Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather-Chapter 317 - 307

The night was deep and quiet.

Salt Transport Department.

At this time, all the officials of the Salt Transport Department were still imprisoned in the rooms within the government office, and Luo Fu and his family were all detained here as well.

Song Dashan had arranged one hundred cavalry and five hundred soldiers to guard the government office day and night.

These past few days, the city had been quite stable, especially the Zhang family, who were incredibly compliant. Hence, Yang Zhenshan had reassigned some staff from the Zhang family to enhance the defense at the Salt Transport Department.

As the night grew deeper, the entire Liao’an Prefecture city fell into tranquility, and many soldiers responsible for standing guard couldn’t help but start to doze off.

Standing the night watch was the most exhausting, as it not only involved duties, but also resisting the torments of sleep demons.

Battling sleep demons was an extremely difficult task, a defiance of one’s instincts.

Even trained soldiers found it hard to resist, but the cavalry soldiers effortlessly warded off the attacks of the sleep demons.

Let us not forget that during their time in the Northern region, they had launched nighttime raids continuously for seven days, mostly moving at night.

"Stay sharp, no dozing off!"

A cavalry soldier marched up to two soldiers, reprimanding them coldly.

"Yes!" The two soldiers promptly straightened up and responded loudly, their previously sleepy heads instantly becoming much more alert.

The cavalrymen, who were soldiers from the An Yuan garrison that came with Yang Zhenshan to the Tenglong Guard, some of them had been assigned to the Guardian Department as civil servants and others had been deployed to various outposts and garrisons as middle-ranking military officers.

Now, the remaining soldiers were not just regular troops; they were instructors for the ordinary soldiers and future middle-ranking military officers of the Tenglong Camp.

The soldiers entered into the Guardian Department as civil servants, Yang Zhenshan would eventually pull them out, placing them as civil servants was a reluctant and temporary measure, it assuredly constituted a waste of their abilities.

In the future, Yang Zhenshan planned to integrate them into the garrison soldiers, using these soldiers as a framework to form a powerful Tenglong Camp.

As the cavalry soldiers observed the two perking up, they nodded in satisfaction and said, "The mess hall will bring food over soon, eat early!"

"Yes sir!" The two soldiers grinned.

Mealtime!

Their favorite activity.

First, because they hated being hungry, having suffered severe hunger before, they definitely disliked it now.

Second, because their food was quite decent, before entering the city, they had mere dry rations, but after entering, they enjoyed hot meals.

The meals, though not lavish, included meat and vegetables, sufficient to fill and satisfy them, and that was quite good for them.

"Don’t eat too much; overeating will make you sleepier!" said the soldier before he walked towards a well in front of the rooms.

Near the well, a figure leaned against the well platform about two feet high, made of blue stone. A mat was laid on the ground, making leaning against the platform comfortable.

"Sir! Your meal!" the soldier placed the food container on the mat beside.

Yang Zhenshan stood up, shook his slightly crumpled clothes, and casually asked, "What hour is it?"

"Just past 1 a.m.!" replied the soldier.

Yang Zhenshan nodded, squatting down to open the food container, "Sit down, join me!"

"No need, sir, I have my own meal!" the soldier said somewhat embarrassedly.

Yang Zhenshan chuckled, "I can’t finish this meal alone! Please, have a seat!"

His meal was naturally better than that of ordinary soldiers, although he did not want to be treated specially, the kitchen staff couldn’t help but make exceptions for him.

The soldier before him was in his thirties; seeing that Yang Zhenshan genuinely meant it, he hesitated before saying, "Thank you, Mr. Xie!"

"Come on, don’t be shy!"

Yang Zhenshan laid out the food on the well platform.

"I remember your name is Wang Ershan, right?"

While eating, Yang Zhenshan chatted casually with the soldier.

"Sir, you are correct, Wang Ershan was my previous name!"

"Oh! Changed your name?" Yang Zhenshan was somewhat surprised.

"Yes, after I learned to read, I gave myself a new name, Wang Xie!"

"Wang Xie!" Yang Zhenshan stirred the food in his bowl, raising his eyebrows, "Good name!"

Wang Xie smiled silently; his surname Xie was in gratitude for Yang Zhenshan’s kindness.

Originally, he was just an ordinary soldier from a garrison outside An Yuan City; without Yang Zhenshan, he would have remained an ordinary soldier his entire life, and so would his descendants.

Yang Zhenshan had provided him with ample food, taught him literacy, made him a Martial Artist, and improved his family’s life.

After battling with the East Sea Hu Clan, more than half of the An Yuan City garrison had perished, yet no one bore a grudge against Yang Zhenshan.

The reason was simple; they deeply felt what Yang Zhenshan had brought them.

"Where is your cultivation level now?" Yang Zhenshan continued their casual conversation.

"Just last month, I broke through to Postnatal Fourth Layer!" Wang Xie proudly stated.

Yang Zhenshan showed an expression of approval, "Well done, keep up the hard work, you might reach the Seventh or Eighth Layer of the Postnatal Realm!"

