91: Chapter 91 Leaving the City to Join the Battle?

The beast tide did not come.

Throughout the morning, the fifty thousand-strong army of Flower City remained fully prepared for battle, with scouts reporting back every half hour. The answer was always the same: no unusual movement within twenty li.

By noon, the soldiers began to eat where they stood.

They ate spirit rice paired with Red Flame Golden-Maned Pig meat, their mouths glistening with grease.

Some chewed the meat while gazing outside the city, their eyes filled with the same desperate anticipation as someone starving who had ordered takeout, waiting anxiously for the delivery person to arrive!

"Didn't they say around noon? It's already passed!"

"What's the rush? Maybe it's an afternoon session."

"An afternoon session works too. We're just idling anyway."

...

Lei Lie stood on the city tower, his expression calm, but the knuckles of his hands gripping the crenellations were slightly white.

He wasn't afraid of the beast tide coming; he was afraid of it not coming—they had prepared for so many days, and the entire city had been putting in their full effort. If the beast tide bypassed them or was late, holding in all this pent-up energy would be more uncomfortable than fighting a battle.

Thinking of this, he suddenly felt a sense of amusement.

In the past, he was terrified of the beast tide coming.

Now...

He was terrified of it not coming!

What a situation!

Just then, a sound of arguing came from below the city tower.

Lei Lie looked down—it was Old Dao.

Old Dao, with seven or eight subordinates, stood at the entrance passage inside the city gate, arguing with the thousand-man captain guarding the gate.

The thousand-man captain shook his head like a rattle-drum, while the old scar on Old Dao's face, stretching from his eyebrow to his chin, was taut and shiny; it was clear he was suppressing his anger.

"What is going on?" Lei Lie asked in a deep voice.

The thousand-man captain looked up and replied, "Minister Lei! This man says he wants to leave the city to join the battle!"

Lei Lie's gaze landed on Old Dao, his eyes cooling by three degrees.

During the few days since the five hundred people entered the city, Lei Lie hadn't made a move against them.

It wasn't because he had relaxed his vigilance; quite the contrary—from the first day, he had tracked every move of these five hundred people clearly.

Which ones gathered at night to whisper, which ones went to the city wall for a "stroll" while counting the distance between sentry posts, which ones asked about the location of Flower City's Granary intentionally or unintentionally while eating.

It was all recorded in his ledger.

He didn't arrest them because Zhou Yun had said, "Flower City welcomes you."

Zhou Yun wanted to play the good cop, so he, Lei Lie, would take on the job of the bad cop for him—letting them eat well, drink well, and live well, but don't think I don't know who you are!

Now, this Old Dao actually wanted to leave the city?

Lei Lie walked down from the city tower, the sound of his armor clashing with every step on the stairs, carrying an undisguised sense of oppression.

He walked up to Old Dao and stood still, looking down at him from a superior position.

"Leave the city to join the battle?" Lei Lie's voice was not loud, but everyone in the city gate tunnel heard it clearly. "You, what battle are you joining?"

Old Dao cupped his fists, his tone much more respectful than usual: "Minister Lei, the beast tide is imminent. Although we five hundred brothers are outsiders, we have eaten Flower City's food and lived in Flower City's houses these past few days. If we just watch when the beast tide comes, it really wouldn't be justifiable. Please allow us to leave the city and kill enemies for Flower City!"

The words were spoken beautifully. Lei Lie listened with an expressionless face, his mouth twitching slightly.

"Are you finished?"

"I am finished."

"Then let me say a few words." Lei Lie took a step forward, shortening the distance between them to less than an arm's length. "Your name is Old Dao, right? About forty years old, an old scar on your face, brought five hundred people to my Flower City. The first day you said you were refugees, and I exposed you. The second day you changed your story to being a merchant caravan, and the military strategist exposed you. The third day you said you were deserters, and only then did you barely manage to get in."

The muscles on Old Dao's face tightened, but he didn't step back.

