Starting with helping Zhao Kai ascend the throne in the snow

Ershilibao.

The sound of horses' hooves once again shattered this long-suffering town, as Sha Keliang led thousands of cavalrymen from the Chi Yue Tiger tribe to take over the area.

"Reporting to the General, based on the bloodstains and signs of a struggle on the ground, I suspect a battle took place here." Soon after the Chi Yue Tiger tribe occupied Twenty Mile Fort, a scout accompanying the army reported to Sha Keliang. The Baiyue barbarians had always lived in the jungle, thus developing the ability to find prey by following animal tracks.

After the remnants of the Li Yue tribe broke through the encirclement, Sha Keliang, under the orders of Chi Hu, mobilized all his cavalry to pursue and kill them, vowing to completely wipe out the remaining soldiers of the Li Yue tribe.

"Looks like we've been outmaneuvered," Sha Keliang muttered to himself, looking at the bloodstains on the ground.

"Reporting to the general, the corpses of the Li Yue tribe have been discovered ahead." The messenger quickly brought new information again. Sha Keliang arrived at a dug pit, in which dozens of corpses dressed in Li Yue tribe clothing were buried.

"These are the Li Yue tribe's clothes. It seems they've been ambushed again, and they've probably been wiped out." Thinking this, Sha Keliang said, "Someone, report this news to Lord Chi Hu, and send more scouts. Be careful of ambushes by suspicious people around."

Soon, messengers rode away on horseback according to Sha Keliang's orders. After arranging the defenses, Sha Keliang sent people to clean the rooms in the town and expand the barracks to prepare for the arrival of the army.

The following day at noon, Chi Hu led the army of Chi Yuehu to Ershilibao, which was only twenty li away from Kuaiji City.

"Sha Keliang, why are you stopping here?" Chi Hu asked with a grim expression as soon as he saw Sha Keliang.

"Reporting to my lord, the next stop ahead is Kuaiji City, which belongs to the Liyang people," Sha Keliang replied truthfully. When the Chiyue Tiger Tribe sent troops to deal with the Liyue Tribe, he had vaguely heard rumors that Lord Nalan Youci of the Southern Frontier had ordered that troops not be sent to Kuaiji City.

"Kuaiji City." Upon hearing this, Chi Hu's eyes narrowed, a ferocious glint struggling within them. Nalan Youci had indeed ordered the Nine Chi tribes not to clash with Li Yang on this trip, but Chi Hu was no ordinary child. Although the Chi Yuehu tribe had received aid from the Southern Frontier Yan Chi King, Chi Hu had no intention of being as grateful to the Yan Chi King as the other Nine Chi tribes.

Chi Hu harbored a deep ambition: to lead the Chi Yue Tiger tribe to become the most powerful, ideally annexing the other nine Chi tribes, or even unifying the Baiyue region.

“Lord Chi Hu, based on my guess, the remnants of the Li Yue tribe should have been wiped out by the Li Yang people. Therefore, our mission can be considered complete, and we can withdraw our troops.” Sha Keliang, seeing that Chi Hu was silent, assumed that he was thinking about the remnants of the Li Yue tribe and spoke up in a self-righteous manner.

The next second, with a "smack," a bloody whip mark instantly appeared on Sha Keliang's face. Chi Hu looked at him coldly and said, "You want to withdraw your troops?"

"This humble servant dares not, I will obey Lord Chi Hu's orders." Sha Keliang felt a chill run down his spine from Chi Hu's chilling tone and hurriedly knelt down.

"The remnants of the Li Yue tribe have fled into Kuaiji City. Since we cannot retreat, we can only complete our mission by completely annihilating the Li Yue tribe. After the army rests for two hours, we will set off for Kuaiji City." Chi Hu suppressed Sha Keliang and then loudly addressed the surrounding barbarian soldiers.

"We are willing to obey Lord Chi Hu's orders..." A few monotonous voices echoed from among the barbarian soldiers.

Upon hearing this, Chi Hu frowned slightly, then his eyes darted around, and he said again, "I hereby promise that after we conquer Kuaiji City, each person can keep 70% of the loot."

