Instant Kill

Instant Kill

By now, the area inside and outside the Scripture Pavilion was already surrounded by quite a few Imperial Guards who had come to watch the spectacle.

Two Commanders publicly locking horns was a rare sight.

Many had come specifically after hearing the news. The corridors and stone steps were packed shoulder to shoulder, and even several Imperial Guards responsible for patrols slowed their steps and lingered nearby to secretly watch the show.

Seeing Zhao Gaozhong rendered speechless by Bai Yan's retorts, his face flushed red, the onlookers revealed amused, entertained expressions.

They all wanted to see how Zhao Gaozhong would respond.

Everyone knew that Zhao Gaozhong had been the one to pick a fight. Now that Bai Yan had publicly slapped him in the face, if he handled it poorly, he would lose all dignity. For someone like him, who relied on his superior's reputation to bully others, he would probably never be able to hold his head up in the Pacification Bureau again.

The two Commanders stood face-to-face, and the contrast between them was striking.

Zhao Gaozhong, who had picked the fight, was short and stocky. Now, with rage surging through him, even his neck had reddened all the way to his ears, making him look both comical and ugly.

Bai Yan, on the other hand, stood eight feet tall. His brand-new Commander's Flying Fish Robe made him look even more upright, while a calm, unhurried sharpness filled his brows. He had firmly seized the initiative.

Everything feared comparison. Once the two were placed side by side, the difference in their standing was immediately clear.

As fate would have it, there were even female officials among the crowd.

One of them, wearing her hair in twin ring-shaped buns, gazed at Bai Yan. A trace of dazzlement flashed through her eyes as she whispered:

"Is that the newly promoted Captain Bai? He really is handsome and extraordinary. I heard he's only eighteen this year. I wonder if he has a girl he likes?"

Another female official glanced at Zhao Gaozhong and covered her mouth with a light laugh:

"The Captain Zhao opposite him is much older. I heard he's already over thirty."

"Huh? Over thirty? But he looks like he's over forty..."

The two women's whispers were not particularly loud, but by some coincidence, they drifted into Zhao Gaozhong's ears. This completely ignited the fury in his heart.

The primordial force within him erupted with a bang.

"Bai—Yan—!"

Zhao Gaozhong roared furiously, gnashing his teeth as he forced the words out one by one through clenched teeth.

He no longer cared about any rules. He raised his palm and struck toward Bai Yan's chest.

Thick True Essence gathered in his palm, carrying a bone-piercing chill that caused the surrounding temperature to drop several degrees at once.

"Good timing!"

Bai Yan sneered inwardly. What he had been waiting for was Zhao Gaozhong making the first move. If the other man had only dared to flaunt his verbal skills, Bai Yan would have found it difficult to act. But now that Zhao Gaozhong had attacked first, Bai Yan's counterattack was perfectly justified.

He gathered his strength and raised his breath. The True Essence in his body surged violently, and he countered with a palm strike of Dragon Appearing in the Field.

Their palms collided. A faint dragon's roar reverberated through the air as a golden dragon broke through the palm and charged straight into Zhao Gaozhong's chest.

Zhao Gaozhong's body suddenly stiffened, and the ferocity on his face instantly froze.

In the next moment, he flew backward like a kite with its string cut. Blood sprayed wildly from his mouth and nose, drawing a glaring crimson line through the air.

A burst of crackling sounds rang out. Zhao Gaozhong's right arm twisted and warped at a bizarre angle.

Pale bones pierced through flesh and skin, creating a sight so gruesome and terrifying that it made the blood run cold.

His entire body crashed heavily into the stone lamp pillar behind him. The sturdy pillar snapped in two from the impact, sending chunks of stone flying. Zhao Gaozhong fell to the ground and spat out another mouthful of blood.

In the space of a single breath, his face had turned as pale as paper. His eyes rolled back, and he completely lost consciousness.

He had been utterly defeated in one move!

The surroundings instantly fell silent. A moment later, a chain of sharp gasps rang out.

Everyone's eyes widened, their mouths hanging open, their faces filled with disbelief.

As useless as Zhao Gaozhong was, he was still a Commander who had broken through to the Xiantian realm several years ago.

Yet facing Bai Yan, he had not even managed to withstand a single move.

Bai Yan dusted off his hands and looked helplessly at the stunned crowd around him, shrugging:

"You all saw it. He was the one who came looking for trouble first, and he was also the one who attacked first. I was simply forced to fight back."

"Tsk, who would've known his strength was so weak? He couldn't even take one move from me."

"I seriously suspect he was trying to scam me by pretending to be injured. If there's a problem, go find him. It has nothing to do with me."

