"I''ll clear all the remnants and clear all the confusion. After all, you guys aren''t a cult anymore."

Seeing that Xiaoyun was adamant about his choice, Zhen Ti gave up trying to convince him.

"Thank you, sir... we can never repay how much you have done for us."

"Just don''t turn to another cult. That''s the biggest thanks I can get." Xiaoyun signals the soldiers to untie all the captives remaining.

In a controversial move, Xiaoyun chose to return the guns to them before leaving.

"Isn''t this too risky?" Wuli asked as the two got inside the car.

"They need something to defend themselves. Besides, it''s only pistols, no need to be so stingy." Xiaoyun replied.Y

"But why don''t we just directly administer it? Why did we let a stranger run that base?" Wuli curiously asked.

"We don''t have the local experience to manage the complex relationship there. Besides, we don''t gain anything from directly administering there...

Also, what do you think the surrounding factions feel if we did that?" Xiaoyun asked a rhetorical question.

"Um... I don''t know." Wuli thought for a short moment but couldn''t come up with anything.

"They will form a coalition against us for trying to expand like this," Xiaoyun explained.

"But why would they fight us if we are getting rid of a tumor of society?" Wuli curiously asked.

"They don''t care about us removing the White Lotus. They only have a problem if we expand our influence here. Those in power are afraid of losing their power, even if their lives will be better under our rules."

After a short silence, Wuli noticed a flaw in Xiaoyun''s explanation.

"But didn''t we already force people from the countryside to join us? Wouldn''t that already alert them?"

"That''s where you are wrong. A base in the city is different from a settlement in a rural village. The amount of resources you can gather in a city is almost unlimited.

It''s much harder for other factions to notice that we are moving people from the countryside to join us since they are so far apart from those settlements."

After another short silence, Wuli spoke up again.

"Still, besides the military, which faction in the entire Guangdong province can fight us?"

"You just answered your question. If the military learns of us expanding and every faction starts complaining about us, what will they think of us? Not to mention, we don''t know every faction out there."

"Oh, I get it now... this is the puppet state Yezi suggested earlier, right?"

"Pretty much. But we aren''t going to direct them or force them to do something. Think it more like a friendly ally."

---

After driving for five minutes, Xiaoyun''s army split up and headed for different parts of the city.

At the first settlement that Xiaoyun''s regiment got to, all the civilians there immediately panicked.

But when Xiaoyun''s soldiers informed them about the news, they were relieved that it wasn''t asking for a contribution tax and extremely grateful about the White Lotus ending.

The subsequent settlements and bases were the same, with some handing over White Lotus members in their base, which Xiaoyun chose to let them decide what to do with the cult members.

During the trip, Xiaoyun''s army also advertised themselves, but people in those settlements didn''t trust Xiaoyun''s claim.

But the mechanized army and well-uniformed soldier left a strong image in their mind.

By the time they were finished, the moon was already visible in the sky.

"I don''t get why don''t they just join us. What do they have to lose when they already live in that shack with barely any food." Wuli commented.

"It''s risky to move to a new environment. Especially to a new city." Chen Ping replied as he drove the car.

"Indeed, most people would rather die than move. Also, I wouldn''t trust a stranger making bold claims like ours." Xiaoyun supported Chen Ping''s argument.

"Is she okay?" Leyan asked.

"Yeah, she seems to be fine. Tianci just said she''s tired." Shuli replied.

---

When Xiaoyun woke up, it was still in the middle of the night.

"Xiaoyun, I want to drink blood!" Tianci demanded as her eyes were completely red.

"Hm? Again?" Xiaoyun asked with annoyance in his voice.

"Yes. I''m so hungry."

"Fine, just don''t make any spill." Xiaoyun stretched out his arm in front of Tianci.

With a sharp puncture at the wrist, Tianci started drinking the blood that came out of it.

After drinking for an entire minute, Tianci was fully satisfied and left the room.

Xiaoyun immediately laid back down and fell asleep as if nothing happened.

By the time Xiaoyun woke again, it was eight in the morning.

After a quick trip to the restroom and putting on a new uniform, he went downstairs for breakfast.

"Good morning." All of them said at the dining table.

"Good morning," Xiaoyun replied as he sat down and ate.

Just as everyone finished their breakfast, Leyan suddenly brought something up.

"Honey, when are you going to marry Wuli and Shuli?"

The two''s faces blushed red after hearing Leyan''s question.

"Up to them. I can change my schedule any time to fit it in," Xiaoyun replied without thinking much about it.

As everyone turned their attention toward the two, they looked back at Leyan as if they didn''t know either.

"How about at the end of the month?" Leyan suggested.

Both of them nodded in agreement.

"Fine with me." Xiaoyun accepted the suggestion.

"Well, Wuli and Shuli, you two are going to spend some time with me on the weekend to prepare for it, okay?"

"Okay..." Both of them replied simultaneously as they looked toward the ground.

"Ahem, it''s about time to go now." Yuqi ended the awkward atmosphere.

"Oh right, let''s go now." Xiaoyun got up from his seat.

---

Almost every department head, nine Majors, and Yezi were already there when Wuli, Yuqi, Yueyue, and Shuli arrived at the command center.

"Sorry for the wait. Something came up." Xiaoyun apologized as the three sat down next to each other.

"No problem, sir, we just got here as well." One of the Major replied.

"Let''s get started then... Xiaoyun, what did you gather all of us here for? This certainly is a lot of people." Yezi curiously asked.

"I called everyone here today for one reason... I want your guy''s feedback on what we should do next.

I can''t guide this township alone. More feedback is always better than trying to solve it myself."