Chapter 43: Silver-armed Iron Kite
Three days passed in the blink of an eye, and Lu Yuan and his men had finished their preparations to leave the city.
Early on the morning of the third day, when he arrived at the city gate, he saw his men already lined up and waiting. Zhou He was there, of course, dressed in a suit of practical leather armor with an iron-inlaid chest plate. He led two packhorses behind him, which were laden with baskets for carrying supplies.
Wei Yong, Lu Yuan’s foremost Centurion, immediately stepped forward. "Sir, everyone is present and accounted for."
He was dressed just like Zhou He, both wearing Centurion Armor.
There were over twenty such men in the unit, nearly thirty in total.
The chances of them reaching Entry Level were very high.
The rest were also sturdy veterans, skilled with the bow and on horseback.
At the very least, they had all been on the battlefield and seen blood.
This unit was fundamentally different from his past ones, and Lu Yuan was quite satisfied.
"Move out!"
At his command, the unit began to move forward slowly.
In the Wasteland, tender grass had already sprouted, putting forth green shoots.
From a distance, it was quite a sight.
As they passed the pine forest, Lu Yuan glanced over. No mark had been left.
This meant Wu Han hadn’t been here recently.
It was strange. Ever since they parted ways last time, there had been no news from the man. Lu Yuan had no idea what he was up to.
However, Lu Yuan wasn’t curious. At the very least, with Wu Han’s strength, self-preservation in the Wasteland shouldn’t be a problem.
They passed through the pine forest and had traveled less than thirty li when they spotted a group of Northern Barbarian scouts. With the Iron Kite on the loose, the forces of the Three Cities had suffered repeated losses, allowing the Northern Barbarian scouts to run rampant.
Their numbers were much greater than before.
Often, they would even band together to attack villages. Although every village had Garrison Soldiers, they were hard-pressed to win against cavalry.
The villages were often heavily plundered.
The group of Northern Barbarian scouts before them had clearly just scored a haul.
Their bags were bulging, and one man even had a human head impaled on his spear, shouting triumphantly from time to time.
Seeing such a sight, Lu Yuan would naturally show no mercy.
He waved his hand. "Charge!"
There were only about a dozen of them. Facing Lu Yuan’s unit, they had virtually no power to resist. In a single charge, they were all cut down.
After collecting the head and sorting through the spoils, they continued on their way.
Over the next few days, Lu Yuan and his men encountered Northern Barbarian scouts nearly every day, in varying numbers.
And they slaughtered every one of them.
Their loot grew with each encounter.
Warhorses, armor, weapons, and even silver taels and jewelry.
All in all, it was a considerable haul.
Furthermore, Lu Yuan’s own power was increasing rapidly. Using these Northern Barbarians for practice yielded a great deal of Skill Level.
In short, this trip out of the city was by no means a waste of time.
Even if they didn’t manage to kill the Iron Kite, they could already consider it a fruitful expedition.
More than ten days passed in a flash. Finding a single unit on the vast plains was still proving difficult.
Even when both sides were actively searching for each other.
One day, Lu Yuan was sitting by a campfire roasting a piece of dried meat and drinking with Zhou He.
The latter rubbed his hands together. "We’ve been out here for more than ten days now and killed hundreds of Northern Barbarian scouts. How come we still haven’t seen any sign of the Iron Kite?"
"What, you eager to meet them?" Lu Yuan asked, turning his head after taking a swig from his wineskin.
"With you here, what’s there to be afraid of? Everyone’s made a good haul this time. When I get back and trade in for some resources, I should have enough to reach the Bone Forging realm. The others haven’t quite gathered enough military merit yet, but if we take out the Iron Kite, they’ll be just about there. Everyone’s morale is sky-high," Zhou He said softly.
Their gains on this trip were indeed substantial. Many men couldn’t amass this much wealth in an entire year, yet they had done so in a mere ten days.
It just went to show: if you followed Lu Yuan, you’d eat well.
"They’re probably looking for us too. We’ll search for a few more days. If we still can’t find them in another ten days, we’ll head back."
The higher-ups gave us a month, and that deadline was up in about ten days.
By then, we probably won’t be needed anymore. The higher-ups will likely dispatch a truly elite unit.
’But if that happens, both the Helian Family and the Zhou Family will lose a great deal of face.’