After saying this, Bai Yan left in great strides with Ren Hong and Li Kaiyao.

The two Brigade Leaders under Zhao Gaozhong did not dare say a word and obediently stepped aside to clear the way.

Only after Bai Yan had left did the two of them dare to step forward and help Zhao Gaozhong up.

Seeing Zhao Gaozhong's broken arm and blood-covered face, the two were shaken to the core and hurriedly carried him on their backs to find a physician.

They did not know that Bai Yan had already shown mercy.

If they had been somewhere else instead of in the Pacification Bureau, Zhao Gaozhong would have been blasted into a mist of blood by Bai Yan's palm long ago.

"My lord, is this really all right? Zhao Gaozhong is a Commander, after all, and there are rumors that he's one of Commander Wang Zheng's people."

As they walked along the road, Ren Hong still could not help speaking up. His voice was filled with obvious worry:

"That Wang Zheng... is the chief counselor Wang Qingquan's own grandson..."

"I know."

Bai Yan did not stop walking, and his expression remained calm:

"Don't worry about him. No matter how powerful Wang Zheng's background is, he can't interfere with us. You only need to know that our immediate superior is Commander Zheng. That's enough."

"Besides, today's matter has nothing to do with Wang Zheng. In all likelihood, Zhao Gaozhong was simply looking for trouble on his own."

Bai Yan had already figured it out. The cause of this conflict was surely still connected to the Flower Thief case.

That case was a huge piece of fat meat. Zhao Gaozhong was unwilling to let Bai Yan swallow it, so he had come looking for trouble out of spite.

Although Wang Zheng's origins were formidable, he had only become a Commander by relying on his background.

In terms of status and power, he was far inferior to Zheng Haihan.

Among the sixteen Commanders in the Northern Commandery Investigation Bureau, Zheng Haihan was genuinely number one.

Even if Zheng Haihan could not withstand the pressure, behind him stood Imperial Guard Commander Qiu Qianlong.

As far as Bai Yan knew, Qiu Qianlong had always been at odds with chief counselor Wang Qingquan. The two were sworn enemies.

Zheng Haihan was one of Qiu Qianlong's people, while Bai Yan was one of Zheng Haihan's people. In other words, Bai Yan was also part of Qiu Qianlong's faction.

It was only a contest of backgrounds, wasn't it? Who was afraid of whom?

Even if his background could not compare, Bai Yan could still compete through strength.

If it really came down to strength, what did a mere Wang Zheng count for? Bai Yan could kill him with a single slap!

The Imperial Guard was filled with a bunch of vicious men. Very few of them truly followed the rules.

Although the regulations stated that colleagues could not kill one another or engage in brawls at will, private conflicts and incidents of people injuring one another still occurred from time to time.

As long as no one was killed or permanently crippled, most matters were handled internally, and the higher-ups could not be bothered to investigate too deeply.

In less than half a day, the matter had spread throughout the entire Northern Commandery Investigation Bureau.

Everyone in the Northern Commandery Investigation Bureau had heard that a newly promoted Commander had flattened an old Commander with one palm on the very day of his promotion. He was both fierce and ruthless.

The cause of the incident also became more and more outrageous as the story spread.

At first, things were still reasonable. Those who had witnessed the conflict could all guess that Zhao Gaozhong had been jealous of Bai Yan for "eating the fat meat."

But as the story was passed along, something gradually began to smell off.

Some said Zhao Gaozhong had been jealous of Bai Yan's handsome looks, so he had wanted to teach him a lesson, only to fail and get beaten instead.

Some said Zhao Gaozhong had seen that Bai Yan was young and wanted to rely on his seniority to give him some pointers in martial arts. Unexpectedly, the weak one had turned out to be Zhao Gaozhong himself.

After being flattened by Bai Yan's palm, Zhao Gaozhong had shamelessly claimed that he had not been prepared.

Others said Zhao Gaozhong had taken a fancy to a female Commander, but she had her heart set on Bai Yan. Out of resentment, Zhao Gaozhong had wanted to teach Bai Yan a lesson, only to be knocked flat on the ground with one palm.

In the end, Bai Yan had won the beauty's heart, while Zhao Gaozhong had suffered a broken arm and lost all face.

In short, every version existed, and each one was told as though it were the truth. Some had even developed extensive prequels, beginning with Bai Yan's birth and stringing everything together all the way to this conflict. The story's twists and turns were truly breathtaking.

Bai Yan had long since stopped paying attention to the matter, but after hearing these rumors, he still could not help feeling speechless.

Truly, three people repeating a rumor could turn it into a tiger. He had never expected the people in the Pacification Bureau to be such gossips.