“Alright, alright, alright!” Sir Feng said, “I won’t kill you today, but I will sever the tendons of your arms and hands and take you back to the Hawkwolf gaol for ‘treatment’!”
The Hawkwolf gaol!
Even hall chief Wu, who had come with sir Feng, shuddered when he heard these two words. The Hawkwolf gaol was the in-house jail of the Hawkwolf Guard. They used it for interrogating confessions out of criminals. It was rumored that they possessed a hundred and eight different methods of torture, and not a single person had managed to survive more than ten. Even the tough men of the jianghu would have their minds crushed to pieces, kneeling on the ground and begging them for a quick death.
Li Qingshan’s hand reached towards the Cursive Sword Calligraphy on his back. He was already ready to use force. Everything had happened suddenly, and with how arrogant sir Feng was, it would be useless even if he ate the spiritual ginseng now.
With his Cursive Sword Calligraphy, he might have an opportunity to kill this person here and now. He had seen a few spiritual artifacts so far, and none of them could compare to the one he currently possessed. However, he was not completely confident. Even first-rate masters had their own trump cards, so what kind of trump card would an innate master who originated from a major organisation possess?
“Governance of Legalism—Blade Aura of the Death Sentence!”
Sir Feng’s bearing changed. He raised his blade over his head, and the light on the blade condensed into a blade aura three feet in length.
The death sentence referred to execution as well as the penalty of death.
Before the blade had even moved, a bearing, a desolate aura that had transcended martial arts struck Li Qingshan’s mind violently. He felt like he was a person on the death row, having reached the end of his path, kneeling on the execution platform with his eyes closed and waiting for the blade to fall and take his life. He was unable to even muster the will to resist.
Even if regular first-rate masters could maintain their willpower before the blade, their martial arts would still be drastically weakened. They would probably be done for. However, what kind of person was Li Qingshan? Red light shone in his eyes as his demonic nature, his murderous nature, immediately obliterated this influence.
“The Tiger Demon’s Fierce Roar!” All of the true qi within him surged violently. With his bellow, all of the jars of alcohol stored within the restaurant exploded at the same time.
“The Ox Demon Butts its Horns!” The straight buddhist staff in his hand stabbed towards the blade along a profound path.
If sir Feng’s blade was the executioner’s blade about to take his life, then he was a criminal beyond the law.
Their auras immediately rose to the very peak. Just when the blade and the staff were about to collide, just when life and death would be decided, two streaks of red light shot over and knocked both weapons flying.
Sir Feng roared out in anger and surprise, “Who is it?!”
Li Qingshan said nothing. He was also shocked. However, when he looked at what had knocked away their weapons, he was left even more speechless. They were not some divine weapon used by gods, but peanuts. They seemed like ordinary peanuts, yet they maintained their complete shapes after knocking away the blade and staff.
“You! You’re called Feng Zhang, right? If you spent the same amount of time on cultivating as you do with harassing children, you wouldn’t still be a second layer Qi Practitioner.”
The voice floated through the surroundings from everywhere, making it impossible to discern its origins. Suddenly, Li Qingshan raised his head and looked at the beams above the restaurant. He caught a glimpse of light.
“Get down here!” Feng Zhang followed Li Qingshan’s gaze and pulled out a talisman from his sleeve, shooting it at the beams.
The talisman tore through the air, transforming into a fireball that flew even faster.
Even when he was standing on the ground, Li Qingshan could feel the startling heat. If the fireball had directly landed on him, his fate would be obvious. These were the methods of innate masters. There was no need for them to resort to such desperate measures like Xiong Xiangwu had, biting through his tongue. They could directly activate the talisman with true qi, and from how easily Feng Zhang had used it, he clearly possessed more than a single talisman.
A figure leapt down from the beams. He extended his hand and grabbed the fireball. Landing on the ground, he crushed it in his hands easily.
As if he had done something not worthy of any attention, he looked at Li Qingshan and said, “That’s strange. You’re just a first layer Qi Practitioner, yet you can see me?” He was able to tell with a single glance that inside Li Qingshan’s body was not inner force, but true qi.
