"Halt! What do you think you’re doing!" a tall soldier with a vicious expression roared at Uncle Fu, acting as if he hadn’t seen the large contingent of elite troops behind him.

Inside the carriage, Ye Zi frowned. "There’s no way they don’t know who we are. How dare they intercept us?"

Ling Xiao said lightly, "Our arrival affects their interests, so of course they’d find us disagreeable."

Uncle Fu didn’t say a word. Ling Wu strode forward from the rear, shot the soldier a disdainful glance, and barked, "Get lost! Are you fucking blind? You think a piece of trash like you can block the Viscount’s carriage? If you want to be someone’s dog, you better keep your eyes sharp! Scram now, or I’ll slaughter you, you bastard!"

The soldier hadn’t expected the viscount from the Imperial Capital to have so many personal guards, and for them to be so savage. ’Are... are they really from the Imperial Capital? Not from the bandit-infested north?’

In truth, the soldier was also terrified. The five hundred elite troops radiated a fierce, murderous aura, and their vicious glares made him feel like they could rush over and beat him senseless at any moment. His legs were trembling. But the Lord City Lord had given an order. He had told them that this group from the Imperial Capital had squeezed him out and planned to dismiss the entire City Guard Army. This news had enraged all the city guards. They had never heard of a noble immediately dismissing the local defense force upon arriving at their fief. Thus, from the bottom of their hearts, the City Guard Army was hostile toward Ling Xiao and his people.

"Y-You, what right do you have to curse at me! I’m a guard of Penzes City! What are you trying to do?" the soldier shouted, putting on a brave front. "Are you trying to attack the city?!"

Just then, a large cavalry detachment charged out from the city—at least a thousand strong! All the Knights wore black armor and pointed helmets. Long lances and Fine Iron Shields hung from their saddles. They formed up grimly into a charge formation, all of them staring coldly at the five hundred troops on this side.

Ling Wu’s first reaction was to bellow, "Formation! Protect the Young Master!" He then shouted at the opposing cavalry, "This is Viscount Lingxiao from the Imperial Capital, personally ennobled by His Majesty the King! His fief... is this very Penzes City. Are you... the welcoming party?"

"HAHAHAHAHA!"

The cavalrymen roared with laughter. One of them, dressed in fiery red armor who looked like a leader, cackled, "Ling Xiao... Viscount? Ha! We’ve had three waves of bandits pretending to be Viscount Lingxiao trying to trick their way into the city to plunder it recently. They’ve caused huge losses for Penzes City. Who knows who you people are? Do you have a decree from His Majesty the King? The writ of enfeoffment? If not..."

"Show it to him!" Chunlan passed the writ of enfeoffment from His Majesty the King out the carriage window. Ling Wu took it and walked over fearlessly, stopping before the horse of the knight in the flashy red armor. He said coolly, "Is this... how you receive a decree from His Majesty the King?"

"I am wearing my armor and cannot properly salute. Please, hand it over to me." The knight’s face was hidden by his helmet’s visor, but his exposed eyes shot out a look of undisguised contempt.

Ling Wu’s expression changed. Just as he was about to curse, he saw a flash of delight on the knight’s face and his heart went cold. ’These bastards, they’re this bold! They want to use this as an excuse to kill us and silence us?’ With that thought, Ling Wu gave a calm smile and walked over to pass the writ. However, both of his hands rested on the hilt of the steel sword at his waist. He would strike the instant the knight commander made a move.

The knight commander took the writ with great fanfare, opened it, and after a single glance, shouted, "This is a fake! You have the audacity to impersonate nobles? You must have a death wish! Brothers, charge..." As he spoke, he moved to tear up the writ of enfeoffment and the King’s decree in his hands!

"You dare, you bastard!" With a SHING, Ling Wu’s steel sword was out of its sheath, viciously chopping down at the hind legs of the knight commander’s horse.

At the same time, the knight commander felt the documents vanish from his hand as his body went light. He discovered that he had been snatched into the air!

The enemy could fly!

The knight commander’s eyes were nearly splitting from their sockets. They actually had a Demon Sword Master expert!

Uncle Fu, holding the knight commander in one hand, swooped in like a great bird and gracefully flew away again, viciously slamming the red-armored knight commander onto the ground. He sneered, "You show-off. On a real battlefield, an enemy could kill you with a single arrow! Idiot!"

Meanwhile, the knight commander’s warhorse, its hind legs severed by Ling Wu’s sword, let out a frenzied shriek and crashed to the ground!

Blood sprayed high into the air, and the thick stench of iron immediately filled the space. The Knights who had been about to charge hastily reined in their warhorses.

"Tie him up for me!" Ling Wu wiped the annoying splatter of horse blood from his face and shouted to his men, then swaggered back to his position.

Instantly, five or six members of the Tiger Roar Assault Team rushed over. They expertly stripped off the knight commander’s armor, kicked it aside, and one of them cursed, "Uncle Fu was right, you’re an idiot. Fuck, you really thought you were so special. What a fool!"

