Chapter 374: Muyin

Mo'ao Era 132, April 5th, Daytime

Muyin Town, a side hall on the east side.

An old man with half-white hair was sitting at the head of the hall, rubbing his forehead continuously. From his tightly locked brows, irritable complexion, and the action of rubbing his forehead, it was not difficult to see that the old man's heart was already anxious to the extreme.

There was more than one person in the hall; at least ten others were sitting below. Three looked even older than him, and the rest were basically middle-aged.

"All Frost-Resisting level experts and Earth-Digging Realm limits from all 32 village-level camps in the territory have accepted the conscription and entered the city. In less than four months, the number of Frost-Resisting level experts in the town has surged from just over 3,000 to more than 5,000. Do the village-level camps have so many Frost-Resisting level experts? Jin Shan is clearly treating us like fools."

"That personal guard army already has more than 800 people, of which at least 70% are people from Jin Shan Town. Shangguan Hong has now blockaded the area around the main hall, and our people simply can't get in. Now we can't even see the Lord to get things done."

"Not just that personal guard army, the two newly added Garrison Troops also have more than 400 Frost-Resisting level experts, and the rest are all Earth-Digging Realm limits. Many people from Jin Shan Town must have infiltrated there too."

"Not just Jin Shan, Beishuo and Wu Chuan must have also had people infiltrate."

"This is still on the surface. Secretly, who knows how many there are. The town is riddled with holes. If we don't rectify it, it will really be too late."

"It's all the trouble caused by that demoness from Jin Shan Town. Town Head, don't hesitate anymore. If you let her continue to wreak havoc like this, it won't be long before my Muyin is completely destroyed."

………………

Hearing the words of the people below, Murong Chui's brows furrowed even more tightly. He turned to look at the direction of the main building on the west side, his eyes filled with entanglement and struggle.

"Father, we cannot let the Lord continue to act so recklessly!"

Suddenly, a white-haired old man sitting closest to him spoke.

As soon as the old man spoke, the others stopped and turned to look at him.

"Yan'er wants to surrender to Jin Shan, which is not a big problem, as long as it is not toward Wu Chuan. But the foundation of the town is still there, and Jin Shan Town has not made any public statement. To take the initiative to fawn over them like this—my Muyin is weak, but not to the point of being so humble."

Hearing this, everyone nodded heavily, their faces filled with indignation.

Just as Murong Ping said, as long as it wasn't surrendering to Wu Chuan, no matter which family Lord Murong Yan wanted to rely on, they wouldn't have any opinion. What they were angry about was never Murong Yan's intention to surrender.

Although unwilling to accept it, they all knew very well in their hearts that ever since Lord Murong Ding passed away four years ago, Muyin Town had been going downhill and was unable to support its former status.

Three years ago, it was invaded by Wu Chuan Town, which seized 23 village-level camps. Finally, under the joint pressure of the seven towns, Wu Chuan returned 12, but as long as no new Manifestation-level expert appeared, it could not change Muyin's decline.

Wu Chuan continued to be aggressive. At this time, whether Muyin sought Jin Shan or Beishuo as a backer was not a shameful thing; it was indeed a realistic need.

But Murong Yan's series of actions were indeed a bit too hasty.

Of course, they also knew the reason why Murong Yan did this.

Murong Yan's suspicion of Murong Chui had become increasingly severe since he succeeded as Lord. He knew the attitude of Murong Chui's faction very well: the vast majority were unwilling to surrender to the three towns, and a very small number were inclined toward Beishuo. So, taking advantage of the marriage contract three years ago, he directly leaned toward Jin Shan, using Jin Shan Town's support to compete with his second grandfather, Murong Chui, for the right to speak in the town.

"Three years ago, my Muyin's foundation was still there, and we had the support of the five towns in the south-central region. We didn't fear the three towns at all. But that fool Murong Yan was in a hurry to invite wolves into the house, fighting among ourselves, making the town's hearts scatter and everyone feel insecure."

"Now Great Awakening Temple is coming aggressively. After the Battle of Binjiang, Jiang Yinglong died, Jiangxia is lingering on its last breath and is about to collapse, which is about the same situation as ours; the two towns of Yangqu and Longgu are also severely damaged; Basha is now unable to protect itself. The five towns can't help us anymore."

