Family Cultivation: My entire family are Villains-Chapter 657 - 297, Shen Gufan’s Confidence_2

As if to confirm Wan Renjue's words, a rough voice immediately came from outside. Wan Renjue and the nine Hall Masters suddenly stood up in alarm upon hearing it.

"Big brother, a spy has reported—the army from Puning County has disappeared without a trace."

"An army of 120,000, vanished? How is that possible!"

Wan Renjue asked in shock, his face filled with disbelief.

In the past five months, to guard against the Shen Clan, he had made countless preparations and knew very well that the Shen Clan had placed their entire 120,000-strong army in Puning County, the county closest to the Prefectural City. If nothing went wrong, this army was meant to attack the Prefectural City.

Everyone knows that an army must travel on the Official Road. If Second Brother Wan Renfeng said the army had disappeared, then they definitely weren't seen on the Official Road. Typically, a county's population is at most around three to four hundred thousand; hiding an entire army of 120,000 was pretty much impossible.

Considering the riot that occurred in the city today, Wan Renjue was almost certain that the Shen Clan's army was definitely heading toward the Prefectural City. But if they didn't take the Official Road, how did they come?

A terrifying speculation rose in Wan Renfeng's heart, and his expression suddenly became extremely grave.

"Quickly go and notify the Third Brother to bring the army into the city, set up defenses."

"Yes, big brother!"

Trying to conceal their movements as much as possible, Wan Renjue placed all 180,000 of their army to the west of the Prefectural City. Now that it was confirmed that the Shen Clan's army was coming, they must immediately call them into the city to prepare for defense. The Prefectural City might seem sturdy, but the Rakshasa Holy Sect had already withdrawn the City-Protecting Barrier upon leaving. They could only rely on manpower to defend. They had to make preparations early.

Wan Renfeng didn't leave immediately but instead lowered his head in thought for a moment. Looking up at his elder brother Wan Renjue, his face slightly showed a hint of shock as he said, "Mystic Realm Master?"

The private army of the Xiong Yun Gang had always been led by him and the Third Brother Wan Renshan. Among the Xiong Yun Gang, they were the ones who understood military affairs the best. He certainly knew that to avoid the Official Road and travel across the wilderness, there was only one way for an army—that was to have a Mystic Realm Master set up formations within the ranks to cover their aura and evade demon disturbances.

But Mystic Realm Masters were generally only available to Earth Level powers and above. Even if the Shen Clan had truly hidden their strength over the years, to possess Earth Level strength was far too exaggerated, wasn't it?

Seeing Wan Renjue's face sink like water, without speaking, Wan Renfeng immediately understood. His big brother's silence was essentially the answer.

The Shen Clan indeed had a Mystic Realm Master!

He dared not delay any longer and leapt straight out of the headquarters, racing against time toward the military camp outside the city to the west. If the Shen Clan's army attacked now and the army outside the city was unprepared, they would be completely doomed.

Wan Renjue couldn't sit still anymore either, leading the nine Hall Masters to suppress the chaos in various parts of the city. Meanwhile, the Second and Third Elder led the 180,000-strong army of the Xiong Yun Gang. In less than five hours, they had all entered the city and locked down both the eastern and western city gates. Every level of the Prefectural City was on high alert, just waiting for the Shen Clan's army to come.

At midnight, atop the eastern gate tower of Xingnan Prefecture City, Wan Renjue, followed by numerous Xiong Yun Gang high-ranking members, looked out at the pitch-dark wilderness outside the city gate, as well as the Official Road, without a single person in sight. His expression grew increasingly skeptical.

"Second Brother, are you positive that the army from Puning County has all disappeared?" The Third Brother Wan Renshan, finally unable to wait, directly questioned his Second Brother Wan Renfeng, who had brought back the news.

Wan Renfeng, seeing everyone's gaze turn toward him, nodded solemnly toward his big brother Wan Renjue, and said, "That news was initially reported to me by my men. To make sure, I personally sneaked over there to check. If 120,000 soldiers were hiding in a county, I would definitely be able to tell. I'm certain, the Shen Clan's army is definitely not in Puning County!"

The others showed various expressions, but Wan Renjue immediately believed Wan Renfeng. He could trust his own Second Brother. The Shen Clan's army of 120,000 was certainly not in Puning County anymore. That army was preparing to attack the Prefectural City; he was sure of that. The daytime disturbance in the city had been suppressed by him, and after investigation, he was almost certain it was the doing of the Shen Clan. Given that, the target of the Shen Clan's army must inevitably be the Prefectural City.

But they had not yet attacked; what was going on?

"Big Brother, do you think it's possible that the Shen Clan staged their soldiers in Puning County just to mislead us, and their real target... is Hexi?"

Hexi, Hou Clan?

Hearing the words of Third Brother Wan Renshan, Wan Renjue suddenly froze, his face then taking on a strange expression as he recalled the circumstances of the founding of Hexi. He quickly fell into contemplation.

This possibility might not be too far-fetched. The Hou Clan's behavior of straddling both sides, offending no one, was indeed rather detestable and provoking more worry. If the Shen Clan and Xiong Yun Gang were to both suffer grievous losses, the Hou Clan would be the most suspect in profiting from their fight.

Could it be that Shen Gufan had first gone to attack Hexi?

The sourc𝗲 of this content is frёeωebɳovel.com.

No, that wasn't right. Out of the original three families of Xingnan Prefecture, the Hou Clan had the weakest strength. Attacking Hexi first was out of the question—not to mention the movement on my side—if Shen Clan pushed the Hou Clan towards us, then the Shen Clan, stranded in the middle, would be in danger. Shen Gufan wasn't that foolish; he was surely coming to attack the Prefectural City. But then why wasn't he attacking directly?

If he wasn't attacking the Prefectural City directly, where else could he be attacking?

"Disaster!"

"Yuzhao and Jiujun!"

As Wan Renjue came to a sudden realization, he had barely finished speaking when his face dramatically changed. The Third Brother Wan Renshan blurted out, and in an instant, everyone present turned to look westward of the Prefectural City, their expressions abruptly shifted.