Coercion

As soon as this treasure appeared, Li Qi could even feel that all eyes in the entire Clear Mist City were on him.

"One... two, three, four," Li Qi counted silently in his mind.

"Ninety."

"Twenty-four, twenty-five," Li Qi said, opening his eyes and counting.

There were a full twenty-five gazes, and they were all probably at the eighth rank, otherwise he wouldn't have felt such a heart-pounding sensation, to the point that even his inner world began to tremble.

This is not a good sign.

Li Qi cupped his hands in greeting. "Please, sir, return the gift. My misunderstanding with your young master was minor, and I do not deserve such a valuable apology."

These treasures are astonishing; if it were someone else, they would probably have been blinded by their allure.

It's like suddenly having a distant uncle leave you a 200 million yuan inheritance; I doubt many people could remain calm about that.

However, Li Qi Dao heart was clear-headed and unmoved by external things, so he refused almost without thinking.

Money was not important to him, and besides, the long knife was not important to him either.

He doesn't know how to use a knife at all...

Even the best weapon is useless if you don't know how to use it.

All he can do now is practice boxing.

So what exactly does Jin Buhuan mean by suddenly giving him so many things? Is he really afraid of me, so he's coming to apologize?

There's no need for that; Li Qi himself doesn't believe this claim.

"This..." The official looked troubled, bowed quickly, and said tremblingly, "Sir, please don't put me in a difficult position. If I can't get you to accept it, I will definitely be punished by the young master."

"Punishment is your young master's business, and I cannot interfere, but I will do my best to plead for you in front of your young master," Li Qi replied earnestly.

As he spoke, he took out paper and pen and quickly wrote a handwritten letter.

He always carried paper and pen with him to record his thoughts and feelings. After all, a bad pen is worse than a good memory, and daily practice is not just about blindly practicing, but requires thinking.

Even something as seemingly simple as martial arts requires comprehension and involves incorporating one's own thoughts during practice, let alone the Shaman Path he cultivates.

This Dao Path is notoriously demanding on the brain; the amount of material to memorize alone is far greater than that of the average person.

Fortunately, he has a cheat code, so he doesn't need to put too much effort into memorizing. But he can't let the time he saves go to waste; he still needs to deepen his understanding.

Spiritual practice is a process of learning and improvement; mechanical, rote practice will never amount to anything.

After writing all this down, he wrote this page down and handed it to the official in charge of ceremonies, "Old man, please accept this. If your young master punishes you, show this to him, and he won't blame you."

The official in charge of ceremonies became even more flustered. "Mr. Li, you don't know... the young master—"

However, before the elderly official could finish speaking, he suddenly trembled all over, and then a burst of flames rose up and engulfed him!

Li Qi wanted to help, but before he could even mobilize his internal energy, the old official was already engulfed by the flames, turning into ashes scattered all over the ground.

Li Qi's expression immediately darkened.

However, at that moment, a middle-aged man with a red beard and red hair was seen falling from the sky.

It was none other than 'Yan Jun'.

The sleeve of Yan Jun's left hand was empty; it was the hand that Shen Shuibi had forced to cut off.

He bowed with one hand and said calmly to Li Qi, "Mr. Li, you should accept it. The young master has ordered that if you refuse, it is because the official in charge of etiquette has failed in his duty. Such a servant who offends a nobleman must be killed in front of you as an apology, otherwise it would be because we do not know how to discipline our servants."

Looking at this eighth-rank expert, Li Qi felt a surge of Fire Qi.

Therefore, his tone became stiff. "Yan Jun, he did not do anything impolite, but I really cannot accept this gift so casually..."

Before Li Qi could finish speaking, another person stepped forward tremblingly beside him. She was a woman in her forties with gray hair, trembling like a leaf, her teeth chattering, but she gritted her teeth and bowed to Li Qi, saying, "Please accept the gift, sir."

Li Qi took a deep breath, turned around and left.

With a wave of his hand, Yan Jun caused the woman to let out a wail before being engulfed in flames.

From the gift-giving group next to them, a young man rushed out, crying out for his mother and wailing incessantly.

By this time, countless onlookers had gathered on the entire street.

Some people couldn't bear to shed tears and sighed softly.

Some people were angry, but dared not curse; they could only glare at Yan Jun.

Some people watched Li Qi with great interest, wondering what his next choice would be.

