News of the Fragrant General’s defeat spread like wildfire. Rumors swept through the land, passing from one person to the next with astonishing speed.0

Atop the township walls, a handful of bandits who managed to escape back were screaming incoherently for the Patriarch’s mercy. These mountain bandits stood out from ordinary travelers or townsfolk, making them easy to identify. Some were simply panicked rather than mad, stumbling around as though they’d lost their souls, muttering, “Devil…devils everywhere…”0

About twenty or so such bandits fled to Gemhill County, only to be swiftly rounded up by the Blood Blade Sect for interrogation.0

Tie Sha, clad in a plain white robe, sat quietly in the central seat of the Blood Fury Hall. He stared off into the distance, distracted by a seemingly trivial piece of information he had just received. Li Yuan hasn’t been at his residence for the past two days. He went hunting in Little...0