Near the window, the quiet lieutenant finally drew a short handgun, but he kept the muzzle lowered.
"Release enough pressure for us to move," he told Luo. "You're pinning down your own men."
"If I loosen it, he burns the room," Luo snapped.
The man's jaw tightened as he shook his head. "He's already burning the room."
"Am not," Lingyun corrected, still smiling. "I'm burning him. The room itself is fine. It would take too much effort to rebuild the room after I've burnt it down. I'm not about to do that."
He increased the heat one final time, then released the lieutenant. The man collapsed beside the desk, clutching at an arm that would never work properly again.
The resentment that crossed the quiet man's face lasted less than a second, but Lingyun saw it.
Yup... he really was going to be the most useful man here. He would live if he didn't do anything overly stupid in the next few minutes.
