Although Yun Zhe was very worried that the suspicion of being a vampire would be spread, after calming down, Yun Zhe became much calmer.

The problem is actually quite simple: how to use public opinion to clear one's name and make those who have seen vampires mistakenly believe that what they saw was not a vampire, or that they were mistaken.

If they weren't vampires, then what did they see last night?

Yun Zhe did have a few ideas, but he also needed to see how everyone reacted before dealing with the issue.

The most perplexing question for Yun Zhe right now is: what should they do? Should they lead everyone to retake Fort Dorniz, or take this opportunity to escape back to Fort Donic?

Returning to Dorgnitzburg would likely make it difficult to leave again, but returning to Donicburg while the momentum was still there would mean abandoning one of Donicburg's most important outer castles. But how long could these isolated and helpless hundred or so men hold out for Dorgnitzburg? And if they left like this, retaking the castle later would require Kurmann to be completely oblivious to his rear.

Yun Zhe himself couldn't make this decision, so after returning to the camp, he immediately gathered everyone to ask about it.

Yun Zhe explained the potential problems that might arise from the two different choices, and then looked at everyone, hoping to find an option with more choices.

But the result left Yun Zhe quite helpless. The mercenaries and the Donic soldiers made completely different choices. The Donic soldiers advocated returning to Fort Dorgnitz, while the mercenaries wanted to return to Fort Dorgnitz as soon as possible to rejoin their main force and then launch a counterattack.

“Most importantly, we need to send news of Kurman’s betrayal back; otherwise, there’s no point in us holding out here,” Valentine said, seemingly without any problem.

“We don’t need to send all the messages back. At least for now, we can’t just abandon this castle!” Sancho and Elke’s reasons were also quite valid.

Yun Zhe suddenly regretted starting the discussion; he shouldn't have done it. If he had known he could have been the one to make the decisions, things might have been easier. Now that they were divided into two factions, either way could lead to a split.

Yun Zhe steeled himself, coughed lightly, and said, "That's enough discussion. Everyone, gather now and head to Durnitzburg!"

Yun Zhe's reaction surprised everyone. Didn't they just say they were having a discussion? How did it turn into a one-man show?

Yun Zhe ignored everyone and didn't want to explain further. He had a feeling that continuing the discussion would not yield any results and would only waste more time.

Amidst doubts and complaints, the troops began to set off—though using the word "set off" might be an exaggeration—a force of about a hundred men, taking advantage of the early morning mist, arrived at Dorgnitzburg.

Two guards lay dead on the ground, the first two soldiers Yun Zhe had dealt with the previous night. Inside the castle, Kurman's soldiers were lying everywhere. The soldiers were shocked, but even more so, they marveled at Yun Zhe's strength. A rough count showed that nearly two hundred men had fallen along the way. This filled all the soldiers with awe and wonder about Yun Zhe's fighting prowess.

What kind of person could single-handedly destroy an entire castle?

Yun Zhe naturally knew what everyone was thinking, but he didn't explain anything, which was exactly the effect he wanted.

"Don't be careless, everyone. Many more enemies escaped instead of being killed by me, so everyone quickly clear the battlefield and prepare for their counterattack." Yun Zhe gave instructions while observing various areas to see if there was anything he hadn't handled properly.

Strength is indeed a very useful thing. After witnessing Yun Zhe single-handedly destroy the entire castle, the doubts that had been held against him in the team vanished. They no longer resisted Yun Zhe's orders, and even the Aruru mercenaries who had previously thought they shouldn't have returned were now completely convinced of his abilities.

After wandering around the castle twice and finding nothing he had missed, Yun Zhe went to the highest watchtower and began to observe the surroundings.

As they were watching, several other people arrived at the watchtower. It was Valentine, Sancho, and Elke.

"My lord, the castle has been cleaned up..." The three looked at each other, and finally Elke spoke up.

"Do you have any questions?" Yun Zhe naturally knew what they were hesitating about, but he still had to ask the question.

The three men looked at each other. "Sir, the scouts to the north have discovered that the enemy's cavalry is returning. What should we do?"

Yun Zhe already knew last night when he was in the castle that two hundred cavalrymen had rushed toward the bridge, attempting to cut off the Donic troops' route. He didn't expect the news to get out so quickly.

"How many people, and how far apart are they?" Yun Zhe asked.

“We’ll use the beacon fire as a signal. We don’t know the exact number, but we estimate they’ll arrive this afternoon or later,” Valentine replied in a low voice.

“It’s alright. Cavalry is useless in a siege; we’ll have to dismount and become infantry. They have at most two hundred men, so they don’t have an advantage.” Yun Zhe paused. “Besides, they should arrive by tomorrow morning; they won’t attack at night. For them, without any siege equipment, it would be suicide. You should be on high alert, though; they might launch a surprise attack on us.” Yun Zhe added.

Several people nodded; they had actually considered all of this. This wasn't the real reason they came up to discuss it.

Seeing that the three of them neither left nor spoke, Yun Zhe sighed, "Is there anything else? You can say it."

"My lord, you... really drove away all the soldiers in the castle by yourself?"

After hesitating for a while, Elke finally asked the question.

Yun Zhe nodded. "It wasn't a reckless charge. I started with a sneak attack, then took advantage of their underestimation of me and my familiarity with the terrain to slowly wear them down. Of course, the main reason was also because I killed their commander—I wanted to injure as many commanders as possible first. Once they were in disarray, it would be easier for me to do my work." Yun Zhe naturally couldn't reveal that he was a vampire. However, these were the main guiding principles of his operation last night, and not entirely fabricated. There was just one thing that made Yun Zhe somewhat uneasy about: if it were an ordinary person, even with these methods, it would be difficult to achieve the results he had accomplished.

"Sir, are you saying that if it had been us last night, and if we had followed your line of thinking, the outcome would have been the same?" Valentine, Elksant, and the other two exchanged glances and quickly asked.

“It still requires a certain amount of luck and strength. I estimate that your current martial arts skills are not up to par. However, if there are more people and they coordinate their actions, we can still achieve a certain effect,” Yun Zhe said slowly, pretending to think for a moment.

The group's eyes lit up with excitement, and Yun Zhe only then realized their true purpose.

"Sir, please teach us, we want to too..."

"Want to be this flashy too?" Yun Zhe finally understood why the three of them had come.

Upon hearing Yun Zhe's words, the three scratched their heads, smiled, and nodded, acknowledging his words.