Fierce Tiger Hall, meeting hall.
A celadon teacup was viciously hurled to the ground, shattering into several pieces.
Duan Tianbao stood in the middle of the hall, his face so gloomy it seemed water could be wrung from it. He had just returned from the western part of the city after haggling with members of the Hungry Wolf Gang for half a day over a medicinal-herb deal, only to hear the news of Hu Jiudao's death upon reaching the hall.
"Died in a drunken fire? Three perfectly healthy Body Refining First Layer men burned to death in their own courtyard?" He kicked aside the broken porcelain by his foot, his voice pressing down on a beast about to break free. "What did the coroner say?"
At the lower end of the hall, a trusted aide bowed and replied, "Reporting to the hall master, everything was burned too thoroughly. Nothing could be determined. Only... the liquor jars at the scene were somewhat strange. It seemed inferior liquor had been mixed with lamp oil."
The muscles at the corner of Duan Tianbao's eye twitched.
Hu Jiudao had been the most useful dog at his command. Collecting debts, lending money, handling dirty and exhausting work—he had never once talked back. More importantly, Hu Jiudao had several leads in hand and was about to gather enough silver for him to buy a Body Tempering Pill. Now that he was dead, the leads were severed, and the silver had gone up in smoke.
He had been stuck at the peak of Body Refining Second Layer for three whole years. This Body Tempering Pill was his only hope of breaking through to the third layer.
Just then, Feizi came tumbling in from outside, a clear palm print on his face and blood still hanging from the corner of his mouth.
"Hall master! That brat surnamed Ye... he..."
Duan Tianbao's gaze swept over, and the rest of Feizi's words jammed in his throat.
"Speak."
Feizi swallowed, then recounted what had happened in Ye Qingxuan's courtyard, embellishing it at every turn. From how Ye Qingxuan had used the Great Gan Law to browbeat them, to how he had demanded an outrageous three taels and seven mace for repairing the door, Feizi painted himself as utterly aggrieved and the other side as infinitely arrogant.
After hearing him out, Duan Tianbao instead laughed.
"Good, good. What an impressive constable of the Fengtian Division." He slowly paced to the weapon rack and took down a pair of Judge's Brushes forged from pure steel, lightly tapping them against his palm. "I'd like to see whether his bones are harder, or these brushes of mine."
Feizi's spirits lifted. "Hall master, you're going personally?"
"Take twenty brothers and bring the weapons. Today, in front of everyone in the Southern District, I'm going to tear the panels off his door, one piece at a time, then smash every bone in his body, one by one!" Duan Tianbao's voice was not loud, but it carried a viciousness that made the blood run cold.
To him, Hu Jiudao's death was no longer the main point. Ye Qingxuan's defiance was a provocation aimed at him, Duan Tianbao, and at the entire Fierce Tiger Hall. If he did not reclaim this face, how could he establish himself in Linyuan Prefecture City in the future?
The night deepened.
The alleys of the Southern District lay dead silent.
Ye Qingxuan still sat in the courtyard, the thick-backed woodcutter's knife lying across his knees. He heard the disorderly, heavy footsteps coming from the mouth of the alley. It was not three or five people, but a whole crowd.
He did not move. He merely shifted his hand away from the blade and laid it flat on his knee.
Before long, the wide-open entrance was blocked tight by one figure after another. Torchlight illuminated the courtyard as bright as day, while the shadows of the arrivals stretched across the ground, baring their claws like demons.
The crowd parted, and Duan Tianbao walked in with his hands behind his back.
Behind him followed more than twenty Fierce Tiger Hall members carrying clubs, blades, and spears. Feizi was conspicuously among them, glaring at Ye Qingxuan with venomous resentment.
Duan Tianbao swept his gaze around the courtyard. His eyes passed over the dilapidated house and crude furnishings before finally settling on the youth seated on the bench, a blade across his knees.
He had expected to see a flustered young man putting on a brave front.
What he saw instead was a youth of extraordinary calm. The boy had not even stood up. He merely raised his eyes and looked at him placidly, as though Duan Tianbao were not the hall master of Fierce Tiger Hall, but an uninvited neighbor.
Such courage took Duan Tianbao somewhat by surprise.
"You're Ye Qingxuan?" Duan Tianbao stopped three paces away and studied him with interest.
"That's me," Ye Qingxuan said.
"Hu Jiudao's courtyard caught fire last night." Duan Tianbao's tone was flat, as though he were mentioning some unrelated triviality.
"I heard."
"The last person he saw before he died was you."
"That's right. He brought people to my home, knocked over my table, and overturned my little sister's dinner. I drove them away." Ye Qingxuan's words matched the explanation he had taught his sister, word for word.
Duan Tianbao smiled. He extended a finger and tapped the woodcutter's knife across Ye Qingxuan's knees. "Then you're sitting here waiting for me to pay you for that meal?"
"I'm waiting for justice," Ye Qingxuan said.
"Justice?" Duan Tianbao looked as though he had heard the greatest joke in the world. "Here in the Southern District, I, Duan Tianbao, am justice!"
The moment his voice fell, the gang members behind him stepped forward in unison. Their weapons gleamed with a sinister chill in the firelight, and an aura of slaughter instantly filled the entire courtyard.
Ye Qingxuan slowly rose to his feet. He did not look at the gang members; his eyes remained locked on Duan Tianbao's face.
