Human Clan Defender

The next day.

Shen Changqing got up early in the morning and was just about to take his leave from Zhong Chi, when the latter knocked on his door first.

He opened the door.

And was met with Zhong Chi's deeply grave expression.

Allowing him inside, Shen Changqing closed the door again.

The two sat down.

Shen Changqing looked at Zhong Chi's solemn face and couldn't help showing some doubt.

"Lord Zhong, you look so grave—did something happen?"

"The day before yesterday, the Barbarian Clan launched a surprise attack on the Great Wilderness Prefecture, several cities fell, and over a hundred thousand soldiers died in battle. Now, the barbarians have seized the gateways of the prefecture and are marching north toward Jincheng!"

Zhong Chi's tone was somber, and his words shocked even the color from people's faces.

Shen Changqing's originally calm expression could no longer be maintained.

Before coming to the Great Wilderness Prefecture, he'd already learned something about the situation there.

The so-called gateways—

Were the cities defending the prefecture's borders, where the military force of Great Wilderness Prefecture gathered, meant to guard against the barbarians.

With those gateways in place—

Even if the barbarians entered the Great Wilderness Prefecture, they wouldn't dare to go too deep.

If the Great Qin were to cut off their retreat, all barbarians deep within the prefecture would have only one road—to die.

So.

As long as those cities stood, even if the barbarians breached the borders, they wouldn't dare act too recklessly.

But if those gateways fell, the consequences were easy to imagine.

Before Shen Changqing could speak—

Zhong Chi continued, "At the same time, demon evils broke out all over the Great Wilderness Prefecture. Uncommon Fiend Level strange monsters are appearing one after another, forcing the strongest of the three Demon-Subduing Divisions to mobilize just to suppress the demon evils."

Demons ravaged within, barbarians attacked from without.

Now, the Great Wilderness Prefecture was facing an extremely grim situation.

When he finished, Shen Changqing furrowed his brow. "If the demon evils and the barbarian assault happen to coincide so closely, is it possible they're colluding?"

"Exactly!"

Zhong Chi nodded.

"The barbarian clan has already joined hands with the Eternal Alliance. We were kept completely in the dark about this. The Eternal Alliance directed demon evils to stir up chaos, giving the barbarians the chance to overrun the Great Wilderness Prefecture."

Just as I thought!

Shen Changqing thought inwardly, then looked to Zhong Chi.

"Lord Zhong, have you come to ask me to stay?"

At these words, Zhong Chi drew a deep breath.

Looking at Shen Changqing's face, his expression became even more earnest than ever before.

"I understand what Lord Shen's mission was this time. Now that the Eternal Alliance base in Jincheng has been temporarily uprooted, you should be returning to the Demon-Subduing Division to report.

However, there are still Eternal Alliance demon evils hiding in the city. I hope Lord Shen can stay and help exterminate them.

I will report this truthfully to the Capital Demon Suppression Division. The mission rewards due to you will not be missing in the least.

Also, for the sake of the people in Jincheng, I beg Lord Shen to stay and lend Jincheng a hand!"

After he finished—

Zhong Chi stood up and bowed deeply.

The barbarian army marches in, and in a short while, Jincheng will face calamity from war.

It might seem that, with the Black Tiger Army defending the city, an extra or missing Shen Changqing would not make much difference.

But things are not so easily calculated.

With Shen Changqing's strength, he is almost the number one expert in Jincheng.

With him here—

If nothing else, dealing with demon evils would be no problem.

If he left, the Black Tiger Army would have to face both barbarians and demon evils within the city, unable to deal with both ends—which would become a huge trouble.

After a moment of silence—

Shen Changqing slowly spoke.

"I have no problem staying in Jincheng. But now, if the barbarians really launch a large-scale assault, with only twelve thousand Black Tiger Army men, there's absolutely no way to hold them off. Does the Heavenly Inspection Guard have any other news?

And what does the Imperial Court say about this?"

"It happened so suddenly, the news hasn't yet reached the Central Plains. Expecting the court to send reinforcements in the short term is impossible. All we can do now is gather all the troops in the Great Wilderness Prefecture to restrain the barbarians and buy time for the court's reinforcements to arrive.

Unfortunately, demon evil uprisings everywhere are too serious, and the Demon-Subduing Division experts have no way to spare a hand to help us.

If Demon-Subduing Division experts could join the army in battle, we'd have a huge advantage."

Zhong Chi said in a deep voice.

By Demon-Subduing Division experts, he naturally didn't mean those Probationary Demon Hunters and Yellow Rank Demon Hunters.

When armies clash—

Anyone below the Innate Realm is no different from ordinary soldiers.

Even for Innate Martial Artists who can withstand hidden attacks, once they fall into the army's battle lines, it's a road to certain death.

Only Grandmaster Level and above could truly display a strong effect in great battles.

One against a hundred, one against a thousand—it's not a problem.

Even—

Some experts could do much more.

The Demon-Subduing Division, strictly speaking, is not only Great Qin's weapon against demon evils, but also its foundation and an advantageous tool in foreign wars.

Hearing this—

Shen Changqing nodded.

"I can stay, but I also ask Lord Zhong to report the truth to the Demon-Subduing Division."

"No problem."

