Night falls early in the border town, and the streets are usually deserted after dinner. In Pingyang County, only the brothels are dotted with lights, but tonight, the alleys are just as quiet.

The road leading into the deep mountains was as dark as ink. If it weren't for the moonlight reflecting off the snow, this group of people would probably have had to use torches to travel.

"We're almost there, about two li away. We won't be able to ride horses once we're deep in the mountains," Huo Shuwen said.

The man wore a gray fur hat, with a few snowflakes clinging to his sideburns. Although he wore a mask, the warm breath he exhaled was condensed into water droplets by the cold wind and clung to his eyelashes, adding a touch of chill to his deep eyes.

"Then let's tie the horses here. If we're too close, the Xiongnu will hear the sound of their hooves."

The speaker was the commander of the Border City Army's Night-Time Cautionary Force. Yesterday, his group arrived in Pingyang County and met up with the people from Biluo Mountain Villa. They decided to head straight into the deep mountains tonight.

The group dismounted and began to travel at a faster pace. At first, the captain was quite unhappy that these young girls had come along, but since the girls hadn't complained once along the way, he had come to accept it.

In the end, it's not their fault. After so many years of military campaigns, they've seen plenty of fierce women. There are even female bandits who rule the mountains, but most of those women are big and strong, with a build no different from men. But the commander-in-chief has never seen such slender and beautiful women like those from Fengyuelou.

"They are chiseling ice to prepare a meal."

Miao Cuifang scouted ahead of the others, and when they arrived at the Xiongnu camp, the Miao youth returned and reported back.

"When do we make our move?" Huo Shuwen asked the captain.

This time, all command of the operation was given to the army's general commander, who, in terms of experience and understanding of fighting against the Xiongnu, was far superior to this group.

"We'll start eating once they begin."

"Can't we shoot arrows, boss?" one of the scouts asked.

"No, the Xiongnu are better at mounted archery than us; we have no choice but to sneak in and get close."

The martial arts practitioners are far more skilled than the soldiers. The Night Scouts are mainly responsible for military intelligence, including intelligence gathering and transmission during peacetime and wartime. They are among the top elites in the army. After sparring with the people from Biluo Manor yesterday, they realized that there was a world of difference in their skills.

"Just listen to my instructions. As soon as they start the fire, you release the sleeping smoke out," the captain said to Miao Cuifang and her apprentice.

Xiongnu camp

Several people circled around the ice in the iron pot; it was so cold that even their saliva had to melt before they could drink it. The flames under the stove slowly rose, and the Xiongnu man tending the fire wished he could stuff all the firewood in, just so he could have a hot meal as soon as possible.

After a few sticks of incense had burned, the aroma of roasted meat filled the deep mountains. They ate this with a bowl of ghee noodles every day.

"What's that smell? Can you smell it?"

"It smells nice, and it even smells a little good."

The Xiongnu at the very edge of the camp were the first to notice something was wrong and immediately blew the hawk whistle in their arms.

"Enemy attack—"

Huo Shuwen took the lead, throwing off his cloak, his spear dangling in mid-air. He leaped forward, grabbing the head and tail, and tightened the red-tasseled spear. Then, the spear shot out like a dragon, heading straight for the Xiongnu's chest.

Before the Xiongnu could utter a second cry, he fell silent.

Unlike the two assassination attempts she had experienced at the brothel, this time it was a desperate fight. Chunying single-handedly deflected her enemy, blood splattering everywhere. The tip of her blade was soaked in blood, and the lifelike Qilin pattern on the blade was vivid, every groove flowing with crimson.

The girl watched as her enemies fell one by one, splattered with blood. She wasn't the only one; the other girls in the building fared no better.

Their hearts trembled. This was the battlefield, a fight to the death. Hundreds of lives were lost in less than half an hour, just moments before they had been alive and well, gathered together eating.

Now……

But if they don't die, then it has to be them lying here, it has to be the ordinary people of Pingyang County, so they must die.

Chunying's hands trembled after killing someone for the first time. Everything before that seemed to happen naturally. Even when others had knives to their necks, they could still bring down the knife without feeling anything. They deserved to die; the one who provoked first was despicable.

The girl looked at the corpses scattered all over the ground, enough to fill the small hillside.

So many people...

"What's wrong?" Huo Xiaocheng asked as he came to her side.

He noticed something was off about Chunying from the beginning. Or rather, all the girls in the building were acting strangely today. They seemed frightened by the group's reckless behavior, but it didn't quite seem like it...

"It's nothing," Chunying said.

"You can tell me about it," the boy said, not one for sweet talk. He untied his cloak and spread it on the ground, inviting Chunying to sit down with him as they watched Ye Bushou clean up the battlefield.

The girl didn't hesitate and sat down.

"You mean, all these people just vanished like that?"

"Hmm...that's all."

"What are they doing this for? Leaving home despite the dangers and coming to this place where they can't eat or stay warm, just to die?"

Hearing Chunying's words, the boy sighed and said...

"They're doing it for their own child."

"Huh?" the girl asked in confusion.

"Why do the Xiongnu raid villages around Pingyang County every year? Because the people there are hungry, cold, and starving, and so are their children. So the Xiongnu have to raid them. If they're lucky, their women and children can survive the winter. If they're unlucky, they end up like them..." The boy pointed to the corpses scattered on the ground and said.

"They killed people and kidnapped our women; it was all something they did during the robbery. The process wasn't important to them; survival was what mattered," Huo Xiaocheng continued.

Why is this happening?

Chunying thought that living without dignity like them was already a great suffering in the world, but she never expected that there was something even more bitter than suffering.

"Because the monarchs are incompetent, whether it's the grassland royal court or us!"

Huo Xiaocheng looked at her, his eyes like the only bright star in the night sky. He didn't think it was wrong to say these things to Chunying. She should go and see a wider world; she deserved it.

The girl was startled by his words. So, the problem lay in the capital? Such a faraway place…

"Given the current situation, the Xiongnu either need to be defeated and subdued, or they need to have the resources to survive the winter. Clearly, they have achieved neither."

"So it'll stay like this forever?" the girl asked rhetorically.

Huo Xiaocheng was taken aback when he heard this. Yes, so it would just continue like this? Endless war would only bring suffering to the people of both countries and the soldiers on the front lines.

These periods of war and peace were paid for with lives.

The boy couldn't answer for a long time. Ye Bushou finished cleaning up the battlefield, and Chunying and he stood up and embarked on their journey home together.