"Dizzy?" Zhou Ping was stunned, his expression suddenly changing, feeling the world spinning before his eyes. "Not good, there's poison in the tea!"

He struggled to stand up, but felt his whole body soft and weak, and plopped back into his seat, dazedly asking, "What's going on?"

Seeing this, Lu Ye knew the poisoning was not Zhou Ping's doing.

He had sensed earlier that there was poison in the tea because of some abnormal reactions from the Talent Tree, but he pretended not to notice.

Unexpectedly, Zhou Ping was poisoned too, so it wasn't him who arranged someone to poison... then...

The sound of fluttering robes arose, and from the inner side of the hall, a portly man stepped out, looking somewhat authoritative, with an elder half-scholar holding a feather fan following behind him.

With swishing sounds, another group of people stepped through the main door, each with an unfriendly expression.

"City Lord?" Zhou Ping saw the scene and was stunned, completely unaware of what had happened.

The City Lord said nothing, merely sitting in his Taishi Chair, his gaze gloomy.

The scholar-like elder stood beside the City Lord, his expression like one displeased with failure, pointing at Zhou Ping with his feather fan: "Zhou Ping, you've stirred up a great disaster!"

"Mr. Meng, what do you mean by that?" Zhou Ping asked angrily. Though straightforward, he was not foolish; if he hadn't understood what had happened before, now he had a guess.

Mr. Meng sighed, "Is the Black Scarf Army a force to provoke lightly? Thirty Black Scarves were killed before the city gate; they won't let this pass easily. In no time they will be at the city gates, and Ding'an will fall into ruin!"

Zhou Ping said, "That's why I invited Mr. Lu here, to join us in resisting the bandit army!"

Mr. Meng replied, "Do you think, given our strength in Ding'an, that we can withstand the Black Scarves?"

"We will fight to the death to defend!" Zhou Ping was weak all over, with even the flow of spirit force halted, but his words were powerful.

Mr. Meng shook his head: "Shifang City's foundation is much stronger than ours, yet three months ago it was still trampled flat by the Black Scarves. After the city fell, the Black Scarves slaughtered for ten days; Shifang City ended up with ten homes left empty. Past lessons, vivid as if yesterday!" His tone shifted, looking heartbroken: "Moreover, the Black Scarf scouts came this time only to demand some grain from us. Their current battlefield is not here. We should give it to them, why did you kill?"

Zhou Ping widened his eyes: "The Black Scarves kill our people, and we should give them money and food? Mr. Meng, do you hear what you're saying?" His face was filled with anger: "Even if Mr. Lu hadn't acted today, I would have acted!"

Mr. Meng's face turned cold: "Zhou Ping, you are beyond saving!"

Zhou Ping gritted his teeth and spat angrily: "Meng Deyun, I think you are beyond saving! Do you think giving food and money to the Black Scarves will stop them from invading? Have you forgotten how Huangye City was broken?"

"Huangye City..." Meng Deyun furrowed his brows, of course, he had heard about Huangye City's situation, similar to today, and Huangye City had cooperated well.

Zhou Ping no longer argued with Meng Deyun but turned to the silent City Lord: "Sir, the example of Huangye City, we cannot repeat the same mistake! The appetite of the Black Scarf Army cannot be satisfied; if you give them food today, they will demand you open the city gates tomorrow, and then all the citizens will be slaughtered. Better to rise and resist!"

The portly City Lord remained silent; after a while, he said: "Huangye City was broken, yet still, half of its people survived, better than Shifang City."

Zhou Ping's face was incredulous: "Sir, don't you know that most of those who lived were women, left alive by the Black Scarves as forced prostitutes?"

"Not just women." The City Lord waved his hand, "Those with cultivation, would be recruited, not easily killed."

Zhou Ping's eyes widened: "Sir, you want to join the Black Scarves?"

Meng Deyun shouted angrily: "It's because you forced us! Without today's events, how could Ding'an suffer such disaster?"

Zhou Ping looked at him and the City Lord, even as straightforward as he was, he finally understood what was going on, his voice lowered: "So you poisoned the tea, making Mr. Lu and I your bargaining chips?"

The City Lord said: "Not you, him!" He turned his gaze to Lu Ye, "He killed their people; only by handing him over can we ensure safety."

"What about the citizens of Ding'an?" Zhou Ping still held onto a last shred of hope.

"Those worthless commoners, no need to care whether they live or die."

Zhou Ping's lips trembled, his face flushed, held back for a long moment before he roared angrily: "I am truly ashamed to be among such scum as you! I didn't expect you all to be rotten to this extent!"

Meng Deyun shouted sternly: "Zhou Ping, watch your tongue!"

Zhou Ping sneered, ignoring him, turning apologetically to Lu Ye: "Mr. Lu, this time it's Zhou who got you involved, truly sorry."

He had seen Lu Ye's strength and, with good intentions, invited him, not expecting to bring him such a crisis.

"It's nothing." Lu Ye, who had remained silent, finally spoke quietly, then, under everyone's stunned gaze, picked up his teacup and drank it all. "Not bad taste!"

