Damn. If Yunusu was alive, then the whole affair would now be a matter of life and death. Yunusu could easily take over Abdin's corpse and absorb the Blood of Nuhu from it. All he needed was for Abdin to die while he lay in wait at a nearby corner.

Just like how Abdin had mutilated his corpse, he could do the same thing to him. He clenched his teeth so hard it was audible. They had grown up together as friends and cousins.

But from the time their parents agreed to set them against each other, to when Abdin succeeded and took everything away from Yunusu, and then followed him to the grave and took the remnant Blood, any peacemaking had been waived. And Yunusu wasn't like Silver Mask who was oblivious to the time loop. Yunusu knew it all.

Abdin didn't want to believe it was him, but he wanted to be ready for anything. Even Yunusu. Especially Yunusu. He had prevailed over Yunusu when they were kids. And it wasn't going to change now.

This thought somewhat calmed him down. He stood up and walked to the gym. Many people greeted him as he passed by, but he merely nodded absentmindedly.

He excused everyone from the training grounds and placed his hands on the ground. He said a silent incantation that resulted in the ground shaking before it cracked open.

Armored soldiers appeared from the ground. All of them were males with different features. They looked tall and broad-shouldered. They all wore matching black armor. And each of them was at the foundation establishment stage, level three, 299 years.

[You have evoked the golem right. You have summoned a hundred human golems. Your cultivation is down by a hundred years.]

In the second expansion, when the 3rd castle appeared, the castle would start giving him the 'golem rights'. Cultivation was needed to call the golems forth and the limit of their cultivation was only a third of the summoner's cultivation.

Abdin repeated the process and another hundred human golems appeared. Two hundred were his limit at the moment.

He gave them orders without opening his mouth. Ten of them would follow him from the shadows at all times. Another ten would spy on Sulat to make sure he was doing his job. Renga would be tailed by ten and Tairen, Walik, and their comrades would be followed by twenty.

Another twenty for Cemu and the civilians. Whereas the rest would hide themselves at different positions in the castle and its surrounding areas to keep an eye on everything.

***

About a mile's journey from the castle was a group of eight riders in full gallop. A squad of hundred men was hot on their trail. Arrows occasionally flew forward as the pursuers shot at the band of men running for their lives.

An arrow passed close to the lead rider, who was a woman. She tried to dodge it but it hit her right arm, taking a chunk of flesh with it. Blood dripped off the affected area and soon she was starting to get soaked.

"Princess!"

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"Princess!"

Panicked voices rose from her men.

The woman tore off a piece from the veil covering her face and made a bandage around the wound. Her pace never slowed or faltered as she did this.

A thicket of trees stood a little ahead of the riders. They could have normally circled it, but this time, they aimed straight for it. Even though the trees would slow them down, they would also give them cover.

Their pursuers didn't stop but followed them through the forest. They galloped wildly for six hours in the jungle, and despite the cover of the trees, two other men also got shot by the pursuers.

The eight riders began to lose hope and thought their pursuers would soon get to them if things went on like that. But right then, they saw a castle, tall and broad, looming a short distance ahead of them. A white, stone wall circled the castle. And the entrance gate was of heavy black metal.

The weary group didn't waste any time and kept on to their route. Hope had finally arrived, or not.

"Freeze!"

The castle was only paces away from their reach when cultivator soldiers appeared atop the wall and barked at them.

The group didn't stop. They never had the chance to do so, for, at that moment, their pursuers arrived, wildly shooting at them.

Panic rent the battered group, and the woman on the lead quickly raised her hands in surrender.

"My name is Juwaira," she hastily introduced. "I am back from the errand Commander sent me. I will get killed if you don't open the gate now."

The one rule for every inhabitant of the castle was: never to open the gate to strangers. No stranger got inside the castle except with Commander's leave.

These stragglers were clearly on the verge of being killed, but Walik wouldn't open the gate for them. Renga was the chief security officer of the castle and he was the one that made Walik the chief entrance guard a few days ago. After hearing the Commander personally praise him, everyone knew the rise of the old man was inevitable. So the cunning town head took the opportunity to secure favor with him. How would he know that Walik was the infamous Leader San of the largest cultivation sect in the area?

"Say your name again," Walik ordered.

The young woman who introduced herself earlier looked familiar and he thought he had seen her before but couldn't quite place her.

"Juwaira."

Walik blinked. Juwaira... As the sect leader of Will of San, Walik was familiar with that name. As soon as he heard it, he remembered where he'd seen her before. She was the princess who fled home to avoid a marriage with Prince Jubu.

Hmm. What could be her relationship with Commander?

Commander seemed to have connections at the top. Walik had already suspected it since the average man lacked the spirit to rebel. Was the castle a token from Shurein?

He glanced around and realized no one else recognized the princess, instead, most of them were drooling at the sight of the beautiful face.

The princess was still bleeding, and two of her men still had arrows pinned to their bodies. They could die if he didn't act quickly. It was a miracle they didn't die already.

They could be faking it, but he wouldn't know if he let them die. After weighing his options, he decided to help the princess without opening the gate.

The first thing he did was to order his men to return fire, and soon the cloudy sky was replaced by a volley of arrows, fireballs, and lightning. The pursuers were forced to retreat.

He gave a second order and another series of crossfire began. The pursuers were left with no choice but to retreat further into the jungle.

On a third order, arrows flew after them to make sure they kept their distance.

As they watched, a collective sigh escaped from Juwaira and her men when they saw their attackers back away. For now, they had escaped this hurdle.

Walik sent for Commander. Meanwhile, he decided to get familiar with the princess.

"It's such an honor to meet people from the Shen family. Now that I think about it, why haven't we met before?" Walik asked, trying to make some conversation.

The lady frowned. "Commander has many minions and even I can't say I have met all of them. How long have you been a minion?"

Walik shrugged and looked away. That was why he hated dealing with royal brats. Just moments ago he saved her life, but she seemed to have forgotten already. He wasn't a minion.