The hall was deathly silent.
At that moment, a guard rushed in: "Your Majesty! The garrison commander of the southern city has captured a spy! He says... he says he was sent by the Yin army!"
The King of Loulan suddenly opened his eyes: "Bring him here!"
Before long, a man covered in wounds was dragged into the main hall.
He had clearly been subjected to severe torture—the Loulan garrison was like frightened birds, and anyone who seemed suspicious would be suspected.
"Speak! Who sent you?!" the Loulan general shouted sternly.
The man struggled to his feet and spoke in broken Loulan language, "I...I am Manager An's attendant...Tomorrow at dawn...the Dayin army will attack from the west...opening a breach in the south of the city...Please...please have your army prepare...to coordinate an attack from within..."
"The west?" The Loulan general was taken aback. "The west is desert, how could it be..."
"Chaotic Stone Forest..." The man uttered three words before fainting.
The people inside the hall looked at each other in bewilderment.
"The Rocky Forest..." the King of Loulan murmured repeatedly, "They actually...crossed the Rocky Forest?"
"Your Majesty, we must not be so easily fooled!" the minister cried out urgently. "This could be a trick by the Northern Barbarians to lure us out of the city, and then..."
"And then what?" The King of Loulan smiled bitterly. "If we don't leave the city, how many more days can we hold out? The water is gone, the food is exhausted, and the soldiers are too hungry to even lift their swords... In three days at most, the Northern Barbarians will breach the city. At that time, we will all become victims of their swords, and Loulan's thousand-year-old foundation will be destroyed in an instant."
He stood up, a resolute glint in his eyes: "Order the garrison in the south to eat their fill tonight—distribute the last of their rations. If reinforcements arrive at dawn tomorrow, open the city gates and fight to the death!"
"What if not?"
“If not…” the King of Loulan looked out the window at the night, “then let the blood of the Loulan people stain this desert red.”
The order was relayed.
The last remaining food supplies in the city were distributed, and the soldiers silently ate what might be their last meal.
Women hid their children in the cellar, old men sharpened their rusty knives, and even the king himself donned his long-forgotten armor.
That night, no one in Loulan slept.
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