Chapter 168
"You..." Pan Shulin gritted his teeth. After getting what he wanted, this man’s attitude toward him had taken such a sharp turn for the worse!
Pan Shulin suppressed his anger and said nothing, turning instead to Pan Yue. "Brother, please say less."
"Pah!" Pan Yue spat towards Pan Shulin, his eyes filled with rage and disappointment. "Who is your brother?"
Pan Shulin was stunned. Pan Yue continued, "Who would acknowledge a younger brother who helps outsiders scheme against his own brother?"
Pan Shulin's gaze turned gloomy. Pan Yue said angrily, "I am ashamed that the Pan family has someone like you, Pan Shulin! Our Pan family has let down the city lord, let down the city's people, and failed in our duty as master of the incense hall!"
"Enough! Stop the noise!" Zhao Yu roared, then turned to Xi Ning. "Well? City Lord, do you still intend to keep resisting?"
Xi Ning remained silent. Zhao Shan scanned the area, leaned close to Zhao Yu, and whispered, "Father, Xi Yao wasn't captured. He is right beside Xi Ning."
Zhao Yu hesitated. "And the ancient beastman, Yuan Heng? What about him?"
"His whereabouts are unknown," Zhao Shan replied.
Zhao Yu pressed his lips together. "Never mind that. It's too late to change plans now."
With that, Zhao Yu stepped forward and announced loudly, "Xi Ning, if you surrender now, I will spare the lives of everyone here, including Pan Yue. You can all leave Ning'an City. How about it?"
Xi Ning gave a cold laugh, tightening his grip on the sharp claws in his hand. "Ning'an City has belonged to the Xi family since its founding. It is impossible for it to be seized in my generation."
As soon as he finished speaking, a commotion suddenly erupted from the crowd. Several large ferocious beasts appeared from behind, charging towards Zhao Yu and his men.
Zhao Yu and his men scrambled to defend themselves. At the same time, Xi Ning ordered his guards to charge from the front.
Caught between the two forces, Zhao Yu's side gradually began to show signs of defeat, but soon their positions were reinforced by outsider beastmen.
These outsider beastmen were all fierce and formidable. Each had their own fighting style when dealing with large beasts and the city guards, actually managing to fight Xi Ning's forces to a standstill.
The two forces stood locked in stalemate. Xi Ning watched them, his brow deeply furrowed.
Zhao Yu and his followers by themselves are not a significant threat, even without the support of the Pan family guards. It's these outsider beastmen who are the real problem...
Seeming to also recognize the prowess of these outsider beastmen, Zhao Yu hid behind them and taunted Xi Ning, "What's wrong? Weren't you very impressive just now, Xi Ning? Come on then."
How despicable!
Disgust flashed across Xi Ning's face. The expressions of the outsider beastmen at the forefront weren't pleasant either.
Just as the two sides were locked in confrontation, a white tiger with its wings folded back charged over nimbly, positioning itself between them.
Seeing the white tiger, Xi Ning's brow relaxed slightly. Wang Jin's face lit up with joy as he called out, "Brother Heng!"
Upon hearing this, Yuan Heng transformed into human form. As soon as he did, the ger rushed forward. Yuan Heng quickly reached out to pull him close, a trace of fear on his face. But seeing that the ger only seemed tired with no sign of serious injury, he felt reassured.
Wang Jin leaned halfway into the man's embrace and immediately felt extremely fatigued. Strangely, he hadn't felt this way moments before when Yuan Heng wasn't there. The moment this man arrived, all his guard dropped in an instant, as if he had entered a comfortable environment. His heart instantly settled...
Even though this was still a battlefield, it felt like coming home. Wang Jin rested contentedly in the man's arms, feeling incomparably secure.
Wherever this man was, that place was home.
"Yuan Heng?"
The outsider beastmen seemed to know the man, each calling out his name before looking at one another, their attacking movements slowing considerably. Many even took a step back, their expressions not only serious but also tinged with panic.
Seeing this, Zhao Yu stepped forward. "What are you doing? Attack!"
Victory was right before their eyes!
Annoyed by the constant urging, one of the outsider beastmen finally snapped, "...If you want it so badly, why don't you go yourself?"
Once one person spoke up, countless others voiced their discontent.
"Right, you only know how to hide behind us!"
"Exactly, that's an ancient beastman. How could we possibly fight him?"
Xi Ning was surprised. The ancient beastman held such high prestige among these outsiders.
Zhao Shan gritted his teeth and stepped forward. "If you hesitate and retreat now, your chance to stay in the city will be lost!"
Hearing this, their retreating steps hesitated.
Seeing the situation, Yuan Heng frowned. "Stay in the city?"
"..." Among the outsider beastmen, a dark, lean beastman was silent for a moment before stepping forward. "Yuan Heng, don't blame us. Back at Keyuan Residence, everyone said we needed a place to settle down. Now, Zhao Yu and his son have promised us a place to stay, we just need to..."
The beastman didn't finish, but his gaze turned fierce as he stared at Xi Ning.
Seeing this, Xi Ning gave a derisive laugh and finished for him, "You just need to deal with me?"
The beastman remained silent, tacitly agreeing. Xi Ning pressed his lips together. "Ning'an City has always had a way for outsider beastmen to stay, by passing a trial. You could have stayed through the proper procedures by passing the trial, but you chose to side with jackals and wolves instead."
"My Tana tribe has fifty-six people, including elders. How could we possibly pass your trial? As the leader of the Tana tribe, how could I abandon my tribe and stay alone?" the beastman retorted.
"..." Xi Ning frowned and fell silent. This person actually wanted to settle the entire tribe here. That was completely impossible. Ning'an City had limited space to begin with, and settling an entire tribe could lead to hidden dangers...
