“Robbery?” Frost Wolf clearly hadn’t come to at this point.
This was Southern Blue, and Frost Wolf was the largest mercenary corps here, one working fairly closely with the city lord and the important merchants. There was actually someone planning to rob them under such circumstances? It was already quite good that he wasn’t bullying other people.
“Yes, this is a robbery.” Ji Tianqing arrived behind Frost Wolf and gave him a pat on the shoulder.
Even Qianye and Song Zining couldn’t evade her slap, much less this Frost Wolf. The moment this slap struck the corps commander, his height was shortened by half as the lower part of his body went through the wooden boards and into the floor below.
Only at this point did Frost Wolf’s protective origin power start working. He retaliated with full power, demolishing the entire building in a flurry of flying gravel and debris.
Ji Tianqing was still slapping on Frost Wolf’s shoulder as though she had nothing to do with the things going on around her. The second slap thumped the commander right into the basement. There was nowhere else to sink at this point, but Young Miss Tianqing delivered yet another blow, hammering a good part of Frost Wolf’s body into the building’s foundation.
A champion’s body was extremely strong, and even a human champion was much sturdier than a building’s foundation. Frost Wolf was sure to survive, but injuries were inevitable.
After three such slaps, Frost Wolf had come to realize that this young miss wasn’t a character he could afford to offend. He immediately retracted his aura and pretended to be unconscious, only using his origin power to protect his innards.
The entire building had vanished at this point, replaced by a fairly large pit. Ji Tianqing was crouched down at the bottom of this hole, pulling on Frost Wolf’s hair like a little kitten playing with a new toy.
The massive ruckus naturally alarmed all of the mercenaries in the base. Hundreds of soldiers ran out from their barracks, most of them still drowsy and unclear as to what had just happened.
Song Zining patted Qianye on the back. “Unleash your aura.”
Qianye felt puzzled. What was the point of unleashing his aura? These sub-champion mercenaries were far from able to sense anything. But the seventh young master had to have his reasons. Soon, a beam of dark golden blood energy shot up into the skies.
As expected, the mercenaries couldn’t sense anything, and even that Frost Wolf was busy feigning unconsciousness. It was actually Ji Tianqing who glanced back with a complicated expression, shivering all the while.
Far off in the sky over the city lord’s manor, Ji Rui and Guan Zhongliu were standing in the air, gazing at the three youths who were busy engaging in robbery.
Both Ji Rui and Guan Zhongliu sensed the dark golden blood energy when it appeared. The latter had it easier, only feeling a sharp stab between his brows. Ji Rui, on the other hand, found his aura declining sharply before slowly climbing back up. Under the darkness of the night, no one noticed that his face had turned somewhat pale.
Ji Rui and Guan Zhongliu had unleashed their aura as a warning and deterrence. Qianye launching his blood energy into the sky was akin to deliberate provocation. As someone used to being tyrannical, how could Guan Zhongliu take this lying down?
He said furiously, “I’ll go and teach these brats some manners!”
He was just about to charge out when his body sank down as Ji Rui dragged him back. Guan Zhongliu asked in surprise, “City Lord, why are you stopping me? These people are bullying us at our doors!”
Ji Rui sighed. “Even if they are bullying us at our doors, can you do anything?”
“Even if I’m not their match, you can deal with them, can’t you? How can a group of brats be your match?”
Ji Rui sighed again. “So what if I beat them?”
“Of course, you can drive them away.”
“How about next time?”
“This…” Guan Zhongliu was stoppered up.
Even Guan Zhongliu understood that they had no power to detain Qianye. Now, the two youngsters with him seemed equally unfathomable and definitely weren’t ordinary brats.
With Ji Rui taking the field, he would, at most, be able to drive the three away. He probably couldn’t even injure them. If these three were to come every day in the future, there would be no end to their problems.
Guan Zhongliu wasn’t dumb, either. He felt a chill run through his heart upon noticing just how young these people were. Accomplishing this much at such an age meant that they were supported by powerful characters and families. And here he was, struggling as a champion at his age.
“Let’s return,” said Ji Rui.
Guan Zhongliu nodded silently.
When Qianye unleashed his blood energy, he had contended against Ji Rui and Guan Zhongliu in terms of vigor. It wasn’t so evident with the latter, but the city lord had definitely taken a small loss in this exchange. It was this confrontation that allowed Ji Rui to notice how unimaginably high ranked Qianye’s blood energy was.
Ji Rui was willing to shrink back, but Song Zining wasn’t about to let him do as he pleased. The seventh young master dragged Qianye over, saying, “Leave this place to Tianqing, let’s pay the city lord a visit.”
Qianye shrugged and followed Song Zining. Normally, Qianye would’ve stopped after seeing Ji Rui’s decision to back off—he had no plans to force the man into a corner. Nonetheless, Song Zining seemed to have other intentions by leaving no leeway for the city lord.
The two arrived at the city lord’s manor without disguising their aura. Under such circumstances, Ji Rui no longer had the option of keeping things under wraps. He could only fly up from the mansion to face the duo mid-air. “What brings the two generals here?”
Song Zining cupped his fists. “City Lord Ji, I presume?”
