Not far away was a temporary courtyard.
At this dusk, although it was raining, the drizzle was light. Outside the courtyard, many torches flickered with dotted light as over a hundred people stood there, waiting quietly.
Their eyes were all fixed on the courtyard. The current silence, far from making anyone feel at ease, carried instead an oppressive sense of dread.
The torches burned fiercely, unextinguished by the rain, and the raindrops collided with the torches, emitting a crackling sound.
After a moment of silence, someone whispered, "Old Zhang, will things inside go smoothly?"
Old Zhang was a middle-aged man. He paused for a moment before answering, "We've reached this step, all the way to Ascending Immortal Mountain. He has no other choice. If he backs out now, not only will he die, but his whole family will be buried with him!"
"To give him a chance to say a final farewell is already a mercy."
"Then what about us?" The person who spoke felt a trace of rabbit-mourning-for-the-fox sorrow.
"Once we smash the place and kill Zhang Dai, we'll immediately run. The boats are all ready." Old Zhang looked around and lowered his voice, "We're going outside to hide for a few years!"
"Anyway, those scholars are just taking the fall to be beheaded..."
"This—these lords are truly ruthless. No wonder they're lords!"
"Hush... Do you have a death wish, daring to speak the truth?"
Inside the courtyard, Wu Wei looked at his younger brother before him, his chest aching with a sour grief.
The younger brother seemed frightened by the momentum outside, his face pale, wanting to speak, but at this critical juncture, no words came out.
Such a young brother made Wu Wei's heart ache all the more.
Once he was gone, how were his brother and