Lu Qian's few sharp words had pierced deeply, pushing Xiong Dingtian into a corner.
His fury erupted instantly.
The surrounding Forbidden Guards formed a heavy encirclement; countless experts from the major government offices—the Palace Guards, the Circuit Court, and the Office of Wind and Weather Control—had all gathered here.
Spears and halberds gleamed, thick armor and heavy shields were arrayed, and countless strong bows and crossbows guarded every direction.
Under such circumstances, Xiong Dingtian brazenly made his move, attempting to assassinate Lu Qian right before everyone’s eyes!
Such an act was beyond foolish.
Originally, Lu Qian was only pinned with about seventy or eighty percent of the blame, but now, with Xiong Dingtian's actions, he had fully sealed that blame onto himself, one hundred percent.
The officers from the Palace Guards and Circuit Court surrounding Xiong Dingtian gasped and were thrown backward by the force of his sudden attack.
He was massive and mighty like a raging black bear; with a swing of his arms, more than a dozen men were sent tumbling.
A thunderous roar exploded like lightning.
The Circuit Court investigators questioning Lu Qian screamed in alarm as crimson blood erupted from their ears.
Several of their eardrums shattered outright from Xiong Dingtian’s roar.
These investigators were extremely sharp and meticulous, well-versed in the diverse legal statutes of the Great Yin dynasty, familiar with the official customs and unspoken rules between government offices.
They were experts in handling cases, top-notch professionals.
But their cultivation was weak, as they were not captains within the Circuit Court’s arrest divisions.
The roar not only shattered their eardrums but also caused internal injuries.
In the narrow alley, several Circuit Court captains cursed furiously.
From the high tower, archers from the Palace Guards drew their bows, but they hesitated to shoot at the chaotic moving figures below.
On both sides of the alley, the Forbidden Guards shouted in unison, spears forward like a forest trying to charge.
Yet their way was blocked by the tumbling Palace Guards and Circuit Court officers crashed aside by Xiong Dingtian.
The forensic experts from the Circuit Court, who had been examining the assassins’ corpses, screamed in fright, dropping their tools one by one.
Knowing their limits, they crouched in the corner clutching their heads, and some rolled to the sides of the alley.
Luo Qingzhou’s eyes narrowed sharply.
The soft sword at his waist silently slid free, shimmering like a spiritual serpent weaving through the void.
The cold gleam swept across and silently caught several Palace Guards and Circuit Court officers who were flying toward him, neutralizing their heavy force and letting them safely land.
With sword light flashing, Luo Qingzhou dashed forward a step faster than the captains of the Circuit Court, cutting through the air with a sharp whisper as he attacked the suddenly enraged Xiong Dingtian.
Amid the commotion, Luo Qingzhou glanced sideways at several Circuit Court captains.
Seeing their slower reactions and inferior movements compared to his own, he smiled slightly to himself, pleased.
It seemed that within the provincial capital city of Haojing, among all the government offices, the muscular strength of the Palace Guards still surpassed the others by a noticeable margin.
As he was quietly reveling in this thought, a wild gust swept past his side with a whoosh.
Luo Qingzhou’s heart jolted.
Looking up in shock, he only saw the broad back of a heavily armored, burly figure.
With a loud roar, a massive fist smashed down heavily, sending several people next to him spitting blood and tumbling chaotically.
Lu Qian observed Xiong Dingtian's movements clearly.
Xiong Dingtian was ferocious, but his footwork and speed were his weakness.
Lu Qian had intended to dodge using his body technique to avoid direct confrontation.
Yet all around, countless officials were present.
With so many eyes watching, if Lu Qian simply dodged, it would ruin Xiong Dingtian’s reputation, painting him as “cowardly and afraid to die” or “holding back his force”—a weakling in everyone’s eyes.
The heavy fist came crashing down.
Lu Qian shouted loudly, summoning the recently restored power of his Canghai Vital Energy and golden aura, causing his hands to glow with a faint bluish water light.
A roaring tide sounded in the alley as Lu Qian stood firm and launched a barrage of palm strikes, simultaneously yelling, “Alright, Xiong Dingtian, since you want to kill me to silence me, you’ve now fully confirmed your guilt!”
Xiong Dingtian’s unstoppable charge weakened by a third, his moves slowed by a third.
Lu Qian swept his palms upward, striking Xiong Dingtian’s fist repeatedly with a series of more than a dozen crackling blows.
The immense impact shook Lu Qian’s body with each collision; he coughed silently, his body rattling intensely, and he involuntarily staggered backward.
After a dozen or so strikes, Lu Qian retreated more than ten paces, his palms aching as if his joints were breaking.
Both elbows and shoulders dislocated simultaneously.
Everyone nearby heard the crisp “crack” sounds of his joints giving out.
Luo Qingzhou, busy as he was, praised aloud, “Truly one of our Palace Guards’ heroes.”
Several Circuit Court captains followed Luo Qingzhou in a rapid assault charging at Xiong Dingtian.
Hearing Luo’s boast, one dark-skinned captain sneered quietly, “Palace Guards? Heroes? Ha, nowadays, having ‘heroes’ around has become so cheap, huh?”
Luo Qingzhou, enraged, threw the man a glare as he charged, not forgetting to turn his head.
