The moment the Jizhou Tribe's messenger burst into the great tent, his gaze swept over everyone inside. The tension in his body suddenly drained away; his legs gave out, and he collapsed to the ground as though all strength had left him.
In a hoarse, broken voice filled with boundless despair and grief, he howled his report. "G-Great Chanyu! Urgent news!"
The identical tone made the Great Chanyu's heart skip a beat.
Another urgent report!
The messenger cried out in a trembling voice, "A mysterious army has entered the grasslands! My Jizhou Tribe discovered its tracks, and our chieftain immediately dispatched tens of thousands of elite warriors to intercept them, hoping to stop them outside the tribe and uphold the prestige of our grasslands!
"B-but that army was far too powerful! The tens of thousands of elites of my Jizhou Tribe were all slaughtered—not a single one survived!"
He gasped for breath, his chest heaving violently. Tears mixed with blood and grime streamed down his face as he continued to wail, "The old and weak within the tribe grew uneasy when the elite force failed to return for so long, so they sent people out to investigate.
"Only then did they find corpses strewn across the battlefield. Not one warrior of my Jizhou Tribe survived; they were all massacred by that mysterious army!
"The tribal elders ordered me to risk my life and rush to the royal court, to report this tragedy to the Great Chanyu and beg him to avenge the countless warriors of my Jizhou Tribe!"
The instant those words were spoken, the great tent fell into deathly silence once more.
Even the faint crackling of pinewood burning in the brazier became exceptionally piercing.
The mockery and disdain on everyone's faces were instantly replaced by utter horror and