Only now did Li Qingshan see the person. He seemed to be twenty-five or twenty-six years old. His eyebrows were like crescent moons; his eyes were like stars in the cold night sky, and his face was like jade. He was wrapped in spiritual qi that was similar to flowing water, which made him seem like a beacon in the darkness, allowing Li Qingshan to spot him.
The scarlet clothes he wore were similar to the Black Wolf uniform in design, but they were much larger than the Black Wolf uniform. They were also embroidered, detailing a scarlet wolf howling at the sky. He carried a similar tablet on his waist, but it was made out of scarlet bronze.
“S- Scarlet Wolf commander!” Hall chief Wu had never seen one before, but he had heard about them before. Among the Hawkwolf Guard, scarlet bronze was a rank higher than black iron, while wolf commanders led the pack of wolves. Within the entire Clear River prefecture, only a few people possessed more authority than him. He stood above thousands of people and was a person of great authority who could decide the fates of people with a single word.
“Commander Hua!” Feng Zhang, who had been so arrogant before, was now like a rat that had seen a mouse. He was filled with so much regret that he was tempted to slap himself in the face.
He could not be blamed for being rash. He was young, and he had joined the Hawkwolf Guard, so he had become complacent due to his age. He had grown accustomed to being arrogant on a daily basis, so when he came to a tiny city like Qingyang, he did not take anyone seriously. He had forced four first-rate masters into retreating with a single sentence, so his conceit had reached the utter limit. Li Qingshan’s refusal to comply had taken him by surprise, so he attacked out of fury, but his attack failed.
He was just about to use his special technique to redeem himself, but he had been interrupted, losing the weapon in the process. Obviously, he would not think too much about it. No matter how unbridled the person was, could he be more unbridled than the Hawkwolf Guard? However, never did he think of a Scarlet Wolf commander. It had to be mentioned that regular Scarlet Wolves would never leave the Clear River prefecture even if they had the time to spare. He felt like he had suddenly come across a huge shark in a tiny pool. He was filled with disbelief and panic.
“Do you still remember me? We’ve only met once!”
“This subordinate would never dare to forget commander Hua. It’s surprising that commander Hua remembers me.” Feng Zhang bowed his head politely.
Every single new member of the Black Wolf guard in the Clear River prefecture would report to the prefectural city and meet the two commanders. Feng Zhang was no exception either. He obviously could not forget about his boss’s boss, Hua Chengzan or commander Hua.
Hua Chengzan said, “Weren’t you assigned to Zhuo Zhibo’s command in Jiaping city? Why are you here?”
Feng Zhang thought rapidly. His nervousness and alertness had even exceeded when he clashed with Li Qingshan. He gathered his thoughts and assembled something, but just as he was about to answer.
Hua Chengzan waved his hand and said, “Forget it. Old Wang is here too. You better come see him!”
Old Wang!
Feng Zhang’s heart shuddered. Hua Chengzan obviously was not talking about a certain neighbour called old Wang, but the chief personnel for upholding the law, the Scarlet Hawk commander Wang Pushi. Due to his name, people gave him the nickname of ‘old Wang’, but there were not a lot of people who were bold enough to call him that. The people of the jianghu had a saying, “You would rather meet the king of hell than old Wang. Once you meet old Wang, you would be meeting the king of hell.”
Note: A certain neighbour called old Wang is an allusion to a popular Chinese joke. Basically, this neighbour might be your wife’s secret lover, might be the actual father to your child, or he might be the person you vent to, or he just might be the butt of a joke. You can say that old Wang is just as obscene as it sounds in English.
Note: Wang also means ‘king’ in this case. It’s a very common Chinese surname, but the saying on the jianghu is a play on words between the ‘king of hell’ and ‘old Wang’.
The silent hall chief Wu felt like his brain had just exploded. He just wanted to steal a spiritual ginseng from a junior, yet he somehow managed to get such important figures involved? Let alone him, a mere hall chief, but even protectors or even the master of the Iron Fist school had to be careful around them, smiling and obliging to everything that they said. Why would they appear together in a measly city like Qingyang?
Hua Chengzan then said to Li Qingshan, “Kid, come. There’s someone who wants to see you!”
