Li Fan rode his sword light, fleeing northward along the trail of corpses.
Most of the bodies had not perished from battle injuries; the majority had been frozen to death.
Based on Li Fan's speculation, this army heading north was likely devastated in a direct confrontation or perhaps ambushed and their camp shattered. In any case, they lost their organization and could not secure support or supplies, thus their morale plummeted, leading to a complete and utter rout.
Presumably even these soldiers, accustomed to licking blood off their blades, did not wish to die on this foreign frozen tundra. They hoped to cross mountains and ridges to return to the Central Plains, to their hometowns; they preferred to die on the warm soil of their birthplaces. And so, they each fled toward Yin Mountain.
