While the Wu Clan primarily used carrier pigeons to deliver missives, they did have one peregrine falcon that had been trained to deliver letters over vast distances. It was capable of traveling two-hundred forty miles per hour. The Imperial Capital was twenty thousand miles away, which meant it would take around sixty-six hours for the peregrine falcon to reach it.

Taking into consideration how long it would take for reinforcements to arrive, supposing the king even deigned to send them, Wu Jian believed they would need to hold out for at least one week.

One week locked away in this compound as their enemies assaulted them from all sides.

Their prospects weren’t looking good.

Only a few hours had passed since Father and Wu Taohua returned with the rest of their beaten forces. Father was resting in the hospital. According to Wu Shaolin, he would not recover for over a week, which meant they could not rely on him for support. Fortunately, the three elders who had gone off to fight against the Juishi Family had returned. They were currently overseeing the defense of the compound.

“We should expect them to come soon,” Elder Wu Jinsu was saying. “They have us on the retreat, our leader is out of commission, and our morale has never been lower. Now is the perfect time for them to attack.”

“Let’s not forget the former elder Wu—sorry, former head elder Wei is with them,” said Elder Lin. “He knows the Wu Clan compound just as well as we do. Having been the head elder for several decades, he might even know of a hidden passage that we are unaware of. Do you think they could sneak in here undetected?”

“We’ve already checked the area for secret passages and found nothing.” Elder Wu Jinsu shook his head. “We’ve scoured literally every hū of this compound and found nothing. I doubt there’s a hidden passage that will let them enter unnoticed. However, that doesn’t mean we can relax. The former head elder is knowledgeable about the surrounding forests and will no doubt use his superior numbers to his advantage.”

Because Father was not able to lead them, Wu Taohua was temporarily in charge. She sat on the chair normally reserved for Wu Jian’s father. Her expression was cold as she gazed one by one at the elders.

“I’ve taken a measure of their total forces. The Ming and Juishi Families combined have about one hundred people. The Fierce Tiger Sect has two hundred people, which means we are dealing with an estimated total of three hundred people give or take. Most of them are only at the Body Forging Realm. However, there are maybe one hundred who have reached the Hunger Realm and both the former head elder and the Fierce Tiger’s sect leader have reached the Asura Realm.”

All the elders and even Wu Jian, who was sitting in on this meeting because of his position as clan heir, sucked in a breath. Within the Wu Clan, there were only two people who had reached the Asura Realm: Wu Taohua and Father.

Wu Taohua was at the first subrealm of the Asura Realm and Father had been sitting at the ninth subrealm for some time now. After them, the strongest person in the clan was Elder Wu Jinsu, who had reached the ninth subrealm of the Hunger Realm not long ago.

“The former head elder must have been given a lot of alchemy pills that forced him to breakthrough. It would have been impossible for him otherwise,” Elder Wu Jinsu said.

“We should have never kicked Wu out of the clan,” Elder Wu Nin shouted suddenly.

Elder Lin stroked his beard. “I’m not sure how you can say that. The former head elder tried to use subterfuge to steal the title of clan head from Lord Yōushì by allying with the Ming Family. If anything, kicking him out was lenient.”

“But look at what’s happened! Now we have to face two families and the Fierce Tiger Sect!” Elder Wu Nin screeched. “All of this is Lord Yōushì’s fault! If he hadn’t banished Head Elder Wu Wei from the clan, then we—”

“Would have been in just as bad if not a worse position when the former head elder decided to finally take the position of clan head from my husband,” Wu Taohua said coldly, cutting off further argument. Everyone’s expression froze, but she continued in a thoughtful tone. “However, you are correct, in a way. This never would have happened if the former head elder hadn’t been banished.”

Elder Wu Nin smiled triumphantly at Elder Lin, who looked like he might burst a blood vessel. However, Wu Taohua’s next words left him frozen.

“We should have simply killed him and been done with it. My husband let his sentiment and the feelings of familial relations cloud his judgment. I’ll be sure to rectify that mistake when I see the former head elder again.”

The cold words caused a shiver to travel down everyone’s spine. Even Wu Jian couldn’t help but shudder at the merciless quality in Wu Taohua’s tone, but it wasn’t like he didn’t understand either. None of this would have happened if Father had sentenced the former head elder to death instead of just banishing him.

“Has Hou Jingshu sent off her letter?” Wu Taohua asked into the silence.

“Uh… yes, she has,” Wu Jian mumbled.

“In that case, all we can do is prepare our defenses and hold out for as long as we can. Reinforcements will come within a week or not at all.”