"You have stayed in Flower City for two days. These two days, your people split into three groups every day, going around the East City Wall, the South City Wall, and the area around the Granary respectively. Last night at the Hour of the Rat, twelve people gathered in your tent for a meeting, chatting for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn."

Old Dao's pupils constricted.

"And now you tell me you want to leave the city to join the battle?" Lei Lie's voice did not rise, but every word hammered into Old Dao's ears like a nail. "Old Dao, do you take me, Lei Lie, for a fool, or do you take Flower City for a fool? Are you leaving the city to join the battle, or are you leaving the city never to return?"

The city gate tunnel was silent.

The faces of the subordinates behind Old Dao changed.

Some subconsciously took a half-step back, while others already had their hands on the hilts of the blades at their waists. The surrounding Flower City soldiers guarding the gate noticed the abnormality and quietly tightened the encirclement.

The atmosphere suddenly tightened.

Old Dao took a deep breath.

He knew he couldn't retreat.

Retreating would mean a guilty conscience, and a guilty conscience would be an admission.

He also knew he couldn't use force—this Silver Rank Minister of the Military Department before him, with his personal guard, was enough to plow through their five hundred people, not to mention the thousands of garrison troops on the city gate.

He was just about to say something to smooth things over—

"Let them go."

A gentle voice came from outside the city gate tunnel.

Everyone turned their heads at the same time.

Zhou Yun walked in from outside.

He was wearing a clean cyan-grey robe today, with no ascending moon shadow hanging at his waist, his hands empty, his pace unhurried, as if he were just passing by on a stroll and decided to come in and take a look.

"City Lord!" Lei Lie saluted.

Zhou Yun nodded at him, then his gaze fell on Old Dao.

Old Dao locked eyes with Zhou Yun for a moment.

This was the second time since entering Flower City that he had faced this F-Level City lord at close range.

The first time was the day he entered the city, when Zhou Yun stood on the city wall and said, "Flower City welcomes you," separated by a distance of several dozen meters, making it hard to see his expression clearly.

This time, they were only three steps apart, and he saw it clearly—the eyes of the young man before him were very calm, without scrutiny, without probing, and even without defense.

He was just looking at you very calmly, as if looking at an ordinary person.

"City Lord!" Lei Lie frowned, "Their identities—"

"Alright." Zhou Yun raised his hand to interrupt him.

Lei Lie was stunned.

Old Dao was also stunned.

Zhou Yun looked at Old Dao and smiled: "Your name is Old Dao, right? Have you been comfortable living in Flower City these past two days?"

Old Dao's lips moved, and it took a long time before he squeezed out a sentence: "...Thanks to City Lord's care."

"That's good." Zhou Yun nodded, then turned his head to say to Lei Lie, "Old Lei, open the city gate and let them go."

Lei Lie's brows knitted into a knot: "City Lord, five hundred Professionals above Bronze Rank, letting them out is like releasing tigers—"

"Open the gate." Zhou Yun didn't let him finish, but his tone remained gentle, "If they want to leave, let them leave. Flower City is not a prison; the gate for entering is open, and the gate for leaving is the same."

Lei Lie was silent for three breaths, then cupped his fists and lowered his head: "This subordinate obeys."

He turned around and strode towards the city gate, shouting at the thousand-man captain guarding the gate as he walked: "Open the gate!"

The heavy city gate slowly rose under the pulling of the winch, and the afternoon sunlight poured into the city gate tunnel, spreading a wide band of light on the ground.

Old Dao stood where he was, not moving for a moment.

Zhou Yun walked up to him, only two steps away.

Old Dao was half a head taller than Zhou Yun, but at this moment, he felt like he was looking up at him.

"Go." Zhou Yun said.

Old Dao gritted his teeth, cupped his fists, and bowed deeply: "City Lord... this great kindness—"

"There is no need to talk about kindness." Zhou Yun shook his head, "The food you ate, the work you did, and the Cultivation Technique you learned in Flower City were all earned by yourselves. You do not owe me anything."