"Surrendering now is not like three years ago, where you only need to be humble in front of others. With the nature of the three northern towns, at such a good opportunity, how could they be willing to stop without eating my Muyin clean?"

"The town is about to be destroyed, and I estimate Murong Yan is still in the main hall, continuing to dream his Lord's spring and autumn dreams. Bah, fool, fool..."

Murong Chui's second son, Murong Yan, had a temper as fiery as his name, and his perception of Murong Yan was extremely poor. He didn't treat him as a Lord at all in his words, and after finishing, he cursed "fool" several times.

Bang...

Murong Chui smashed the table, directly interrupting Murong Yan, stood up, pointed at his five sons, and said angrily: "He is a fool, but you are not much better. In four years, if one of you five could have broken through, why would I be struggling alone? My Muyin wouldn't have reached this point today!"

Murong Ping and his five brothers lowered their heads in shame upon hearing this.

Unlike the five, the expressions of the others in the hall dimmed a bit.

Bystanders see clearly. They could hear from Murong Chui's words that he was still trying his best to maintain Murong Yan's authority as Lord.

This was precisely the biggest problem within the town at the moment, or rather, the biggest problem of Murong Chui's faction.

Due to the division into two factions in the upper echelons over the past three years and the serious infighting, the hearts of the town had long been scattered, and it could even be said that the situation was beyond repair. If Murong Chui could make up his mind to rectify it, there might still be some hope, but he had a stubborn streak of blind loyalty and was unwilling to completely tear his face with his grandson Murong Yan.

As Murong Chui's die-hard loyalists, they had naturally tried to persuade him countless times, but Murong Chui remained unmoved. Even at this juncture, Murong Chui was still protecting Murong Yan, so they couldn't help but feel a bit disheartened.

"Zhang Hai greets the Town Head!"

Just as the whole hall was silent, someone ran in hurriedly from outside the hall.

Zhang Hai came in and first bowed to Murong Chui, then looked around, confirmed that those sitting were his own people, and immediately faced the top and said: "Town Head, Basha still hasn't started fighting, but according to reports from scouts below, Great Awakening Temple is still continuously increasing troops. All Earth-Digging Realm soldiers in all village-level camps in its territory have been conscripted. Basha has closed its city gates for half a month. No matter what, it refuses to take the initiative to attack. It seems they are going to defend the town to the death."

Hearing this, the expressions of everyone in the hall became ugly.

The only hope for Muyin not to be annexed by the three northern towns was to obtain the joint support of the four towns in the south-central region. But wanting to obtain their support—how easy is that?

The Battle of Basha has not yet produced a result. If Great Awakening Temple really destroys Basha, the next target will definitely be the four towns in the south-central region. If they support Muyin at this time and offend the three northern towns, once Great Awakening Temple comes to their door, no one will help them.

In other words, if Basha can hold out, making the four towns realize that Great Awakening Temple is not that scary and not afraid of offending the three northern towns, then Muyin Town will definitely be able to welcome a turning point.

In short, whether they live or die depends on the result of the Battle of Basha.

Either Basha is destroyed, and they honestly surrender to Beishuo;

Or Basha holds out, and they seek help or form an alliance with the four towns.

What they fear most is dragging it out like this without fighting.

With the cooperation of Murong Yan and Shangguan Hong, Jin Shan's infiltration of Muyin has been continuously deepening. The longer it drags on, the more unfavorable it is for them.

"How about surrendering to Beishuo..."

Murong Ping finally couldn't help but speak, but only said half of it.

Because someone else broke into the hall outside at this time.

A red-clad girl who looked to be only eighteen or nineteen years old.

The girl had a naive look on her face, and her expression looked very simple. She didn't care at all about breaking into the hall rashly, and wasn't nervous at all being stared at by more than a dozen people. She bowed directly to Murong Chui at the head: "Yan'er greets Grandfather. Grandfather, Father, Uncles, today, Yan'er wants to introduce a great talent to you!"

Seeing Murong Yan enter, everyone in the hall, including Murong Chui, immediately relaxed, and their faces showed a trace of tenderness.

The Murong clan has two branches. If Murong Yan, who broke through to the Frost-Resisting level at eighteen, is the face of the main branch; then the girl Murong Yan standing in the middle of the hall is the face of the second branch.

