My face turned pale. I hadn't expected that even after rushing all the way here, I would still miss the Qilin Commandery's remnant forces by a hair. It seemed the other side had mobilized its most elite soldiers—and might even have suppressed their strength. Otherwise, how could the Emperor have chased them here so quickly from a place as far away as the Outer Pass Commandery?
The Golden-Armored Heavenly Army moved with perfect order. They were worlds apart from the forces currently stationed in the Outer Pass Commandery. Even if I exhausted every effort to train my soldiers, they still wouldn't stand a chance against the mighty troops before me. The gap was simply too vast.
"Who goes there?" When they saw us barge into the city, several Golden-Armored Heavenly Army scouts called out to Senior Brother Yan and me. Senior Brother Yan's hand immediately pressed against his sword hilt, while I hurriedly produced a token. "We're civil officials from the capital, here to inspect the border reports."
"Inspect the reports? Hand over the token and let me see it!" The commander sized Senior Brother Yan and me up. Seeing that we were both dressed in the Outer Pass Commandery's clothing, he believed us halfway and came over to examine the token.
The four Golden-Armored Heavenly Army soldiers were all faintly wary of us. Perhaps the leak in the previous plan had made them more vigilant. I handed them the token and immediately said, "Several officers, our Outer Pass Commandery received word that the Qilin Commandery's remnant forces had detoured through the northern Qinghe Commandery and secretly crossed into our territory, intending to flee the Great Wilderness. Our commandery governor found this strange, so he sent us here to investigate the truth. We've only just arrived, yet we've already seen