"Your Highness, it's been forty days already. Wang Yan hasn't been wiped out with his entire army, has he?"
Atop the gate tower of Wild Goose Pass, Yuwen Huaji watched Yang Guang, who stood beside him with his hands clasped behind his back, gazing into the distance, and offered his usual curse upon Wang Yan.
Wang Yan had yet to return, nor had any news come back. Yang Guang had been too restless to remain in Great Plains, so he simply brought men to Wild Goose Pass. By now, he had been here for six days.
Yang Guang gave no response, merely staring silently at the distant horizon.
Just then, a speck appeared in the distance, trailing a plume of dust.
The speck gradually grew larger, revealing the figure of a rider. Before long, the rider arrived outside the pass.
Yang Guang had already hurried down from the gate tower. There, he saw a blood-soaked man who looked like a beggar—his hair clumped together, his face filthy with dust, his leather armor caked in dark red, and his body wrapped in bandages at multiple points.
Yet no one mocked him. Just standing there, the man radiated fierce strength.
Even Yang Guang could not help but praise him.
"A fine warrior."
Unbothered by the filth, he stepped forward, patted the soldier's shoulder, and smiled. "Tell me the situation."
"Your Highness, the Governor-General sent this subordinate back to deliver a letter. The situation on the grasslands is explained within. The Governor-General said Your Highness must act soon."
The soldier took a bamboo tube sealed with a confidential stamp from his robes. Yang Guang snatched it up, broke the seal, opened the tube, and drew out a sheet of sheepskin paper.
"Yan sends his respects to Your Highness.
On this expedition into the