Somewhere in the Feisi Kingdom.
Yinan District was a poor and remote place. Though vast in area, it had few inhabitants-only thirteen thousand in the entire district.
All Yinan District had was dense forest stretching alongside the mountains for hundreds of miles.
At that moment, looking down from high above a narrow forest road, one could see a party of mounted men galloping along in a sorry state.
"Lord Yasok, we've been riding all day without so much as a sip of water. If we keep this up, we'll meet the gods before we reach our destination. Besides, even if we can endure it, the horses can't." A man's slightly hoarse voice rang out amid the urgent pounding of hooves.
Hearing someone in the party suggest a rest, the men slowed their galloping horses at a word of command.
Another man spoke up at once. "All right, we'll rest a while. But this spot won't do. We need to find high ground with some trees to conceal us. That way, we can keep watch over our surroundings while we rest."
"Lord Yasok, you truly think of everything."
"You're absolutely right, my lord."
Their words of praise carried clearly over the uneven clatter of hooves, traveling quite a distance.
"Look, there's a rise ahead of us. Right there! There's even a small grove on it. We'll rest there for a while. But we can't stay too long. Our fief still needs us to bring reinforcements to lift the siege. Just a short rest."
Lord Yasok spoke again.
As clouds of dust spread behind them, a group of indistinct figures charged out of their midst.
The closer they drew to the rise, the clearer their figures became.
Once they rode swiftly out of the clouds of dust, the travel-worn figures of several