Chapter 73: No Experience Means No Experience

It was a quiet afternoon; the industrious Rouran people hid inside their great tents, engaged in various production and reproduction activities.

Even though the harsh winter was approaching and Monan was already quite cold, the cold wind sweeping across Saibei could not extinguish the Rouran people's passion.

"God, please bless me this time as I follow the Great Khan south. May I capture enough slaves. I am not a greedy man; I only need one sturdy Han slave to plow my fields, one Chidi slave to tend my horses, and two Xianbei slaves to herd my sheep. If your grace descends and brings me enough luck, best give me three or four young female slaves as well."

Simple words represented this Rouran person's most basic wish in his heart.

However, before he had finished praying, the tent was thrown open.

"Who built this tent? I must give him a good whipping."

But when he stood up, the surroundings were no longer the familiar scene he knew.

In this small settlement of several hundred people, cavalry now filled the area.

A burly man clad in fine chainmail, riding a tall horse, arrived before him, speaking in broken Xianbei.

"I heard you are some kind of 'Potato Fa'?"

This Rouran person instinctively nodded, but seeing the display, he then shook his head.

Then, he received a whip strike.

"Are you or aren't you?"

"I am, I am. Who might you be, sir?"

"Listen well. I am Li Shoutian, a Hundred-Man Commander of the Second Cavalry Camp of Shengle, under the banner of the General Who Sweeps Bandits of the Northern Expedition Grand Commandery."

"What brings you here, sir?"

"I have decided; from now on, this settlement will bear the surname Li."

Speaking thus, Li Shoutian took a slip of paper and stuck it onto this "Potato Fa's" face.

"Go to the camp thirty li behind us; report my name, Li Shoutian."

"I..."

"Rest assured, you and your few hundred people will not lose out. Do you know my relationship with the General Who Sweeps Bandits? Even if he comes, he must call me Third Uncle."

Speaking thus, a dozen young Huaihe sons were seen running over, carrying golden and silver vessels, silk and cloth, and even women.

Li Shoutian shouted loudly:

"What are you doing? What are you doing?"

"Looting!"

The industrious and simple Huaihe sons answered thus.

"We are the King's Army! Can you not be as uncultured as the Rouran people? Besides, we are at war; how can you move if you carry such dead-weight things?"

"Then what should we do?"

"Leave all these things here and let the Rouran people carry them to the camp behind us."

"But what if they run away?"

"Take their horses, dismantle their cart wheels, tear down their tents, and smash all their jars and pots. In this freezing weather, where can they run?"

A dozen Huaihe sons heard this and went off to carry out the orders; Li Shoutian muttered a complaint.

"Greenhorns are just greenhorns!"

Speaking thus, Li Shoutian looked at the bewildered "Potato Fa."

"Listen. Take this slip of paper and my token; do not lose them. If my settlement suffers even the slightest damage, beware of my whip."

Fifty-plus cavalrymen rode away; looking at the slip of paper in his hand, "Potato Fa" was utterly confused in his heart.

"Was I just robbed?"

"You... you... who exactly are you, and how did you get here?"

Gao Huan, clad in armor, drew his sword and killed the burly Rouran Thousand-Man Commander before him.

Looking at the Rouran camp around him, now in ruins, a fierce flame seemed to burn in Gao Huan's eyes.

Wei Jing ran over, looked at Gao Huan, and asked:

"He Lu Hun, have you truly decided?"

Having endured a bitter battle, Gao Huan was somewhat weary, yet his will was extremely firm.

"Let's go!"

"But I do not think this General Who Sweeps Bandits is the type to discard dogs after the hare is dead."

"Precisely because he is not, we must leave!"

Wei Jing did not understand.

"What do you mean?"

"He is merely a miscellaneous-title General; if we join his banner, what can we gain? At best, we might become a Unit Commander."

There was another sentence Gao Huan did not say: he felt that if he continued to stay with Li Shuang, sooner or later this General would devour him until nothing remained.

Wei Jing felt nothing about titles like Unit Commander; he was very sensitive to the gold and silver treasures scattered on the ground.

Unlike Wei Jing, Gao Huan looked at the golden and silver vessels scattered on the ground around him with no trace of attachment.

"The uprising of the Six Garrisons has only just begun; the world will fall into great chaos. Shuozhou is too small; if we stay here, we cannot create any significant disturbance! Being able to leave Huaihe is the most important thing."

"If we leave here, where shall we go?"

"Now that we have horses, armor, and weapons, the world is vast; we can go anywhere! I have already made an arrangement with Han Gui to go to Rouxuan Garrison and join Du Luozhou. With him, we can at least secure a General's rank."

"Anything is fine; I will follow your lead."

"My Lord, He Lu Hun has fled with several hundred Huaihe cavalrymen!"

Hou Jing rushed over and delivered this news to Li Shuang.

"How did they flee?"

"He Lu Hun led several hundred cavalrymen to attack a Rouran forward Thousand-Man Commander, annihilating the enemy force. The troops we sent to support them only saw the soldiers He Lu Hun left behind to guard the spoils."

"Then he took our horses and armor?"

"No, that didn't happen. After Heluhun won the battle, he left all the supplies we distributed and only took part of the spoils. According to military law, those things were meant for them anyway. Moreover, he didn't take it all; he left most of it."

Li Shuang heard this and laughed loudly.

"This Heluhun, even after betraying you, still made you feel quite comfortable!"

"My Lord, what should we do? If Heluhun planned this long ago, Lou Zhaojun and the others must have left too. Should we intercept Heluhun's family?"

Li Shuang looked at Hou Jing and asked:

"If I sent you to intercept them, would you be willing?"

Hou Jing sneered, offering no words.

He was unwilling; after all, they were all from Huaishuo, and they had just shared life and death together. To strike such a dark blow would make it hard for him to face people. After all, many Huaishuo people remained behind, all being neighbors and fellow townsfolk.

"I won't go. My Lord can send someone else!"

"Others just achieved merit and left only because their ambitions differed. Is it appropriate to trouble their families?"

Gao Huan chose his moment to leave very cleverly; he was certain Li Shuang would not sacrifice the greater good for the lesser, abandoning a golden battle opportunity over his few hundred cavalrymen.

"Issue an order to all regions of Shuozhou: if you encounter the families of Heluhun and others, do not trouble them. Dispatch troops to escort them to Pingcheng and hand them over to the Lou family; consider it doing the Lou family a favor!"

"Yes!"

Li Shuang gazed at the scenery ahead, feeling a touch of regret in his heart.

They really ran fast!

Even under such circumstances, he managed to lead away hundreds of Huaishuo people?

But it is for the best. Those who wanted to leave have gone; the Huaishuo people who remain will become his subordinates completely.

"Issue orders to Gao Ang and Yang Kan's two divisions to move closer to my unit. The entire army advances, heading straight for the Wolf Standard and the Golden Tent Wang Ting!"