The street was packed.
Ordinary townsfolk, shopkeepers, peddlers. A solid wall of people followed behind, watching the procession with wide eyes.
But… something felt off.
Li Daoxuan suddenly froze.
Wait a second.
He slapped his thigh. "Hey, everyone! I say, shouldn't you be throwing something by now? Rotten eggs, spoiled vegetables, cabbage leaves, anything! That's how righteous indignation works. You have to throw things at the villains. That's called positive energy."
The crowd collectively broke into cold sweat.
"Great hero," someone cried, close to tears, "there's a drought! We don't even have eggs to eat. Where are we supposed to get rotten ones?"
"Exactly! We barely survive on wild greens. Who has spare cabbages to throw at people?"
Li Daoxuan fell silent.
This was… awkward.
He could only sigh deeply. "Fine. The atmosphere is completely ruined. As for the problem of you having nothing to throw, I'll solve that very soon. Please look forward to it."
Before long, they arrived at the Prince of Fu's Residence.
The Prince of Fu's Residence glittered with gold and jade. Its scale was only slightly inferior to that of the Prince of Qin's Residence, the greatest princely estate in the realm. If ranked across the entire empire, it was easily second place.
Under normal circumstances, only a small squad of guards stood watch at the gates.
But recently, bandit forces had run rampant throughout Henan. Luoyang was flooded with refugees, and the Prince of Fu was terrified. He had spent a large sum of silver hiring nearly a thousand martial artists and vagrants, rotating them in shifts to guard the residence.
So now, in addition to the regular guards, there stood a dense cluster of martial artists. At a glance, nearly a hundred of them.
They were bored out of their minds.
Then suddenly, noise erupted from the main street.
They looked over and saw Li Daoxuan escorting ten battered men, with a massive crowd of curious onlookers flooding the entire road behind him.
The genuine palace guards recognized Li Daoxuan immediately.
"Eh? Isn't that Xiao Qiushui, the Divine Hero of the Central Plains?"
"He's always seen together with Lord Bai."
"He's a favorite of the Governor. Why is he dragging ten martial artists here like prisoners?"
These guards had served the Prince of Fu for many years. They had seen enough political struggles to understand one rule very clearly.
When big shots fight, it's always the small fry who get crushed.
Without saying a word, the real guards quietly withdrew. Two of them slipped into the residence at once to report the situation.
The hired martial artists, however, were a different story.
They glanced over and instantly erupted in fury.
"Those are our people!"
"They've been beaten!"
"Who dares cause trouble right outside the Prince of Fu's gates?"
Nearly a hundred martial artists surged forward like a tide.
As they advanced, the common people behind Li Daoxuan scattered in panic, retreating far away with gasps and cries.
Li Daoxuan sighed helplessly. "Such crude thug behavior. What skill is there in frightening ordinary civilians?"
One of the martial artists shouted, "Where did you crawl out from, kid? What trouble are you stirring up here?"
Li Daoxuan replied calmly, "These ten ate duck blood vermicelli soup without paying and threatened the shop owner. That constitutes disorderly conduct. I've come to speak with the Prince of Fu regarding your lack of discipline."
"Hahaha!" The martial artists burst into laughter. "So it's just duck blood vermicelli soup. When have we ever paid for that stuff?"
Li Daoxuan's expression hardened. "I can't pretend I didn't hear that. If you've also been eating without paying, I'll need to deal with you as well. Civil compensation where required, criminal punishment where applicable—"
Before he could finish speaking, one martial artist threw a punch with a sharp whoosh. "Enough nonsense! Get down here!"
Thump.
The punch landed.
Li Daoxuan did not move an inch.
The martial artist screamed, clutching his arm, and collapsed to the ground.
Li Daoxuan announced, "Alright. You've confirmed your criminal liability. Sentence: six months of Labor Reform."
The remaining martial artists were stunned.
He hadn't even moved, yet their companion was already screaming on the ground?
Something was very wrong.
"It's the Thirteen Grand Protectors' Iron Body!"
"The Golden Bell Shield and Iron Cloth Shirt!"
"No way! Aren't those just street performance tricks?"
"Fake or real, who cares? There are almost a hundred of us! Charge!"
They all rushed him at once.
The crowd of onlookers was treated to quite the spectacle.
All they heard were continuous thumping sounds. No one could tell how many people were striking Li Daoxuan, but the result was always the same. Screams, hands flung back, feet hopping in pain.
Li Daoxuan remained completely calm throughout.
He knocked one person down with a left punch, kicked another aside with his right foot, and muttered to himself as he worked.
"Six months of Labor Reform. Another six months. And another. Mm. Excellent. Very productive. I've collected dozens of Labor Reform candidates today. All high-quality labor. Delightful."
In the blink of an eye, the ground before the Prince of Fu's Residence was covered in groaning bodies.
Only around two dozen martial artists remained standing.
These were the ones who had not rushed in. They had watched the entire fight from the sidelines and thus were still able to stand upright and speak clearly.
Seeing Li Daoxuan's absurdly simple and brutal efficiency, they all sucked in sharp breaths of cold air.
One of them stepped forward and clasped his fists respectfully. "Young hero, your skill is extraordinary."
Li Daoxuan waved his hand. "Average. Just average. Third best in the world."
The martial artist continued, "We are not like them. They ate without paying. We did no such thing."
"That's good," Li Daoxuan replied.
The man then said solemnly, "However, we accepted the Prince of Fu's payment and promised to guard his residence. Having taken money, we must fulfill our duty. Since you've come to the gates, we are obligated to block you. Whether you are right or wrong, whether you are powerful or not, today, even if the King of Heaven himself comes, we must stand in the way."
After speaking, the remaining two dozen martial artists spread out, forming a defensive line before the gates. They knew full well that they were no match, yet they still prepared to fight to the end.
It was a tragic kind of loyalty.
Li Daoxuan smiled faintly. "Rules. If everyone in the jianghu followed rules, how wonderful the world would be. Unfortunately, by doing this, you make me look like the unreasonable one."
The martial artist spoke earnestly, "Young hero, it's best not to trespass into a place like the Prince of Fu's Residence. Even if you defeat us and force your way in, that would be a capital crime. When the imperial army surrounds you later, no matter how strong you are, numbers will eventually overwhelm you."
Li Daoxuan chuckled. "Relax. I won't force my way in."
The martial artist blinked. "Then…?"
"The Prince of Fu is coming out," Li Daoxuan said calmly.
"?"
By now, Luoyang had fully entered the scope of Li Daoxuan's diorama box.
With a simple focus, his vision passed through dozens of walls.
He clearly saw a three-hundred-catty, bloated figure.
The Prince of Fu, Zhu Changxun, was waddling forward, panting heavily as he hurried out.