Fugu City, north of the city.
A few furtive figures felt their way toward the city gate in the darkness.
From time to time, a few indistinct words drifted between them.
"Did anyone come after us?"
"Relax. We've already shaken them off."
"Damn it! I won't be a man until I avenge this!"
Clutching the arm where blood steadily seeped out, the man's face was dark and grim, almost blending into the night. Who would have thought that by day he'd been surrounded by attendants, yet by night he'd become a stray dog fleeing for his life?
Chu Yao, Zhao Feng, and the others had led soldiers in overrunning his clan land. He'd been forced to flee with his people, and now he was running for his life. It was a humiliation beyond measure.
It had all happened so suddenly that he hadn't been able to take his wives, concubines, or other female relatives. He hadn't even managed to bring his elderly parents or several sons. All he could do was watch helplessly as they were seized by the villains, while servants and maids fled in terror and the entire clan land descended into a hell of wailing.
Even he himself had escaped only by donning a woman's outer garment and taking advantage of the chaos, protected by his trusted followers.
One of those trusted followers, however, wasn't optimistic.
He had traveled the world and seen plenty.
The imposing aura Zhao Feng carried wasn't something an ordinary Martial Gall Warrior could possess. Heyin was a tiny, remote backwater. Why had it provoked the ire of such a fiend?
A Martial Gall Warrior of Zhao Feng's strength and cultivation could have earned a position of importance under any Vassal Lord. Why was he following a mere Heyin Commandery prefect? The man