The end of the year in Yangzhou City was a happy event. The juniors who were practicing outside of their hometown usually came back to see their families. At that moment, Yangzhou City was lively.
The guards raised their heads on the top on the gate. They looked domineering and majestic.
There was a continuous flow of pedestrians whispering things in the city.
"Have you heard that the prodigy of the Lin Clan Lin Qian, came back to Yangzhou City? Now, Lin Qian is terrific. She is a student of the Holy Courtyard of Xue Yue and has a high social status. She is even stronger than some elders of her clan. Besides, some students of the Holy Courtyard followed her. That's really amazing." said some to one of the crowd in a low voice. They looked envious. Lin Qian was amazingly strong and was the pride of the Lin Clan. Thanks to her, the rise of the Lin Clan was destined.
"Hehe, so what? Don't you know that when Na Lan Feng came back, Na Lan Xiong organized a grand banquet and many noble people attended? Besides, the Lin Clan wasn't invited. Na Lan Xiong did it on purpose because his daughter Na Lan Feng has brought back a young man with her. His name is Du Gu Xiao, he is related to some of the Imperial Ministers, one person who controls several thousands upon thousands. I don't dare think about such people." said the person next to them. They were surprised. Everywhere in Xue Yue, an Imperial Minister was an extremely high status, they were extraordinary people. Na Lan Feng had the good fortune to get acquainted with someone, whose relatives were Imperial Ministers. It would enable the Na Lan Clan to rise splendidly.
"How terrific! The Na Lan Clan and the Lin Clan both want to rise, the two other clans cannot rival them any longer, all they can do is side with those in power."
"Absolutely, last year, during the annual competition of Yangzhou City, Na Lan Feng and Lin Qian were both extremely strong but after that, Bai Yuan Hao had appeared, he was even stronger than them. Oh I just remembered, there was Lin Feng as well, the one who was expelled from the Lin Clan, I don't what he's been doing recently."
"Lin Feng? What could he do? He doesn't have an influential background, he must be leading a vagrant life and roaming the streets. Maybe Lin Qian and Na Lan Feng have already gotten rid of him, and even if they haven't, Lin Qian and Na Lan Feng have become so strong that Lin Feng could never catch up with them." said someone while sighing and shaking their head.
At the annual competition of Yangzhou City, neither Lin Qian nor Na Lan Feng had been the most brilliant young talent, instead, it had been an extremely frivolous young man, Lin Feng.
These days, they hadn't received any news. Maybe he had died somewhere outside. Of course, nobody was really sure.
Everyone was talking about Lin Qian and Na Lan Feng, the two prodigies of Yangzhou City. Every year at the end of the year, people used to gossip about the strong cultivators each year, but that year was particularly exciting, there were these two extremely strong and powerful female cultivators and they were coming back stronger than ever.
Occasionally, on the road, Lin Feng's name could be heard as well. People were usually just mentioning his name without being too interested.
"Boom….boom…."
Noises were emerging from the distance and spread through the atmosphere. It sounded like galloping horses but it didn't seem plausible.
How could horses emit such a concentrated and synchronized sound while galloping? Only a magnificent army with veterans could emit such sounds.
The crowd in Yangzhou City was, however, still walking around in the city, leisurely and carefree. They didn't notice anything strange.
"Boom, boom boom boom…"
The sound was getting louder and louder. Many people were a bit surprised, trying to concentrate and listen to see if there was anything strange.
Besides, the sound was getting more and more intense. The ground was even starting to shake.
The crowd was stupefied. They looked in the direction of the Yangzhou City gate. In the distance, it seemed like there was a cloud of dust rising into the sky.
"What's going on?""
All the people were gradually noticing it. There was a massive cloud of dust. Besides, that sound was really the sound of galloping horses, how loud, it made their hearts tremble.
Some red silhouettes gradually appeared in their field of vision. They were all wearing red armor. The horses were red as well. They all emitted a strong Qi as they rushed through the air. They were galloping towards Yangzhou City at full speed and a cloud of dust was rising around them, looking like a hurricane.
"Boom boom boom..."
Even though the guards at the top of the city gate had a position which enabled them to see into the distance, what was moving towards them seemed like a boundless dust cloud. Their hearts were pounding like crazy.
An army. Surprisingly, it was an army. That was a terrifying and well trained army of veterans.
It was the first time that the city guards saw such a strong Qi. Such a huge army in a perfect formation was also something breathtaking. They had the impression that their hearts were beating in their throats.
The guards weren't the only ones, the population was also panicking while the army was moving nearer and nearer.
Surprisingly, they were armored-horses, it was a huge army of armored-horses. Most people had never seen such a huge army of armored-horses, it seemed like the ground would cave in under their hoofs.
The ground was violently shaking, everybody was absolutely dumbstruck. Why would such an army come to Yangzhou City?
