rob me, you've come to the wrong person. I'm penniless. If you're trying to rape me, I'll make you pay a heavy price later. Get away! Get away now!"

Just as the masked man in black was grinning wickedly and about to use his strength to pin her arms down to her sides, he suddenly noticed that the seven-colored gold and jade bracelet on Yi Shangyun's wrist seemed to flash with light.

So he immediately squinted at it, trying to see clearly whether it was his imagination.

Just as he blinked, Yi Shangyun finally seized the opportunity and kicked him hard in his groin.

"Um……"

Suddenly, accompanied by a muffled groan from the masked man in black, he jumped up abruptly, clutching his lower abdomen tightly with both hands, his face contorted in pain.

Taking this opportunity, Yi Shangyun suddenly stood up and ran straight to Brother Ma by the river.

Just as she was about to mount her horse and flee, the masked man in black, who had already caught his breath, reappeared behind her.

He grabbed her small body and lifted her up in mid-air. Before she could even cry out in surprise, he threw her hard into the river at her feet.

Fortunately, the river wasn't very deep.

As soon as Yi Shangyun fell into the water, she struggled to sit up. While wiping the river water from her face, she angrily shouted at the masked man in black, "Are you crazy? You robbed me of my money and my virtue, do you intend to kill me to cover it up?"

However, the masked man in black stood motionless beside her, his two gleaming eyes staring straight at her, seemingly extremely pleased to see her now soaking wet and embarrassed.

As soon as Yi Shangyun stood up from the river, the masked man in black angrily charged at him again.

He grabbed her slender neck from behind, then leaned close to her ear and gritted his teeth, saying fiercely, "Hand over the Heavenly Horse Military Token right now?"

"What...what Heavenly Horse Military Talisman?" Upon hearing this, Yi Shangyun paused for a moment, then pretended to know nothing and asked.

"Stop pretending in front of me. Did that damned old man hand over the Heavenly Horse Military Token to you?" the masked man in black said through gritted teeth.

"What do you need the Heavenly Horse Military Token for?" Yi Shangyun asked.

The masked man in black thought for a moment, then sneered, "Hmph, it seems you really do know the importance of this military token?"

"You want to be the king of this grassland?" Yi Shangyun asked suspiciously.

"So what if it is, and so what if it isn't? This grassland, no matter what, will ultimately belong to me, and no one can stop me." The masked man in black looked confident and determined.

"Since you're so confident, what's the point of having this military tally? Instead of going to the battlefield to fight the enemy, why are you getting entangled in this pointless mess with a weak woman like me? If you win on the battlefield, won't you still be supported to become king? Wouldn't the throne and status obtained that way be the most permanent, stable, and justifiable?" As she spoke, Yi Shangyun seemed to have already made some guesses in her mind.

His eyes darted around, and he continued, "You must have already lost the chance to withstand the Western Qin army, so you want to use the military tally to mobilize all your forces for a final desperate attempt?"

These words struck a nerve with the masked man in black, who immediately became enraged and said, "Shut up! What do you know? You woman, how dare you seduce that cowardly bastard. What's so good about him? You'd rather choose him than be with me."

As the masked man in black spoke, he unintentionally increased the pressure on his hand.

Yi Shangyun's face turned red and her neck bulged from being pinched, and she seemed to be having trouble breathing. She said with difficulty, "What are you talking about? What coward? I don't understand."

However, it was precisely because of this sentence that she instantly understood that the person in front of her must be someone she knew well. Who would treat her like this here?

Just then, with a clang, a short sword that looked extremely valuable fell from the black-clad, masked man's body.

The scabbard and hilt were gleaming with gold and inlaid with many red and green gemstones.

Yi Shangyun blushed and glanced at him sideways, suddenly realizing that he looked somewhat familiar.

In an instant, a fragmented scene flashed through his mind: this short sword was exactly the same one that Tuoba Ze had pressed against his neck when he fell off the cliff south of Xiqin City.

With that thought, she strained to pull at the black-clad, masked man's hand around her neck, managing to squeeze out a few words: "You are... Tuoba..."

Unexpectedly, as soon as he opened his mouth, the Heavenly Horse Military Talisman hidden on his body suddenly fell to the ground.

The masked man in black looked down at the military tally that had fallen at the feet of the two men, and was immediately stunned and speechless.

Once he came to his senses, he bent down and swiftly picked up the Heavenly Horse Military Talisman that he had been longing for for so long, examining it closely.

A moment later, he suddenly raised his head and burst into hearty laughter: "It's fate, it's all fate, hahahahaha...hahahahaha..."

He then looked back at Xiang Yishangyun's astonished face and said, "Just as I expected, the Heavenly Horse Military Token really is on you, woman. Are you planning to take it and hand it over to that good-for-nothing, so that he can take advantage of the chaos of war to become the savior and rightfully become the king of this grassland?"

After saying that, he forcefully released his large hand from Yi Shangyun's neck. Yi Shangyun's neck had already been marked with deep finger marks, and he collapsed heavily to the ground, breathing heavily.

Just as the masked man in black turned around and looked up, wanting to take a long breath, he gasped for air.

But then, the once bright and sunny blue sky suddenly turned dark, with thick, dark clouds rolling low overhead.

Suddenly, accompanied by bursts of thunder, a huge gale roared up like a raging flood, assaulting his entire body.

In an instant, he closed his eyes tightly, as if he would never have the chance to open them again. One hand gripped the Heavenly Horse Military Talisman, which he hadn't had time to put away yet, while the other hand swayed and struggled to cover his face, which had long since been blown away by the gale.

The clouds on the clothes lay sprawled on the ground, revealing his true colors clearly.

Amidst the deafening roar of the wind, he uttered a barely audible voice: "It really is you, Tuoba Ze!"

Thunder rumbled incessantly, and lightning flashed across the sky seemingly out of nowhere.

The surrounding area was suddenly blocked out of the sun, and yellow sand flew everywhere, turning everything into a vast expanse of yellow.

Suddenly, not far away on the horizon, the strong wind swept up soil, trees, and many unidentified objects into the air, gradually connecting with the sky and quickly forming a towering column of wind.

The enormous column of wind, like a giant dragon, began to spin rapidly and move at an extremely fast speed, hurtling towards the two of them.

As if sensing the immense power, Yi Shangyun struggled to open her eyes. Upon seeing the colossal object, she cried out in alarm, "Oh no, it's a tornado!"

Its speed was astonishing; everything in its path was swept up and vanished in an instant.

"Run! A tornado is coming!" Yi Shangyun shouted, then struggled to get up.

"Where can we run to? It's too late!" Tuoba Ze glanced at the approaching hurricane and froze in shock.

He didn't even notice the Heavenly Horse Military Talisman, which he valued more than his own life, slipping from his hand and falling to the ground.

On this vast grassland, no one knew better than him, a man who fought battles every day, how terrifying tornadoes were. What chance was there of survival for those who encountered them?

Yi Shangyun hurriedly looked around, trying to find a place to hide, but there was nothing there.

How could those frail saplings possibly budge the strength of a tornado?

Suddenly, her eyes lit up as she spotted a large, low-lying pit not far away. She cried out, "See that? That pit! Jump in quickly, hurry!"

Upon hearing the sound, Tuoba Ze snapped out of his daze, grabbed Yi Shangyun tightly, and ran over to jump into the pit.

The two of them covered their heads with their arms, their faces bent down, their mouths and eyes tightly closed, curled up together and hidden away.

Just then, Tuoba Ze suddenly exclaimed in surprise, "Oh no!"

Yi Shangyun: "What's wrong?"