Traveling by day and lodging by night, crossing beneath stars and moon, several days later, the army finally arrived outside Youzhou City.
From afar, the once prosperous and flourishing Youzhou City had now become a living hell.
Upon the towering walls, mottled bloodstains crisscrossed everywhere. Dark-red streaks had seeped into the blue bricks, and beneath the washing of wind and rain, they had congealed into shocking marks.
Several battlements had already collapsed, exposing pitch-black gaps like wounds torn open in some giant beast.
The Great Desolation Army banners flying atop the walls had long been scorched black and torn by cannon fire, yet they still snapped stubbornly in the bitter northern wind, as though recounting the unyielding spirit of the soldiers defending the city.
Several city guards, drenched in blood from head to toe, leaned on their weapons as they slumped beneath the gates. Their clothes were ragged, their armor shattered, their faces smeared with blood and soot, yet their eyes still carried the resolve to fight to the bitter end.
At the sight of the reinforcements led by Yan Shuangfei, light suddenly flared in their clouded eyes. They struggled to rise, but did not even have the strength to lift a hand. All they could do was choke out, "Marshal... reinforcements... the reinforcements have finally come..."
Yan Shuangfei swung down from his horse and strode forward, helping one of the captains to his feet. His voice was hoarse. "Brothers, you have worked hard."
The captain looked at him as tears burst from his eyes. "Marshal, if you had come one step later, Youzhou City... Youzhou City would not have held!"
Yan Shuangfei's heart felt as though an invisible hand had clenched it tightly. He drew a deep breath and said in a low voice, "As long as I am