"Quickly, quickly, close the gate!" shouted some guards on top of the gate in panic.
"Shut the hell up, we have to keep it open, if somebody closes the gate, I'll kill him!" shouted the leader of the guards. He was furious at those bastards who wanted to die. With such an army of armored-horses, if the gate was closed, a single attack would be enough to destroy it. Besides, if they made the army angry, such an army could massacre the entire city.
Amongst the guards on the city gate, none of them had the courage to fight. They were scared to death and their faces deathly pale. None of them had ever seen such a huge army in perfect formation.
That sort of army was only seen on a battlefield but not in a small town like Yangzhou City.
"Quickly, go and tell the head of the city, hurry up!" shouted one of the guards. Obviously, they didn't know what to do. All they could think about was telling Na Lan Xiong.
"Roger." said a few guards when they heard the order and then immediately left. After all, who wanted to stay there? If the army attacked, they would all die.
After that, when the vast army arrived near the Yangzhou City gate, they slowed down. They stopped before the gate of the city and didn't enter it.
Even though the army was just calmly waiting there, they were still releasing extremely strong Qi. It enveloped the gate of Yangzhou City as well as the crowd on and around it. Everyone within the city felt like they were being suffocated by the intense Qi.
How monstrous. The red armor, red horses, the image was shocking almost like a psychological attack. It was too much for the crowd.
They had never thought that someday, such an army would appear in Yangzhou City.
At that moment, amongst the army, a silhouette emerged and raised their head, looked at the people on top of the gate and said: "Listen, from now on, Yangzhou City is the fief of the Chi Xie Marquis. Everything in Yangzhou City now belongs to the officer of the Chi Xie army. Now, bring the head of the city to come and greet him."
The Chi Xie Marquis, the Chi Xie Officer, how powerful and majestic. Besides, he was making the head of the city come to greet them. They definitely had an extremely high social status.
So that's how it was, the Chi Xie Marquis was the owner of Yangzhou City, but nobody knew who this person was.
The crowd felt a bit relieved, since the fief of Yangzhou City belonged to the Chi Xie Marquis, the army wasn't going to attack the city. That huge army hadn't come with malicious intent.
"Go. Quickly bring the head of the city here!" shouted the leader of the guards, on the top of the gate, to one guard who wasn't moving. That person nodded and abruptly left in the direction of the government. He hadn't clearly heard the words of the Chi Xie soldiers though, he had only heard when he was told to bring the head of the city to greet them.
The government was a huge and vast place. There were tables everywhere. The head of the city, Na Lan Xiong had organized an annual banquet to which many wealthy and noble cultivators were participating. He hadn't invited the Lin Clan but the atmosphere was pleasant and lively
At that moment, many people were proposing toasts. It seemed that Na Lan Xiong was extremely proud because of his new son-in-law and he was so excited that he was unceasingly drinking.
"Master, master!"
At that moment, a worried voice spread in the air interrupting the crowd. Na Lan Xiong frowned and looked at the distance seeing a guard worriedly and hastily rushing over to him.
"A huge army is outside the city and we don't know who they are and what they are doing here." said the guard who was uninterruptedly sweating. The crowd was stupefied, an army had come to the city?
At that moment, another silhouette appeared and was running in their direction.
"Stop!" said Na Lan Xiong. "Are you here because of the army too? What is that army doing right now?"
"They want you to go and greet them." said the second guard who had arrived. Na Lan Xiong frowned and looked pensive.
"Tell their leader to come here, pay his respects and apologize for his offense."
At that moment, a cold and detached voice came from the host seat. It was Du Gu Xiao, he was furious and half-drunk already. Surprisingly, there were people who dared disturb him during the banquet and besides that, they also wanted Na Lan Xiong to come and greet them. Since Du Gu Xiao was there, they had to give him face, he was there so no matter who it was, they had to come pay respects and respectfully apologize for offending him.
Many people sighed, he was really worthy of his social status. He was extremely strong. They were all panicking and he, instead, ordered the troublemakers to come and apologize for their offense. Du Gu Xiao was wildly arrogant and presumptuous.
The guards looked petrified and nervous: "But….."
"There is no but! Tell him to get over here and apologize for his offense. Say that Du Gu Xiao gave the order, otherwise they will regret the consequences."
Du Gu Xiao stood up and released some cold Qi. His voice was ice-cold as well.
The guard was surprised and blankly staring at Du Gu Xiao. When he saw the coldness in his eyes, he immediately nodded and said: "Roger."
When they finished talking, the two guards abruptly left.
"Alright, everybody can continue, let's not let such events ruin our banquet." said Na Lan Xiong while raising his glass and smiling.
Everybody raised their glass and laughed heartily. Concerning Du Gu Xiao, he went back to his seat and looked calm. In such a small city, no matter how strong the person was, they had to obey him and apologize for their offense.