"Not just the Tana tribe, but also the Sangrui tribe, Zhouquan tribe, Mingyangyu tribe, Quanyong tribe... Every tribe here wants to stay," said a man with a head full of braids who stepped forward from behind, standing beside the dark, lean man. "Jie'er, why bother talking to them? Let's just attack. The ancient beastman may be powerful, but we have so many people!"
As he spoke, the man narrowed his eyes, a hint of calculation flashing within, and said to those behind him, "People of the Sangrui tribe, Zhouquan tribe, and Quanyong tribe, you attack first."
"Ba'er!" Jie'er exclaimed in surprise, lowering his voice. "What are you doing?!"
"What do you mean, what am I doing? We continue fighting," Ba'er played dumb.
Jie'er gritted his teeth. "The leaders of these three tribes—Zhou Shen, Jian Hao, and You Lin—all left the city earlier on business, entrusting their tribe members to my care before they left. How can we let them attack first?!"
"Then your Tana tribe will go first?" Ba'er asked.
Jie'er clenched his jaw. "My tribe has 56 people. Besides the elders, children, and ger, there are only about twenty-plus warriors. That's not enough!"
With that, Jie'er announced loudly, "Zhao You, Ba'er, bring out the warriors of your Mingyangyu tribe and Jiaoshi tribe. Yuan Heng, along with my Tana tribe, three tribes now challenge you."
"..." Yuan Heng's expression turned cold. "None of you are a match for me."
"..." Hearing this, Jie'er's face darkened. Ba'er was even more furious. "You're too arrogant, Yuan Heng."
Yuan Heng said, "I'm stating a fact. Also, if all you seek is a place to settle, then there's no need to fight on. I promise you a place to settle."
"You promise?" Zhao You narrowed his eyes and stepped forward, a trace of mockery on his face. "How can you promise?"
Yuan Heng pressed his lips together. "Build a city."
As soon as Yuan Heng spoke, everyone present fell silent. The entire area became so quiet that you could have heard a pin drop.
"You... you..." Ba'er wanted to ask if he was joking, but upon meeting the ancient beastman's gaze, he couldn't get the words out.
The man's eyes were as firm as if the city-building matter would become reality in the near future. His face was full of confident certainty, his entire aura like that of a king, shocking everyone present into not daring to act rashly. His words carried the weight of an imperial decree, brooking no argument.
A long time passed, so long it felt like an entire century had gone by. Seeing the outsider beastmen wavering, Zhao Yu was the first to react. He spoke up, "Naive. Absolutely cannot believe him. Building a city is not so easy. Ning'an City took a full four years to build back then. There were beast hordes every year. It was only because of the Xi family's beast-taming power that they avoided destruction by the hordes for those four years, leading to the successful Ning'an City of today."
"This is unique. How could another one be built? If it were that easy, there would have been thousands upon thousands of Ning'an Cities long ago."
Hearing this, Xi Ning gave a light, humorless laugh. "Zhao Yu, so you do remember. You remember that it was my Xi family ancestors who used their beast-taming power to repel the hordes and protect this city. I had thought you'd forgotten all that."
"..." Zhao Yu was rendered speechless, his stare at Xi Ning turning increasingly venomous. "So what if your Xi family built it? So what if they protected it? After today, the winner takes all. If you lose, this city will belong to the Zhao family from now on."
The corner of Wang Jin's mouth twitched. He muttered under his breath, "I've honestly never seen someone with such audacity before."
Hearing this, Yuan Heng lowered his head, following Wang Jin's line of sight to glance at Zhao Yu. His expression turned cold. Almost in an instant, only a blur was seen, and Zhao Yu was knocked to the ground.
Everyone was shocked. No one had seen how the man made his move, yet Zhao Yu was already down...
Zhao Shan was startled and rushed to his father's side. Zhao Yu cried out in pain, but the wounds were not life-threatening. Letting out a sigh of relief, Zhao Shan turned his gaze to Yuan Heng.
The ancient beastman's strength and speed were unmatched by anyone.
Everyone was astonished, including Wang Jin, who was still leaning partly against Yuan Heng. He had only felt a gust of wind come and go. If not for the blur that flashed by, he wouldn't have even known the man had left.
"I have promised you a dwelling place no worse than Ning'an City, and I have the means to accomplish it. If you don't believe me, I won't force you. But if you continue to oppose the City Lord of Ning'an City, then you are my enemy, Yuan Heng."
"..." The outsider beastmen were all shocked. Opposing an ancient beastman was no small matter.
Everyone looked at each other.
"People of the Sangrui tribe, why hesitate?" A white leopard with black spots suddenly charged into the clearing and transformed into a man with pale skin and straw-colored hair.
Many among the outsider tribes were delighted to see the man. Some even came over to stand behind him. "Leader."
This man is the leader?
Wang Jin watched, looking at Yuan Heng. He saw Yuan Heng exchange a glance with the man. The man then announced loudly to the outsiders, "My Sangrui tribe is willing to trust Yuan Heng. All members, step forward now. Do not participate in the battle."
"Zhou Shen." Jie'er frowned as he called out the name. The man glanced at Jie'er and said, "You know Yuan Heng's abilities. I am willing to believe him."
"..." Jie'er said no more.
"And my Zhouquan tribe." A golden lion paced over, transforming into human form. The man's hair was yellow, stiff, and somewhat spiky, his skin bronze, giving him a somewhat handsome look.
The man also exchanged a greeting with Yuan Heng and announced to the outsiders, "Members of the Zhouquan tribe, step forward. Do not participate in the battle."
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