"Good."
Xu Bin accepted the order.
He lit the massive torch prepared beforehand atop the city wall.
A pillar of fire shot into the sky.
Having finished, Xu Bin asked doubtfully, "Old Xu, are you sure Lord Chen gave these instructions?!"
"Of course the lord gave them."
Xu Wencai waved his feather fan and said in an affected tone, "You must carry them out to the letter. Any mistake will be dealt with under military law."
"Putting on airs! Where did you get that fan?!"
Zhu Tong snatched the fan away. "Tell me, what did Stone tell you?"
By now, he was the only one in the entire army who still called him Stone. No matter how they corrected him, he would not change, making him the most unusual one.
"A rich family dropped it when they left the city. I picked it up off the ground. Give it back!"
Xu Wencai stretched out his hand to grab it, but could not reach it no matter what. "Old Zhu, do you want to be dealt with under military law?!"
"Hmph!"
Only then did Zhu Tong return the fan. "Why did Stone give you so much authority?!"
"Mr. Xu."
Sun Li's cool voice Sounded. "Are you sure my junior brother's feigned attack will work? I still have to lead fifty riders out. There are a full six thousand barbarians outside. Our troops are enough to defend the city, but taking the initiative to attack—isn't that too risky?"
The entire day had been strange.
First, Xiang Tingchun had died outside the city for no apparent reason.
Then the prefect, the county magistrate, and even Chen Sanshi had all vanished. None had returned yet. It felt as though something major was about to happen, yet they had all been kept in the dark.