There was no way to go to heaven, and no way to go to hell.

General Ma Zhiyuan also looked at the map and nodded.

"For now, this is the only way, but this path won't be easy. The army is currently short on provisions..."

"On the way here, I already ordered men to quickly inform Governor Wang Chuan and Wang Fu to bring provisions and come to meet us."

"I only hope that Shiniu County doesn't have many soldiers, otherwise, once Shiniu County is blocked, we will truly have no retreat."

What they could think of, Liu Rengui could also think of. In Shiniu County, at the border of Qian Prefecture and Sicheng Prefecture, four thousand City Defense Forces were already on standby, ready to block the retreat of the Left and Right Martial Guards.

Even all the troops of Guangnan Prefecture were on standby, guarding against enemy forces entering Guangnan if they were desperate.

Five days later, all nearly 70,000 men of the Left and Right Martial Guards entered the Qinnan Mountain Path. Gao Yuan, after re-handing over the defenses of Wumeng Mountain Path, also rushed back to Guchang County.

"Huo Juns style name, Bang Jie, what do you say, should we go join the fun?"

"Lord, perhaps it's better not to. As the saying goes, 'don't press a cornered foe.' In desperation, they might turn and attack us fiercely."

"Attack fiercely? They'd need the strength to do so. Look at those horse and ox bones; it seems they've already started slaughtering livestock."

Gao Yuan smiled confidently.

"I guess some of them will soon fall behind. They are all compatriots; we can't just sit by and watch them be abandoned on the mountain path to be fed to jackals, can we? Bang Jie, interested in accompanying me to collect prisoners?"

"Wherever the Lord goes, I go!"

"I'm going too, I'm going too!"

Mu Qing ran onto the city wall in her small leather boots and immediately latched onto Gao Yuan.

"I've been cooped up in the city for so many days, I'm almost stifled to death."

"Alright, alright, then let's go together."

Gao Yuan dotingly ruffled her small head, and a blush immediately appeared on the girl's healthy complexion.

As Gao Yuan expected, with insufficient provisions, people soon became too hungry to walk and fell behind.

Now, unable to even save themselves, no one thought of helping others, only of escaping for their lives. In less than five days, Gao Yuan had gathered over three thousand people, most of whom were civilian laborers.

After a bowl of fragrant rice porridge, these people obediently became prisoners.

After eight days of travel, the Left and Right Martial Guards finally arrived at the only pass along this route, Shiniu County, located at the border of Sicheng Prefecture and Qian Prefecture.

Greeting them was the Nanzhou Army banner fluttering in the wind. At this moment, only one thought was in everyone's mind:

"It's over!"

Even worse news was that an army appeared behind them, following from a distance, clearly intending to strike hard when they were weak.

Now, the Qian Army soldiers were all weak in their limbs from hunger, with no strength left for attacking the city, and moreover, they had no siege equipment.

The oxen and horses in the army had long been eaten, even their bones picked clean. Only the mounts of the three main generals remained throughout the entire army.

Truly, there was no way to heaven, and no door to earth.

"G-generals, what should we do now?"

Ma Chaoen finally lost his arrogant demeanor, asking a question with no answer in a trembling voice.

Jiang and Ma exchanged glances but did not reply.

Thus, over sixty thousand elite soldiers of the Great Qian were trapped on the road, watching helplessly as they were only a day and a half's journey from Sicheng Prefecture and Governor Wang Chuan's reinforcements.

As for Governor Wang Chuan, he only had ten thousand troops, dispersed in various garrisons. Only three thousand could come to rescue them, and trying to capture Shiniu County was wishful thinking. He could only order someone to quickly report the situation to the Emperor.

The night, filled with hunger and cold, was particularly hard to endure.

The next morning, the Qian Army soldiers were awakened by the aroma of rice porridge.

At some unknown time, fragrant rice porridge had been cooked on the city wall, accompanied by the shouts of the defenders:

"Brothers of the Left and Right Martial Guards, are you hungry? Doesn't it smell good? Do you want to eat? If you want to eat, put down your weapons and come over. We'll pull you up with a basket to eat."

The physiological hunger made many eager, but no one dared to be the first.

"You... you tell the supervisory army to... to be fully on guard, lest anyone defect."

Ma Chaoen was so hungry he could barely speak, yet he still held onto his mission, which earned him a small measure of admiration from Jiang and Ma.

The collapse began with Ma Chaoen's supervisory enforcement team.

"Damn it, what military law, what not military law? I want to eat, I don't want to be a starving ghost!"

A squad leader of the enforcement team was the first to break, throwing down his weapon and mustering his last strength to run towards the city wall, towards the rice porridge.

This was like opening a floodgate; the soldiers no longer cared about military law and rushed towards the hope of survival.

Below the city wall, soldiers scrambled to climb into the baskets, were pulled up, and then ate the fragrant rice porridge.

After more than an hour, another voice came:

"Brothers, sorry! Today's thousand slots are full. My arms are exhausted; I really can't pull the baskets anymore. Please come early tomorrow."

"Ah! Why didn't I run faster!"

"I want to eat, I want to eat!"

After a noisy while, these dizzy and starving people could no longer argue. They huddled at the base of the city wall, shivering, hoping for tomorrow's baskets.

Watching the collapsing morale, Jiang Huaizhen and General Ma Zhiyuan were powerless.

That night, the two leaned by the bonfire.

"Brother Ma, what do you think Commandery Duke Gao is planning? He wouldn't be thinking of devouring all of our troops, would he?"

"To devour all of them, he probably doesn't have such a large appetite, and Nanzhou couldn't support it. But I estimate our Emperor will have to pay a considerable price this time."

"I plan to meet with this Third Young Master tomorrow."

"Meet him? To discuss surrendering?"

"My family is still in Luoyang. I plan to talk to him and see if we can exchange for some provisions, at least so the soldiers don't starve to death."

The Red Plume Messenger galloped into the imperial capital Luoyang, but brought not the victory report the Emperor had hoped for.

"Useless, scoundrel! Liu Jin, is this the kind of thing you recommend to Us? We wish We could tear him to pieces!"

The Emperor furiously threw the report in front of Liu Jin.

The normally arrogant Palace Bureau Eunuch Liu Jin was now like a quail, kneeling on the ground, trembling.

An old man in a purple robe stepped forward.

"Your Majesty, the situation is critical. The Left and Right Martial Guards are in dire peril. Please make a decision quickly."

Another person also stepped forward boldly.

"Your Majesty, it's too late to dispatch reinforcements now. Your subject believes the only course is to issue an imperial decree ordering Gao Yuan to open the path."

The Emperor couldn't help but glare at the speaker.

"Do you think Our brother-in-law is easy to deal with? He's probably thinking of how to swallow Our tens of thousands of troops whole."

"Your Majesty, your subject once heard Feng Pu say that Gao Yuan is a greedy person, perhaps..."

"Greedy for money? Where did you hear that? We have read his reports; what he likes most are people and provisions. Can you provide them?"

The Emperor couldn't help but sigh, giving himself an out.

"Never mind, never mind. He is Our brother-in-law after all, and he has always been expanding the territory for the Great Qian; issue an edict, appointing Governor Wang Chuan as Censorate Commissioner, fully responsible for negotiating the army's retreat with Gao Yuan."

"Yes!"

Everyone clearly saw the Emperor's gritted teeth expression and the suppressed rage in his eyes.

Gao Yuan was unaware of all this. At this moment, he was receiving an unexpected 'guest,' General Jiang Huaizhen of the Left Martial Guard.