A hundred cavalrymen rode out of the city, solemn and silent.
The early-rising citizens coming and going around the city watched from afar, not daring to approach even an inch.
Only after the heavily armored cavalry had gone far away and vanished from sight did they dare gather and continue entering and leaving the city in turn.
"Where did thieves cause trouble? That's a huge troop of soldiers. Just looking at them is frightening."
"That's the marquis's personal army—the Eastern Suppression Iron Cavalry! I heard that back then, this cavalry followed the Founding Emperor as he swept across the world undefeated. At that time, the so-called Azure Ox Palace, Wolf God Cult, and the others all shut their mountain gates, not daring to make the slightest move."
"The Eastern Suppression Iron Cavalry of today isn't inferior either. Even the heroes from all around can't get in."
The surrounding citizens discussed it animatedly, all taking pride in it, even though they had received none of the spoils of war.
After the army left, a man in black robes appeared among the bustling crowd at some unknown time.
Wherever he passed, the crowd instinctively retreated, forming an empty circle several meters across. Even the city guards involuntarily stepped aside.
Strangely, everyone continued doing their own jobs—collecting entry fees and inspecting goods—without anyone sparing him even a glance.
The man in black robes was neither hurried nor slow. He seemed to move at an ordinary pace, yet every step carried him a great distance. Before long, he arrived outside the marquis's residence and walked in on his own.
The marquis's personal guards, far more elite than the troops Chen Chen commanded, kept their eyes wide as they constantly surveyed their surroundings, yet they failed to notice anything at all.
At Butterfly-Catching Camp on