The horn blasts came in a frantic rhythm, each more urgent than the last. It was the border army's highest warning-a full-scale enemy invasion!
Everyone in the ancestral tomb paled.
Then, from farther away, came the faint, thunderous rumble of hoofbeats, rapidly approaching like a tide pounding the shore. Cries of battle, clashing weapons, and the hiss of flaming arrows mingled in the distance.
The sky above the eastern city wall had already turned crimson with an ominous glow.
Billowing smoke rose, swallowing the last streak of sunset!
"With an assault like this, could the Eighteen Flying Cavalry be raiding the frontier again?!"
Xiao Jueyan had seen this before. Ever since the Eighteen Flying Cavalry had begun prowling around Youzhou, they had periodically led troops on raids and killing sprees. Now the Göktürks were powerful. Even with Great General Xue Ne defending the city, he was only one man, and the ordinary soldiers could no longer match the Göktürks.
As long as these marauders kept the great general occupied, Youzhou's situation would immediately become perilous.
If the surrounding garrisons failed to respond in time, they would suffer grievously!
This was also why some of the city's great clans, such as the Murong Clan, kept wavering between the two sides.
"This can't be a coincidence."
Lu Changfeng's thoughts raced as he declared, "They're likely drawing attention to help Yan Qiya and her people escape. Or they're also seizing the opportunity to take the city in one thunderous strike, while Swordforging City's internal strife has only just subsided, everyone is on edge, and Youzhou's defenders may be scattered in their hunt for traitors. Word of Shen Bao's capture has probably reached the Göktürks as well. Internal troubles inevitably invite external calamities!"
Xiao Jueyan and Xiao Juelan's faces instantly turned ashen.
If Youzhou