That dark-skinned captain met him eye to eye without backing down.
Both grunted coldly before quickening their pace, rushing even faster toward Xiong Dingtian.
Lu Qian staggered back several paces, just steadying himself, when Xiong Dingtian’s heavy fist thundered down again.
Lu Qian dropped his arms, powerless to resist.
He howled and prepared to use his body technique to dodge.
Suddenly, a towering figure rushed past from behind, landing a direct punch against the heavy fist coming down.
“Clang!”
A deafening crash like a muted thunderbolt echoed through the alley.
Xiong Dingtian howled in extreme pain.
His right arm shattered inch by inch, broken as thoroughly as sugarcane by the single punch.
Watching his arm twist and tremble unnaturally, flesh tearing open in strips, chunks of white bone spattered from the wounds like arrows whistling through the air.
Xiong Dingtian's agonized cries rose.
The heavily armored burly figure stepped forward despite Xiong Dingtian’s agonized left fist smashing hard into his chest.
“Clang!”
The man charged his body into Xiong Dingtian, and the left arm suffered the same fate as the right—shattered piece by piece.
Without slowing, the man crashed aggressively into Xiong Dingtian’s chest, planting a thick shoulder firmly.
Xiong Dingtian’s chest caved in; his ribs cracked repeatedly like shattered beans.
His massive body flew backward, his feet lifted half a foot from the ground, gliding back like a swift swallow for over thirty feet, finally smashing into the ranks of the Forbidden Guards stationed at the other end of the alley.
Several heavy, painted, beast-faced rhinoceros-hide shields reinforced with steel blocked Xiong Dingtian’s flying body.
A tremendous impact sounded as the shielded soldiers were shoved back, dozens of tall and sturdy elite guards tumbling.
This provided the cover Xiong Dingtian needed to stop.
He spat a mouthful of old blood nearly eight feet away.
His face turned deathly pale.
Staring fixedly at the burly figure who had severely injured him, he couldn’t utter a word before rolling his eyes and collapsing unconscious.
“A bunch of trash!” The heavily built man, who had effortlessly crippled Xiong Dingtian with one fierce blow, lightly clapped his hands and said slowly, “Truly a bunch of trash.”
Turning around, he pointed toward the rushing Luo Qingzhou and the captains.
“Oh, don’t misunderstand. I am not targeting any one of you specifically. I’m saying that except for my Forbidden Guards, everyone else here—no matter Palace Guards, Circuit Court, or Wind-and-Weather Office, one by one—they're all damn trash.”
Shaking his head, this youth who was over eight feet tall, bear-like in stature with a face like a mythic beast, laughed arrogantly up at the sky.
“The empire spends huge sums every year on salaries, yet only raises a bunch of trash like you?”
“Honestly, I say just kick you all out. Send you back to eat your stale rice, and save your wages to fully support my Forbidden Guards. Then our ranks can at least grow several times stronger, tsk tsk.”
In the alley, the officers, constables, minor officials, and patrol inspectors of the Palace Guards, Circuit Court, and Wind and Weather Control who were not part of the Forbidden Guards all flushed with shame and anger.
They looked at the arrogant man with hostile eyes, united in silent resentment.
But no one dared to say a word.
First, the man had indeed easily subdued and severely wounded Xiong Dingtian alone.
Second, he was Le Shan, Left General of the Forbidden Guards garrisoned in the Wind and Weather Office.
His surname was “Le,” the same as the great general Le Wu, and the current Empress Dowager Le.
“No more words?” Le Shan chuckled, folding his arms and puffing out his chest as he took two steps backward.
Passing by Lu Qian, Le Shan suddenly reached out and slapped his shoulder hard, then gestured to compare their heights with surprise, noticing Lu Qian was actually over an inch taller than him.
“Good fellow. Not bad. It’s a pity you’re with the Palace Guards—they’re just a bunch of shady bastards who do dirty work stealthily… How about joining my Forbidden Guards? If you come over, I’ll promise you a real command as a junior officer.”
Luo Qingzhou’s expression darkened.
He coughed heavily and said, “General Le, Lu Qian is one of ours—Palace Guards.”
Le Shan rolled his eyes, smirking, “I just heard him called Lu Qian. Isn’t he the very same Lu Qian who made Bai Changkong spit blood in the street out of anger? That’s why I’m interested in recruiting him.”
Le Shan smiled at Lu Qian. “Think it over carefully, alright?”
Luo Qingzhou's face grew even gloomier.
Lu Qian smiled faintly at Le Shan but said nothing.
Standing quietly at the alley entrance, Shui Ying, the magistrate of the Wind and Weather Office, who hadn’t made a sound even when Xiong Dingtian suddenly attacked, stood with hands behind his back, his gaze cold like a freezing spring, unblinking as he stared at Lu Qian.
Just then, a clear bird’s cry rang out from above.
A giant white crane, with a wingspan over six feet, flapped its wings and slowly descended.
A small eunuch boy, about thirteen or fourteen years old, slender and short, jumped down from the crane’s back.
Panting, the little eunuch shouted loudly, “Hey! Who’s in charge here? News just in—the Emperor summons you all immediately! Hurry up!”
(End of Chapter)