Some people left in a hurry, seemingly not wanting to get involved in this kind of thing, or even to look at it.

But most people simply watched as spectators, without any particular emotion; they were just there to watch the show.

After all, this kind of thing is quite rare.

Inside Piaoxu's inn, Qi Ya was so frightened that he dared not move. His fur stood on end, and he huddled in Piaoxu's arms, trembling.

Piaoxu looked at Li Qi with a worried expression, her heart filled with anxiety.

Even he could tell that the newcomers were up to no good.

The rabbit continued carving its runes and incantations, unresponsive to anything around it. It also carried a compass and paper and pen, writing and calculating, using Yin-Yang Numerology. After all, formations like this could only be established by strictly relying on numerology.

She seemed completely oblivious, showing no reaction whatsoever, just as always.

Outside, Li Qi's expression was gloomy, but he didn't say anything. He walked straight back into the inn, slammed the door shut with a loud bang.

Yan Jun watched from outside, shook his head, and then gestured with his eyes for the next person to proceed.

Another young girl, about seventeen or eighteen years old, hurriedly stepped out of the queue, kowtowed to the inn, and begged Li Qi and Shen Shuibi to accept the gift.

She was terrified and cried her heart out, her forehead was bruised and bleeding profusely.

Li Qi showed no reaction, his face cold, as if he hadn't heard anything.

Without his words, no one dared to go out and open the door. The inn's staff and Piaoxu looked at each other, standing stiffly in place.

The girl pleaded for half an hour, but Li Qi ignored her. Yan Jun then waved his hand again and burned her to ashes.

Then, the next one.

The next victim was a young man who pleaded in vain and was killed.

Next was a middle-aged man in his forties, whose two young children were desperately trying to pull him along. He too was wiping away tears and hesitated to move forward.

His two children were killed simply because he hesitated for a moment and Yan Jun told him he was in the way.

The man was stunned, then roared and went to fight Yan Jun to the death.

However, he had not yet reached the rank of rank, so how could he possibly defeat an eighth-rank official? He was reduced to ashes with just a glance.

Eighth rank—in the Earth Oil Realm, this is enough to make one a world ruler, commanding hundreds of millions of people, a supreme and powerful being.

After killing four or five more, Yan Jun seemed to have grown tired of killing. He looked at the inn and said, "Mr. Li, didn't you pride yourself on being benevolent, even saving a tiger demon that had possessed a fox's body? Why are you letting them die now?"

Li Qi still had that gloomy face, but when he spoke, he deliberately put on a relaxed and indifferent tone. "I didn't save people out of kindness, it was just something I did on the spur of the moment. But weren't the people who just died all servants of Young Master Jin's family? You have your own reasons for killing your own people, and I can't say too much about it. After all, I'm just an outsider, how can I interfere with Young Master Jin's execution of family law?"

Li Qi said this, and then sat down.

He is now very clear about two things.

First, if you don't want to be threatened, you can't be soft-hearted.

Secondly, if you want more people to survive, it's best to ignore it.

When human lives become your Achilles' heel, your opponents will only use human lives to threaten you more, and in the end, you will either lose yourself or more people will die.

Li Qi certainly knew exactly what to do.

However, there are still a few problems.

First and foremost, the number one issue is face.

To be precise, it's not about saving face, but about the 'reason' on the surface.

As has been said before, only when you are in the right can you be confident.

The establishment of affairs and the setting of principles must all be determined by reason.

The transformation of Qi in Heaven and Earth is the principle of the Dao.

The rule of law is the foundation of all things.

The appropriateness of etiquette is the principle of righteousness.

Human relationships are the key to understanding human nature and the principles of human emotions.

When the principles are in accordance with reason, and this in accordance with reason leads to clarity, it is thus possible to establish 'reason'.

Li Qi, who upheld righteousness, needed to pay even more attention to the word "reason." The reason for righteousness was to conform to the rules and regulations of the masses. This was the foundation of trust and righteousness and the root of his Shaman Path. The other party's "apology" was "appropriate and proper etiquette."

Li Qi already knew what the other party planned to do.

If one accepts such an apology, then in terms of 'reason,' it means that one has forgiven the other party, and there will be no question of the other party being 'in the wrong' no matter what they do afterward.

This is not some metaphysics, but a fact that is undeniably true. Being in the wrong represents the will of the people, and the will of the people is also a kind of power, which may even affect Li Qi's Dao Path.

