Order within the city had collapsed, and unrest was spreading unchecked. Yet in contrast to the clamor outside the government office, a deathly silence reigned inside the Military Hub Hall.
Inside the hall, Xu Yuan sat in the seat of honor that rightfully belonged to Li Junwu. Huang Shiwei stood before the hall, while several burly men in the Soul Condensation Realm knelt beside him.
"Are all these men the garrison commanders who turned traitor just now?"
Huang Shiwei bowed with clasped hands. "Yes. I kept a few alive for interrogation."
"..."
Xu Yuan's gaze swept over the disarmed garrison commanders, whose armor had been stripped away. Their voices had all been sealed by Huang Shiwei with a spell, but their eyes without exception betrayed terrified indignation, as if they had been deeply wronged.
After a moment of silence, Xu Yuan waved a hand and said with a touch of weariness, "There is no need for interrogation for now. Just keep them in custody."
A flicker of hesitation showed in Huang Shiwei's eyes.
Seeing this, Si Zijing, who stood off to the side, gave a cold snort. "Judging from Third Young Master's experience, these men did not act willingly, but were controlled by the sect people using some kind of technique."
"A mind-control technique?" Huang Shiwei furrowed his brow deeply. "In such numbers?"
Xu Yuan withdrew his gaze from the burly Soul Condensation men. "Just a deduction. Still, I appreciate Mr. Huang bringing them back. Sending these specimens back to Di'an might allow us to reverse-engineer some clues about that person's cultivation art.
"All right, let's put this matter aside for now. What is the situation in the city like?"
Seeing that the Third Young Master had made his decision, Huang Shiwei said no more on the subject. Weighing his words carefully, he said in a low voice, "Extremely bad. After that saint departed, I flew low over the quarters of the large merchant guilds and saw that they were all packing their baggage, preparing to pull up stakes. Moreover, riots have already broken out in several parts of the city."
Si Zijing frowned slightly upon hearing this. "Pull up stakes? With the city defense canopy already raised, where could those large merchant guilds and chivalric bands go even if they packed up? Are the leaders of those large guilds so devoid of sense?"
"I suspect they have been incited by someone."
"Incited?"
"Incited to gather en masse and force our hand. After all, from their perspective, remaining inside the city is nothing but a death sentence."
"Utterly ridiculous."
A sneer curled Si Zijing's lips. "And to think these people are the heads of merchant houses across an entire prefecture! Do they not even understand that when the nest is overturned, no egg stays intact?"
Huang Shiwei glanced at him and said calmly, "Mr. Si, you have been away from the common folk for far too long—so long that you can no longer understand their motives."
"Huang Shiwei, what do you mean by that?" Si Zijing's brow knitted.
"Enough."
Xu Yuan spoke up immediately, cutting off the impending argument.
With the Third Young Master speaking, both instantly fell silent and bowed.
Looking over their bowed heads, Xu Yuan sighed inwardly.
Is this what being on the back foot feels like?
From one small sign, one could see the whole picture.
When even figures like Si Zijing and Huang Shiwei were descending into meaningless squabbles, how could one expect anything better from those below them?
Yet he could also understand the anxiety in their hearts. If the city fell, ordinary mortals might still have a chance of survival, but the two of them, as Transcendent Realm experts, would almost certainly become prime hunting targets for the saints.
"The attitude of those merchant guilds and chivalric bands doesn't matter," Xu Yuan said. "Right now, Zhenxi Prefectural City is essentially a colossal logistics hub. Transient population accounts for sixty to seventy percent of the people here. With catastrophe looming, it's only natural that they want to flee."
Huang Shiwei took a step to the side, bowed, and advised, "Third Young Master, the city defense canopy still stands. Even if those low-rank martial apprentices riot, it won't affect the overall situation. The pressing matter is to prevent those rioters from spreading panic to the army—if that happens, all will be lost."
Xu Yuan waved his hand. "The Commandery Princess has already dispatched Commander Jin to handle that. He will muster all the city's units at the government office drill ground."
Huang Shiwei considered this for a moment and agreed. "Morale is already unstable. If the army were sent to suppress those martial apprentices, it might instead transmit the panic into the ranks. What Young Master says is indeed a way to quarantine the panic."
At this, his tone shifted. "However, doing so leaves the city walls unmanned. If the riots spread and martial apprentices damage the formation runes on the walls, what shall we do then?"
Si Zijing shook his head and offered his view: "Any potential riots inside the city can be suppressed by you and me. The impending insect tide outside the city is the real concern."
