"Number Fifty-Nine... you have been caught." The elderly Tang master's voice wasn't a shout, but a focused frequency whisper that vibrated through the air.
"Puuuuuuuuh!"
The assassin's body jerked violently. His eyes rolled back, and his head slumped over, a dark, acrid foam bubbling from his lips. He was dead before he could even let out a final breath.
"Haaaaa! He's dead! He killed him! That man killed him!" someone in the crowd screamed, pointing a trembling finger at Lian.
"How dare you!" The elderly Tang master stepped forward, a large, predatory grin stretching across his weathered face. "To kill a man inside the city walls? Someone call the City Guards! This brat has broken the Imperial Law!"
"Tch... so that's their play," Lian thought, his eyes narrowing as he watched the "Sovereign" facade of the Tang elders.
Thud!
Lian released his grip, and the lifeless assassin crumpled to the floorboards like a discarded doll. He turned slowly, his boots clicking rhythmically against the wood as he began to walk toward the Tang masters. Each step felt like a heavy heartbeat echoing through the hall.
"You demon!" the plump merchant spat, his confidence surging as he hid behind the Tang elders. "You claim the Tang family tried to kill you, yet you are the one who murdered that man without even questioning him! You are nothing but a bloodthirsty criminal!"
"What? How ridiculous!" Lao Chang, a young girl sitting with Fang Luan's group, stood up indignantly. "How can you say he's innocent? The man was dressed in an assassin's clothes and was hiding in the rafters! He was obviously a killer!"
The room held its breath. Lian stopped five paces from the Tang masters, his grey eyes reflecting a cold, absolute stillness.
"Shhh! Keep it down, Lao Chang!" one of the senior female disciples hissed, pulling the girl back. "Even if what the Tang say is false, that man has no way to defend himself. Don't you know the kind of power the Tang family holds here in Qangshi?"
Lian ignored the whispers. His expression remained a cool, impenetrable mask of calmness.
"Tch. I don't care if you blame me or not," Lian said, his voice cutting through the room like a cold wind. "Today, you will be paying the price for trying to kill me."
With a calm, deliberate motion, he reached into his Spirit Book and withdrew a single Dà Qián (Big Money) plaque. He handed it to the stunned servant girl, the heavy, divine wood clacking against the table.
Just as he turned to face the Tang masters, a thunderous voice boomed from the inn's entrance, shaking the very rafters.
"You don't care, huh? How bold. Do you even realise where you are?"
The voice was deep, commanding, and carried the weight of state-sanctioned authority.
"Haaa! It's them, the Golden Guards! They arrived so quickly... exactly what you'd expect from the protectors of Qangshi!" The spectators began to murmur, pressing themselves against the walls to make a wide path.
Five city guards marched into the hall. They were encased in gleaming golden armour adorned with dragon embroidery along the pauldrons. Each carried a long spear tipped with a vibrant red feather. Leading them was a tall man with a jagged scar running across his cheek, his hand resting heavily on the hilt of a curved sabre.
Lian turned his body fully to face them, his eyes meeting the commander's gaze without a hint of tremor.
"You dare cause such a ruckus in this city?" Commander Zhao's eyes drifted to the cooling corpse of the assassin on the floor.
"It's him! It's him, Commander Zhao!" the plump merchant shrieked, stumbling forward and pointing a trembling finger at Lian. "He killed an innocent man! He even stole my magic beast using some kind of witchcraft! They all saw it!"
The man's voice cracked with a performance of fake fear and desperate sincerity, his hands flailing toward Mao Mao as he tried to hide the greed in his eyes behind a mask of victimhood.
"Justice! Commander, please... serve justice to me!" Baifung wailed, his voice cracking with a theatrical sob. Throughout the chaos, Lian remained eerily still, his grey eyes fixed on Commander Zhao, waiting for a response that held even a shred of integrity.
"What?! He dared to kill a subject of Qangshi within these very walls?" the Commander roared, his hand tightening on the hilt of his sabre.
Lian didn't realise it yet, the Frequency Whisper, a dark bargain, was already being struck in the air between the two men.
"Is it true, Baifung?" Zhao's voice vibrated in the merchant's ear. "You will acquire a Thousand-Year Fire Leaf for me if I handle this?"
"Yes, yes!" Baifung whispered back, his greedy eyes darting toward the fox on Lian's shoulder. "I will give it to you as long as you get me that spirit beast!"
"Mmph. Keep your word, Baifung."
Zhao turned his gaze back to Lian, his expression hardening into a mask of righteous fury.
"Are you blind?" Lian's voice cut through the Commander's posturing. "Look at that man's mouth. He is foaming at the lips. He was clearly poisoned."
"SHUT UP!" Zhao barked, the force of his Qi rattling the windows of the inn. "A criminal caught red-handed has no right to speak here! Guards, seize him!"
On his command, the four remaining Golden Guards lowered their spears, the red-feathered tips levelling at Lian's chest. The air in the inn grew heavy, the pressure of the guards' collective aura beginning to crush the nearby tables.
"Tch... so they really have no intention of finding the truth," Lian thought, his eyes tracking the guards' spears. "What a hassle. Should I run, or should I fight?"
"No! Master Zhao, it was not the young patron!" the servant girl rushed forward. Her voice was desperate as she tried to quell the situation before it turned into a bloodbath.
CLAP!
Without a word of warning, Zhao flicked his wrist. A concentrated jet of fire shot from his palm, striking the girl squarely in the chest. She was sent flying backwards like a broken doll.
"You shut up!" Zhao roared. "Were you conspiring with him? Xiao, go catch that woman, she is under arrest as well!"
Lian's eyes turned into cold, grey chips of ice. "Tch... damn it. I didn't think they would actually attack her."
Before Fang Luan could even hit the ground, the space where she was falling blurred. Lian was already behind her, catching her gently in his arms as he used a circular motion of his hand to swat away the remaining momentum of the fire attack.
"Are you okay?" he whispered. He didn't wait for an answer, immediately circulating a thread of his refined Qi through her body to stabilise her internal organs and calm her shock. He reached into his Spirit Book, withdrew a glowing jade-colored pill, and fed it to her.
He carried her casually over to another trembling servant. "Please, take care of her," he said, his voice terrifyingly quiet. He looked at Fang Luan's pale face one last time. "I am sorry to have gotten you into this mess."
He took another Dà Qián (Big Money) plaque and pressed it into her hand as a silent promise of protection.
Lian stood up, and he let his presence expand.
"What kind of person strikes an unarmed woman? You cowards."
Lian stepped forward and thrust his left palm into the air.
BOOM!
A shockwave of pure, compressed Qi erupted from his hand. Commander Zhao, the four Golden Guards, and the plump merchant were swept up like autumn leaves in a hurricane, sent crashing through the walls and doors of the inn and into the muddy street outside.