“And what should we do if reinforcements don’t come?” asked Elder Wu Nin. He seemed testy after being faced with the cold reality of their situation.

Wu Taohua paused for a moment. “Then those of us who can fight will sacrifice ourselves to buy time for those who cannot so they can flee. I would rather see a few members of the clan survive than none at all.”

No one disagreed with her, not even Elder Wu Nin, and so they created a plan to defend the compound. Fortunately, the Wu Clan had built their compound several miles outside of Zahn City in a remote location surrounded by mostly forest and a cliff face to the back.

While this meant it would be hard to spot approaching enemies, it also meant their enemies couldn’t attack en masse. They either had to travel through the forest, or make use of the road. Going through the forest would slow them down. Using the road would make it easy to notice their approach.

Wu Taohua pointed at the map of their compound set on the table. “They’ll probably use a combination of the road and forest to approach us. The ones traveling down the road will be a distraction to keep us occupied, while the ones traveling through the forest will be the true threat. They may also attempt to sneak into the mansion from behind and attack while our backs are turned.”

A cliff face lay behind them. Though not very big, it was big enough to deter most people from entering that way, but that didn’t mean it was impossible.

“We should also have guards stationed by the testing grounds. It wouldn’t surprise me if former Head Elder Wei decided to send some people to sneak in through there.”

Elder Wu Jinsu stroked his chin. “You may be right… but do we have enough forces to adequately guard the testing ground? If they do decide to sneak in that way, the only ones who can do it are former Head Elder Wei and Hu Li of the Fierce Tiger Sect. The steep cliffs will prevent anyone else from being able to climb that so easily.”

“I’ve heard Hu Li of the Fierce Tiger Sect is at the fifth subrealm of the Asura Realm. That makes him the strongest person in their forces. Can we even hope to stand against a monster like that?” asked Elder Wu Nin.

Wu Taohua smiled without joy. “We don’t have a choice. However, according to the intelligence I’ve gathered, Hu Li is a very arrogant and straightforward fellow. He doesn’t much care for subtle plots and prefers to resolve all of his problems with violence. I’m sure he will attack us from the front and simply try to storm past our gates.”

“Which means the one who we need to watch out for the most is former Head Elder Wei,” murmured Wu Lin.

Wu Taohua agreed. “Yes, he will likely be the one leading their forces through the forest. That’s why I think we should focus on the front gate and the surrounding forest. We’ll use hit and run tactics to stall the people attacking from the forest and shore up our defenses at the front gate to prevent Hu Li from breaking through. Elder Wu Jinsu, I want you to activate the clan’s defenses.”

“B-but those defenses haven’t been activated since the clan’s founding! And they can only be used once! Once they run out of chi…”

“Those defenses were made with the intention of protecting the clan from danger, and make no mistake, we are in grave danger. There will never be a better time to activate them.”

“I… I understand. It shall be done.”

Because he was not experienced in warfare, Wu Jian remained silent as Wu Taohua, Elder Wu Jinsu, Elder Wu Lin, and Elder Wu Nin planned for the attack that was sure to come. However, all he really wanted to do right now was find Wu Meiying and hold her close.

I’m scared.

Wu Jian had done his best to be courageous and strong ever since Wu Meiying’s prophecy so long ago, and he liked to think that he had done a good job, but this was so far beyond what he had faced before that a chill had seeped into his blood. It felt like his veins had become a frozen river in winter.

Many people will die soon, people I grew up with. There’s no way we can fend off such a force without suffering heavy casualties. I’m so scared.

He hugged his arms to his chest and tried to keep his body from shuddering. It had been a long time since he had felt this scared, but he didn’t want to let anyone else see his fear. He had to be strong.

For Wu Mieying.

For Hou Jingshu.

For the Wu Clan.

He couldn’t afford to show weakness.

And yet…

I hate this. I hate that I’m so scared. Am I really this weak? I’ll never be able to protect Mei like this. I’ll never be able to support Hou Jingshu like this. Why… why can’t I be stronger? Braver? Am I doomed to always be a coward?

“Wu Jian?” Wu Taohua’s voice snapped him out of his self-recriminations.

“Y-yes?” he asked.

Wu Taohua’s face, colder than ice up to this point, thawed into a soft smile. “You look a little high-strung. Why don’t you get some rest? I will inform you of your role in all this later.”

“I understand,” Wu Jian said. He could have argued, but there was no point. What she said was true. He was high-strung. There was no way he would be able to concentrate on their conversation while he was like this, and it wasn’t like he could help them by staying.

With a sigh full of anxiety and doubt, Wu Jian left the war council.