The grave look on Zhong Chi's face eased quite a bit.

His agreement to stay was undoubtedly good news.

"There was a demon evil attack on the Yamen last night, many people died. I heard Nie Xu, cultivating Vast Righteous Qi, slew the invading demon evil. If Lord Shen has time, you may wish to visit the Yamen for a look.

I still have many matters to deal with and shall not disturb you further."

With that, Zhong Chi stood and left, leaving Shen Changqing sitting there.

"Vast Righteous Qi?!"

He replayed Zhong Chi's words in his head.

As for Vast Righteous Qi—

To be honest—

Shen Changqing had only ever heard of it, never truly witnessed it.

What he never expected was that Nie Xu, a County Magistrate of scholarly origin, could actually cultivate enough Vast Righteous Qi to slay demon evils.

One must know—

Vast Righteous Qi can restrain demon evils, but not just anyone can nourish it.

Suppressing his inner shock—

Shen Changqing's thoughts turned to other matters.

The barbarian assault.

Demon evil disasters in the Great Wilderness Prefecture.

The situation couldn't be called a total rout, but things were absolutely not good.

Originally, he'd planned to return to the Demon-Subduing Division today, but Zhong Chi's urging made him give up that thought in the end.

From Zhong Chi's words, it wasn't hard to deduce—

From here out—

Jincheng would be overrun with demon evils.

To others, demon evils are a great threat—but to Shen Changqing, they're the best tonic.

Returning to the Demon-Subduing Division—

Would just mean getting another mission, then heading somewhere else to hunt demon evils.

Staying in Jincheng, he'd still be hunting demon evils.

The only difference is—

Without taking a formal mission, he'd lose out on Merit Points.

But if Zhong Chi reported the situation, then by overseeing Jincheng himself, Shen Changqing was confident the Demon-Subduing Division would offer some compensation.

Compensation from the Demon-Subduing Division is never paltry.

Even if it's just a few bottles of Pulse Condensation Pill, sold off, he could get a lot of silver taels.

Now, every advancement consumes many elixirs, and in the future the consumption will only grow.

The little silver notes he still has—

It would be very hard for them to last long.

All of a sudden—

Shen Changqing's ears moved. He stood and opened the window, just in time to see a large number of Black Tiger Army marching through the streets below.

An invisible aura of killing intent spread through the air.

On every civilian's face was a grave look.

Some even showed panic.

Faintly, from the conversations among them, Shen Changqing heard the word "barbarians."

It was obvious.

The news of the barbarians' attack on Jincheng had already spread.

Shutting the window again, Shen Changqing sighed.

"Troubled times indeed!"

——

Soon after he joined the Demon-Subduing Division, demon evils rampaged all over Great Qin, causing the local divisions enormous loss.

Before the situation could calm, chaos rises again in the Great Wilderness Prefecture.

For the first time, Shen Changqing felt—

How difficult it really is to have a peaceful, stable world in chaotic times.

Leaving the Tianyi Tower,

He walked down the street, clearly sensing the tense mood among the people around him.

Unlike the panic from demon evils, though some people worried about the news of the barbarian assault, more people showed a kind of anger.

Toward the barbarians—

It seemed resentment outweighed fear.

Shen Changqing could even hear some civilians' words of hatred.

"Those damned barbarians are back again. I really wish the Imperial Court would send the army south and slaughter every last one of them!"

"No kidding. Every year the barbarians invade the Great Wilderness Prefecture, pillaging and burning—they've long deserved to die."

The people of Jincheng despised the barbarians from the bottom of their hearts.

However—

Some were still worried.

"I heard Ningshan City and some others have already been breached by the barbarians. This time, the barbarian clan army invading the Great Wilderness Prefecture is on a whole different level. I wonder if the court can hold them off.

If not, Jincheng will really be in danger."

"Bullshit—"

No sooner had he finished speaking than someone cursed angrily.

"Great Qin has stood for over three centuries—when have the barbarians not ended up scurrying away, tails between their legs? Every time the barbarians invade the Great Wilderness Prefecture, they come here ready to die. They loot a lot, sure, but they leave far more corpses.

If Ningshan City and the others fell, it just means the barbarians came in force this time.

With the Imperial Court's foundation, how could we fear a bunch of mere barbarians!"

"That's right!"

"If the barbarians come, they'll be wiped out for sure—"

Hearing the people's talk,

Shen Changqing couldn't help being stunned for a moment.

He'd thought news of an invasion would terrify the people, but never expected Jincheng's folk would be so bold. They felt little fear, instead their morale was high.

A glimpse into the bigger picture—

If Jincheng was like this, the rest of the Great Wilderness Prefecture shouldn't be much different.

"Seems the barbarians' raids over the years have built up huge resentment among the people here. Plus, the immense casualties the barbarians have always suffered inside the prefecture only heightens the people's faith in the Imperial Court.

In this way, it's actually a good thing."

Shen Changqing mused to himself.

Whether they win or lose, so long as their morale doesn't lag behind, that alone adds a significant advantage.

Thinking thus—

Unknowingly, he'd arrived at the gates of the Yamen.

A faint Yin Evil Aura appeared within his perception.

Looking around, Shen Changqing could see bloodstains on the ground that hadn't been fully cleaned.

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