220: Chapter 221 Hua Cheng has stormed in!!

That overlord who once commanded a city now had his forehead pressed against the gravel, his face smeared with a mix of blood and mud, looking utterly grotesque.

The garrison on the city wall watched this scene; no one felt any satisfaction, only an indescribable sense of disgust.

In mid-air, Wan'er frowned slightly, looked at Zhou Yun on the ramparts, and asked softly, "City Lord..."

Zhou Yun looked down at the overlord fawning in the mud, not a shred of pity in his eyes.

"Kill."

A simple word, cold and resolute.

For this culprit who, with his own selfish intent, had driven The Four Cities to slaughter, he felt no goodwill.

Without needing Wan'er to cast a spell, the Flower City garrison, already brimming with rage, crossed the city gate and pounced on City Lord Liefeng.

Those few Yellow Turban commanders who had just surrendered silently gave way, merely staring fixedly at the figure fawning in the mud.

Amidst shrill screams, this once arrogant overlord of the Xiaonan Region was hacked into meat paste by a flurry of blades, dying a miserable death.

On the city wall, all was calm.

Minister Wang Fugui watched the million refugees being methodically organized outside the city, then glanced at the direction in which Celestial Master had departed, and couldn't help but sigh at length:

"This man could command a million refugees with his own strength and possessed a kind heart. If he could be brought under Zhou Yun's command, he would surely be a great asset. What a pity..."

Wan'er, drifting to the side, smiled slightly upon hearing this,

"If I am not mistaken, he will return in the near future."

Minister Wang Fugui turned his head, somewhat confused: "What does the director-general mean?"

Wan'er looked at the sunset on the horizon, "He has merely gone to seek the answer."

Minister Wang Fugui was stunned for a moment, savoring these words, then laughed in spite of himself.

"Too clever by half!" Minister Wang Fugui shook his head, a proud smile appearing on his face, "Flower City is right here, why would he look for fish in a tree?"

...

Gu City, the City Lord's Mansion was brightly lit.

Wang Shuai sat upright in the main seat, holding a cup of hot tea, watching Old Dao and the other remaining generals below who looked somewhat terrified.

His face carried a composed air of one who held the winning hand.

"Do not panic."

He gently blew the tea foam, speaking unhurriedly: "I have already contacted Wang Group."

He set down the teacup, his gaze sweeping over everyone.

"At most two days. The Wang Group's army will arrive."

Hearing the words "Wang Group's army," the originally anxious officials and generals suddenly felt a glimmer of hope ignite in their eyes.

"This place of ours is extremely hidden. Even if Zhou Yun racked his brains, he could never find it."

Wang Shuai sneered,

"As long as we stay here and wait, once the resources and the Wang Group's army arrive, we can surround the main force of Flower City and catch them like turtles in a jar!"

"Let them have nowhere to escape!"

Just as he finished speaking...

"Report!"

A soldier scrambled into the hall.

"City Lord! It's bad! The Flower City army has attacked from the North Gate!"

"What did you say?!"

Wang Shuai stood up abruptly, his teacup swept to the floor by his wide sleeves, shattering into pieces.

The composed expression from just a moment ago suddenly froze, his fingertips digging hard into the edge of the table.

"Impossible."

Wang Shuai's voice was tight, then suddenly rose in pitch.

"Absolutely impossible! We retreated so secretly, how could we be found? And in such a short time?!"

Before he could finish questioning, another soldier stumbled in.

"Report! The main force of the Flower City army has appeared at the South Gate and is attacking the city crazily!"

Immediately after, a third soldier arrived with chaotic footsteps, his voice laced with tears:

"Report! The West Gate... the West Gate has been completely blocked by the Flower City army!"

The air in the hall seemed to congeal.

However, the nightmare was not over.

The fourth messenger soldier practically burst through the door, collapsing to the ground:

"Report! The Flower City army is launching a fierce attack at the East Gate, the city gate is about to break!"

With a crash, the entire hall erupted into chaos.

The officials were terrified, their faces drained of color.

"All four gates, Southeast, Northwest, are blocked?!"

"We... are surrounded?! How is this possible!"

"What about the scouts? Why is there no news until they hit our doorstep? Are the scouts all dead?!"

...

Wang Shuai's head was buzzing.

Attacking without a declaration of war was certainly against morality.

But now was not the time to dwell on that!

Now that all four gates were being attacked simultaneously, if they were all breached, then even if Zhou Yun hadn't declared war, he would no longer be protected by the rules, and he would be dead just the same!

What to do...

What to do?!!!

