Battle for Northern Frontier: The game begins with the grassland woman buying him.

The sun had already sunk below the horizon, leaving only a blinding dark red on the horizon.

Smoke billowed across the battlefield, and the wind carried the lingering smells of rust and blood, along with the stench of burning, sweeping across the entire wilderness.

The war was over, and a brief silence enveloped the battlefield in front of the Stone City gates.

The ground was littered with mangled corpses, broken warhorses, shattered weapons, and scattered flags.

The groans, the dying cries of warhorses, and the heavy breathing of warriors intertwined to create the scene after the great battle.

Su Zhan stood amidst the chaos, a scimitar in hand. A sharp pain shot through his shoulder, each breath pulling at his body, but he straightened his back and scanned the battlefield with sharp eyes.

Blood covered most of his face, leaving only his still-shining eyes visible.

Bai Zhanqiu rode slowly towards them, his armor covered in bloodstains, but his expression was much calmer than Su Zhan's, though a deep worry lingered between his brows.

He reined in his horse and stood shoulder to shoulder with Su Zhan, looking towards the battlefield, in the direction where the remnants of the Golden Wolf Cavalry were retreating in defeat.

"Although we won this battle, the price was not small." Bai Zhanqiu's voice was weary. He pointed to the managers behind him who were organizing people to clean up the battlefield and treat the wounded. "This time we lost so many brothers, and there were quite a few wounded as well. We couldn't chew up Agudamu's golden wolf cubs anymore. The bones were too hard, and they broke a lot of our teeth."

Su Zhan nodded silently: "They came too fast and too fiercely. If we hadn't returned in time, it's hard to imagine what would have happened. Moreover, the firearms that Xiao Shenzan gave us this time played a very important role."

He paused, then turned his gaze to Stone City, where the torches on the city walls illuminated the tense faces of the defending soldiers: "This is all really too difficult."

Bai Zhanqiu wholeheartedly agreed: "Yes, but this is just the vanguard. The real main force of the pack, these scouting wolves, are probably already pouncing on us in the darkness. Agudamu's goal may not be just this."

Just then, Wild Chicken Neck dragged her weary body over quickly. Her face was stained with blood, but her eyes remained sharp: "Second Master, Third Master, the battlefield has been initially surveyed. The Golden Wolf Cavalry left behind nearly eight hundred corpses and captured dozens of seriously wounded grassland people. On our side, we have three hundred and twenty-seven dead, over one hundred and sixty seriously wounded, and no count of the minor wounded."

She paused, her voice lowering: "There's still no news about the five hundred brothers who were escorting the slaves and those who were captured, and the scouts we sent out haven't responded either."

Su Zhan's heart sank. His five hundred brothers, thousands of slaves, and a large amount of supplies would be in extreme danger once they learned that the royal army was pressing in.

Without hesitation, he said, "Send more people and continue to expand the search area. We must bring them all back."

His tone was resolute.

"It's already been arranged," Bai Zhanqiu replied, looking at Su Zhan. "I've reinforced the city's defenses again, and Xiao Shenzan's second batch of secretly transported crossbows and poisoned arrows has been distributed and deployed. Scouts have all been dispatched to closely monitor the northwest and southwest directions. What we need now is time, to wait for our main force scattered outside to return and for the escorting troops to come back, before we can have the strength to fight."

Su Zhan took a deep breath and forced himself to think calmly.

He suddenly remembered something, took out the rough wooden box he had obtained from the slave trader leader's tent from his bosom, opened the box, and found several rolls of blood-stained parchment inside.

"What is this?" Bai Zhanqiu and Wild Chicken Neck both looked at him questioningly.

"That slave leader's thing is hidden in the most secret place; it seems to be some kind of secret message." Su Zhan carefully unfolded one of the scrolls and examined it by the light of the torch held by the soldier next to him. "The distorted symbols and tribal markings on it are still unfamiliar, and the slashed sealing wax, though blurry, has a familiar feel to it. I don't recognize these symbols, but I recognize this mark."

Pheasant Neck leaned closer to examine the outline of the mark, then his eyes suddenly narrowed: "Wait, this outline looks a bit like the firearms pattern commonly used by the Chishabu nobles of the western grasslands. I saw it once from afar when I spent many years on the grasslands. The Chishabu was a large tribe that was almost wiped out by the royal court during the time of Huyan Zhuo. How could they have such a connection with a small slave trader? And use such a covert method of communication?"

Red sand cloth? Su Zhan and Bai Zhanqiu exchanged a glance, both seeing the surprise and doubt in each other's eyes.

Why would a large western tribe, which had been suppressed and almost disappeared by the royal court, end up in the hands of a slave trader near Stone City, and even have secret communications with him?

Moreover, this letter was clearly extremely important, and the slave leader's actions were even more outrageous; it was no coincidence that he wanted to lock it in a box.

