When the bailiff pulled out a hand crossbow, everyone was startled, especially the two young masters. They had thought the bailiff was about to shoot them, but unexpectedly, what they heard was merely a signal arrow. Even so, both men looked awful, and their hearts sank. After exchanging a glance, they both sensed that something was wrong.
Over the years, the two had encountered situations like this more than once or twice. At most, a woman and a child had died. Their clothing alone showed that they were merely commoners. In the past, how would the city garrison dare interfere in such matters? Yet today, these soldiers actually dared to hound the two of them without letting up. At this point, even as spoiled young masters, they could sense that something was amiss.
As they were thinking this, five more bailiffs charged up the street. They had clearly been summoned by the signal arrow. There were no armies of thousands, but against a group of mere servants and two spoiled young masters, ten men were more than enough for these veterans.
"The two of them murdered someone in the street. We witnessed it with our own eyes. Take them down! If they resist, kill without mercy!" the leading bailiff shouted to the five who had just arrived as reinforcements.
With that, the ten men stopped wasting words. They abruptly drew the ring-pommel sabers at their waists and charged forward.
When the servants saw the other side rushing at them with drawn blades, they were terrified. The men in front instinctively swung their sabers, not because they truly wanted to kill anyone, but more as a conditioned response born of fear, hoping to scare their opponents away.
Against veterans of the battlefield, however, such a move was simply suicidal. A bailiff