Murong Yan's qualifications, let alone compared to Murong Yan, even if placed in the entire Jiuzhen, are among the best. She broke through to the Frost-Resisting level with a super-grade war body at seventeen, and had the strength of more than four manes upon breakthrough, stronger than the two brothers Murong Chui and Murong Ding when they were young.

When Murong Yan was born nineteen years ago, Murong Chui was already 108 years old. She was considered a granddaughter born in his old age, and because she was born to his youngest son Murong Yuan, whom he loved the most, Murong Chui had loved this little granddaughter since she was a child. After Murong Yan showed amazing talent, it was even more incredible.

Especially the year before last, when Murong Yan broke through to the Frost-Resisting level with super-grade war body qualifications, realizing that this granddaughter was very likely to be the third Manifestation-level expert of the Murong clan after himself, Murong Chui gave her whatever she wanted. He was almost responsive to every request for this granddaughter.

With her grandfather's love, Murong Yan was naturally unscrupulous in the town, doing whatever she wanted. For example, breaking into the hall like this—others, no matter who they were, unless there was an urgent matter, wouldn't dare to do it even if they were given ten guts.

And not only did Murong Yan dare, but everyone had no temper at all.

After all, Murong Chui above was full of smiles at this moment.

Who else would dare to have an opinion?

Of course, there were still people who dared to speak.

Hearing his daughter say she wanted to introduce a great talent to her grandfather, Murong Yuan shook his head and scolded in a low voice: "A girl without proper behavior, can't you see Grandfather is discussing matters with us? Go find someone else to play with."

Scolded by her father in front of so many people, Murong Yan instantly got a temper, looked at her father and said: "Dad, stop looking down on people. The great talent I'm talking about might not be weaker than you."

"Then Yan'er, tell me, where did this talent you are introducing to Grandfather come from? How did you think of introducing him to Grandfather?"

Murong Yuan shook his head after listening, intending to continue, but was preempted by his father Murong Chui above. He hurriedly stood up, intending to pull his daughter away, but was pulled by his fourth brother Murong Ying on the side.

His expression froze slightly. Seeing his fourth brother Murong Ying signaling toward outside the hall, he hurriedly looked toward outside the hall and sensed for a moment, his expression changing instantly.

The perception ability of a Frost-Resisting level expert can radiate about two hundred meters.

They were very clear about how many people were standing outside the hall.

There were clearly only twenty guards just now, but now there was one more.

And he couldn't see through that person's aura.

So what his daughter said—that his strength might not be weaker than his—was true!

Countless thoughts flashed through Murong Yuan's mind, his eyes immediately became much gloomier, and his gaze toward outside the hall became unkind.

Murong Yan was smiling and answering her grandfather's question.

"Grandfather, didn't Brother Yan get a very powerful personal guard army? Yan'er has been free recently, so she wanted to see the situation of that personal guard army. Unexpectedly, as soon as she went over today, a funny thing happened. The personal guard commander Shangguan Qing and deputy commander Shangguan Xing were taught a lesson by a small soldier one-on-two. Shangguan Xing even had an arm cut off, making the wife very angry. She is sending that personal guard army to search the city!"

From this paragraph, one could tell that although Murong Yan was innocent, she was by no means ignorant of the situation in the town and the Murong clan.

After listening to this, the expressions of everyone in the hall changed slightly.

Especially Murong Chui at the head, who immediately looked up and stared outside the hall, clearly sizing up the person outside.

Shangguan Qing, Shangguan Xing—from these two names, one could tell what kind of quality that personal guard army Murong Yan had recently gotten was.

Jin Shan Town was now sure that Murong Chui didn't dare to do anything, so they dared to insert people so blatantly.

Injuring two people and cutting off one of Shangguan Xing's arms.

This person was definitely not from Jin Shan Town.

But why are the scouts from Beishuo and Wu Chuan so high-profile now?

Murong Chui and everyone in the hall frowned.

"Interesting. Yan'er, call that person in and let us see."

Hearing her grandfather's words, Murong Yan nodded immediately, turned around, and shouted loudly toward outside the hall: "Brother Director Yu Wen, come in!"

Director Yu Wen? It should be a pseudonym.

Murong Chui and the others frowned slightly and looked outside the hall.

