Peng Junfu saw that Cui Changfeng had already nodded and approved of Chen Ye's idea, so it did not suit him to say much more.
Cao Fengjie and Yuwen Jue, standing behind him, exchanged a glance, and also caught a trace of disappointment in each other's eyes.
Yet they understood that Cui Changfeng was the primary commander, and since he had already agreed, it was naturally not proper for subordinates like them, of low rank and slight weight, to flap their gums again.
The few of them each fell silent and spoke no further.
Deep within the fortress of Nanhu Prefecture, a spacious courtyard had been converted into a massive pill-refining ground.
In the center of the courtyard, a pool built of stone bricks was fully three zhang square and about half a man's height deep.
At the bottom of the pool stood a bronze pill furnace two men tall.
The furnace body was engraved with dense, myriad runes, and the base burned with raging flames, scorching the furnace walls a blazing red.
The heat was oppressive.
Even dozens of paces away around the pool, one could feel that scorching temperature.
At this moment, all around the pool, rows of women, the elderly, and the weak had their hands and feet bound with thick hemp ropes and knelt upon the ground.
They were ragged in attire and sallow in complexion, their eyes filled with terror and despair.
Some wept in low tones, while others muttered incantations under their breath.
Yet more of them possessed vacant gazes and had grown completely numb.
Just at that moment, teams of Martial Masters from the Heavy Martial Pavilion appeared on either side of the courtyard and walked in.
Moving in groups of two, they jointly carried a massive stone mill.
The stone mill