On the evening of the third day, the party entered Guanlan Commandery.
The guards stationed at the city gate spotted the approaching party from afar and moved the barricades aside early.
When they saw an unfamiliar young man carrying a spear at the head of the party, followed by a string of familiar deputy generals, with an enormous blue-gray corpse dragging behind them all, they froze for a moment.
Someone recognized Old Zhao near the front and hurriedly cleared the way.
"Brother Zhao, this is..."
"Are you blind? This is our new Deputy General Yang!" Sitting astride his horse, Old Zhao tossed out a single remark. "Move aside. We're in a hurry to report back."
The guard hastily called for the gateway to be cleared.
Then his mouth fell open as he stared at the Stone Ogre's corpse being dragged past, and stayed that way for a long while.
The entrance to the General's Residence was as quiet as ever.
The Demon Suppression Guards stationed there recognized Yang Xiao and stepped aside without needing to be told this time.
"Deputy General Yang, General Pei is in the residence today."
Yang Xiao nodded and stepped through the entrance.
Behind him, the deputy generals followed one after another, while the last few Demon Suppression Guards strained to drag the Stone Ogre's corpse along.
In the main hall, Pei Xuance sat behind his desk.
A Topographic Map lay spread before him, and he held a brush, marking something on it.
Hearing footsteps, he raised his head.
His gaze settled first on Yang Xiao and lingered for a moment.
Then he looked past Yang Xiao toward the entrance, where two Demon Suppression Guards were hauling the Earthsplitter Stone Kui's corpse over the threshold.
The Stone Ogre's massive body scraped against the doorframe with a