April 15, 2018

At first, the unrest was confined to the small square in front of the Inner City gate. But soon, like a lit fuse of gunpowder, the unrest swiftly spread along the main road of Shen City.

The anger spread like fire on a parched prairie, engulfing the entire city in an instant. Shen City, a grand city with a population of one million in the southeast, was quickly consumed by a sea of anger.

Accompanied by boiling slogans, people’s emotions were gradually provoked and escalated, evolving from initially supporting Lord City Lord to become more radical.

"Attack Golden Jade City, capture Zhao Chenlu alive!"

"Kill the demoness, exterminate the evils!"

"Go to Saint Sect to demand justice!"

...

"Zhao Chenlu... What a Zhao Chenlu."

In mid-air, Shen Ruoshi watched the city’s boiling spectacle, squinting slightly.

He had already seen through the problem in this unrest.

This was certainly not a spontaneous act of the people, but a carefully planned, orchestrated conspiracy.

With Shen Ruoshi’s keen eyes, he could scan the entire city at a glance and identify the "nodes" in this rapidly erupting unrest.

Just like amplifying devices such as horns, the unrest in the crowd would be suddenly amplified when passing through these nodes, spreading mightily to all directions and then being further expanded by more nodes.

Starting from the first person to shout slogans, among tens of thousands of people, there were about dozens of ringleaders, hiding themselves in the crowd and using the nationwide frenzy atmosphere to shout more radical slogans at the right moment, making the situation increasingly uncontrollable.

These infiltrators had varied identities and strengths, with the strongest serving as squad leaders in the Inner City patrol team and the weakest being just ordinary housewives buying vegetables. Yet they acted in perfect unison with strong organization, clearly under unified command executing orders strictly. Regardless of their strength, they were top-notch experts in inciting chaos and guiding public sentiment, sometimes needing just a gesture or a slogan to rouse hundreds around them.

They were truly experts in instigating internal chaos!

In Shen Ruoshi’s eyes, these people were like an elite squad infiltrating enemy lines, wantonly beheading the sleeping enemy with sharp knives in hand.

What astonished Shen Ruoshi even more was that throughout the entire process, the inner city unit trained for counter-infiltration showed no response whatsoever.

Shen Ruoshi gave a faint cold smile and murmured to himself, "Truly worthy of being the City Lord Golden Jade, comparable to the Saint Sect, to have infiltrated my supposedly impregnable Shen City to this extent... But, to let me make such a fool of myself in front of a million people, do you really think I, Shen Ruoshi, dare not kill?"

Though Shen Ruoshi, in his later years, could not be called a qualified City Lord, in his earlier life, he certainly lived up to the name of the Lord of Shen City, with his capability and decisiveness both at the pinnacle of his time.

A decisive City Lord would never hesitate in eliminating internal threats. An iron-fisted ruler would not choose to retreat simply due to the temporary outrage of a million people.

Even if it meant subduing a million hearts by himself, Shen Ruoshi would have no hesitation.

In an instant, this Great Cultivator of the Sea Overturning Realm used the Primordial Spirit Lock to target all key nodes inciting unrest on the square before him, forty-seven in total, each appearing as trained elites, whose outward identities, whether Inner City patrol squad leaders, pork vendors, or vegetable-buying housewives, were mere disguises. Penetrating their flesh to observe their souls revealed that they had undergone extremely rigorous and even harsh training.

However, in face of the Sand Gathering Divine Skill, these efforts were meaningless. The Immortal Cultivation Realm is a cruel place where talent, resources, and opportunities matter far more than individual effort. And Shen Ruoshi, was a cultivator boasting every advantage.

As Shen Ruoshi slowly raised his right hand, the entire city began to rumble and tremble. The spirit vein buried deep underground resonated with vast True Essence, jointly constructing an Immortal Technique with power enough to destroy heaven and earth.

Of course, Shen Ruoshi did not intend to destroy heaven and earth; his target was solely the forty-seven Golden Jade henchmen disguised as Shen City people. Using such a grand Immortal Technique on forty-seven people was like using an Elemental Magnetic Cannon to kill chickens, yet only through the most ruthless means, leaving no bones or soul, could he somewhat placate his inner wrath.

However, just as the magic was about to erupt, suddenly a person rushed over, exclaiming fearfully, "Father, what madness are you up to again!?"

Shen Ruoshi frowned: "Yueying? Why are you here?"

"No... Are you using the Shencheng City’s Seventy-Two Arrays to slaughter these million people?!"

Shen Ruoshi retorted angrily, "What do you take me for? I am the City Lord of Shen City, not City Lord Golden Jade. The million people, though foolishly incited, should not concern an honorable man like Shen Ruoshi. The ones I want to kill are only those Golden Jade infiltrators within Shen City! Moreover, the Inner City unit is under your charge, letting Golden Jade infiltrate to this degree is an absolute failure!"

Being reprimanded as absolutely incompetent rendered Shen Yueying speechless in shock: "Golden, Golden Jade’s infiltration? Impossible!"

