The prairie was on a plateau, the area was vast, and within this region there were thousands and lakes, big and small. To the east it reaches the Xing’an mountain range, to the west the Altai mountain range, to the south it reaches the Yinshan mountain range, and to the north is Lake Baikal and Yenishui River, the upper reaches of the Irtyish River region.

East to west is comparatively wider; it is more than three thousand li, while north to south was only a bit more than two thousand li. Even galloping on the fastest steed, and able to travel a hundred li a day, plus without taking any rest along the way, and there was no obstacles slowing the journey, without a month of time, one could forget about crossing the prairie.

From Kenchi Mountain to Xing’an mountain range, from Wonan River to Qielulian River, Yinshan mountain range’s vast area, the terrain includes undulating, not-too-big hills, plains, deserts and mountainous region.

The yellow-sanded, vast and mighty Gobi Desert was located on the southern half and western part of the prairie. It was critically short of water, so that it became the barren land that terrified the people of the prairie the most. The climate changes were even more drastic. It was very windy in the spring, a lot of rain in the northern part in the summer, and dry and blisteringly hot in the south.

In this unique nature and scenery of the vast region, the most precious thing was the grass, followed by the water. These two were the fundamental condition for survival; one could not do without either. Whenever the water and the grass of certain place were exhausted, it was time to move to another pastureland, in order to resolve the problem of raising livestock, which gave birth to the nomadic livelihood following the water and the grass.

Livestock was their livelihood; the water and the grass were the fundamental conditions. It was precisely around these two elements that the people of the prairie started their you-fight-I-snatch struggle for supremacy. Starting with the Xiongnu, Xianbei, Rouran, and the Tujue of today, the tribe was rising to succeed the other, becoming the overlord of the prairie. Some ethnic groups merged, and the merger formed a cohesive whole; some took refuge in a faraway land. The rate of these changes was something that Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling, Han people from the Central Earth – found it difficult to imagine.

Under these circumstances, none of the tribes that were able to survive was not valiant. They relied on military force to protect water and grass and livestock. Thereupon martial art masters came forth in large numbers, capable people were countless.

But a man who intimidated the earth like Bi Xuan, seldom appeared in the prairie; he was more of an unusual case. But today he finally had an opponent who had enough qualifications to challenge him – Ba Fenghan.

The two battles of Helian Fort and Rushing Wolf Plains have ordained that there would come a day where these two martial art masters of two generations would stand face to face.

Hulunbuir pasture, the most fertile land in the prairie, was located between the Kuolianhai and Buir, two big lakes. Currently, it was Xieli’s base of operations. If Tuli could successfully capture this region, he could usurp Xieli’s position and became the new generation hegemon leader of the grassland.

Under the hooves of the three men’s horses, the vast, populous and affluent Hulunbuir grassland extended to the infinite distance beyond the horizon. In this beautiful region that was acclaimed to be the cradle of the nomadic people, the big and small lakes were like multifaceted clear mirrors sprinkling the landscape. Long and short rivers and streams intertwined over the ground covered by soft carpet of green grass. Flocks of wild horses galloped to their heart’s content, everywhere they looked, there were waves of grass and fragrance of flowers. Standing in the middle of it all felt like falling into a beautiful dream that could not be described in words.

In here, the most ferocious people were the Tujue, who considered themselves to be the wolves. The most vicious beasts were the real wolves, which hunted for their food in pack, and which howl alone was enough to make people trembling in fear and losing their soul.

The two largest lakes were the Hulun Lake and Buir Lake, which are connected by the Wu’erxun River. Entering the prairie from the east side, the position of the river course often changes, just like the nomadic people who are without any fixed residence. Even the water of the river itself from time to time changed from salty to fresh and back, but the fish were plentiful.

After parting ways with Tuli’s main army, the three intentionally made a detour via this area. On one hand, it was to make people watching for the Five-Colored Stone, or perhaps even their lives, unable to ascertain their whereabouts. But the more important reason was so that the two visitors from afar, Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling, could enjoy the most moving scenery of the prairie.

Pointing to about a dozen tents standing by a small lake in the distance, with large flocks of horses and sheep grazing nearby, and several herdsmen leisurely watching their flocks, Kou Zhong asked, “Which tribe do those tents belong to?”

Following his finger, Ba Fenghan took a couple of glances, and then said, “Felt-covered tent body, bulging in middle but drooping down all around, those are our Tujue tents. If Shaoshuai like, we can ask for lodging over there tonight, so that you can experience the customs of my people.”

Worried, Xu Ziling said, “Isn’t this Xieli’s territory? How could they welcome us?”

Ba Fenghan laughed freely and said, “In the prairie, every small tribe grazing their livestock is like a community that is isolated from the rest of the world. News do not circulate here. Sometimes they don’t come across any outsiders for the whole year. When encountering strangers, they might be particularly hospitable. Everybody watches for everybody else. Hence the reason I hate horse thieves the most, because they are the despicable destroyer and robbers of this grassland livelihood. Killing horse thieves is a redemption for myself as being a horse thief when I was young.”

