Below Broad Cloud Peak, the fighting in the Market District gradually subsided. The City Guard Army patrolled every quarter to guard against unrest, while automated machines cleared the battlefield and repaired the damage. The Shaman Chiefs and headmen stationed throughout the area also began coordinating their accounts to reassure the populace.
To the Shaman Folk and Wilderness Rogue Cultivators who lived here, this was merely an isolated demon attack. Rare though it was, it amounted to little more than a topic of conversation over tea or after a meal.
Even those occasionally curious about the truth behind it soon had their attention drawn elsewhere.
Li Chen, however, had hurried back after capturing two Outer Dao spies. He was now in the Inner Valley, reviewing recent records.
He discovered that one of his low-ranking stewards was highly suspicious.
"Fan Cheng is very likely their contact. I thought he was merely an outsider seeking employment. I never expected him to be an Outer Dao spy."
Heavenly Pivot said, "He came to Guangyun in the year fifty and put himself forward for recruitment."
Li Chen thought back and realized that Broad Cloud Peak had still been in its early stages of development then. Seeing that Fan Cheng was an experienced Puppet Master Craftsman, he had conducted only a cursory investigation before approving his employment. In hindsight, that had indeed been an oversight.
But such oversights were inevitable when opening the doors to recruit talent. Even a thorough background investigation might not have yielded any results.
Strict management through spell contracts and limits on authority was the only way to avert genuine danger.
This incident had borne that out as well.
Although Fan Cheng appeared to have brought Outer Dao agents here, allowing them to infiltrate and cause a considerable incident, his actual authority