Bai Zhanqiu astutely realized the key point: "Agudam's hasty ascension to the throne means the royal court is far from monolithic. Is Chishabu trying to seize this opportunity to rise to power? Or are some disgruntled forces colluding together? This matter might be related to deeper rifts within the royal court, or even an opportunity we can exploit."

Su Zhan clutched the parchment in his hand and said in a deep voice, "This is extremely important. Wild Chicken Neck, you personally handle this. Use every available channel to find out the authenticity of this mark and the current movements of Chi Shabu as quickly as possible. This may be more valuable than intelligence on a hundred thousand troops."

"Understood, I'll go right away." Without hesitation, Wild Chicken Neck turned and quickly left, his figure swiftly blending into the busy crowd and the deepening night.

Su Zhan carefully put the box back into his pocket. He looked up at the dark night sky, where the stars had not yet appeared, only an endless sense of oppression.

"Second Master," Su Zhan's voice carried a do-or-die determination, "Although the Golden Wolf Cavalry's vanguard has been defeated, Agudamu's main force will surely follow closely behind. We must be prepared to defend to the death, and at the same time keep a close eye on the secret behind this parchment. The eye of the storm may not be just our Stone City."

Bai Zhanqiu nodded heavily, his gaze also fixed on the darkness: "Then let the storm come. Stone City is our last stronghold. Only by holding it can we possibly see through all the hidden characters on this chessboard."

At this time, the city lights began to come on, and more people were mobilized to reinforce the city walls, move logs and stones, and brew medicine for wounds.

The weary people returned to the city to heal their wounds, and each and every one of them supported the city as it stood strong amidst the blood and fire.

Meanwhile, in the endless darkness outside the city, new iron hooves were already quietly gathering.

The night was as dark as ink, and the Stone City was brightly lit, but it was not as bustling as usual; instead, it was filled with the grim atmosphere of an impending great battle.

The city walls were filled with figures, and the sounds of hammering as fortifications were heard everywhere, creating a poignant scene of defense. The shouts of those carrying rolling stones mingled with the groans of wounded soldiers.

The lights flickered inside the council chamber, and the atmosphere was somber.

The smell of blood had not yet dissipated, mixed with the pungent odor of wound medicine.

Su Zhan removed his blood-stained leather armor, revealing bandages that were bleeding again from his shoulder. His face appeared unusually pale under the lamplight, but his eyes were frighteningly bright as he stared intently at the parchment and rough wooden box spread out on the table.

Bai Zhanqiu sat in the main seat, his brows furrowed into a deep frown. His fingers tapped unconsciously on the table, a habit he made whenever he was thinking. His thoughts had already settled into a deep silence.

"Three hundred and twenty-seven lives..." His voice was low and hoarse, each word heavy with emotion. "This is just the vanguard of the Golden Wolf Cavalry; Agudamu's main force is probably already on its way. Any news from Wild Chicken Neck?"

He asked another steward who was standing nearby.

"Second Master, Wild Chicken Neck and a few brothers are working through the night to decipher the symbols and markings on the parchment, but there's no definite news yet," the steward replied in a low voice.

"Too slow!" a hot-tempered steward couldn't help but growl. "By the time they decipher it, the royal army will already be at the city walls! What use are these scribbles? They'd be better off thinking about how to move a few more stones onto the walls!"

Su Zhan suddenly looked up at the steward: "That's not the case. If this parchment is indeed as Wild Chicken Neck suspects, involving a tribe of the level of Chishabu, then it is a sharp knife that can pierce Agudamu's heart. The grasslands have never been monolithic. Agudamu hastily ascended to power, and his foundation is unstable. The forces that were suppressed when Huyan Zhuo was alive will never willingly submit. This is the crack we need, which is more life-saving than a few stones."

His voice was not loud, but it was undeniable.

The manager immediately fell silent.

Bai Zhanqiu nodded, agreeing with Su Zhan's assessment: "Third Boss is right. We have city walls, crossbows, and firearms to deal with the open warfare; we can hold out for a while. But the hidden cracks are the most deadly poison of the grasslands. Send someone to urge them on, tell Wild Chicken Neck that at all costs, I need to know what's on that parchment before dawn!"

He turned to another steward: "What's the situation with the other tribes? How far have the search areas for the escort teams and slaves expanded? Are there any more traces?"

"Reporting to the Second Master, three teams of scouts have been dispatched, covering an area over a hundred miles away, but no trace of the main force has been found. Only at a fork in the road were signs of battle and the bodies of several of our brothers, as well as a small number of grassland people. It seems they were ambushed by a small group of cavalry, and the group was scattered and their whereabouts are unknown." The steward's tone was very heavy.

A chill ran through Su Zhan: "Five hundred brothers, thousands of slaves, and various returning reinforcements and invaluable supplies... these are the lambs exposed to the royal army! If they are scattered, what does that mean? It means their chances of survival are extremely slim! Keep searching! We must find them alive or dead, send more men!"

