If Bluesmoke really hadn’t seen any changes whatsoever, why would the Blue Eagle Guard have been so overbearing? They’d always been rather high-handed, but not nearly to the same degree.
Jiang Chen sank into some reflection at the unexpected news.
He wasn’t going to just leave though. He was no coward. Furthermore, he didn’t believe that this would be the end of it.
Yes, he’d taught a painful lesson to the Blue Eagle Guard. He’d even captured Commander Yan. However, he had a few things to ask Sister Liu, the manager of the large ancient jade store.
He suspected that he’d been sold out. The Blue Eagle Guard had come to this inn precisely because of his ancient jade. This entire elaborate show was the result of their greed. Why else would they go to so much trouble just to arrest a criminal?
Lying in ambush outside the inn would give them a much better chance of catching someone!
After a bit more thought, it was definitely blatantly obvious. By now, it was almost daybreak.
“Brother Chu,” Jiang Chen declared, “I’m not the type of guy to leave right now. I’ll only do so after everything is appropriately dealt with here. Come with us. Don’t be afraid.”
Chu Xinghan had witnessed Jiang Chen’s abilities with nothing short of awe, and finding out that this was in fact an old acquaintance had doubled it. There was no reason for the young man to refuse.
No more Blue Eagle Guards came. The inn wasn’t brave enough to confront him either, and the wandering cultivators were content enough to leave him alone.
Jiang Chen and company left only when the sun was high in the sky.
When they came to the store he’d visited yesterday though, it wasn’t yet open. Jiang Chen snickered. He could afford to wait.
After a bit more than an hour, all the other surrounding stores had opened for business. This one was the only of its fellows that remained resolutely closed.
“Hmph. Trying to hide from me?” Jiang Chen sneered. He was even more sure that the person he was looking for had a guilty conscience. At this point, he could dispense with courtesy.
Walking up to the door, he pushed at the air with both hands. The restrictions blocking entrance disintegrated like paper and glue; utterly destroyed within a moment. There was nothing to stop him from entering forcibly.
The neighboring stores peeked their heads out at the violent gesture. This store was one of the largest stores in Miracle City, and did a lot of business everywhere. In fact, it often stole customers from its competitors
As wealth often drew ire, staff from neighboring stores watched the show with some schadenfreude instead of offering any help. It seemed that the victim of the apparent robbery in progress had made too many enemies with its arrogance.
To have it burned down or smashed to smithereens would be the best thing in the world. Then, all its business would trickle away to the other stores. There was a ton of profit to be made here!
Shoving past the door, Jiang Chen picked up a chair and sat down in the very center of the store.
A few ordinary associates ducked out fearfully from the corners. Jiang Chen knew there were people inside in the first place. He snickered as he looked them up and down. “What? You don’t have the courage to open your doors today?”
The employees collectively paled. They glanced at Jiang Chen as if he was the grim reaper. In particular, they avoided making any eye contact whatsoever, almost as if they were worried that he would eat them alive.
“Tell me, where is your Sister Liu?” Jiang Chen stated callously.
“Sister Liu… she has business elsewhere. She left overnight and won’t be back anytime soon,” an employee stuttered out.
“Really?” Jiang Chen’s smile was scornful. “And here I am waiting for an explanation. So she’s decided to hide, has she?”
“No, no, you misunderstand, dear customer. Sister Liu was getting the stones together, but something urgent came up that needed her. Unfortunately, we have to give up buying your ancient jade.” The employee who answered was nervous, but remarkably kept up the lie.
Jiang Chen wasn’t going to believe such hogwash. “Maybe a three-year-old would believe you,” he chuckled. “Here, I’ll give you thirty minutes. If she doesn’t show up in that time, you can’t blame me for taking a few… less-than-friendly measures.”
The staff member felt his heart pound. “Honored customer, I’m telling the truth with every word. Sister Liu really can’t come back so quickly. Please have mercy on us.”
“Are you sure she won’t be able to come back within thirty minutes?”
“Definitely not,” the employee stated readily.
Jiang Chen chuckled again. A strange grin crept over his face. “So you don’t want to give me a proper answer then. Well… allow me!”
He quickly poked his fingers at all the employees around him. They were instantly incapacitated. Jiang Chen began to rob the store blind. He put all the jade he could see into storage.
“Ole Gold, send out your children and harvest anything you can find. All of the hidden vaults and traps, both above and below ground. Leave nothing uncovered!”
The Goldbiter Rats were quickly mobilized like a swarm of locusts.
Robbery hadn’t been Jiang Chen’s original intention. If Sister Liu had given him an explanation, even a false one, he wouldn’t have been able to do much without evidence to the contrary.
However, if she was hiding from him, that was another matter. Clearly, she was being shamelessly dishonest. Since that was the case, there was no reason for him to hold back.
There was no doubt as to the Goldbiter Rats’ efficiency. As befitting of one of the largest shops in Miracle City, the amount of jade and spirit stones in its stores dazzled even Jiang Chen.
Jiang Chen unceremoniously pocketed everything, and took out a portion of the ancient jade to give it to the hardworking rats.
“Ole Gold, you and your brethren should take this jade as your rightful reward. Eat up!”
The employees had been incapacitated, but were still quite lucid. Wanting to weep from the loss, they saw firsthand how quickly the shop was cleaned out.
Even the hidden compartments and areas that they hadn’t known about were depleted. Seeing the large amounts of wealth and fortune being looted, the employees knew that this place was done for!
The ones watching the show from outside were mildly worried that they would be plundered as well.
But that didn’t occur. The expert meting out punishment was very principled in his refusal to harm innocents.