In this moment of panic without a leader, Old Dao stepped forward, his face livid, and loudly requested:

"City Lord! This subordinate will immediately lead troops to defend the city!"

Wang Shuai, as if grabbing onto the last straw, shouted hurriedly:

"Yes! Go! Immediately! At once! You must defend the city for me!"

However, just as Wang Shuai finished speaking.

"Boom!!!"

A deafening roar came from the direction of the city gate, causing even the floor tiles of the City Lord's Mansion to tremble violently.

Immediately after, a sky-shaking clamor and shrill screams erupted outside the City Lord's Mansion.

Everywhere there were panicked footsteps and desperate shouts:

"Flower City has broken in!"

"Run!"

"The city has fallen!!"

...

The officials in the City Lord's Mansion completely collapsed.

Any pretense of dignity or counter-attack was thrown to the winds.

Everyone was at a loss, some hiding, some running, wishing their parents had given them an extra pair of legs.

On the streets of Gu City, Lei Lie brandished a blood-stained saber, like a fierce tiger released from its cage, leading the Flower City elite to cut through to the City Lord's Mansion at top speed.

"First and Second Battalions, split into multiple routes and search every position in the city for me!"

Lei Lie roared while charging.

"That dog Wang Shuai is fast on his feet! He escaped last time. This time, I must ensure nothing goes wrong! Seal off all escape routes from the city! Don't let even a fly out!"

Meanwhile, inside the City Lord's Mansion, Wang Shuai watched his subordinates fleeing in all directions, his mental state completely shattered.

But having stirred up trouble in the Xiaonan Region, his schemes and depth were clearly profound.

He grabbed several panicked confidant officials, feigned calmness, and shouted sharply:

"All of you, stand still! What are you panicking about!"

Looking at everyone's doubtful gazes, Wang Shuai took a deep breath.

"I still have a top-level defensive Formation set up in the city!"

"As long as I activate it, everything will still be under control!"

"Everyone wait a moment, hold this place, I will be right back!"

With that, he turned and strode toward the depths of the City Lord's Mansion.

The officials, upon hearing this, calmed down a little, waiting eagerly for Wang Shuai to activate the Formation to save them.

However, the moment Wang Shuai turned around, his face turned deathly pale.

Where did he have any defensive Formation?

He actually couldn't care about anyone else.

He ran wildly all the way to an extremely hidden secret chamber under the City Lord's Mansion.

His trembling hand reached into his personal Storage Pouch, and when he took it out, his palm already held a crystalline Formation stone radiating rich spatial fluctuations.

This was his most precious trump card.

A one-time high-level spatial Teleportation Array stone, from the highest authority of Wang Group in the City Lord World, his second uncle!

"Zhou Yun... Lei Lie... just you wait!"

Wang Shuai gritted his teeth and crushed the Formation stone in his hand.

Intense spatial distortion instantly enveloped him.

Amidst a nauseating dizziness, Wang Shuai fled in a sorry state, vanishing without a trace.

...

Half an hour later.

Gu City was fully controlled by the Flower City army.

Lei Lie and the pushed-in Strategist Zhu Ge met in the City Lord's Mansion.

After searching the entire city, they still couldn't find any trace of Wang Shuai.

They only learned from a few captured officials that Wang Shuai said he was going to "activate some defensive Formation."

"Bang!"

Lei Lie gritted his teeth and kicked the table in front of him to pieces.

"We clearly covered every aspect, not even a bird could fly out, why could this dog still escape?!"

Lei Lie's eyes were slightly red.

"Where exactly did things go wrong!"

Strategist Zhu Ge, who had always appeared very calm, couldn't help but frown slightly, his left hand clenching into a fist, pounding the armrest of his wheelchair.

"Take me to the place where he last disappeared."

The soldiers immediately pushed Strategist Zhu Ge toward the depths of the City Lord's Mansion.

Along the way, Strategist Zhu Ge was not in a hurry to urge them, only occasionally raising his hand to let the soldiers pushing the wheelchair stop.

He looked at the lamp stand rubbed crooked in the corner, touched the fine crystal powder remaining in the cracks of the floor tiles, and then stopped in front of an inconspicuous stone door.

A moment later, the secret chamber's hidden door was pried open by the soldiers.

As soon as he entered the secret chamber, he perceived the abnormal fluctuations in the air that had not yet completely dissipated, thanks to his keen perception of Formations as a Wolong Formation Master.

He closed his eyes and sensed for a moment, then opened his eyes, his tone somewhat heavy.

"It is spatial fluctuation."

"Wang Shuai most likely escaped through a high-level, one-time Teleportation Array stone."

This sentence was heard by Lei Lie who followed him in.

