Battle Royale of the Sinners

7 PM

Tong and Li Feihong came back to the Ganling City. A blue gate was opened again and the kidnapped girls walked out of the portal.

A surprise shout was heard, then came the cheers of joy. Family members who recognized the returning girls rushed in to embrace their family members in delight.

Since Li Feihong could only open one gate at a time, it took a while for the girls to leave the private world.

Li Feihong watched the reunion of the families with a smile. Zhao Yun gazed at the monitor with a content smile but tinge of sadness was hidden in the depths of his eyes.

Tong, on the other hand, had a solemn expression on his face.

'In the end, that guy didn't show up.'

'Has he really fled from the city for good?'

'…Damn it! I wish he was here! I don't like the unknown!'

Throughout the battle, the mysterious ninja otherworlder did not show up. It gave Tong a threatening feeling as he no longer had the absolute protection from the [Plot Armor], and the location of the otherworlder was unknown. This person might come back and take revenge on Tong in the future.

Tong took a deep breath to calm his anxiety. He turned his gaze toward the situation in the monitors.

In the screens, those that managed to reunite with their loved ones were crying and hugging each other in happiness.

But there were quite a few families that were disappointed as hundreds of unfortunate girls were killed by the bandits or committed suicide before Tong could rescue them.

There were also a few unlucky girls who came back only to find their relatives' lifeless bodies.

Tragedies of the bandit assault angered Tong and all soldiers. He thought that Zhang Yan's easy death was not enough as he should have been tortured more.

<<Your [Wrath] has been strengthened by your emotion>>

<<Chance for [Wrath] to control your body has increased by 5%>>

<<Warning, you have 10% chance of being takeover [Wrath]>>

<<[Wrath] has failed to infiltrate your soul>>

Alarmed by the messages from the system, Tong gulped down and reigned his temper.

The content of the messages was terrifying on many levels. It hinted that Tong's [Demonic Curse] was either a double-edged sword skill or a sinister skill that should never be used.

'The last time I let go of my greed, my [Greed] is weakened. But if I go along with my emotions or the 7 sins, I will be controlled by the curse?'

'But if I remember correctly, my [Pride] helped me during my fight with Lu Bu.'

'What kind of skill is this!? System, can you please explain?'

There was no answer from the system goddess. He was ignored.

…

Twenty minutes later after all girls left the private world, Zhao Yun also exited the gate. He had witnessed enough tragic scenes.

"Damn bandits!" Zhao Yun was about to become infuriated again. But after he remembered what Tong had taught him about the anger proverb, he withheld his frustration.

An elder and a young girl walked toward Zhao Yun. They bowed to him as if he was a deity.

"Thank you for saving my daughter, young man. Thank you!"

He was the elder that Zhao Yun had hugged. Because he did not contribute in this battle at all, Zhao Yun could only smile wryly at the elder.

"If you want to thank someone, you should tell it to that person. He was the one who saved the kidnapped people." Zhao Yun pointed at the frowning Tong who had just exited the gate with Li Feihong.

Instead of going to Tong, the elder smiled at Zhao Yun.

"No, I'm bowing down to my benefactor. If you haven't hugged me and give me the encouragement, I would have committed suicide or would have given up living already. But thanks to you, you gave me hope. Because of that hope, I cling on living and I can see my daughter again. So, thank you, hero!"

"This…"

Zhao Yun was astonished by the result of his action. Instead of disrespecting the elder, he ended up saving his life indirectly?

He looked at Tong in astonishment. He thought 'Did he plan this from the start?'.

Zhao Yun bowed to the elder as he accepted the gratitude and continued chatting with the locals. The elder wanted to entrust his daughter to Zhao Yun as his wife, but he awkwardly declined.

…

Next morning.

Tong's complexion distorted as he was watching his gigantic radar map on his status menu.

At the southeast of the map, a large group of white dots was heading toward Ganling City. The distance was 90 kilometers away and their number was roughly over 30,000.

Tong zoomed in the map to get a good look at the names of the incoming troops' commanders. He was shocked once again by the dots that were leading the army.

'Sun Jian, Huang Gai, Cheng Pu! Fudge! They are the Sun Clan Army!'