Kou Zhong cheerfully said, “In that case we’d better take a look whether there is any business of killing horse thieves, perhaps we can catch one or two to play with.”

Shaking his head, Ba Fenghan said, “If you are holding on to that intention, you will return in disappointment, because horse thieves will never dare to commit a crime within Xieli’s territory, and Xieli is the horse thieves’ boss whose power is the strongest in the prairie, plus he is the horse thief who is capable of seizing a country and exterminating the entire tribe.”

Fixing his gaze forward, Kou Zhong said, “I wonder if Li Shimin is at war with JinGang; how’s the battlefield situation?”

Casting his gaze toward the verdant meadow, Xu Ziling said, “I don’t feel like thinking about anything right now, I just want to lie down quietly watching the floating clouds in the sky. Xiao Zhong, I don’t know if you notice it, but after setting foot on this prairie, Thousand-Li Dream and Ten-thousand-Li Spots are unusually spirited.”

Ba Fenghan said, “That’s why some people say that Hulunbuir is the birthplace of the horses; just like you guys returning to Yangzhou, Xiaodi returning to Gaochang City. Although I am a Tujue, I was born there.”

This was the first time that Ba Fenghan mentioned his birthplace. Greatly interested, Kou Zhong said, “Gaochang! Aren’t Ferghana horses [orig. blood-sweat treasured-horse] Gaochang’s specialty products? What does it look like?”

A hint of bitter smile appeared on the corner of Ba Fenghan’s mouth, he spoke heavily, “Gaochang is located in a big basin valley called Turpan west of the prairie, in the vein sandwiched between two mountain ranges, forming a vast plain. The south is the desolate Grottago mountain, the north is sealed by the peaks of Bogda Mountain. Very hot during the day, and extremely cold during the night; typical desert climate.”

“It would be great if we could pass it along the way!” Kou Zhong said, “Speaking about along the way, I wonder if along the way we will be able to kill the Husband and Wife Team of Evil Thieves of the South Shiwei Shen Mohuan and Mu Ling? So that Jian Dashi can resolve this matter for regret in his entire life.”

Patting the Perished Moon Bow hanging on his back, Ba Fenghan nodded and said, “Receiving other people’s thing, naturally we must do things for others. But we may not necessarily have to suffer untold hardships to look for Shen Mohuan. If I am guessing correctly, he should be looking for us to give us bad luck, because not only he is Xieli’s hunting dog and claw and teeth, we also have the Five-Colored Stone with us. It would be strange indeed if he is willing to let us off.”

They already passed the Tujue shepherds camp far behind. The sun was still hanging low above the plains, very soon the white cloud in the blue sky would be replaced by enchanting starry night; in the prairie, the natural change of nightfall gives people a particularly intense feeling.

Pointing to a flat land in the distance, Xu Ziling asked, “What is that?”

The other two focused their eyes to see. Frowning, Kou Zhong said, “It looks like a tent.”

As the three urged their horses to gallop faster, the black dot grew into a tent, standing alone on the plain.

Ba Fenghan said, “This is a mourning tent specifically erected to keep the body of the deceased until burial, otherwise, there won’t be memorial banners standing on all four sides. Really strange! Do you see anybody?”

The two shook their heads with blank expressions; they all felt something was not right.

It seemed to be very close, but it was not until the sun has disappeared under the plains that they arrived in front of this strange tent. Inside the tent, not a soul was in sight.

The three jumped off the horses and let them eat the grass and rest. On the vast grassland under the starry sky, it was dark and quiet without any human trace.

Kou Zhong stared blankly at the mourning tent, which should have been used to keep the body of the deceased before cremation or burial. “This thing is so demonical. This was clearly erected in our path; most likely it is waiting here for us.”

Ba Fenghan’s eyes slowly swept across the grassland, searching for traces of the enemy; he agreed, “This is the first time that I encountered such a strange thing.”

After walking around the tent, Xu Ziling came back to the two men’s side and said, “The strange thing is that there are no traces of anybody trampling the grass around the tent. Do you think we can do it?”

Shaking his head, Ba Fenghan said, “It’s impossible not to leave any mark.” And then after personally examining the grass around the tent, he said with a wry smile, “We are encountering a real martial art master!”

Drawing out a mouthful of cold air, Kou Zhong said, “Could it be Shi Zhixuan?”

In the night sky, the bright moon was low on the horizon, bathing the prairie in its misty beauty light. The night breeze was blowing gently, the night was as cool as the water, but the three felt the chill creeping up all over their body.

No matter who the opposite side was, merely this show of skill was enough to intimidate these three extremely daring men.

It should be noted that in order to visit Longquan to take advantage of the lively ceremon