With the rise of my family, I can summon the Daoist Soldiers' Nest.

The hall was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. The previous clinking of glasses and laughter had been frozen into a deathly silence, leaving only the soldier's heavy, rapid breathing, which sounded particularly jarring in the empty hall.

He intercepted the Taoist soldiers who were flying towards him at the cost of their lives on the city wall, and after receiving this earth-shattering news, he rushed over.

Even as a third-rate martial artist, this reckless rush, coupled with the shock of hearing the bad news, had left him limp on the ground, his face pale.

"Where is my brother... General Zhenbei?" Nangong Wan was the first to react, standing up abruptly with a livid face and a barely perceptible tremor in her voice.

General Nangong Ao, the General Who Guards the North, is an outstanding figure among his peers. Although they are not blood brothers, they are very close. This time, it was Nangong Ao who strongly advocated bringing Nangong Ao along to guard the Northern Plains.

Zhenbei City was well-equipped with soldiers and provisions, and its defenses were formidable. How could it have been breached overnight?

The military advisor, catching his breath, managed to reply, "According to... according to the report from the captain who risked his life to break through the encirclement."

Last night, the soldiers guarding the north gate suddenly collapsed in droves without warning, and then the city gate was opened wide.

A large number of Northern Xiongnu cavalry seized the opportunity to storm into the city. Although General Nangong immediately organized a counterattack, he was ultimately outnumbered by the surging cavalry.

General Nangong led his personal guards and some martial artists in a final attempt to break through the siege, but... they were intercepted by a Xiantian martial artist outside the city!

"A martial artist with innate talent?!"

A collective gasp of astonishment erupted from the audience.

These four words seemed to possess an invisible magic, turning all the generals' faces deathly pale.

That's a legendary existence!

For decades, there has been no news of any innate martial artists walking openly within the territory of Northern Han.

Most of the people present had only heard the legends, and who would have thought that they would hear this terrifying name on the battlefield today.

The soldier's voice, filled with boundless fear and despair, continued: "The two acquired martial artists from Zhenbei City... were caught completely off guard and killed on the spot... General Nangong... has also disappeared without a trace..."

"Bang!"

Nangong Wan slammed her fist heavily on the table in front of her, and the hard nanmu wood tabletop cracked with several fissures.

His eyes were bloodshot, and a violent surge of internal energy erupted uncontrollably.

"Where is that captain? Bring him to me immediately!" Nangong Wan took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the turmoil in her heart, and asked sternly.

"Reporting to the general, he... he was seriously injured. He fell unconscious shortly after landing," the military advisor replied with difficulty.

"According to his last words, Zhenbei City dispatched several flying soldiers to request reinforcements and warn others in all directions, but they were all intercepted and killed en route... He was lucky to escape the pursuit, but he was already at his last gasp..."

"Ambushed?" Nangong Wan's pupils suddenly contracted as she muttered to herself.

Recalling the strange interruption of communication with the two cities a few days ago, he instantly understood that the Northern Xiongnu did not want them to know the news of the fall of Zhenbei and Shuofang!

"Immediately dispatch all scouts to the north and south of the town, at all costs, to find out the situation!" He turned abruptly and gave the order to his personal guards with an unprecedented urgency.

As soon as the military order was given, he turned around abruptly, his gaze sharp as lightning, sweeping over the lords and military commanders below who were still in shock and had not yet recovered, and shouted in a deep voice.

"Regardless of whether the news is true or false, all of you return to camp immediately, assemble your units, and be prepared to depart at any time!"

His voice suddenly rose, carrying an unquestionable determination.

"If the news is true, the two gateways of Zhenbei and Shuofang have been lost. Our Lulong City is isolated behind enemy lines, attacked from both sides, and there is absolutely no reason for us to hold it!"

The Northern Xiongnu intercepted the messenger and blocked the news; their aim was nothing more than to encircle our army and swallow up our elite troops in one gulp!

"Faced with the enemy forces surging in from Zhenbei and Shuofang, and the main force of the Northern Xiongnu eyeing the city with predatory intent, our army's decision to defend Lulong to the death is tantamount to sitting and waiting for our demise!"

"The only course of action now is to immediately abandon Lulong and withdraw the entire army to the Yulin Prefecture line, relying on the second line of defense still in place there to regroup and devise a plan for the future!"

"The military situation is urgent and cannot be delayed! Gentlemen, return immediately to prepare and await further orders!"

These words were like a thunderclap, exploding in the deathly silent hall and finally jolting everyone awake from their shock.

The lords and their leaders looked at each other, disregarding all etiquette, and hurriedly got up and rushed out of the hall.