Once stripped of his armor, the man’s face was revealed. He was a young man of about twenty-seven or twenty-eight, strikingly handsome, with flowing golden hair, fair skin, and a pair of seductive, almond-shaped eyes.

Another team member jeered, "Haha, so it’s a pretty boy!"

The knight commander’s face turned green with rage. "How dare you insult me! I am the Penzes City Knight Brigade’s—" SLAP! "Ah!"

Before the knight commander could finish, the soldier slapped him hard across the face. The blow was so heavy that the knight commander’s cheek instantly swelled up.

"What’s all the noise? Did I say you could speak?"

The soldier stared fiercely at the knight commander with a provocative gaze that seemed to say: ’Go on, say another word. I dare you. I’ll hit you again.’

The knight commander was stunned by the slap. His mouth hung slightly open, his eyes filled with disbelief. He allowed the soldiers to bind him. Whenever he struggled even slightly, he was met with a vicious kick and a torrent of curses. The knight commander quickly became docile, not daring to move or even breathe too loudly.

The troop of Knights opposite them was also dumbfounded. The few gate guards who had stepped aside to watch the show were even more stupefied.

As Ling Wu walked back, the knight commander stared at him, his eyes spitting fire. This man had severed one of his beloved warhorse’s hind legs with a single strike, and it was clear the horse wouldn’t survive. To a Knight, a horse was like a sword to a Martial Artist—except a sword was an inanimate object, while a horse was a living, breathing creature... But he was a prisoner now. The knight commander was furious but dared not speak out. He could only hope that this middle-aged man, who was clearly the leader, would be reasonable.

Unfortunately, his wishful thinking was shattered in the very next moment.

Ling Wu walked back with a furious expression, kicked the knight commander over, and then, spotting the gleaming, iridescent red armor nearby, angrily kicked it into the ranks of his own men. He cursed, "The nerve! You dare to slander our Viscount and spread rumors that the decree of His Majesty the King is fake? Who gave you the gall!"

A few of Ling Wu’s subordinates deftly snatched up the red armor in full view of everyone. It was clearly high-quality stuff, and it would be a waste not to take it. One of them grumbled, "Dammit, what bad luck. And it’s blood-red. Was that guy an idiot? We’ll have to paint it another color before we can use it!"

Ling Wu stared coldly at the knight commander, his face murderous, and said grimly, "Speak!"

"Sp-Speak? About what?"

The knight commander knew he had hit an iron plate. ’So there isn’t a single reasonable person in this entire group!’ He had originally thought himself quite unreasonable. He had it all planned out: when Ling Xiao’s contingent arrived, he would have a few guards provoke them. Once they were angry, he would emerge with his cavalry and demand they hand over the decree from His Majesty the King and the writ.

’If they refused, he would just order an attack. The Lord City Lord had ordered it, after all. As long as the people in the carriage weren’t harmed, he didn’t care if the others lived or died. The point was to utterly humiliate Ling Xiao!’

’If they did hand them over, he would just unreasonably tear them up! He’d claim they were fake. With the Lord City Lord protecting him, it wouldn’t be a big deal. This place was the Second Prince’s territory, and the City Lord was the Second Prince’s man! The Second Prince may not have said anything, but how could he be happy when a major city was taken from him just like that?’

The knight commander had calculated everything, but he had never calculated that the other party would be even more unreasonable than him. And that wasn’t all—they even had a Demon Sword Master for a coachman!

’Dammit, has the world gone mad? That little brat of a viscount actually has a Demon Sword Master as a follower—and he’s the carriage driver!’

The knight felt his blood rush to his head, and the world began to spin.

"About what? Are you fucking stupid?" Ling Wu grabbed a handful of the knight commander’s soft hair and slapped his face a few times with his other hand. "Tell me who ordered you to do this!"

"N-No one ordered me!"

The knight commander wasn’t a complete fool. He knew that he couldn’t implicate the Lord City Lord in this, even if it killed him. Otherwise, he would be in for a world of hurt.

"No one ordered you? So you decided to do this on your own? Are you trying to stage a rebellion?" Ling Wu sneered, yanking the knight commander’s hair harder to force his head up. He stared into the man’s eyes, his own gaze filled with murderous intent, and roared, "Is that it?!"

"Ah... no, that’s not it!"

The knight commander was about to be driven mad by this vulgar, savage, violent brute. He screamed, "I’m a man of status! You can’t humiliate me like this!"

"A man of status? Heh, that’s great!" A mocking smile touched Ling Wu’s lips. Just then, Ling Xiao’s calm voice drifted from the carriage. "Alright, Ling Wu, stop playing around. Confiscate the weapons, armor, and warhorses of those Knights. As for the Knights themselves... tie them all up!"

"As you command!"

Ling Wu’s face lit up with excitement. He snorted coldly at the knight commander. "Order your men. Tell them to get the hell off their horses!"

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