The beacon towers of Yumen Pass transformed into crimson drops of blood in the gathering dusk, the wolf smoke carrying the scent of scorched earth straight into the sky, resembling a frontier's bloody cry of despair in the face of absolute doom. Shen Mingyue’s fingertips trembled slightly as she held the latest battle report; the characters "three cities lost in three consecutive days" on the sheepskin parchment had been smudged by cold sweat into distorted ink blots, mirroring the precarious state of the frontier at this very moment. Outside the tent, the cold wind howled like a raging beast, the groans of wounded soldiers mingling with the gale—a heart-rending sound that stabbed at her soul with every single echo. Blended with the bitter fragrance of medicinal herbs brewed by the military doctor, the atmosphere condensed into a heavy fog in the chilling wind, making it hard to breathe. Her gaze swept over the sparse furnishings within the tent; the frontier military map hanging on the wall was already densely dotted with markings, covered in red indicators like bleeding wounds, while the city models constructed from fine sand were being gradually blown away by the cross breeze, seeming to foreshadow the collapse of the frontier defense lines. A few broken bamboo arrows lay scattered beside the sand table, silently testifying to the brutal intensity of the warfare.
Shen Mingyue slowly walked to the entrance of the camp, gazing out at the undulating mountains in the distance…
Chapter 111