The next day, before dawn broke, the gates of the Demon-Cleansing Bureau opened.
Three detachments had already donned their armor and assembled in formation, standing solemnly in the street.
Banners snapped in the wind, blades and spears at the ready.
Lu Xuanling stood before the gates. After a brief address, he gave the order.
"Move out!"
Li Chengfeng, Huang Yanshao, and Chen Cong each led a force away in a different direction.
Meanwhile, the young gentlemen in brocade robes gathered in twos and threes. Some drank tea and chatted in the hall, others strolled around the courtyard, and some even brought out boards to play chess, looking as though they had come for a holiday.
Jiang Fan walked past them, inwardly speechless.
He could see it now.
The so-called logistical duties Lu Xuanling had assigned these people involved hardly any work at all.
For actual frontline operations, the troops had already brought sufficient provisions and supplies with them before setting out.
Dedicated personnel also handled communications, leaving no room for these privileged brats to interfere.
These so-called logistical duties were merely a pretext Lu Xuanling had invented to accommodate the people forcibly foisted upon him. His purpose was partly to protect them and partly to keep them from causing trouble at the front.
"So this is how personal connections work in the capital. Complicated indeed!"
Jiang Fan shook his head and went straight back to his duty room, quietly keeping watch over the Communication Jade Talisman...
Over the next three days, the Demon-Cleansing Bureau was unusually quiet.
Military reports arrived from the front every half day.
All were reassuring messages along the lines of, "Passed such-and-such a place. No sign of the enemy."
The three detachments advanced rapidly without word leaking out. Evidently, the Blood Fiend Alliance had yet