Yunnei City, which had lain lifeless for more than half a year, suddenly erupted like a volcano. Everywhere, people shouted, ran, hacked and killed, and fled.
Peddlers and porters, refugees and petty bailiffs, bold adventurers and armored soldiers, officials and wealthy merchants-all were thrown into chaos.
The local garrison troops and commandery soldiers, who held an absolute advantage in strength and numbers, fell into confusion and bewilderment. Without any orders, some faithfully performed their duties, trying to defend the barracks and storehouses; some sat in a daze, watching disorder spread without asking, intervening, or moving; others broke away in small groups and joined the torrent, trying to take part in the uprising and grain distribution, though some merely wanted to loot a burning house.
Of these, the last group was clearly growing, while the first was visibly wavering and dwindling.
It was easy to imagine that, without a leader from the government or army stepping forward, they would eventually turn to the revolt and become part of the uprising.
At this point, the few people who knew the circumstances already understood that only one thing would truly decide whether this uprising succeeded: whether the Youzhou garrison troops and Wang Rengong's personal soldiers surrounding the Yuchi clan's settlement in the west of the city could turn back the raging tide.
In fact, amid the chaos throughout the city, the bloody battle that would truly determine the uprising's success had already erupted in the west.
Wang Rengong's personal troops and the eight hundred Youzhou garrison soldiers, entirely unaware that he was dead, came under an unexpected assault... They had never imagined that a mere local magnate's household, trapped like a turtle in a jar, would dare launch a desperate counterattack, much less one so decisive and powerful.
The man leading the charge