They watched attentively and would not overlook even the slightest change in the environment, be it a new wave of breeze or a fallen leaf. They had to be sure everything was safe. The troops waited for the entire day, from dawn to dusk, and then to dawn again, but she never showed.Right before sunrise, one of the military officers received some news from his follower, who was in charge of guarding the city. The man was shouting in a frantic manner through the call, "Officer, it is not looking good! Some unknown being has attacked our s.h.i.+ps. Everything has been destroyed! All of it! Ah, here she comes! d.a.m.n it!" That was the end of the call. Obviously, the man was dead.
The military officer on the other end of the line was devastated by the loss. The city housed hundreds of his best men, along with dozens of s.h.i.+ps. None of them survived the sudden attack. He quickly pa.s.sed the message on to Duan Muyan.
Duan Muyan finally realized that they were tricked by Gu Xijiu. This was rather unexpected for the man because he made it a point not to be the one who contacted the Lan Waihu impersonator in order to prevent her ident.i.ty from being exposed. She was always the one who called him first.
They only spoke once that day, and according to her report, Gu Xijiu had taken both her and Yan Chen out of Tianju Hall, but they were not heading for the base. Instead, Gu Xijiu placed them in the city and left them alone. She told them to wait for her while she went away to make some preparations. The wait lasted the entire day. Yan Chen called Gu Xijiu once but was only told to wait. She told him that she would return when everything was done.
The military officers and their soldiers had been waiting for so long, but the news that came was clearly devastating.
Duan Muyan kept his composure and finally gave the fake Lan Waihu a call, but she did not answer it for a long time. When she finally did, all he could hear was her soft voice. "Master, we have returned to Tianju Hall. Yan Chen never left my side the whole time, so I could not find the right time to contact you. Gu Xijiu told us that we would visit the base tonight."
Duan Muyan was speechless.
"If she really is coming tonight, report to me when you are around the corner."
"Sure!"
"Is the news reliable?"
"She made a promise to Yan Chen."
While Duan Muyan was having a call with the fake Lan Waihu, everyone else around him clearly heard everything. Their blood boiled with anger. "General, has your informant been exposed? Have we all been tricked?" Guan Yaning asked.
Duan Muyan thought about it for a moment before he replied, "Everyone should go and have some rest, so all of us can focus tonight. Gu Xijiu must be trying to confuse us. Knowing her, she always keeps her word when it comes to her friends. She should be here tonight."
All of the military officers looked at one another upon hearing the general. They chose to trust the general, for his wits and wisdom had never failed to impress them. Therefore, they quickly went to rest in order to prepare them for the night.
In the end, they wasted the night waiting for nothing. Days went by, and they had spent almost two weeks waiting for nothing. Every time she said she would come, there would always be something that distracted her midway.
Some days, she would change her plan and decide not to visit the base at all, but would still keep the fake Lan Waihu by her side to play a game of chess or to have some chats, so there was no time for the imposter to contact Duan Muyan.
Other days, she would keep the fake Lan Waihu in Tianju Hall and take Yan Chen out with her.