Inside Lin'an.
As the fight between Jiang Jingnian and the Withering-and-Flourishing Martial Saint ended, the murky gray aura that had shrouded the city slowly dissipated as well.
Although other Grandmasters and martial experts were still fighting in the city, with the deaths of high-ranking Five Poisons Sect members like Fang Mo and Chao Xianfeng, the other Demon Sect Grandmasters who followed the Five Poisons Sect's lead sensed the changing winds and fled Lin'an one after another.
Some failed to escape in time.
They were surrounded and killed by the other orthodox Grandmasters.
By late that night.
The bloody fighting in Lin'an, along with the gunshots, cannon fire, and clash of blades, had all died down.
Even so.
This day.
Would remain a bloody day etched in the memories of everyone in Lin'an, and even the people of Dongjiang Prefecture.
The city's casualties were beyond counting.
On streets that had once bustled with activity, only scattered Six Doors constables remained, maintaining a semblance of order.
"Awful! This is just awful!"
A young female constable clutched a box pistol tightly, scanning her surroundings warily as the bloodshed around her turned her stomach. "The earlier upheaval in Peace City caused the Governor-General's Office to withdraw every soldier stationed in Lin'an."
"Otherwise, our casualties wouldn't have been this terrible."
Dongjiang Prefecture occupied a special geographical position, and Peace City was also home to the concessions of the Western Ocean nations.
Thus, unlike Eastwater Prefecture, Dongjiang Prefecture still had no nominal prefectural capital.
But in the eyes of the locals.
Lin'an counted as Dongjiang Prefecture's capital.
The Governor-General's Office had once stationed a large force here-two full divisions, including the Golden Iron Corps.
Yet last month, when the Stockade in Peace City came under attack by the Demon Sect, Dongjiang's Governor-General Xiang Yingjie had personally