Shen Ruoshi immediately used his Primordial Spirit to transfer the appearance, True Essence Fluctuations, and Divine Sense imprints of those forty-seven people into Shen Yueying’s mind: "See for yourself! These forty-seven are inciting and shouting in the crowd, shamelessly! It’s as if Shen City has become their back garden!"

However, before Shen Ruoshi could finish his words, he saw Shen Yueying’s expression suddenly become extremely peculiar.

"...Father, Shen City is indeed their backyard."

"..." Shen Ruoshi was taken aback for a moment, then gradually widened his eyes, revealing an incredulous look, "This..."

"The uncle leading the group selling meat is Shen Tianqing, the captain of the Shen City Inner City troops."

"..."

"The one serving as a squad leader in the patrol team is the deputy captain, Shen Sanfu."

"...What is going on?!" Shen Ruoshi finally restrained the True Essence in his hands, and the city’s tremors finally ceased. Then he turned to glare angrily at Shen Yueying, "The Inner City troops you painstakingly trained, are they about to rebel now?!"

"Let me confirm this." Shen Yueying was also a bit perplexed. This troop was the most core and secretive unit of Shen City. The members’ strength was secondary, but their loyalty must be beyond doubt. How could they suddenly collectively rebel and undermine the City Lord?

Moments later, Shen Yueying replied gravely, "They... did it intentionally, but it wasn’t to rebel. It was to protect your reputation."

"...To protect my reputation?" Shen Ruoshi laughed in anger, "Do I really need them to protect it?! When did I ever say I needed them to protect it?! Is the Shen City Inner City troops always this presumptuous?"

Shen Yueying said, "A competent subordinate must not wait for the leader to speak before taking action. ’Important Speech by City Lord Shen Ruoshi at the Immortal Cultivation Congress in Heaven-Reaching City,’ Section Three, Paragraph One."

Shen Ruoshi was silent for a while and asked, "When did I ever say such shameless bureaucratic words?"

Shen Yueying said, "On May 15, 1985, representing Shen City at the Immortal Cultivation Congress, you were too lazy to write a draft, so you had the subordinates crib from others’ drafts. At the time, the Lu Family’s article was written the best, so..."

"Enough, enough. You were only 13 at the time. How do you remember so well?!"

Shen Yueying was silent for a moment, then said, "I was the one responsible for cribbing drafts back then."

"..."

"Father, you said at the time that you despised plagiarism actions the most but despised bureaucratic writings even more, so you directly handed the drafting work over to me. I was only 13 then, neither as clever nor as resourceful as Sister Yue’e, and didn’t know how to write bureaucratic articles, so I had to crib from here and there... Anyway, when I gave you the draft, you even praised me for writing well."

"..."

"Moreover, in 1980, during the reorganization of the Inner City troops, you emphasized that as a hidden troop, they had to maintain not only the peace of Shen City but also the dignity of Shen City leaders. When someone took photos of Sister Yue’e riding on the neck and flying all over, intending to print it in the newspaper, you had the Inner City troops quietly destroy the Original Jade Plate with this very reason."

After being repeatedly hit by his own daughter, Shen Ruoshi’s raging anger that was like a storm finally crumbled, and facing the rising wave of popular sentiment in the Inner City, he suddenly felt disheartened.

He was getting older and indeed couldn’t grasp the situation anymore. Perhaps... he should really shut himself in a dead-end, ignoring the outside world.

"Father, actually... there’s really no need to dwell on this matter." Shen Yueying advised, "You’ve bravely exposed to the world the secrets you were most ashamed to reveal; who can match this courage in the world? Of those so-called heroes and warriors, how many can be as unpretentious as you, and frankly tell the truth? As for how the people understand it, how they react, that’s not something you can decide. They’re foolish and easily incited; do you still want to blame yourself?"

"..." Shen Ruoshi, although silent, couldn’t help but feel those words made some sense.

"If you’re really mindful of the people, then what’s wrong with giving them a virtual idol to worship? Compared to a person of flesh and blood, actually everyone hopes to have an omnipotent god above. Father, for your own integrity, you smashed the mental totem of the entire city; this... really wasn’t wise."

"This..."

Shen Yueying further said, "Now, you’ve achieved the integrity a hero should have, and thanks to the efforts of the Inner City troops, the people’s mental totem has not shattered; instead, it has transformed into a more sincere cohesion, which is crucial during the power transition of Shen City. So, Father, just let them misunderstand, okay?"

Hearing this, Shen Ruoshi finally had nothing to say.

As a city lord, he truly was getting old.

——

When the storm in Shen City finally subsided and the anger of a million people gradually extinguished, it was already past midnight.

The former city lord, who stirred up the storm, returned to his room disheartened, shutting himself away. Meanwhile, Shen Yueying, who quelled the storm single-handedly, wrote a letter to a distant friend by candlelight.

"City Lord Zhao, the plan went smoothly..."