"Whatever you say." Zhou He now followed Lu Yuan’s orders completely.
After all, in his eyes, the man had real skill.
But just as they were eating, Old Huang, who had been scouting the perimeter, came rushing back.
"Sir! Sir! The Iron Kite! The Iron Kite is approaching!" he said, his voice urgent.
After all, this was no ordinary unit.
They were the elite Northern Barbarian cavalry whose very name struck fear into the hearts of the three fortress cities.
"Are you sure?" Lu Yuan asked, dropping his wineskin and getting to his feet.
"Absolutely certain. There are about a hundred of them. And their warhorses are different from ordinary Northern Barbarian steeds—their hoofbeats are much heavier. They’re only five or six li away from us right now."
"Everyone, mount up and form ranks! Now!"
Lu Yuan’s voice rang out.
His men dared not delay, dropping what they were doing and scrambling onto their horses.
It was noon.
The sun beat down on their faces, each one exceptionally grim.
The unit had just formed up when, sure enough, the dark silhouette of a unit appeared in the distance.
What started as a black line gradually resolved into bouncing dots.
As they drew closer, faint shouts could be heard.
Weapons were being brandished wantonly.
Lu Yuan could even smell the stench of blood on them.
He was now certain. It was really the Iron Kite.
He licked his chapped lips, his voice chilling. "Brothers, our chance to earn military merit is here! Whether you can break through to the Entry Level when we return all depends on this battle. If we succeed, our unit will become an ace scout force, no weaker than the Night Patrol or the Silent Riders! If we fail, I, Lu Yuan, will not retreat an inch. I will live and die with you!"
His words electrified the men behind him.
They all knew that while the forces dispatched by the Three Cities had been repeatedly defeated, their leaders had always managed to escape back.
It was always the low-ranking warriors who were sent to their deaths.
This time, Lu Yuan’s promise naturally sent his men’s morale soaring.
Meanwhile, back at the General’s Mansion in Yan Province, Zhou Hongling had been summoned once again. Today, Helian Tielin was also present, along with his son, Helian Shang, the Captain of Huangsha Fortress.
Zhou Ren sat in the host’s seat, looking at the assembled people. "I’ve called you all here today to continue our discussion about the Iron Kite. According to the latest intelligence, the unit that has appeared is not an ordinary Iron Kite unit, but a Silver-armed Iron Kite. Therefore, I suggest we stop sending our elites to their deaths."
"Even if we were to recall my Zhou Family’s Night Patrol and your Helian Family’s Silent Riders, a victory would not be guaranteed."
"I have already reported this matter to the Marquis. He will send someone to investigate, and once confirmed, a specialized team will be dispatched to annihilate this Silver-armed Iron Kite unit."
As Zhou Ren spoke, a bitter expression crossed his face. If it were possible, he would naturally love nothing more than to destroy this Barbarian unit. It would allow his daughter to advance her career, and the Zhou Family’s influence would expand. But they simply couldn’t field a comparable elite force of the same size.
The only way would be to pull low-level officers from their posts, but the cost of doing so was too high. The Zhou Family was unwilling to create a massive gap in their junior officer corps over this one incident.
The repercussions would be too great.
The Silver-armed Iron Kite was an upgraded version of the regular Iron Kite. It wasn’t that their cultivation realms were much higher, but that every single one of them had survived dozens of bloody battles. Their combat experience was exceedingly rich.
Normally, a warrior had to be able to defeat two regular Iron Kites to even qualify as a Silver-armed Iron Kite.
One could only imagine their strength.
Helian Tielin said gravely, "I’ve also received word. This mission has been abandoned. As for whatever punishment the Marquis hands down, I am willing to accept it."
As the two men finished speaking, Helian Shang of Huangsha Fortress breathed a sigh of relief.
He had been worried his father would order him to continue sending men out from the city, and he truly had few elites left to spare.
However, the color drained from Zhou Hongling’s face.
She had originally thought that since Lu Yuan had taken so many men with him, he would have no problem retreating even if he couldn’t win. But now, suddenly hearing they were Silver-armed Iron Kites, she was struck with the terrifying realization that he was in grave danger.
But in the vast Northern Border, how could she possibly find him to warn him to come back?
If he ran into this Iron Kite unit... She dared not even imagine the consequences.