Cleverness in the Alley

The side door of the Miteer Auction House opened quietly.

The figure of Su Chen, like a drop of water merging into a stream, blended into the lazy afternoon crowd of West Street without haste.

He did not return directly to that dilapidated small courtyard.

His meeting with Ya Fei had finalized the most important link in his future plans. The connection with the Aoba Clan had been successfully established, while the Jialie Clan had become a sword hanging over his head, ready to fall at any moment.

He needed to think; he needed to thoroughly untangle the chaotic threads in his mind.

To avoid the clamor of the main thoroughfare and to shake off any potential tails, he skillfully turned into a secluded alley that was rarely frequented.

It was a dead end.

Damp moss, like sickly skin, crawled over the towering walls on both sides. The air was thick with a mixture of musty rot and the foul stench of a sewer.

Just as he reached the middle of the alley.

The path ahead was suddenly blocked by several sturdy figures.

Su Chen's footsteps stopped.

He did not turn around immediately.

Because from the path behind him, a slow, steady sound of footsteps also approached.

"Da, da, da..."

The crisp sound of leather boots striking the bluestone pavement seemed particularly jarring in the silent alley.

Su Chen slowly turned around.

The light at the entrance of the alley was blocked by several figures, casting a large shadow.

Leading them was a young man with an arrogant expression and luxurious clothing. He stood with his arms crossed, a playful look on his face, staring coldly at Su Chen as if looking at a trapped beast in a cage.

Jialie Ao.

The young clan head of the Jialie Clan.

Trouble.

A thought flashed through Su Chen's consciousness.

The brows beneath his bamboo hat furrowed slightly.

Jialie Ao stepped forward slowly, and the guards behind him closed in, forming a semi-circular perimeter that completely sealed off all of Su Chen's room for evasion.

He stopped three paces in front of Su Chen, surveying him from head to toe with the gaze of someone inspecting merchandise.

"Kid, you're pretty good at hiding."

The corners of Jialie Ao's mouth curled into a cruel sneer.

"You've made this young master search quite hard."

Su Chen did not speak.

He merely leaned back slightly, his spine touching the cold, slimy wall, adopting a purely defensive posture.

"What? Mute?"

The mockery on Jialie Ao's face deepened; he thoroughly enjoyed the sensation of driving his prey into a dead end.

"Don't pretend. I know who you are."

"The mysterious person who sold the 'Rock Fire Seed', right?"

The body beneath Su Chen's bamboo hat seemed to stiffen for a moment.

This subtle reaction, caught by Jialie Ao, caused the last shred of doubt in his heart to vanish completely.

The smile on his face grew increasingly smug.

"Kid, this young master is in a good mood today, so I'll give you a chance to live."

He extended a finger, pointing it through the air at Su Chen's chest.

"Hand over the origin of that 'Fire Seed', or rather, the method of making it, and do it honestly."

"Then, kneel on the ground and kowtow to this young master three times."

"Perhaps then, I might consider only breaking one of your legs."

The guards behind him let out a chorus of low, mocking laughter. The way they looked at Su Chen was filled with the pity and cruelty of a cat playing with a mouse.

These seven or eight guards were at least seven-star Dou Practitioners, and the two leaders were genuine Dou Masters.

As for the kid before them, there wasn't a shred of Dou Qi fluctuation on his body.

In their eyes, he was no different from a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.

Su Chen seemed frightened by the display, retreating another two steps until his back was pressed firmly against the cold wall.

There was nowhere left to retreat.

"I... I don't know what you are talking about."

A hoarse voice, carrying just the right amount of panic, drifted out from beneath the bamboo hat.

"I am merely an ordinary person."

"An ordinary person?"

Jialie Ao laughed exaggeratedly, as if he had just heard the funniest joke in the world.

"An 'ordinary person' who can be personally received by Miss Ya Fei and treated as an honored guest by that old fox of the Aoba Clan?"

His laughter came to an abrupt halt.

His expression turned ferocious in an instant.

"It seems that unless I give you a taste of suffering, you won't be willing to tell the truth!"

He waved his hand violently at the guards beside him.

"Go!"

"Break his legs for me first!"

"I want to see just how tough his bones really are!"

The two strongest Dou Shi guards grinned hideously, clenching their fists as they stepped forward.

