The people returned to the richest house in the village—Zhang Ren's home.
Tables and chairs were already arranged inside the house and in the courtyard, with unrecognisable food placed on the tables. Everyone took their seats one after another.
Most of the stools were borrowed from neighboring households, all of them wooden.
Knowing that Lord Huang was going to discuss matters with his subordinates, Yu Mao took the initiative to lead his own men to another room.
Lord Huang was accompanied only by Yang Chengwu, and the two were brought into a main hall.
Along both sides of the hall stood men from the village, roughly more than twenty of them, with seven or eight elders positioned near the center.
As Huang An stepped into the room the crowd - including the old men - instinctively stood up, their faces ingratiating.
Lord Huang swept his tiger-like gaze over the entire hall, and unyieldingly took the principal seat.