Listening to their discussion, Xu Yuan brought the matter to a conclusion:
"Although the White Emperor's strike was visually overwhelming, it did not damage the foundation of the formation. There are still sufficient Source Crystals in the city, so that insect tide won't breach the walls any time soon. Right now, our most urgent task is to steady the army's morale.
"As for any potential riots within the city, Mr. Si alone will suffice to handle them. I will have Zhou Chen assist you."
Huang Shiwei hesitated slightly. "Third Young Master, what about me?"
Xu Yuan glanced at him, a faint smile touching his lips. "If you go now, you run the risk of running into Xu Mengxi. That woman seems to carry an Imperial Envoy medallion and is currently maintaining order in the city."
Hearing this, Huang Shiwei lowered his eyes and said in a deep voice, "Thank you for your consideration, Young Master. However, among those merchant guilds and chivalric bands are many who have trained in simplified military formations. This matter is of great import and permits no failure. Mr. Si alone may not be able to cover the entire city."
"Since you insist, the two of you shall coordinate, one in the open and one in the shadows.
"And Si Zijing, besides this, do not forget to set up talisman traps."
With arrangements made, Xu Yuan stood up from his chair, turned around, and murmured, "I am going to check on the Commandery Princess's injuries. You two may take your leave."
"Understood."
With those words, Si Zijing and Huang Shiwei vanished from the Military Hub Hall along with the captive garrison commanders.
The front hall of the Military Hub Hall was where Zhan Xian'an, commander of the Second Town, had handled official business, while the rear hall was a meditation chamber constructed specifically for him, fully equipped with an assortment of arrays to aid cultivation.
When Xu Yuan entered the inner chamber, Li Junwu was sitting cross-legged with her eyes closed, regulating her breathing.
The moment he entered and saw the inner armor she had cast aside beside her, Xu Yuan's brow knitted involuntarily.
He knew Li Junwu had been injured by the backlash of channeling the military array, but he hadn't anticipated the injuries would be this severe.
Walking over to her, Xu Yuan leaned down, picked up the inner armor, and examined it for a moment before looking at its owner, his narrow eyes squinting slightly.
Eyelashes fluttering over her closed eyes, Li Junwu's face was pallid. She had no visible external wounds, yet fresh, uncoagulated blood almost completely covered the surface of the inner armor.
"Fiddling with a woman's undergarments isn't a good habit."
Li Junwu's voice rang out in the vast, quiet chamber, carrying a hint of mockery. "Still, considering the dire military situation, this lady won't hold it against you for now."
Meeting her opening eyes, Xu Yuan replied evenly, "Judging from how you looked when you came back, I thought your injuries weren't that severe."
Li Junwu tugged nonchalantly at her black robe, fanning it slightly. "This is blood expelled by a healing secret technique. The inner armor felt sticky and uncomfortable against my skin, so I took it off first."
With that, her eyes crinkled into a smile as she changed the subject. "Changtian, do you know any water-conjuring spells? Help me wash this inner armor, will you?"
Xu Yuan ignored her diversion. Staring down at the armor in his hands, he recited impassively, "Life-Defying Blood Healing. A secret healing technique commonly used when the five viscera and meridians are damaged, practiced at the cost of overdrawing one's lifespan. Its underlying principle is accelerating the aging of the internal organs and meridians to knit wounds shut."
Li Junwu froze for a second, then looked away, grumbling in annoyance, "Tsk. How do you know everything, you guy?"
Xu Yuan stared at her without a word.
Incense smoke drifted through the secret chamber, mingling with the faint, clean scent of the woman.
After several seconds of silence, Li Junwu let out a sigh. Pushing herself up from the floor, she rose to her feet, looked straight into his eyes, and said helplessly:
"Didn't we already make an agreement? But with the injuries I had earlier, I could barely even stand, let alone step forward to steady the troops' morale."
"The more severe your injuries are, the better they will rally the Zhenxi Army's unity," Xu Yuan pointed out.
"Only if there were no enemy spies in Zhenxi Manor!"
"..."
Her suddenly raised voice echoed in the room, leaving Xu Yuan momentarily at a loss for words.
A commandery princess heavily wounded defending the city—such propaganda could indeed dramatically shift the soldiers' perception of their playgirl commandery princess. But at a critical juncture like this, it would instead turn into a sword pointed right at their throats.
Li Junwu took a deep breath, fixing him with a resolute gaze. "Without a pillar to lean on, the Zhenxi Army will crumble. That is why I have to step forward! Even if I cannot truly command the forces of an entire town, I must make the soldiers believe that I can!"
