Xiao Mingliang's eyes widened, his features contorting into a mask of barely contained disbelief as he processed the implications of his brother's words. "But at what cost, Mingyuan?" he implored, his voice laced with a desperate urgency that seemed to hang in the air like a pall. "We have lost so many men, so much ground – and for what? A fleeting moment of defiance that will only serve to incur the masked one's wrath?"
Xiao Mingyuan's laughter was a harsh, grating sound that seemed to reverberate through the very walls of the villa, sending a shockwave of apprehension rippling through those gathered. "Do you think I do not understand the gravity of our situation, brother?" he snarled, his voice laced with a venom that seemed to hang in the air like a shroud. "The masked one has made his intentions clear – he seeks to strip us of our power, our influence, and render us nothing more than cowering vassals in his twisted game of thrones."
