Chapter 691 - 212: A Chain of Stratagems, Shen Bai Closes the Net

He could have gone out to stop it immediately, but the time wasn’t right.

When the soldiers he had turned against the Marquis came out to resist, perhaps even more would defect to his side.

It was a matter of timing. Shen Bai didn’t want to show himself now and incur greater losses.

Sure enough, the Marquis of Ren De stood on the platform, frowning as he looked at the other half of his soldiers who remained silent.

He hadn’t expected so many people to oppose his speech, but the situation had clearly spiraled beyond his expectations.

If a full half of the soldiers truly opposed him, things likely wouldn’t end well, even if he refused to let them leave.

"What is the meaning of this? I’ve treated you all like my own brothers, yet you refuse to support me?"

The Marquis of Ren De’s eyes turned ice-cold.

At this moment, the phrase "like my own brothers" sounded especially jarring.

A commander stepped forward, looked the Marquis of Ren De straight in the eye, and declared, "Marquis, we only want to know one thing. The complete annihilation of the Gale Camp... was it related to you?"

The other commanders all turned their gazes toward him, falling silent.

Clearly, they all felt the same.

The Marquis of Ren De sneered. "Who has been turning you against me? How could I possibly send a thousand good soldiers to their deaths? That is not my way. I have always treated you as my own flesh and blood."

The commander who had stepped forward sneered. "Is that so? Marquis, it seems the deaths of our brothers from the Gale Camp were indeed related to you."

As soon as these words were spoken, an uproar swept through the crowd.

Even the soldiers loyal to the Marquis of Ren De stared at the commander in astonishment.

The commander continued, "As far as I know, it was the Marquis who used the Demonic Forces to slaughter them all. The price was killing Lord Shen of the Observatory. Do you acknowledge this version of events, Marquis?"

The Marquis of Ren De’s pupils contracted slightly, but he remained composed. "Don’t you find that claim full of holes? The soldiers of the Gale Camp are all dead. Shen Bai can make up any story he wants. But my kindness toward you is something you have all seen with your own eyes."

"Are you going to believe an outsider over me?"

It was a very clever rebuttal.

After all, the dead can’t testify. Playing the emotional card was the better strategy.

But just as he finished speaking, the sound of footsteps suddenly rang out from outside.

The soldiers all turned to look and saw Yang Chuan leading the entire Gale Camp as they marched in their direction.

The Marquis of Ren De’s eyes widened.

In that instant, all the pieces of the puzzle clicked into place, and he understood everything.

A setup!

’I’ve fallen for Shen Bai’s plot to sow discord!’ The Marquis of Ren De’s expression was grim.

As he was thinking this, Yang Chuan had already marched forward, pointed at the Marquis of Ren De, and loudly proclaimed his crimes.

"Marquis of Ren De! We soldiers looked up to you as a father and a brother, yet you treated our lives as if they were worthless! You consorted with Demonic Forces, intending to wipe out all thousand of us in the Gale Camp! Today, I come in the name of justice, bearing a solemn duty from Lord Shen!"

"Brothers, you must all see his true face! Don’t let him deceive you!"

When these words were spoken, even the faction of soldiers loyal to the Marquis of Ren De began to waver.

Some of the soldiers even began to subtly shuffle their feet.

Now, the facts were laid out before them, the evidence undeniable.

They weren’t fools; they wouldn’t follow a master who would discard them like pawns at any moment.

Only a fraction of the soldiers remained standing, unmoving.

The expression on the Marquis of Ren De’s face first turned grim, then incredibly grave, and finally, he relaxed completely.

’Forget it. I’ll take as many with me as I can.’

The Marquis of Ren De looked at the oil lamp on the table, then placed it on the ground and activated the Qi in his body.

He knew the situation was lost; there was no way he could turn it around now.

Since that was the case, he would open the Life and Death Road, take a portion of his men, and retreat immediately.

As for the other soldiers who would be caught in the Life and Death Road, their fate had nothing to do with him.

They had already betrayed the Marquis of Ren De, so he couldn’t care less if they lived or died.

Worse, the Marquis of Ren De was looking for an opportunity within the Life and Death Road to see if he could annihilate them all.

But at that very moment, something went wrong.

The Marquis of Ren De suddenly discovered that he was completely unable to activate the oil lamp.

This lamp was just an ordinary oil lamp.

"What’s happening? What on earth is going on?" the Marquis of Ren De exclaimed, his face a mask of astonishment.

Not far away, a nearly imperceptible glint of light flashed in the eyes of one of the confidants from Marquis Rende’s Mansion.

An undercover agent, living in obscurity.

More than ten years Hidden, all for this one moment to shine.

Through his Void-breaking Red Eye, Shen Bai witnessed it all.

A smile appeared on his face as he slowly stood up and waved his hand.

"Move in."

"Kill anyone who resists. No mercy."

"After today, Lingyun Dao will no longer have a Marquis of Ren De."