'But they should be serving Tao Qian right now. What are they doing over here!?'

'With this distance, they can reach here in a day if they rush it, two or three days if they march normally. But they are the freaking Sun Clan Army. I doubt they will be here later than two days!'

Tong simulated his future plans in urgent. The Yellow Turban Rebellion plan would be set in motion soon, and the war against the Capital Imperial Forces could not be avoided no matter what.

The people in this world was real as they could not be respawned as in the simulation games. Once soldiers lost their life, Tong would not be able to replace the lost troops in a short period of time as the number of male population was limited! Over-drafting the soldiers would also damage the economy and the population rate in his cities.

Therefore, he had to save up the strength of his army for the bigger picture. Tong could not afford to fight with the Sun Clan right now.

His eyes darted around to find a nearby general.

"Zhang Ji! Come here!"

Startled by the sudden summon, Zhang Ji rushed to Tong.

"Present, my lord!"

"Arrange a few scouts and a white flag. Tao Qian's subordinate 30,000-men army is coming from the southeast. They are 90km away at the moment. Send my message to them that we are here to subjugate the bandits and we completed our objective! We will retreat from the city shortly, so we do not want any trouble!"

Zhang Ji and the nearby soldiers were shocked. This was urgent news. If they did not send a messenger to warn the other party about their mission, the two forces might clash as Sun Jian could mistake them as bandits even if they had the Zhang family and Julu flags.

He rushed out with his men right away without writing a letter.

Tong also jumped onto the stage and shouted out an announcement.

"People! Listen up! I've just been informed that there is an army coming toward this city from the southeast! They are not bandits but they are also parts of the imperial forces. But because we don't have a close relationship, we don't know if they have come in peace or they have come to seek troubles."

"I don't know if this Sun Jian is a righteous leader or not. But since he suddenly shows up here despite the fact that we have already subjugated the bandits, I doubt he has come here with good intention."

"Once the two forces meet up, conflicts can happen. And once it happens, the one that will suffer the difficulty won't be us, but you citizens."

The refugees were thrown into an uproar. Because they had just experienced the hardship life from the bandits, they became more sensitive toward the conflicts.

They did not know that Tong discredited Sun Jian as part of his incitement. Sun Jian in the history was an honest Han Dynasty loyalist and a capable general, but Tong framed him as an infidel to get the favor of the crowd.

Tong did not like it, but he had to do it. If his army were to retreat as it is, the people would curse him as a dishonest person who broke promises with the citizens. If Tong's army were to stay, he could not predict what kind of fate or the future would hold for him and his troops.

Furthermore, Tong did not want to risk exposing himself to a potential otherworlder within Sun Jian's army. Once both sides clashed, he would become a sitting duck, waiting to be assassinated by the opposite force's reincarnator.

Thus, Tong decided to trick the people once again by using Liu Bei's ways to gain the people's sympathy first. Once he completed his objective, Tong would retreat from this city and drag all the citizens with him to Julu, leaving the abandoned city to Sun Jian.

Political fight was always dirty.

"You should have experienced it before how it feels like when you are oppressed under a tyrant, bandits, or an incompetence governor."

The crowd gazed at Tong and nodded in secret. If the governor was competence, the city would not have fallen to the bandits. They also suffered from the harsh taxes last year as well.

"Previously, I promised all of you that I'll help you rebuild the city. But with the sudden emergence of the invading force, we'll have to garrison the city and fight the invaders!"

"I'm sorry that I have to break the promise I made earlier. But we promise you that we will protect all of you with our lives! No one can harm the citizens of Ganling ever again!"

Tears dropped from the eyes of Ganling citizens. Stirred by emotions, some of them bowed to Tong in gratitude. Some of them got mad at Sun Jian. The retired elders clenched their fists and trembled as they wanted to join the army but they were too old and helpless.

"You don't have to worry about us. We are elite soldiers, so we won't be defeated by their weakling forces easily."

"But we are worried about you. Once the fight breaks out, stray arrows or stones can harm you."

"So I have a proposition for everyone here. So that we can protect you from the hands of the crooked officials."

"That is, follow us back to Julu City!"