The White Emperor's attack had shaken military morale to the core, and there were only two solutions.
First, Linlang could confront and distract the White Emperor, demonstrating that the city also had a saint protecting it. Unfortunately, Linlang was unwilling to risk its life against the dragon sovereign, forcing Xu Yuan and Li Junwu to take the second path:
Deification.
Even with all its internal troubles, there was no denying that the Zhenxi Army was still an elite force of Great Yan.
The root reason morale was wavering was that there was no general capable of instilling a sense of security—no one to give them the conviction that victory was certain.
Yet before this happened, the overt schemes of the scholar surnamed Wen had already forced Xu Yuan and Li Junwu to eliminate the only two commanders who possessed such prestige.
Thus, they had to push someone new forward to steady the troops.
Xu Yuan was an outsider and could not assume such a mantle. The old commander surnamed Jin lacked sufficient prestige and his cultivation method could not govern an entire town's force, leaving only Li Junwu, the rightful heir, to take on the role.
Ruffling his hair in mild frustration, Xu Yuan tossed aside the blood-stained inner armor and plopped down onto the floor.
"Fine, I get it. This is indeed what you must do."
The inner armor hit the ground with a soft clatter that echoed through the room.
Looking up at her clad in her form-fitting black robe, Xu Yuan said calmly, "Everything you worried about earlier, I've already arranged. I dispatched Huang Shiwei and the others to handle the unrest in the city, and all the detachments of the Second Town will assemble at the government office within half an hour."
Hearing this, Li Junwu smiled faintly. Smoothing the back of her robe with both hands, she sat down beside him and asked in a low voice:
"Given how things played out earlier, the White Emperor's retreat must mean there are disagreements within their ranks, right?"
Xu Yuan chuckled and glanced at her. "On that point, you're pretty sharp."
Li Junwu lifted her chin. "Something that simple is well within this lady's ability to see."
"It's far more than just disagreements among the six saints; calling it infighting wouldn't be an exaggeration at all. Did you see that?"
"Huh?"
"Guess you're not sharp enough after all."
"Tsk." Li Junwu bumped him with her shoulder, scowling playfully. "You definitely kept things from me."
Xu Yuan's eyes curved as he looked at her askance with a grin. "Now you're falsely accusing me. I even told you about the Levitation Stone ring, so how could I hide anything from you?"
As he spoke, Xu Yuan lowered his gaze slightly, unbidden memories of his time with that woman in Beifeng City surfacing. He chuckled softly. "Still, if a woman is too smart, she becomes quite a handful."
Li Junwu stared at his profile for a few moments and snorted coldly. "Sounds like the Prince Consort isn't getting along very well with the Princess."
Xu Yuan's eyes widened slightly. Rather than denying it, he teased with some surprise, "You can actually tell who I was talking about... You really are a woman; your intuition is terrifyingly accurate."
Li Junwu's eyebrow twitched, and she huffed, "It's not intuition! Who else could elicit such a tone and remark from you besides that Li Qingyan?"
With that, she waved her hand impatiently. "Must you beat around the bush at a time like this? Out with it, hurry up."
"It's too complicated to explain," Xu Yuan grumbled under his breath. Even so, he laid out the relationships among the six saints for the 'bosom brother' beside him.
Having listened attentively, Li Junwu murmured as if to herself, "The Insect Saint clan is just cannon fodder roped in by the sects, while the two saints from the sects and the Lord of Guyuan harbor murderous intent toward each other... Is that what you mean?"
"Uh-huh."
Xu Yuan nodded with a smile. "The Overseeing Heaven Pavilion's ideals may be a bit hollow and grandiose, but their stance toward non-human races has always been extermination. If given a chance to slay the Lord of Guyuan, they would never let it pass."
"How are the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion's ideals hollow and grandiose?"
A slightly disgruntled voice suddenly sounded behind the two. Looking back, they saw Tianye—wearing Tianyan's face—standing silently behind them with arms crossed, a smile lingering in her eyes.
Seeing this enchantress again after nearly half a day, Xu Yuan casually patted the empty spot beside his other side, gesturing for her to sit.
Tianye didn't refuse. After sitting down, she said softly, "For the sake of that ideal, generation upon generation of the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion have died to the last person."
"I'm talking about now, when humanity is already flourishing," Xu Yuan retorted. "The Overseeing Heaven Pavilion reemerging now—isn't it just to scramble for power and profit?"
Tianye tilted her head, thought for a moment, and smiled radiantly. "Put that way, you're actually not wrong."