Su Zhan's voice trembled, but he quickly suppressed it, for at this moment there was no room for weakness.

He took a deep breath and looked at Bai Zhanqiu: "Second Master, the city's defenses must be reinforced again. Although the Golden Wolf Cavalry's vanguard was defeated, Agudamu's main force will not give us a chance to breathe. I estimate that the main army will arrive by tomorrow afternoon at the latest. By the way, when will Xiao Shenzan's last batch of firearms arrive?"

"The letter says it can be ready before dawn." A glint of gold flashed in Bai Zhanqiu's eyes. "That's the real weapon of mass destruction! As long as the firearms arrive, combined with powerful bows and crossbows for defense, and with the main force we've gathered back, we might not be unable to win a battle!"

Just then, a series of hurried footsteps approached from afar.

Pheasant Neck, covered in dew and chill, burst in with extreme excitement, clutching a piece of paper covered in writing: "Second Master! Third Master! We've got some leads!"

Her voice was rapid, and she was panting heavily: "The brothers worked tirelessly to compare and deduce the symbols on the parchment. They confirmed that the symbols are the cryptic script used in the ancient Chishabu rituals! The mark is unmistakably the private seal of the Chishabu Grand Elder. Although it has been crossed out, the remaining ink and patterns cannot lie!"

She excitedly slammed the deciphered paper on the table: "The contents are about Agudamu! Chishabu has confirmed that Agudamu is not a direct descendant of Huyan Zhuo. He is the illegitimate son of Huyan Zhuo's concubine and a demoted chieftain from the west!"

Back then, in order to cover up the truth, Huyan Zhuo secretly executed his concubine and cooperated with the young chieftain to lie to the outside world that Agudamu was the twin brother of the young legitimate son who died young, and that he was entrusted to the queen to raise.

After Huyan Zhuo's death, Agudamu colluded with the queen's maternal clan and some ambitious generals, suppressing the opposition with swift and decisive measures before seizing power! If this news were to get out…”

The council chamber fell into a deathly silence; everyone was stunned by this earth-shattering secret.

Su Zhan abruptly stood up, his weariness vanishing from his eyes, replaced by a terrifying gleam: "Heaven is on my side! Agudamu's throne was stolen with blood on its hands, its foundation fragile and unreliable! Chishabu, upon receiving this news, will absolutely not submit willingly—this is a dagger piercing his heart!"

Bai Zhanqiu slammed his fist on the table, making the oil lamp jump. "Good! Excellent! Wild Chicken Neck, you've done a great job this time!"

He paced back and forth, speaking quickly: "Whether this letter was delivered by the slave trader leader on behalf of Chishabu's liaison to Wang Ping from some internal force that was resisting Agudamu, or whether Chishabu wanted to use the slave trader's channels to test us, we have no way of knowing. But now that this thing is in our hands, we must make it play its greatest role!"

"Make a copy immediately, and send this message and the parchment copy to Elder Chishabu simultaneously using the fastest carrier pigeons, at any cost. Then send it to the Governor's Mansion in Beijing, and distribute it to all tribal leaders on the grasslands who might have a grudge against Agudamu or have been suppressed by Huyan Zhuo, especially those powerful clans that are still observing! Tell them that Agudamu's ascension to the throne is illegitimate and that he is a blasphemer of grassland rule! Make sure his backyard is in turmoil!"

"Yes!" The pheasant-necked bird accepted the order and turned to rush out.

Su Zhan spoke again, his tone icy: "Wild Chicken Neck, send another squad of assassins, specifically tasked with spreading this news to Agudamu's soldiers and officers when his main force approaches Stone City! Let them know that the Khan they serve is a lowly bastard, a usurper and a traitor! I want his army to rot from within!"

"Brilliant! Winning hearts and minds is the best strategy!" Bai Zhanqiu clapped his hands and laughed, his eyes filled with renewed fighting spirit as the gloom in them dissipated. "Su Zhan, you've set a really fierce fire! Agudamu, let's see if you can still sit securely on this throne!"

The order was issued swiftly, like an arrow released from a bow.

While defending against external enemies, this massive war machine of the Stone City also quietly launched a silent but deadly information war.

Su Zhan sat back down in his chair, the pain in his shoulder returning, but it couldn't mask the storm raging within him.

He gazed out the window at the silent night sky, where a terrifying torrent seemed to be brewing in the boundless darkness. At that moment, besides his resolute determination, a glimmer of hope ignited within him.

"Come on, Agudamu... I'm waiting for you." He murmured, his fingers unconsciously rubbing the hilt of his sword. "Stone City is right here. Let's see if you'll crush our bones first, or if your own foundation will crumble and you'll be ground to dust by these rumors?"

A faint light came through the window; dawn was approaching.