“That is indeed I. How should I address you?” Ji Rui was fairly polite.
“Song Zining. Since the city lord knows about Qianye’s background, I’m sure you would’ve heard some things about me.”
Ji Rui’s heart skipped a beat. “So it’s the seventh young noble of the Song clan, I was lacking in manners.”
Song Zining wasn’t any less famous than Qianye. As a bonafide lineal scion of the Song clan, his status was extraordinary. Additionally, he had assumed an official position in the military as Zhang Boqian’s staff officer—this experience wasn’t something to be trifled with. It stood proof that he had caught the heavenly monarch’s attention and anyone wanting to touch him had to think about the name, Zhang Boqian.
If such a person were to fall in the outside world, the Song clan would never let the matter rest. They had to hunt down the murderer at all costs, for the clan’s prestige if nothing else.
Ji Rui had studied deeply about Evernight and the Empire, so he naturally understood the attitude of these aristocratic families. He immediately treated Song Zining with due respect and became restless while thinking about what the Song wanted to do in the neutral lands.
After all, the neutral lands were fairly isolated in terms of news. Ji Rui had no idea that Song Zining had cut off the clan and become independent. And with the seventh young noble’s meteoric rise in recent years, the Song clan simply made no mention of him breaking off from the clan. On the contrary, they expressed their goodwill constantly in an effort to show that both parties were still one family.
Ji Rui’s reaction was within Song Zining’s expectations. He closed his fan with a gentle smile and proceeded to tap his other palm with it. “I heard from Qianye that the City Lord hasn’t been very genuine in the past.”
Ji Rui was shocked out of his wits. Such direct words left him no space to maneuver and would likely result in a fight at the slightest disagreement. He coughed a couple of times and said with a wry smile, “Seventh Young Noble might not know, but there is no law and order here in the neutral lands, whoever has the biggest fist makes the rules. I had no right to refuse when the Wolf King came knocking on my door.”
Song Zining’s expression turned frosty. “Is that so? Does that mean you can say no to me!?”
Ji Rui was inwardly furious, but his face was still full of smiles. “Seventh Young Noble is acting like an outsider now. The entire world knows the Song clan, just tell me whatever you need and I’ll definitely help out.”
Song Zining replied, “Fine, that’s what I was waiting for. I came to the neutral lands to build a business with my brothers. I see that Southern Blue is a bustling city and wish to build my base of operations here. I’ll rely on you to take care of us in the future.”
Ji Rui’s expression changed somewhat. “I’ll definitely help in whichever way I can, it’s just that the Wolf King…”
Song Zining laughed coldly. “I have my ways in dealing with the Wolf King. City Lord, I don’t want to threaten you, but the one whom you should be afraid of isn’t the Wolf King. This young master is much more ruthless, I’ll have you know.”
Ji Rui looked fairly embarrassed. “This… You surely jest.”
Song Zining adopted a stern expression. “I am not joking. Since I’ve already come to the neutral lands, do you think it’ll be difficult for me to manage this city? Remember that your existence is not essential to Southern Blue.”
These words were fairly serious. Ji Rui was livid and on the verge of acting out, but he still couldn’t muster up the courage in the end. He merely returned to the manor with a wave of his sleeve, not even bothering to engage in formalities.
Song Zining smiled. “Let’s go back, things should be settled by now, there won’t be anyone to resist us.”
Qianye was astonished after returning to the mercenary base. In the short while that they were talking with Ji Rui, the Frost Wolf Mercenary Corps had already turned into a complete mess. There were soldiers strewn across the ground with only a couple dozen depressed mercenaries still standing.
No wonder Song Zining had said that there would be no one to resist. It turned out that Ji Tianqing had knocked out all the dissenters. Additionally, there was a strong stench of blood coming from outside of the courtyard where a dozen hunters were lying in pools of blood. They were all friends of Frost Wolf who had come to help out and seek remuneration for the assistance. Unfortunately, they had run into a god of murder like Ji Tianqing.
Young Miss Tianqing was never merciful when she needed to establish her might at the critical juncture. A casual wave was enough to bring about heavy casualties.
Seeing Song Zining return, she asked, “How’d it go?”
“Of course it’s a happy deal.” Song Zining laughed.
“All is good then, I think this mercenary corps is a bit too small, how long will it take if we’re going to expand slowly? There are quite a few mercenary groups in this area, why don’t we rob them all?”
Song Zining raised a thumb. “That’s how it should be.”
That night, the entire Southern Blue descended into chaos as mercenary corps of all shapes and sizes fell into mortal peril. Flames sprang up in several locations and lit up Southern Blue with a reddish hue—the people there had angered Young Miss Ji with their disobedience. She didn’t kill them proactively and only set fire to their bases of operation. Of course, those who had attacked her during the arson were quickly turned into corpses.
With such a grave matter at hand, the mercenaries sought help from the city lord. Nonetheless, Ji Rui shut his doors tight and refused all visitors. This made it clear that even the city lord couldn’t do anything against this rampaging group. The only way left for these mercenaries was to flee or to submit.
By the time dawn arrived over Southern Blue, the entire atmosphere here had changed.
