As the elegant voice rang out, above the Confucian Temple, the figure of Night Watchman Duan Seventeen rose into the void. What rose was not his true body, but a literary Dao image manifested through the literary path—high-crowned, pure-robed, standing atop the Confucian Temple, more than a hundred zhang tall.
Throughout Youdu, everyone stopped what they were doing.
Within the deep palace, Li Chi lifted his gaze.
Inside Drunk Flower Pavilion, everyone fell silent.
On the rooftop platform, the fourth-rank official and the constables behind him all straightened at the same time.
The appearance of the Night Watchman meant matters had slipped beyond their control.
From this moment onward, it was no longer their turn to speak, much less to act.
Lin Su said coolly, "The land of Great Corner, a graveyard for the literary path—I truly had little interest in coming here. Yet the North Sea Dragon Palace crossed the Human-Sea Dividing Line personally drawn by the Saint, committing a crime against the laws of Heaven! Elder Duan, under your jurisdiction, such a crime against the laws of Heaven occurred. Did you fail to notice it, or did you simply refuse to intervene?"
That long statement truly meant different things to different people; the benevolent saw benevolence, the wise saw wisdom.
A wildfire blazed through Li Chi's heart!
Scholars from every quarter cursed inwardly!
You called Great Corner a graveyard for the literary path. Though harsh, it was true. Even the imperial examinations had been abolished; it truly counted as a graveyard. But who had caused this graveyard? You! You had abolished the Great Yu Imperial Examination, shaking the foundations of an entire kingdom and leaving countless scholars weeping and cursing you to this day. Yet now you still dared to mock them, rubbing salt into such a deep