He immediately asked: "Strategist, if it is a one-time Teleportation Array, can you catch up with him using your methods?"

Strategist Zhu Ge did not speak, only looking at the floor of the secret chamber, shaking his head slowly.

If he had Gold Rank strength, he could have tracked him down.

But now...

"Hateful!"

Lei Lie, as if venting, punched the hard stone wall fiercely, shattering the bricks and stones.

"Is this dog really that hard to kill?!"

Strategist Zhu Ge raised his head, his eyes deep.

"If he had been caught by us here, everything would be easy to say."

"But he actually left through such a high-level Teleportation Array... This is not a method that should exist at the level of a small city."

Lei Lie was stunned for a moment, asking back: "Could it be an Intermediate city?"

Strategist Zhu Ge shook his head again.

Lei Lie was shocked: "Advanced city??"

Strategist Zhu Ge's expression was stern: "At least it requires that level."

Lei Lie's face immediately became even uglier.

Intermediate city.

That was a behemoth completely not in the same dimension as these low-level cities like the Xiaonan Region.

Strategist Zhu Ge sighed softly and made a decision:

"Therefore, we cannot waste time in this place."

"We must speed up the progress and evacuate immediately."

"Otherwise, there may be a danger of the entire army being wiped out."

At this time, General Zhang Tie rushed over, gasping for breath, and reported to Strategist Zhu Ge:

"Strategist, Minister! The results of the interrogation are out."

"The captives in the city said that Wang Shuai previously claimed in the City Lord's Mansion that the Wang Group's army would arrive within two days!"

"Two days..."

Strategist Zhu Ge nodded slowly, his brows knitting even tighter.

He turned his head to look at Lei Lie.

"The migration of the Ten Cities' citizens still needs time, and time is tight. We must accelerate."

Lei Lie did not answer immediately.

His eyes flickered violently, and he muttered to himself:

"Two days... Wang Group..."

Suddenly, he raised his head and looked at Strategist Zhu Ge, a hint of unfathomable depth flashing in his eyes.

"Strategist, you say, if Wang Shuai joins up with his so-called Wang Group army, what is the first thing he will do?"

Strategist Zhu Ge looked at Lei Lie and answered calmly: "Naturally, it would be to recover the Ten Cities and incidentally wipe us out. The Minister suddenly brings this up, could it be... you have some high insight?"

"Hahaha!"

Lei Lie suddenly laughed out loud and waved his hand.

"What high insight could I have? Just asking, just asking."

With that, he turned and strode out of the secret chamber.

As he walked out of the City Lord's Mansion gate, Lei Lie saw Old Dao being escorted by two Flower City soldiers.

Old Dao was covered in blood, but his spine was still straight.

Lei Lie walked up to Old Dao, stopped, his eyes full of disgust, and spat a mouthful of thick phlegm at Old Dao's feet.

"Traitor!"

Old Dao looked at Lei Lie with a calm expression.

"You and I served different masters. Now that the battle is lost, I have nothing to say."

"Just serving different masters? Haha!"

Lei Lie laughed in anger, pointing at Old Dao's nose and cursing:

"Zhou Yun was benevolent back then, knowing your identity, yet still let you leave the city."

"But I never expected that you would be such a wolf-hearted thing!"

"Actually following a wolf in human clothing like Wang Shuai to stir up trouble everywhere!"

Old Dao frowned and retorted:

"You and I are enemies, it's nothing more than different stances."

"I certainly owe Zhou Yun, but I believe I haven't done anything to let him down."

"I, Old Dao, walk upright and sit straight!"

The mockery on Lei Lie's face became more intense.

He leaned close to Old Dao and lowered his voice, saying word by word:

"Before you say that, try explaining it to the two hundred thousand wronged souls of Qing City first!"

With that, Lei Lie ignored Old Dao and strode toward the barracks, leaving only a resolute back view.

"Qing City? Two hundred thousand wronged souls?"

Old Dao froze in place, his face full of confusion and shock.

Did Zhou Yun massacre the city after winning?

No, this is absolutely not Zhou Yun's character.

If Zhou Yun were a cruel person, he wouldn't have let him go back then, and he wouldn't have gone to such great lengths to settle the refugees.

But since it wasn't him...

Then what is going on with these two hundred thousand wronged souls?

Thinking about this, Old Dao's body began to tremble uncontrollably.

He turned his head abruptly and looked at the empty City Lord's Mansion behind him.

He looked at the main seat in the depths where Wang Shuai had sat.

His gaze suddenly fixed.

An indescribable chill instantly shot from the soles of his feet to his scalp.