"Hall Master Duan, between us there was only a debt of fourteen taels. If you followed the rules, I would repay the money, and the matter would end there." His voice pierced the commotion in the courtyard. "But your men did not follow the rules."
He pointed toward the inner room. "They frightened my family. That broke my rules."
He paused, then spoke each word with absolute clarity.
"If you take even one more step today, then what lies between us will no longer be a debt, but a grudge. A grudge that ends only with death."
Ends only with death.
Those four words came from the mouth of a nineteen-year-old youth. Not only did they fail to move Duan Tianbao, they made him laugh even more heartily.
"Ends only with death? Hahahaha..." He threw his head back and laughed, his voice echoing through the night sky. "You? A temporary worker who couldn't even get into the Fengtian Division's official ranks? You and that broken firewood-chopping knife across your knees?"
His laughter abruptly ceased, and his expression turned fierce. "Today, I'm not only going through this door, I'm searching your house and checking your bed! I want to see what you've got to go against my Fierce Tiger Hall and make it end only with death!"
He swept out an arm and was about to give the order.
At that moment, two powerful shouts rang out from the mouth of the alley.
"Who's making such a racket here? The Fengtian Division is conducting a night patrol. Unaffiliated persons, disperse at once!"
Before the words had even faded, two formally appointed constables in black came striding over, lanterns in hand and sabers at their waists. The one in front was broad and burly, with a full face of bristling whiskers. He was Zhao Hu, the veteran constable of the Fengtian Division known for his explosive temper. Beside him walked the fair-faced Cheng Yuan.
At a glance, the two men saw the tense standoff in the courtyard, along with the more than twenty Fierce Tiger Hall members carrying vicious weapons.
Zhao Hu's brows immediately knotted into a lump.
The people from Fierce Tiger Hall recognized them as well, and their arrogance instantly shrank by a third. They were not afraid of Ye Qingxuan, but they could not help fearing these two black-clad constables who drew official pay.
Duan Tianbao's expression also turned somewhat ugly. He slowly turned around and looked at the newcomers.
"So it's Constable Zhao and Constable Cheng." He cupped his fists in greeting. "You've worked hard on your late-night patrol."
Zhao Hu's gaze shifted from his face to the weapons in the hands of the crowd behind him, then finally to the shattered door panel. He snorted. "Hall Master Duan certainly brought quite a formation. Anyone who didn't know better might think some family was holding a funeral and had hired this many musicians."
His words were exceedingly blunt.
The corner of Duan Tianbao's mouth twitched, but he could not lash out. Suppressing his anger, he forced out a smile. "Constable Zhao, you're joking. My brother Hu Jiudao died inexplicably last night, and I was upset, so I came to ask about the circumstances. Who knew this little brother Ye would have such a temper? A small misunderstanding broke out."
"Misunderstanding?" Zhao Hu carried his lantern forward, its light illuminating Ye Qingxuan's young, tranquil face. "Ye Qingxuan is one of ours in the Fengtian Division. You brought so many people to block his door, and you call that a misunderstanding?"
Although he looked down on temporary workers like Ye Qingxuan, at this moment Ye Qingxuan represented the face of the Fengtian Division. Whatever one did to one's own people behind closed doors was one thing, but outsiders had no right to bully them.
Cheng Yuan also spoke from the side. His voice was gentler than Zhao Hu's, but his words carried a barb. "Hall Master Duan, the Fengtian Division will naturally investigate Hu Jiudao's case. If you don't trust us, you can come to the division and discuss it with Lord Xiao. But bringing people in the dead of night to break into the home of one of our constables—if word got out, I'm afraid it wouldn't sound very good, would it?"
The two men played off one another, every sentence circling back to the words "Fengtian Division," pressing Duan Tianbao until he could hardly breathe.
He knew that tonight, he could not make a move.
Breaking into Ye Qingxuan's home by force in front of two formally appointed constables would be an open declaration of enmity toward the Fengtian Division. Ruining the reputation of the entire Fierce Tiger Hall for the sake of an insignificant temporary worker was not worth the price.
"The two constables are right." The smile had vanished completely from Duan Tianbao's face. "Since it was a misunderstanding, clearing it up is enough. Little Brother Ye, I was rash today. Another day, I'll come to your door and discuss that fourteen-tael debt with you."
He emphasized the last few words heavily.
After speaking, he gave Ye Qingxuan a deep look. His eyes were like those of a poisonous snake, flicking out its tongue.
"Let's go!"
He turned around and led his men away like a receding tide.
The alley once more fell silent.
Only after watching them disappear did Zhao Hu turn back. He looked Ye Qingxuan up and down, then glanced at the woodcutter's knife across his knees. Raising a brow, he said, "Kid, you've got guts."
Ye Qingxuan put away the woodcutter's knife and cupped his fists toward the two men. "Thank you both, Constables, for breaking the siege."
"We're brothers from the same division. No need for that." Zhao Hu waved his hand, then pointed at the broken door. "Tomorrow, go to the division and report damage to public property. Have the hall pay for the repairs. Don't pay out of your own pocket and let those scum benefit."
With that, he and Cheng Yuan carried their lanterns and continued patrolling deeper into the alley.
Only Ye Qingxuan remained in the courtyard.
He stared at the pitch-black doorway as the night wind blew past, sweeping up several splinters of wood from the ground.
The crisis had been temporarily resolved.
But he knew what that final look from Duan Tianbao meant.
A greater storm was brewing.
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