The study in the City Lord's Mansion was brightly lit, but its atmosphere was heavier than any street during the Lantern Festival.
Suotuo City's lord was a middle-aged man nearing fifty. His surname was Han, and his given name was Zhang. Broad and powerfully built, with wide shoulders and a thick back, he kept the short beard around his chin neatly trimmed.
He had served as Suotuo City's lord for nearly ten years. Usually decisive yet steady, he had earned a solid reputation among both the military and the common people.
At that moment, he sat behind his desk, several freshly delivered casualty reports spread before him. His brow was drawn into a deep vertical furrow.
Standing before the desk was an officer wearing the standard armor of the City Defense Army. Two star insignias were set into his pauldrons, marking him as the deputy commander of Suotuo City's defense forces.
A bandage was wrapped around his left arm, faint bloodstains seeping through the cloth. His face carried exhaustion and lingering anger.
"How many died?" Han Zhang asked, his voice low but weighty.
"Seven City Defense Army soldiers were killed, twelve seriously wounded, and more than twenty suffered light injuries."
The deputy commander spoke with suppressed fury. "Three guards from the City Lord's Mansion perimeter were lost. They were all veterans who had served you for years. Of the black-clad men who broke into the mansion, two killed themselves after we surrounded them. We captured one alive, but he was stubborn. We had just forced medicine into him and had not even begun questioning him when he bit open a poison capsule hidden between his teeth. We couldn't save him."
Han Zhang fell silent for a moment, lightly tapping the desk twice with his fingers. "Have you identified them?"
"We