Clearly, Jin Buhuan had already seen through Li Qi's Shaman Path, so he deliberately used this method to disgust people, making Li Qi feel guilty and even affecting his reputation among certain deities.

Li Qi could even hear Jin Buhuan mocking him through this play.

"Go ahead and save me! You're saving the people I want to kill in the market? Aren't you supposed to be benevolent? I'd like to see how many you can save!" Jin Buhuan was using this act to mock himself.

Furthermore, Li Qi had ample reason to suspect that the gift had been tampered with, and that there might be other tricks up his sleeve after he accepted it, which would only bring more trouble.

He didn't want to gamble on whether his judgment could spot the flaws in the gift, even though Li Qi was confident in his knowledge and had Shen Shuibi to help him identify its value.

But he is no longer the fledgling bird that just ventured out into the world. He has learned the lesson of "never underestimate the heroes of the world", so he will not let his guard down.

Besides the problem mentioned above, there is another minor issue.

That is, if we really let the other side continue killing like this, and it gets to a certain point, then we might find ourselves in the wrong.

He could even feel the resentment hanging over him.

That was the resentment of the deceased, resentment at themselves for not agreeing.

'If you had agreed, so many people wouldn't have died. Why wouldn't you agree?'

'You're the one who caused our deaths.'

'You heartless man, why did you just stand by and watch us die without doing anything?'

He seemed to hear the voices of ghosts, though he didn't actually hear them.

Because of Yan Jun's flames, even the soul will be burned away, and there will be no ghosts. These sounds are just the resentment he senses.

Li Qi stood up and shrugged his shoulders.

These resentments were then shaken off and dissipated.

He was already a ninth-rank official, extraordinary and detached from worldly affairs, so these resentments could not touch him at all.

Ordinary people are always like this; they usually blame those who don't stand up for them, rather than blaming the actual perpetrators.

Just like when women and children are bought and sold, people will be heartbroken, but they usually blame the authorities for not solving the problem sooner, rather than pointing the finger at the perpetrators.

Therefore, he does not blame this kind of thing for happening.

However, Jin Buhuan also made a mistake.

This whole charade won't make Li Qi feel guilty. To be honest, Li Qi looks down on any deity who might hold a grudge against Li Qi over something like this, and he simply can't be bothered to pay them any attention.

Everything that is happening now has only one impact.

That is to add a goal to Li Qi's Clear Mist City list, "Down with Jin Buhuan".

Originally, he planned to ask Jin Buhuan to let Piaoxu go, and then leave quickly to avoid trouble.

But now it seems I can't just leave like that.

"Miss Shen, how is the formation being set up?" Li Qi turned his head and looked at Shen Shuibi, who was inscribing talismans.

"Three more Chen! Give me three more Chen!" The rabbit raised its hand and then continued busily tapping, writing, and drawing in various places, running around the whole room with a clattering sound.

Li Qi nodded, then looked at Piaoxu: "Miss Piaoxu, there may be some fighting here, which may damage your inn. I'm letting you know in advance, and I will definitely compensate you for the damage afterward. Now, I'm afraid you need to leave for a while to avoid any loss of life."

But Piaoxu resolutely refused, saying, "Sir offended Jin Buhuan to save my life. How could I ask him to compensate me? Please take back your words. Although I have no great abilities and am not as Divine Ability as you, sir, I still have this much spirit."

Then, she presented a small throwing knife. "My Cultivation Method are not very good, but I have had some fortuitous encounters. This is Spirit Transformation from a wisp of golden energy that I obtained in Green Mountain when I Demon Transformation. It was left behind by the tiger demon after its death. It can move at will and can travel two miles in an instant. It has reached the pinnacle among the ninth-grade weapons. If it is destroyed in a single burst, its power can increase tenfold. My cultivation is shallow and my strength is weak, so I cannot fight. I wish to offer this to you, sir, to fight against the enemy."

Li Qi looked at the throwing knife. It gleamed with golden light and exuded Sha Qi. It was indeed a top-grade ninth-rank knife, comparable in quality to his own Tang sword.

But this knife looks somewhat familiar...

I feel like I've seen something similar somewhere before.

But he didn't dwell on it. Instead, he said, "Then I'll take it. It might come in handy."

Li Qi pointed to the back door. "You should hide in the backyard. Miss Shen's formation in the backyard should be complete, and the aftershocks won't affect you."