Northern Wei Invasion!

Seeing Li Muyuan say this, County Magistrate Wang Lichuan didn't get angry. Instead, he sighed. "Alas, the news is true. Several county magistrates in Baiyue County have already been assassinated by spies."

The County Magistrate's words shocked everyone once more.

County Assistant Zhou Yongsi also spoke up. "Your Excellency, do you mean those Northern Wei spies have already made their way into Baiyue County?"

"That's right! Yingmen Pass is the gateway to Beiyuan Prefecture. It's only natural for enemy spies to appear in Baiyue County." As Wang Lichuan explained, his brows knitted tightly. "I just didn't expect these enemy spies to be so powerful."

County magistrates were generally appointed from among the experts of the Martial Master Realm. If enemy spies could assassinate a county magistrate, that meant their strength was no lower than the Martial Master Realm.

And Baiyue County was the seat of Beiyuan Prefecture, so it would certainly be the first place the spies targeted.

While everyone was still stunned, Chief Clerk Lu Yan suddenly asked, "Your Excellency, has the Imperial Court said what the Northern Wei Invasion is about? Our two countries haven't been at war for more than ten years. Why has Northern Wei suddenly sent troops against Great Yan?"

Wang Lichuan shook his head. "I don't know the exact reason, but Prefect Xu mentioned in his letter that the Northern Wei Emperor wants to make one last desperate gamble before he dies."

"Ah..."

"Hiss..."

As soon as he said this, everyone present looked horrified.

Standing at the very back, Lu Feng knew little about the Northern Wei Emperor, so he nudged Captain Fang with his elbow and asked in a low voice,

"Captain Fang, what's the story with this Northern Wei Emperor?"

Seeing him ask, Captain Fang quietly replied, "I don't know the details either. I just know the Northern Wei Emperor is almost seventy."

Lu Feng was stunned when he heard that. Almost seventy—then he really wasn't far from death.

He could understand wanting to go on one last rampage before dying.

But the more that was the case, the more intense Northern Wei's attack would be.

After hearing the County Magistrate's answer, Lu Yan stroked his beard and spoke again. "That Northern Wei Emperor really won't give up! But Great Yan isn't so easily bullied. Yingmen Pass is so well defended that it would take an army of five hundred thousand to force its way through. That's why the enemy sent spies inside the pass to carry out assassinations and sabotage, hoping to shake our confidence."

County Lieutenant Li Muyuan nodded along. "Lord Lu is right. But now the higher-ups want us to strengthen our defenses. Everyone here knows what Qinglu County's defenses are like. We can manage if we only have to defend the county seat, but the villages and towns below will be a problem."

Qinglu County was one of the weaker counties in Baiyue County to begin with, and it had only fifteen hundred guards.

They were enough to defend the county seat and deal with a few bandits, but they were nowhere near enough to protect against enemy spies.

County Lieutenant Li Muyuan was the official in charge of those guards.

Seeing Li Muyuan put it that way, County Magistrate Wang Lichuan naturally understood the situation. "Defending only the county seat won't be enough, so I've decided to send the County Yamen's constables and yamen runners out as well."

At this, Li Muyuan looked a little less troubled, but the several captains' faces grew grim.

Usually, all they had to do was patrol the streets and handle cases. Unless they ran into some operation to hunt down a River Bandit, their work was hardly dangerous.

But now the County Magistrate wanted them to defend against enemy spies. That was asking a lot of them.

Those enemy spies could even assassinate a county magistrate in the Martial Master Realm. Killing Eighth-Rank Martial Artists like them would be a piece of cake.

But as County Yamen captains, they couldn't refuse the County Magistrate's orders.

Li Muyuan gave a slight nod. "If that's the case, we'll still be a little short-handed, but we should just about be able to arrange things."

County Magistrate Wang Lichuan swept his gaze over the group once more, then finally settled it on Lu Feng and the other three captains.

"Captains, this mission is dangerous, but for our country, for our people, and for your parents, wives, and children, I hope you'll step forward and protect them."

As he spoke, Wang Lichuan rose and bowed to the four men.

The four hurriedly bowed in return.

Captain Qin spoke first. "Your Excellency, as captains of the County Yamen, protecting our country and its people is our duty. Even if you hadn't given the order, I would have done everything I could to help Qinglu County through this crisis."

Captain Qin was one of the County Magistrate's men. He said this to show his support for the County Magistrate.

At the same time, he was taking the moral high ground, making it impossible for the other captains to refuse.

Seeing this, Lu Feng and the other two captains cupped their fists and agreed as well. They all accepted the County Magistrate's request.

Seeing this, County Magistrate Wang Lichuan smiled faintly. "Good! In that case, I'll start assigning personnel and duties."

Then the County Magistrate had County Lieutenant Li Muyuan assign twelve hundred guards to the various towns and villages in Qinglu County to handle the defenses there.

The remaining three hundred guards would work with the County Yamen's constables and yamen runners to defend Qinglu County City.

In this assignment, Lu Feng was given fourteen yamen runners to serve under him.

None of the fourteen were experts, but they were all Martial Artists.

Lu Feng's defensive duties also changed. Instead of patrolling East Street as before, he was now responsible for patrolling and guarding both East Street and the East Gate.

Once the assignments were finished, everyone began to leave. Just then, County Magistrate Wang Lichuan suddenly called out to him.

"Lu Feng, I didn't want you taking part in the patrols, but circumstances have changed. I hope you understand."

Lu Feng nodded. "Your Excellency, I understand. Please rest assured. Whether it's the patrols you've assigned or the Martial Examination coming up, I won't disappoint you."

Hearing this, Wang Lichuan smiled with relief. He reached out and patted Lu Feng on the shoulder. "Good! I believe in you. But if you do run into danger, remember that protecting yourself comes first."

"Yes, I'll remember!"

With that, Lu Feng turned and left. There was one thing he hadn't said: the most dangerous person in all of Qinglu County was the County Magistrate himself.

The enemy spies' first target would certainly be an official like the County Magistrate.

Once the County Magistrate was killed, the entire county would be left without a leader, and the remaining officials and people would be thrown into panic.

Back in his room, Lu Feng pondered for a moment. He wasn't particularly concerned about Northern Wei's invasion or the enemy spies' harassment.

After all, he was a transmigrator and felt no particular attachment to the Great Yan Dynasty.

"Forget it. No point thinking about it. I'd better keep practicing."

With that, he continued practicing Cloud-Dispelling Palm. Before long, the next day arrived.

When he returned to the County Yamen, he found the constables and yamen runners there looking tense.

Twenty people were waiting outside his room: six constables and fourteen yamen runners.

Seeing this, Lu Feng hurried over, and the twenty immediately cupped their fists in greeting.

After looking them over, he found that all the yamen runners assigned to him by the County Yamen were Third- and Fourth-Rank Martial Artists. There wasn't a single Fifth-Rank Martial Artist among them!

The defensive mission assigned by the County Magistrate the day before was a round-the-clock one. In other words, they also had to arrange night patrols.

Lu Feng spoke slowly. "Everyone, I'm sure you know how important this mission is. Starting today, our squad will split into day and night shifts. To make the shifts easier to manage, I'm appointing Fan Tao as the day-shift leader and Chen Han as the night-shift leader. Does anyone object?"