689 Encirclemen (2/2)

Shangguan Fei, who had hid himself behind his sister long ago, peeped out in the hopes that he could find a few familiar faces in the crowd. He admired the calmness of the Dragon King but was also a bit confused. If it were him, he would have taken advantage of the crowd's surprise to flee the moment he had defeated Silver Condor because that was the best path to survival.

Red Bat had no internal energy anymore, but she still drew her saber and stood guard at the door. She did not know what fearlessness was but knew that there were some things she had to do.

The five guards were all from the Norland, and they technically belonged to the Second Consort, not the Dragon King or Shangguan Ru. But they also drew their sabers and even stood in front of Red Bat.

There was a little fear in everyone's heart, as it was a feeling that was bound to facing a far stronger enemy that had nothing to do with cowardice.

But Old Man Mu was the exception to the rule. He looked expectantly at Shangguan Ru with sparkling eyes like a money grubber standing in front of a golden mountain.

Shangguan Ru shook her head with an indisputable look before stepping forward and leaving her surprised brother behind. She patted Red Bat on the shoulder in a soothing manner, passed by two guards, slowly walked towards the slowly shrinking circle, and shouted, ”I'm Shangguan Ru of the Land of Fragrance. All of you have been deceive. The Dragon King did not kill the Commandant. I have proof.”

The soldiers stopped but soon someone shouted, ”They are both in this together. There are always enchantresses around a devil.”

Old Man Mu jumped out of the tent, ”Who said that? If you really are that bold, then stand out to let everyone see if you are a member of the Court Attendants Army.”

There was a little commotion in the crowd. One of the soldiers pushed his way out and said with his head held high, ”It's me. You said you had evidence, so why not show it to us now?”

Old Man Mu didn't recognize him but judging from the reaction of the soldiers around him, he must be a real soldier of the Court Attendants Army. ”Who do you think you are? Everyone's got a mouth, so why is it your turn to speak…”

Shangguan Ru motioned for Old Man Mu to stop his lame arguments and turned to the Dragon King who was standing a few steps away from her. Gulun had once given him a piece of evidence which could be used to identify the real murderer.

Gu Shenwei shook his head. That paper slip was in his robes but he couldn't take it out right now, especially not in front of such a large group of soldiers. ”I'll show the evidence at daybreak.”

The soldier laughed angrily and accusatorily said, ”You want to stall for time so that the lords in the tent can save you. I won't be fooled; we won't be fooled.”

The crowd took two more steps forward.

”Idiot, King Riyao's men were just trying to sow discord earlier. How can the Dragon King still rely on the lords to save him? He said that there was evidence and there must be evidence, so what's with all your hurry?” Old Man Mu snapped back aggressively, but his words weren't convincing at all. Everyone had seen the intricate relationship between the kings. The fact that King Riyao wanted to kill the Dragon King didn't mean that no one wanted to save him either.

Shangguan Ru also walked took a few steps as she held her wooden saber. ”Just think about it carefully, the Dragon King had no reason to assassinate the Commandant.”

Gu Shenwei felt grateful for Shangguan Ru's support but he really felt that it wouldn't work.

Sure enough, another soldier refuted loudly, ”He's a killer. A killer works for money and doesn't need any other reason.”

”He's a devil who wants the Court Attendants Army to split up and the Norland to fall!”

”He kills people like flies to feed his devil bird!”

...

There were so many odd reasons that even Old Man Mu couldn't get a word in edge-wise.

Everyone was in a state of excitement and exuberance. Red Bat and the five guards ran to Shangguan Ru and the Dragon King. Shangguan Fei hesitated for a long while before finally deciding to walk to the door of the tent, ready to wait and see the situation before making his next move.

Tangled warfare was about to break out at any moment, but the besiegers were the first to fall into disarray.

”We are screwed,” Old Man Mu excitedly sighed. ”Here comes another bunch of people. Good girl, I will listen to you and stand here waiting to die.”

Old Man Mu was right. At least several hundred more people joined the crowd and squeezed into the innermost circle, who looked at the Dragon King first and then turned around, drawing their sabers.

They were here to protect the Dragon King.

The besiegers retreated uncontrollably, and a distance of dozen or so steps was left between the inner and outer circles.

”Have you all gone mad?” A soldier from the outer circle angrily questioned, ”Why are you protecting the devil who killed the Commandant?”

In order to mourn the Commandant, most of the bowstrings and crossbows had been loosened and left unused. Azheba missed the feeling of pulling the bowstring, but he still held his scimitar high up in the air and shouted, ”The Dragon King is not the murderer. We can guarantee it!”

”Ehh, aren't they the officers who were caught but then ran away?”

The protectors of the Dragon King included those thirty or so officers who had been captured and more centurions and Decanuses, less than half of whom were ordinary soldiers.

”The officers are traitors!” A voice resounded through the crowd.