In a dense forest several li from Goguryeo's royal city, an inconspicuous pile of thatch was slowly lifted from below!
A head with lingering terror still written across its face looked repeatedly to either side for quite a while before slowly pushing aside the wooden board beneath the thatch!
It turned out he was one of the confidants the King of Goguryeo had brought with him when escaping the royal city through the secret passage!
"Your Majesty! It's safe here. No Tang troops have been spotted nearby!"
After this confidant climbed out from underground, he softly called into the secret passage behind him!
Before long, the soot-faced King of Goguryeo emerged from the secret passage one after another with the support of his other confidants, along with several royal family members who had fled with him!
Huff, huff...!
The King of Goguryeo, his face still full of lingering fear, stood on the surface and gasped for breath!
He turned to look toward the royal city. Billowing smoke continually rose into the sky, and faintly, he could still hear weeping, screaming, and curses from within the city!
As well as the utterly wild laughter that had come after the Tang army stormed into the royal city!
"The royal city! My royal city!"
"It's gone! It's all gone!"
"I... I am Goguryeo's king of a fallen state!"
"Ancestors! Your descendants have failed you!"
Watching the royal city fall, his nation perish, and its people and soldiers be slaughtered or captured by the Tang army, the King of Goguryeo—his hair disheveled and his body filthy—immediately dropped to his knees facing the royal city. Scalding tears continuously slid down his desolate face!
Seeing their king kneel, the confidants and royal family members beside him also knelt toward the royal city!
They had never expected