Xiao Yun's Inauguration Ceremony

Before dawn the next day, scattered footsteps echoed through the streets of Dragon Ascending Town.

The traces left by last night's bloody battle had not yet been completely cleaned away. The bloodstains on the bluestone-slab road had been washed again and again, but dark-red marks still lingered in the cracks.

The arrow holes and blade scars on the city walls were still there. The remnants of the brambles on the gate tower had been cleared away, but the bricks and stones pierced through by those thorns remained shattered.

But those who survived still had to go on living.

As the sky had only just begun to brighten, townspeople came out of their homes, bringing their families with them as they headed toward East Wharf.

Last night, the City Guard had gone door to door, knocking on every household and conveying the Lord's order—at ten o'clock this morning, at East Gate Wharf, everyone had to be present.

No one dared not go.

After yesterday's battle, the people of Dragon Ascending Town had finally understood that this newly arrived Earl was not one of those wastrel heirs who came here in the past just to gild their resumes.

He really could fight, and he really dared to kill.

Not long after the hour of Chen had passed, the wharf was already packed with people.

Tens of thousands of townspeople surged in from every direction, cramming the wharf square so tightly that not even water could pass through.

Men stood at the front, while women and children were squeezed to the back. The elderly sat on the steps, and young people climbed onto rooftops and tree branches.

The fishing boats moored beside the wharf had been temporarily emptied, and their owners stood on the gunwales, craning on tiptoe to look toward the gate