Then he slowly stood up, rolling his neck, a cracking sound immediately emanating from his neck.

"You..." Meng Deyun stared at Lu Ye in shock, vaguely feeling something was off. Not daring to hesitate, he immediately waved his hand: "Capture him!" 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

The sound of whooshing filled the air as several thick ropes crisscrossed and flew out. Several figures leaped and maneuvered, and in the blink of an eye, Lu Ye was tied up like a zongzi.

Only then did Meng Deyun let out a sigh of relief. When he saw Lu Ye stand up just now, he thought the poison didn't work. He stared deeply into Lu Ye's eyes: "Young man, having a chivalrous spirit is not a bad thing, but you must know where to use it. Blame yourself for killing those you shouldn't have."

Lu Ye looked at him with a calm expression: "The ones I've killed are..."

Suddenly, the sound of snapping was heard. The ropes binding him seemed to have been sliced by an invisible blade and instantly broke apart, the edges neat and clean.

Lu Ye took a step forward and was already in front of Meng Deyun.

This scholar had also undergone cultivation, and his face changed drastically at the sight. He raised a palm and struck hard at Lu Ye's chest, exerting all his spirit force.

Lu Ye didn't budge, but Meng Deyun's wrist was painfully shaken instead.

Then, he felt his head being gripped, and Lu Ye brought his face close, almost touching his: "...all deserving of death, including you!"

Terrified, Meng Deyun was just about to muster his strength to break free from Lu Ye's grip when a sharp pain came from his head, and he became unresponsive.

"You want to die!" The rotund City Lord shouted angrily, his fat hand instantly closing into a fist that resembled a bird's beak, and he struck fiercely at Lu Ye's waist.

His wrist was suddenly clenched, grabbed by a small hand. Shocked, he tried to pull away, but the grip held him like an iron clamp, immobilizing him.

Intense pain emanated from his wrist, and he heard the sound of bones cracking.

"Ah!" The City Lord screamed.

The scream abruptly stopped as Lu Ye withdrew his punched fist, blood rain cascading through the air. A headless, obese corpse slowly fell.

Feeling weak and powerless, Zhou Ping was stunned.

He knew Lu Ye was strong; otherwise, he couldn't have killed so many Black Scarf members alone. But he never imagined Lu Ye was this powerful.

As far as he knew, Meng Deyun had opened the 7th orifice, and the City Lord the 8th orifice. So how many orifices had Lu Ye opened? The 9th orifice? But the 9th orifice shouldn't have such terrifying crushing power.

As he was lost in thought, Lu Ye had already begun a massacre.

The sound of short, sharp cries echoed, and in just three breaths, the entire grand hall was silent.

The heavy scent of blood made one nauseous. Zhou Ping's face was pale as he looked at Lu Ye standing in the center of the hall, not a drop of blood on him, unable to recover his senses.

He quickly realized something: the City Lord was dead, so what would happen to Ding'an City?

A half-day later, an order was issued from the City Lord's Residence, announced throughout the city.

It was declared that the original City Lord had suffered from cultivation deviation, died of severe injuries, and now Zhou Ping of the Zhou family would assume the position of City Lord!

Accompanying this order was a mobilization decree.

What happened in front of the city gate today was too significant and, in just half a day, had spread throughout Ding'an City. Countless civilians were in panic and anxiety, clearly aware of the consequences of provoking the Black Scarf Army and full of uncertainty about the future.

Their notorious behavior, known city-wide, was feared, even for those who cooperated, like Huangye City, whose fate wasn't great. If the Black Scarf Army broke through Ding'an, a brutal massacre would surely follow.

In this atmosphere, the City Lord's Residence issued the mobilization order at a timely moment, and many aspiring men gathered there, willing to follow command.

These included some with cultivation, though most hadn't cultivated. However, in such a world, the gap between cultivators and ordinary people wasn't vast, especially in military confrontations. If met with a military formation, bravery from soldiers meant that it wasn't impossible for ordinary men to kill cultivators.

Within just less than two days, Ding'an City was completely integrated and ready to engage at any moment.

"Sir, everything is prepared. Ten scouts are out gathering intelligence. If the Black Scarf Army approaches within fifty miles of Ding'an, we'll receive reports," Zhou Ping respectfully stood before Lu Ye, reporting the situation at the City Lord's Residence.

This respect came not just from Lu Ye's previous display of strength but from other sources as well.

With the City Lord dead and Zhou Ping reluctantly taking over, it was Lu Ye's suggestion. Ding'an needed a leader, and an outsider like him wasn't suitable. The Zhou family, being one of Ding'an's three major families, had Zhou Ping qualified for the position, so it wasn't out of place.

The following measures were all implemented under Lu Ye's guidance, and they had shown positive results. Especially after the City Lord's Residence widely publicized the brutality of the Black Scarf and the consequences of its siege, even though the people of Ding'an were still fearful, they had quickly united.

Everyone wanted to survive; no one wanted to die. So, they could only band together to defend Ding'an.