Currently, most of the cavalry soldiers were at the Second or Third Layer of the Postnatal Realm, with a few having reached the Fourth Layer.

As for those below the Postnatal Realm, there were none.

The reason is simple: those soldiers with lower cultivation levels all died on the battlefield.

Initially, when the garrison entered the Northern lands, the proportion of Martial Artists was around seventy percent. However, after continuous and bloody battles, it had become a hundred percent.

The higher the cultivation, the greater the chances of survival on the battlefield.

Now, all these soldiers had become Postnatal Martial Artists.

These soldiers have a great potential for growth in the future. Take Wang Xie, for example, he is only thirty years old and has a golden decade ahead of him. Even without the aid of Spiritual Spring Water, his cultivation can still rise several levels.

It is possible for him to reach the Seventh or Eighth Layer of the Postnatal Realm, and whether he can reach the Ninth Layer depends on personal opportunities.

While the two were eating and chatting casually, a lantern suddenly lit up on the distant city gate tower.

The white lantern was particularly dazzling under the faint blue night, easily noticeable with just a casual glance.

"Sir!" Wang Xie pointed at the distant lantern and alerted.

Yang Zhenshan looked up and smiled, "I knew tonight wouldn’t be peaceful."

"Sir, I’ll go gather the brothers!" Wang Xie got up and said.

"Yes, go ahead!" Yang Zhenshan continued to eat his meal.

Thrift is a virtue, one must not waste food.

Meanwhile, figures in black robes were quickly passing through the streets and alleys of the city.

If one observed carefully, they would notice that there were at least thirty figures moving through the South District.

They hid in the shadows of the buildings, flashing briefly on the brightly lit streets, their movements were swift and without hesitation.

At the same time, a group of soldiers was also quickly assembling under the moonlight inside the Salt Transport Department.

After finishing his meal in the bowl, Yang Zhenshan leisurely stood up and stretched himself.

"It’s been a long time since I moved my muscles; I hope you won’t disappoint me!"

He murmured softly and then picked up the Mystical Iron Spear standing next to him.

The fine sound of footsteps arose, and soon, soldiers gathered behind Yang Zhenshan.

Yang Zhenshan didn’t know who was coming, but he could guess their purpose.

Except for Luo Fu, there should be no other reason.

It’s unclear whether these people are here to rescue or kill Luo Fu.

Fifty soldiers stood behind Yang Zhenshan, motionless and silent.

Yang Zhenshan did not speak either. One hand held the spear, and the other stroked his beard as he carefully listened to the distant footsteps.

The other party was cautious, stopping on the street near the Salt Transport Department, but they didn’t seem to realize they had exposed themselves when crossing the city wall.

In the south street beside the Salt Transport Department, figures in black hid in the dark corners of houses, the leader looked at the quiet department with a more serious expression in his brows.

From the outside, the gates of the Salt Transport Department were tightly closed, showing no signs of abnormalities, but he could feel a vague murderous intent coming from inside.

The Salt Transport Department in front of him was like a ferocious beast, waiting with its gaping mouth.

There was danger and there was murderous intent, but not enough to make him retreat.

He raised his hand and gestured to his subordinates behind him, and over thirty black-clothed people spread out towards the Salt Transport Department.

When they reached the wall of the department, the leader was the first to jump over, followed by his subordinates one after another.

Inside the courtyard was still quiet, but the brows of the black-clothed people furrowed even deeper.

According to the information they gathered during the day, the officials of the Salt Transport Department should be locked up inside the department.

Since they were prisoners, there must be guards.

But the place was eerily quiet, with not a single person in sight.

At this moment, the soldiers of the Tenglong Guard ran into the rooms to hide, which was a helpless move. These soldiers were just ordinary people who had undergone basic training, and having them fight against Martial Artists was akin to sending them to their deaths.

Yang Zhenshan had them hide to avoid too many casualties.

If the black-clothed men had Yang Zhenshan’s hearing, they would hear many disordered breathing sounds in the distant hall.

Unfortunately, they did not, and after observing for a while, they moved towards the west wing of the department.

Soon, they arrived outside the courtyard where Yang Zhenshan and others were.

Outside the rounded arch, the black-clothed man glanced sideways into the courtyard, still seeing no one.

He looked back at his subordinates with an inquiring look, and they shook their heads slightly, indicating that there was no ambush around.

Indeed, there were no ambushes around, Yang Zhenshan had not set up any sentries as it was better for him to use his ears than to use sentries.

After confirming there was no ambush, the black-clothed men turned back and entered the courtyard along the wall.

The courtyard was quiet as they continued to press forward against the walls and houses.

Suddenly, the black-clothed man froze; as his figure peeked out of a wall of a side room, he completely stiffened.

He peeked his head out, and his eyes, visible through the black cloth mask, were full of incredulity.

In the dim courtyard, figures stood like specters, motionless, even their breathing was very faint.

If not for clearly seeing they were people, he would even suspect they were statues.

"Why don’t you come out and have a proper chat!"

Yang Zhenshan stroked his beard, looking at the head peering around the corner, finding it somewhat amusing.