The messenger knelt on the ground, his chest heaving violently.
After finishing that single sentence, he struggled to catch his breath, his throat feeling as though it had been filled with sand.
His robes were covered in yellow sand, and dust clung even to his eyebrows and lashes. He had ridden here at full speed from Baisha Commandery; his mount had been foaming at the mouth outside the residence gates and had nearly failed to make it.
Now.
He knelt on one knee in the council hall, still clutching the rolled Emergency Dispatch Order, his knuckles white.
"General..." he repeated hoarsely. "The windblown sand in Baisha Commandery has buried most of the border watchtowers. Several squads of Demon Suppression Guards have gone missing. Deputy General Feng ordered me to seek reinforcements."
"Please send men, General Pei, or Baisha Commandery will be in grave danger!"
The discussion among those gathered in the hall died away in an instant.
Han Chuan and the other Deputy Generals exchanged glances, their expressions growing solemn.
Yang Xiao, meanwhile, was turning over Pei Xuance's earlier words. He had merely noticed something amiss in Baisha Commandery, and in the blink of an eye, someone had arrived seeking help.
What terrifying insight into the forces moving behind the scenes was this!?
Pei Xuance wasted no words.
"When?"
The messenger caught his breath. "At midnight the day before yesterday."
"The last outpost was buried completely beneath the yellow sand." His voice was strained. "The Demon Suppression Guards stationed there vanished. We found neither living men nor dead bodies."
He paused, then looked up at Pei Xuance. "Deputy General Feng ordered me to seek urgent reinforcements. Please decide our course, General."
Pei Xuance said nothing.
He walked over to the Qingzhou Map, his gaze sweeping across the positions of Baisha