Soon, a black-clad young man with a fierce face walked in slowly. The young man carried a giant broadsword on his back, with a faint smile on his face. He didn't feel timid at all looking at everyone in the hall, and even when he looked up and met Murong Chui's gaze at the head, he didn't show any nervousness.

"So young!"

"Is he even thirty?"

Although everyone didn't say these words in their hearts, when they saw the young man's appearance, the shock in their pupils could not be concealed.

Even Murong Chui at the head was no exception.

"Definitely not over thirty, Frost-Resisting late stage, strength of 32 manes. His talent is even stronger than Yan'er's. The three towns could never have sent such a genius over as a scout. This is not from the three towns; he might not even be from the Jiuzhen."

Murong Chui had Manifestation-level cultivation. What he could see was more than others. The moment he saw the black-clad man's cultivation, strength, and age, he instantly deduced a lot of things.

"Director Yu Wen Tao, greetings to Muyin Town Head, greetings to all the lords!"

The black-clad young man was naturally Director Yu Wen Tao. He first bowed to Murong Chui at the head, then turned to salute everyone in the hall. Taking advantage of the bowing, he naturally sized up all sixteen people in the hall.

"Yan'er really brought me a great talent. It seems Grandfather should thank you well. But that will be another day. Let Grandfather and the uncles chat with this great talent first. You go play somewhere else, how about that?"

Murong Yan probably could see something, nodded sensibly after listening, and turned to walk out without saying anything.

"I haven't seen such an excellent talent for a long time. May I ask little brother Director Yu Wen, where do you come from? And approaching my granddaughter, what is your purpose?"

After Murong Chui praised him slightly, he didn't waste half a word and asked directly about Director Yu Wen Tao's origin and purpose.

The eyes of everyone in the hall gathered on him instantly, their expressions clearly carrying a trace of unkindness, waiting for him to answer.

Director Yu Wen Tao really didn't expect this scene, but he reacted quickly. Realizing that Murong Chui saw that he was not from the Jiuzhen, he simply didn't waste time, met Murong Chui's gaze, and bowed with a smile:

"Director Yu Wen Tao apologizes to Muyin Town Head first. Approaching your granddaughter was just an accident, with no purpose. As for where I come from, this question is not important. What is important is what I can bring to Muyin Town Head!"

Murong Chui's expression sank, and he signaled for him to continue.

"Muyin Town Head, your town has long been riddled with spies from the three towns. The Lord is ignorant, using his father-in-law from Jin Shan to compete with you for power, not knowing that he is inviting wolves into the house. The town is panicked, a plate of loose sand, and everyone is planning their own way out. Forgive me for being blunt, but at the moment, Muyin Town is a leaky broken ship, and it is about to capsize."

"Bold!"

"Who do you think you are, to point fingers at my Muyin Town?"

"Ignorant child, stop talking nonsense!"

………………

Before Murong Chui could speak, the dozen or so people below, including Murong Ping and Murong Yan, couldn't help but scold angrily. A few with fiery tempers even stood up, looking like they were about to take action, clearly angered by Director Yu Wen Tao's words.

It seems they don't want the town to be destroyed and still have fighting spirit, which makes it easier to talk.

Seeing everyone's reaction, Director Yu Wen Tao's eyes flashed with joy, but he sneered and continued: "If I'm not mistaken, the situation in the town is still within the controllable range of Muyin Town Head. You all don't dare to take action, or rather, don't want to take action, because you are still waiting for the result of the Battle of Basha. You all hope that Basha can hold off Great Awakening Temple, and then the four towns will be able to free up their hands to help Muyin and prevent the three northern towns from annexing you, right?"

Murong Chui at the head froze his pupils upon hearing this;

The crowd, who were just furious, also stopped instantly, looking at Director Yu Wen Tao, their faces filled with both suspicion and shock.

The information the other party controlled was clearly much more than they had imagined.

"Wishful thinking..."

Director Yu Wen Tao paused after saying these four words and continued in a deep voice: "I dare to assert now that the day the Battle of Basha begins is the day the two towns of Wu Chuan and Jin Shan take action against Muyin. By then, you will only have the path of surrendering to Beishuo. But if you take this path, Muyin Town will be gone, and the Murong clan, as well as all of you, will from now on be dependent on others..."

"Boy, what exactly do you want to say!" ===== CHAPTER 375 =====