Huo Zhen, seeing the two blocking him, was enraged.
“You two have some nerve! I am the chief commander of Dongyuan Prefecture, your direct superior, and you dare obstruct me?” Huo Zhen roared, fully unleashing his realm aura, his momentum unyielding.
“We’ll stop you from killing Fan Xiao no matter who you are!” The two drew their weapons.
The atmosphere in the courtyard turned utterly tense.
Lin Yun looked at them, warning coldly, “Commanders, let’s be clear who the lord of Dongyuan Prefecture is—step aside at once! Defy my orders, and you’ll face severe consequences!”
“Lord, Fan Xiao is our comrade in the city guard. If you claim he’s a demonic beast and must be executed, show us proof. With irrefutable evidence, we won’t interfere, but killing him without cause? We won’t allow it!” Yi Chang and Xin Si replied coldly.
“So, you’re openly defying me, is that it?” Lin Yun’s eyes narrowed.
“If you insist on killing Fan Xiao, we’ll stop you!” Their stance was resolute.
“Very well!”
“Yi Chang and Xin Si, for openly defying orders—someone, seize them!”
Lin Yun issued the command without hesitation.
Things had reached a point of no return.
Moreover, Lin Yun had resolved before coming that today must bring a reckoning!
If he showed weakness now, he’d never hold his head high in Dongyuan Prefecture again. Even the over three hundred generals loyal to him might lose faith.
“Yes, sir!”
Liang Yuan and Yang Wan charged forward to apprehend the two.
“Think you can take us? You’re not up to it!” The two shouted, summoning their inner strength to resist.
Whoosh!
The over eight hundred Dongguo Party generals at the banquet stood, releasing their realm auras, ready for battle.
Meng Shan, Zhao Hu, and the other generals behind Lin Yun, recently promoted by him, drew their weapons in response.
The air in the courtyard was thick with tension.
The entire space felt like a powder keg—one spark, and it would explode!
“So, you’re all openly rebelling, are you?” Lin Yun said, eyes narrowing.
The enemy’s overall strength slightly surpassed his side’s.
“Lin Yun, you’re playing hardball, trying to kill my people in my own home—don’t blame me, Wu Tong, for flipping the table!” Wu Tong bellowed.
“Yi Chang, Xin Si—send the signal!” Wu Tong ordered.
As he spoke, Wu Tong took out a communication artifact and crushed it.
Yi Chang and Xin Si instantly followed, each crushing their own.
This scene caused the generals behind Lin Yun to pale.
“Lord, that’s the signal to summon the city guard. It seems Wu Tong is calling the First, Second, and Third Battalions,” Commander Meng Shan said.
Though Wu Tong was sacked, it didn’t hinder his ability to muster troops.
“What do we do now?”
A wave of tension and unease spread among Lin Yun’s generals.
These generals, unaffiliated with the Dongguo Party, held mostly ceremonial or idle posts and couldn’t summon troops.
Lin Yun, newly arrived, had even less authority to do so.
Lin Yun looked up at Wu Tong, his dark eyes glinting with cold light.
“Wu Tong, you’ve got some gall. You’ve been sacked, yet you dare act like this? Are you plotting against me, the prefecture lord? Do you know the gravity of this crime?”
Outside the manor.
The crowd of onlookers had grown larger.
They occasionally caught sounds of commotion from within.
“No idea what’s happening inside.”
“There were shouts—seems like they’re clashing, but who knows how far it’s gone?”
“The young new lord has no roots in Dongyuan Prefecture, while Wu Tong was the previous lord’s confidant with deep ties here. If they truly fall out, the new lord’s in for a rough time!”
“It won’t be long before we see the outcome.”
…
The crowd buzzed with speculation.
Rumble!
Suddenly, the ground trembled.
“What’s happening?” People turned to look.
Countless city guards in armour were charging forward in unison, the commotion terrifying.
“Move, move, quick!”
The onlookers scrambled to clear a path.
Hundreds of thousands of city guards surged in, most storming the manor, the rest encircling it.
“So many city guards—this has really blown up!”
“But whose orders are they following? The new lord’s or Commander Wu’s?”
…
The onlookers outside speculated wildly.
The scale of this uproar far exceeded their expectations.
Inside the manor’s courtyard.
Wu Tong’s manor was vast, its courtyard equally immense.
At this moment, roughly three to four hundred thousand city guards filled the massive space.
The three battalions totalled one and a half million, but many were stationed elsewhere, so only about five hundred thousand arrived, including those outside.
“Commander Wu!”
The guards saluted Wu Tong in unison.
“Everyone, Commander Wu has been sacked. This is the new lord of Dongyuan Prefecture—salute him at once,” Huo Zhen addressed the troops.
The guards hesitated.
“Haha, Lin Yun, do you see? What if you sacked me? It doesn’t stop me from commanding the city guard. I, Wu Tong, have been with them for a thousand years—how can you, a lord of two days, compare?” Wu Tong laughed heartily.
Then, he waved his hand, ordering, “City guard of Dongyuan Prefecture, form the attack formation at once!”
“Sir!”
The troops responded in unison, channelling their inner strength.
Buzz!
In the air, a massive attack formation slowly took shape, radiating brilliant light that illuminated half the sky.
Even Lin Yun felt a pang of dread staring at it.
Formed by three to four hundred thousand soldiers, this formation’s unleashed power would be staggering, enough to make even Lin Yun wary.
“This… this…”
The generals behind Lin Yun, sensing the formation, fell into complete panic and unease.
“Haha, Lord Lin, are you scared now? Do you finally see the consequences of crossing me, Wu Tong? Your life and your men’s are in my hands. One word from me, and you’ll die without a grave!” Wu Tong slowly raised his hand, clenching it into a fist, his face twisted with menace!
