knife

Chapter 763 Take action
"Prefect Zhou, His Majesty has already rested! The shaman is currently cultivating as well. Please come earlier tomorrow!"

At the inner city gate, a woman dressed as an ordinary palace maid bowed slightly to Zhou Zheng. However, in the eyes of someone like Zhou Zheng, this woman was completely different from a proper palace maid in terms of both her attire and mannerisms.

Even without seeing the snake's head peeking out from under the woman's wide sleeves, Zhou Zheng could spot countless flaws at a glance.

This is a maidservant beside the shaman.

"The city is in chaos!" Zhou Zheng said angrily. "Commander Gan demanded 100,000 taels of silver from me, which I couldn't raise. As a result, he allowed his soldiers to plunder the city, which led to conflicts with some local forces. I couldn't stop Commander Gan, and I don't have any troops to suppress those local tyrants. I have no other choice but to come and see the shaman. If we had waited any longer, I'm afraid the whole of Danyang would have been in chaos!"

As if in response to Zhou Zheng's words, another raging fire broke out in the direction of the north city, turning half the sky red.

The palace maid hesitated slightly.

"Now only the shaman can stop Commissioner Gan. As long as Commissioner Gan withdraws his troops and returns to camp, I can barely persuade those local forces to stop!" Zhou Zheng pressed on while the iron was hot, "The front line has just suffered a defeat, and the people of Danyang are already unstable. If this happens again, it will destroy our foundation!"

"Let him in!" The shaman's voice seemed to echo in my ears.

The palace maid turned around, and the inner city gates slowly opened behind her.

"The sorcerer is in Siming Palace!" the palace maid said. "Prefect Zhou, you may go, but your two attendants must stay here. You know the rules of the palace!"

Zhou Zheng's eyes flashed, and he nodded, saying, "Okay!"

Stepping straight inside, the palace maid was about to follow Zhou Zheng when she suddenly found herself unable to move. She was terrified. Zhou Zheng did not turn around and walked forward unhurriedly. One of the two ordinary-looking old men who had been following behind him passed the palace maid and followed Zhou Zheng, while the other stood beside the palace maid, turned his head and looked at him with a smile.

The palace maid tried to shout, but couldn't make a sound. She was as if she were possessed, unable to move or speak.

Jiang Chong knew where Siming Hall was.

Back when Jiang Qian was in power, Jiang Chong had entered this inner palace countless times.

Zhou Zheng stopped in his tracks as he looked at the gate of Siming Palace. Hong Zhan, who was behind him, walked past him and went straight ahead.

The hall opened without any wind, and the shaman's slightly surprised voice came out.

"who are you?"

Hong Zhan chuckled: "Hong Zhan, I wonder if you've ever heard of the Divine Shaman?"

The room fell silent for a long time before someone finally spoke: "Zhou Zheng, how dare you betray us? Do you think Hong Zhan can cause any trouble?"

"What if we add Jiang Chong as well?" Jiang Chong's voice had barely reached them when he arrived, standing shoulder to shoulder with Hong Zhan.

The breathing inside the hall became slightly heavier, and then the shaman leaning on her snake staff appeared at the hall entrance. Beside her stood the puppet emperor, dressed in plain clothes, who was trembling with fear.

The shaman looked at the three people below the steps and said, "Don't you want him dead?" Hong Zhan and Jiang Chong exchanged a glance and burst into laughter: "Shaman, do you think we care about the life of a puppet? There are many people with the surname Xiong in Danyang City. If one dies today, we can just find another to be the emperor tomorrow!"

The shaman's face grew increasingly grim, and a low whistling sound emanated from her throat. In an instant, the quiet inner city erupted in commotion. Footsteps, shouts, the clanging of armor plates, and the officers' commands were clearly audible to everyone.

"Two innate masters are not necessarily capable of doing anything to me?" The shaman sneered, slamming his snake staff on the ground. Dozens of men and women, with headscarves wrapped around their heads, wearing straw sandals and leg wraps, and leaning on snake staffs, filed out one after another, forming a strange formation in front of the shaman.

"The shamanic sect's trump card formation, with the shaman's location being the formation's core!" Jiang Chong glanced at Hong Zhan, "He's a tough nut to crack."

Hong Zhan took a deep breath and turned to look at Zhou Zheng: "The palace guards are now in your hands!"

Zhou Zheng nodded, turned and walked out of Siming Hall. The moment he turned, he raised his hand and a whistling arrow shot into the sky, soaring into the night sky with a sharp whistle.

As he stepped out of the palace gate, a group of inner court guards came running towards him. Zhou Zheng shook his hands, and his civil official robe ripped in two with a tearing sound. He grinned maliciously and went straight to meet them. He grabbed the neck of the captain who was running in the lead, twisted him up, and slammed him to the ground like a leather sack. In one swift motion, the captain fell silent. Zhou Zheng then drew his sword from the dead captain's waist and charged into the group of guards like a tiger among sheep.

As Zhou Zheng unleashed his killing spree, hundreds of his men, who had been waiting outside the inner city, surged in.

Outside the city, at the wolf soldier camp, Guan Shan dragged his sword out of the blood-soaked camp. He had been stabbed, and blood stained half of his robe. However, the nearly one thousand wolf soldiers who had once been stationed there were no longer there. Following Guan Shan, hundreds of members of the Azure Dragon Brigade, led by Xue Li, emerged covered in blood and exuding a murderous aura.

Infiltration, raids, and ambushes have always been the strengths of the Azure Dragon Brigade. Compared to the battles fought in the palaces of the Northern Yuan many years ago, today's battle is nothing. Although less than a third of the veteran members remain in the Azure Dragon Brigade and many key members have been transferred, the traditions formed over the years will not be abandoned because of their departure.

The same scene was also taking place in several other wolf soldier camps. The White Tiger Brigade, led by He Zheng, the Jiang family elites, led by Jiang Siyan, and the Five Tigers Breaking Door Blade swordsmen, led by Wang Li, were also heading towards the palace after dealing with the wolf soldiers in their camps.

The people of Danyang were already quite experienced with such chaos and turmoil; the same thing had happened several times in just one year.

Since the Azure Dragon and White Tiger teams didn't know each other, everyone hid behind the door and carefully observed, unwilling to show themselves easily. However, the Jiang family team knew quite a few people, especially their leader, Jiang Yuyan, who was an outstanding member of the younger generation of the Jiang family. Although she was a woman, she was highly valued by Jiang Chong.

So as the Jiang family's procession made its way through the streets and alleys toward the palace, a side door suddenly opened, and a young man poked his head out: "Sister Yu Yan!"

Jiang Yuyan stopped and looked at him.

"What's all the commotion about today?"

"Kill the wolf soldiers, purge the court of corrupt officials, are you coming or not?"

"The Jiang family head personally took action?"

"Otherwise what? Do you think I'm big enough?" Jiang Yuyan laughed. "Not only our patriarch, but also the Five Tigers Breaking the Gate Blade, and other innate masters invited by our patriarch. Little Wu, tell your old man, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

The head called Xiao Wu'er shrunk back in a flash. A moment later, the gate of the house burst open, and an old man with white hair and white beard, wearing heavy armor and holding a large sword, led more than a hundred soldiers out and joined Jiang Yuyan's group. "Little Yuyan, I've come to lend you a hand!"

(End of this chapter)