"Right?"
Xu Yuan let out a soft breath and asked in a low voice, "What are you doing showing up at a time like this?"
Tianye replied casually without missing a beat, "To bring you some information. I overheard it while wandering around the city earlier."
Xu Yuan felt a surge of surprise. "You're actually helping me?"
"Saying that hurts my feelings, you know." Tianye adopted a pitiful, wounded expression before giggling. "Mainly, it's information you'd find out in a little while anyway, so telling you ahead of time doesn't violate my principles."
"What is it?"
"Some rumors currently spreading through the Zhenxi Army."
Tianye rested her chin on her hand, putting on a thoughtful front as she whispered, "No idea where it came from, but people are saying those saints actually came for you and that concubine of yours. So as long as you're handed over, they will withdraw."
Xu Yuan narrowed his eyes. "The soldiers actually believe such a 'cede land to sue for peace' rumor?"
"Can you blame them when the Chancellor's Manor has such a foul reputation?"
"Heh."
"The other side's venomous schemes really are linked ring within ring."
Tianye tilted her head to look at him, her slender forefinger tapping her cheek continuously. "How do you plan to deal with it? If this goes on, the entire Second Town will unite as one to ostracize you, the Third Young Master of the Chancellor's Manor. After all, you are an outsider."
"They won't."
"Hmm?" Tianye peered past Xu Yuan toward Li Junwu on his other side.
Li Junwu didn't look at her, merely saying quietly, "Since it's a rumor, we'll just add some spice to it."
"Oh~?" Tianye drew out her words, narrowing her eyes at the girl. "You want to throw yourself, the Commandery Princess, into the mix as well?"
"Yes."
"Except it's probably too late, you know. That rumor is spreading awfully fast."
"Which is why we need to trouble you with this," Xu Yuan cut in, looking at Tianye.
"Not doing it."
Tianye turned her face away flatly.
"..." Tianyan.
"..." Tianye.
"..."
"..."
A moment later, Tianye turned her head back, saying reluctantly, "Fine, fine! Stop fighting for control of the body. I'll help him this once, all right?"
As she spoke, Tianye stood up gracefully, smiling brilliantly. "Brother Xu Yuan, be sure to thank little sister Tianyan~"
With those words, Tianye's slender, graceful figure faded into translucence and finally vanished from the secret chamber.
Seeing Tianye depart, Li Junwu had no desire to chat further. She stood up and said to Xu Yuan, "Changtian, let's go get ready too."
Xu Yuan nodded with a smile and rose with her. He also reached down to pick up the blood-stained inner armor beside them, circulating his cultivation to peel the bloodstains off its surface. "You forgot your inner armor."
Li Junwu stared at the form-fitting inner armor for a moment, then suddenly curled her eyes into a mischievous smile. "Hmm... I'll give this inner armor to you."
"Huh?"
"What, you don't want this lady's intimate clothing?"
"Blegh—"
Xu Yuan feigned gagging.
Li Junwu rolled her eyes. "Take it or leave it. The formation runes on it aren't enough to withstand the military might of a whole town. I need to go to the treasury to fetch a better one."
"..."
Holding the inner armor, Xu Yuan subconsciously froze in his tracks.
Having taken a few steps, Li Junwu noticed he wasn't following. She looked back curiously and chided, "Why are you just standing there?"
The air was still; inside the cavernous chamber, only formation runes flickered.
After several seconds of silence, Xu Yuan chuckled softly, casually stowed the inner armor into his Sumeru Ring, and caught up with brisk steps. "Nothing, just thought of something."
Suspecting nothing, Li Junwu grumbled, "So mysterious..."
Before her words were finished, she felt her wrist seized from behind. Her lovely eyes widened in surprise, and she heard Xu Yuan's voice come from behind:
"You plan to keep channeling the military array?"
"Huh?"
"Isn't switching your inner armor so you can bear a larger military array?" Xu Yuan's grip on her wrist tightened slightly.
Li Junwu furrowed her brow, looking back at him sideways with a look that was half-scolding and half-amused.
"And earlier you said I wasn't smart. If we're going to put on a show, we have to play the part to the end, don't we?
"This lady cherishes her life just as much as you do. I only spent a few years here in Zhenxi Manor as a child—I'm not about to die here for its sake. If things go south, you just carry me and run."
As she spoke,
Li Junwu's eyes were calm. Raising her other hand into a fist, she gave his chest a light tap and said softly,
"Your concern is a bit unnecessary, you know, Changtian."
Chapter 652