A massive evacuation, more urgent and perilous than the arrival, began amidst this sudden and devastating news.

Lin Ye hurried back to the military camp and immediately summoned his generals, briefly informing them of the astonishing news that Zhenbei and Shuofang had fallen and that the Northern Xiongnu army had surrounded them.

The atmosphere in the camp instantly froze, but the well-trained Lin family army did not panic. Under Lin Ye's command, they began to methodically pack up tents, prepare their gear, and feed their warhorses.

Everything proceeded in silence, with only the sounds of hurried footsteps and the clanging of armor.

Soon after, the General's Mansion issued a new order, which struck everyone's hearts like a final, heavy blow.

The scouts have confirmed that a large-scale Northern Xiongnu army is indeed rapidly approaching from both the Zhenbei and Shuofang directions. The news is true, and the encirclement is complete.

In an instant, the entire city of Lulong was in an uproar. Panic spread like a plague, and after the initial shock, the survival instinct of the various lords' armies instantly overwhelmed everything.

They all began to surge towards the south gate, trying to be the first to escape the city. Chaos erupted at the city gate, with shouts and the neighing of horses filling the air, almost out of control.

If this wave of fleeing is allowed to surge out of the south gate, the Northern Xiongnu cavalry outside the city, who are eyeing the city covetously, will not let go of this golden opportunity, and it will inevitably turn into a one-sided massacre.

At the critical moment, Nangong Wan arrived with his personal guards and used swift and decisive measures to suppress the situation, killing several officers who had led the charge against orders on the spot, before finally managing to bring the situation under control.

"To throw yourselves into disarray is to court death!" Nangong Wan's voice, as cold as iron, echoed from the city wall. "Those who wish to live, obey military orders!"

Ultimately, after urgent discussions, the evacuation plan was finalized.

The entire army will quietly withdraw in batches from the South Gate at 11 PM tonight under the cover of darkness.

The 20,000 elite troops directly under the imperial court will remain to guard Lulong City. They will set up flags and light bonfires at the north gate and on the city wall to create the illusion that the main force of the Northern Xiongnu is still there, in order to confuse the main force of the Northern Xiongnu stationed outside the north gate and buy time for the main force to withdraw.

Fortunately, to prevent the city's defenders from launching a pincer attack, the Northern Xiongnu army concentrated its main force at the north gate, leaving the south gate unguarded.

Lulong City is a large city with its north and south gates far apart. As long as we act cautiously, we are very confident that the movements at the south gate can be kept secret from the enemy at the north gate.

That night, there was no moon, and the stars were few.

The south gate of Lulong City opened quietly in the night, and silent armies, like black streams, silently flowed into the boundless darkness, heading south towards Yulin Prefecture, beginning this life-or-death retreat of a thousand miles.

The night was as dark as ink. Lin Ye rode on the back of the Crimson-Eyed Tiger Guard, slowly moving out of the city gate with the silent flow of people. Looking back at the Lulong City behind him, which looked like a giant beast crawling in the darkness, an indescribable sense of absurdity and heaviness welled up in his heart.

Just three days ago, he led the Lin family army, which had captured a large number of warhorses, into the city amidst the attention of the masses, and received the cheers and glory that belong to the victors.

In the blink of an eye, the situation took a sharp turn for the worse. He was about to retreat silently from this fortified city, which had just been regarded as a symbol of victory, in the deep, dewy night, like a defeated general.

How could Zhenbei and Shuofang, two important border towns that the Northern Han relied on as its Great Wall, fall one after another overnight?

As the core of the first line of defense in the northern plains, the fall of Lulong City is inevitable.

With the first line of defenses breached, could the second and third-line cities like Yulin Prefecture still hold off the Northern Xiongnu cavalry, who were riding high on their victory?

If the entire Beiyuan region falls, the next region to directly face the Northern Xiongnu's advance will be Longxi County, and after that, it will be Wuwei County, where the Lin family's foundation is located!

The Lin family had just established itself in Xiang County, and the plans for the Qingyuan Sword Sect and the scheming for the Flaming Lion's lair were just beginning. How could they have encountered such a major upheaval that could rewrite the fate of the nation?

Last time, when Liu Yun and his entourage accompanied the army, they encountered the unprecedented danger of the fall of Lulong City.

This time, his personal expedition directly led to the fall of the two strategic passes of Zhenbei and Shuofang.

Is the Lin family entangled in some strange fate? Or is it that the fate of Northern Han is truly about to change completely?

A large number of city gate guards mysteriously fainted, and a Northern Xiongnu innate martial artist brazenly intercepted and killed a post-natal master... Each and every one of these events exudes an unusual sense of strangeness and danger.

These are truly turbulent times.