As Chi Hu spoke again, cheers resounded throughout the heavens and earth, and all the barbarian soldiers beamed with joy.

These barbarian soldiers joined the army and fought for wealth. They had already plundered several tribes and each of them had some spoils. Therefore, when they learned that they were going to attack a strong city like Kuaiji, none of them were very enthusiastic.

In light of this, Chi Hu, catering to their desires, once again made a promise, allowing them to retain 70% of the supplies—a deal they could hardly refuse. It's worth noting that in previous battles, they could only retain a maximum of 30% of their spoils; this was a huge difference.

Following Chi Hu's command, the barbarian soldiers began to rest at Twenty Mile Fort. Most chose to rest on the spot, while the cooks searched for water sources within the town to start fires and cook. Soon, wisps of smoke rose from the fort. Outside the fort, hundreds of barbarian scouts were dispersed to guard the surrounding area and prevent enemy ambushes.

On a path near a paddy field ditch on the west side of the town, five scouts relaxed their guard as they looked at the endless green rice seedlings all around.

Just as they were passing by the rice paddy ridge, a thin man dressed in gray martial arts clothes suddenly jumped out from a patch of dry grass. The moment he appeared, he shot out more than a dozen throwing knives with both hands. The next second, the entire five-man scout team was killed on the spot by the throwing knives.

In a grove of trees south of the town, just as more than ten barbarian soldiers were passing by the road beside the grove, seven or eight martial artists suddenly used their lightness skills to leap down from the trees and instantly kill the barbarian soldiers who were caught off guard.

While the Chi Yuehu tribe's main force of soldiers inside the fortress was resting, the barbarian scouts outside the fortress were attacked in various ways by the Li Yang warriors. Taking advantage of the fact that they were caught off guard, the scout squad of over a hundred men was wiped out without anyone issuing any warning.

Rewinding time, it turned out that not long after Zhao Kai's arrival, over four hundred warriors, drawn by the news spread by He Zhu, arrived in Kuaiji City. Their arrival overjoyed Shen Qing. He had originally planned to discuss with Zhao Kai the possibility of having Han Shengxuan cooperate with the Xuanyuan Fifty Riders to deal with the barbarian soldiers, but the arrival of these warriors made him change his mind. After all, the Xuanyuan Fifty Riders had just experienced a major battle, and many were still wounded, while the local militia of Kuaiji City could barely defend the city and were utterly ineffective in open field combat.

Following the bounty offered by Shen Qing when the 60,000 barbarian soldiers invaded, this immediately excited the martial arts practitioners, leading to their spontaneous attack on the barbarian soldiers at Twenty Mile Fort.

As the scouts failed to return with any news, Chi Yuehu's tribe immediately sensed something was amiss. Chi Hu promptly ordered Sha Keliang to lead a group to investigate. They quickly discovered the Li Yang warriors in the surrounding area. Upon encountering each other, a fierce battle erupted. Sha Keliang suffered considerable casualties before finally killing several warriors. He then immediately reported the news to Chi Hu.

"What a bunch of useless trash, they can't even send out a warning message." Chi Hu was furious when he learned that the surrounding area had been targeted by assassins from the Li Yang warriors.

Before long, the Chi Yuehu army divided into groups of five hundred men and began a carpet search around the Twenty Mile Fort. At this point, the warriors in the surrounding area could no longer hide and were constantly discovered by the army, leading to fierce battles.

Although the barbarian soldiers were numerous, these martial artists, who roamed the Jianghu (江湖, the martial arts world), were all incredibly slippery and cunning. At the first sign of trouble, they would turn and run, leaving the Chi Yue Tiger tribe helpless. Only the archers accompanying the army could kill the fleeing warriors before they were out of range.

The two sides fought outside the fort for more than an hour. The Chi Yuehu tribe suffered more than 300 casualties before they successfully drove away all the warriors in the surrounding area. About 40 warriors were killed on the spot. The deaths and injuries of these warriors effectively delayed the Chi Yuehu tribe's advance and tied them up near the Twenty Mile Fort.