More importantly, his ambitious martial uncle Lu Yuanzhen had prepared for a rainy day. He had treated Refugees with talisman water while spreading his teachings, founding the Primordial Yang Church. It wielded enormous influence in these parts and reportedly had tens of thousands of followers.
This time, Tang Changsheng intended to use the Primordial Yang Church to put on quite a show—and make Zhang Bancheng hand over the provisions without a fuss!
With that plan in mind, he hurried along. But he was unfamiliar with the roads, lost his way, and missed his chance to find lodging.
The sun had set and dusk was about to fall before he finally spotted the outline of a city. By then, its gates had already closed.
It had clearly suffered the ravages of war. Scorch marks and scars from falling stones still covered much of the City Wall, and the gates were no better.
The city had plainly been breached not long ago. No one had even had time to repair the damage.
Could this be the work of Shou Hou State's army? Tang Changsheng wondered. He vaguely knew that since invading Wu Hou State, its forces had taken several cities and burned countless villages.
Was this one of the villages Marquis Shou had overrun?
As he pondered, he saw three large characters above the gate: Yun'an County. Smoke and fire had nearly obscured them.
Worse still, the city gate had long since been lowered and locked. There was no getting inside.
Just my luck, Tang Changsheng thought. He could hardly climb over the wall, could he? Better to find somewhere nearby to spend the night than stir up fresh trouble.
Just then, an unsteady Qing-red light flew out from above the wall. It moved slowly, as though carrying something heavy.
An alarm