Powerful Dou Qi fluctuations rose from their bodies, manifesting as two heavy pressures that caused the air in the entire alley to stagnate.

Su Chen seemed truly terrified.

He leaned against the wall, waving his hands repeatedly, his movements appearing flustered and helpless.

"Don't... don't come any closer!"

"Let's talk this over! Whatever you want, I... I am willing to negotiate!"

His voice sounded filled with fear and compromise.

Seeing this, a look of satisfied pleasure appeared on Jialie Ao's face.

He loved watching people in fear, especially those "smart people" who thought too highly of themselves.

He raised his hand, signaling the guards to pause for a moment.

He wanted to savor the pathetic sight of this guy, who had been running his entire family in circles, begging for mercy before him.

"Oh? You want to talk now?"

Jialie Ao strolled slowly in front of Su Chen, looking down at him from above with eyes full of condescension.

"Fine."

"First, take off your bamboo hat and let this young master see exactly what kind of trash you are."

Su Chen did not move.

"What? You don't dare?"

Jialie Ao's patience was being worn away bit by bit.

"I... I just..."

Su Chen's voice continued to stall, filled with hesitation.

And at this very moment.

Within the unnoticed space of his consciousness, the silent Stone Platform in Su Chen's mind flashed with sudden light!

His intent had long since transformed into an invisible, icy probe, locking onto his target the very instant he began to beg for mercy.

It was not these Dou Shi guards before him.

It was...

The Top-Grade Fire Attribute Warm Jade, the size of an infant's fist and worth hundreds of gold coins, which Jialie Ao wore at his waist specifically to flaunt his status!

Having been worn for years, that warm jade had long since been thoroughly saturated by Jialie Ao's own fire-attribute Dou Qi, containing a pure and stable energy within it.

Stable?

That was only from an external perspective.

In Su Chen's perception, this warm jade was nothing more than a bundle of compressed fuel—a powder keg that could be ignited at any moment!

"Lock on."

"Energy guidance."

"Increase temperature!"

"Compress!"

"Detonate!"

A series of silent commands were issued with brutal force through that invisible spiritual probe in a ten-thousandth of a second!

In the outside world.

Jialie Ao was smugly enjoying Su Chen's "fear."

He was just about to speak again, intending to use even more vicious words to completely shatter the other party's psychological defenses.

Suddenly.

Bang!

A crisp, piercing explosion erupted without warning, right at his waist!

"Aaaah--!"

A scream so wretched it didn't sound human instantly shattered the silence of the alley!

Jialie Ao leaped straight up as if stung by a scorpion, his body convulsing violently from the excruciating pain.

The expensive piece of warm jade at his waist had inexplicably shattered on its own!

Dozens of jade shards, heated to the temperature of searing branding irons, carried a wave of scorching heat as they embedded themselves deep into his flesh!

An unbearable, burning agony twisted his face instantly, and cold sweat poured down his skin!

This sudden turn of events left everyone stunned.

The few guards who were just about to make their move all instinctively stepped back, staring in horror at their young master, who was screaming incessantly.

What was happening?

The jade pendant... exploded on its own?

What on earth was going on?

In that split second of chaos, while everyone's minds were blank, the thin figure who had been cowering in the corner, trembling, moved.

Like a loach escaping from beneath a stone, he slipped through an impossibly narrow gap—barely half a foot wide—left by the two stunned Dou Shi guards!

His movements were as fast as a ghost!

There was not a shred of Dou Qi fluctuation, yet his motion possessed a fluid, uncanny grace, like a celestial antelope leaving no tracks.

By the time the two Dou Shi guards reacted and roared in pursuit, Su Chen's figure had already flickered a few times and vanished at the end of the alley, leaving no trace behind.

Inside the alley, only Jialie Ao's pig-like squeals remained, along with a group of guards looking at each other in terror.

"Young Master! Are you alright!"

"Quick! Get the golden sore medicine!"

Several guards scrambled forward in a panic, trying to steady Jialie Ao.

"Get lost!"

Jialie Ao shoved them away, enduring the agony as he looked down at his bloodied waist.

The clothing there had long since been scorched black, his flesh was mangled, and several hot jade shards were still embedded in his skin, wisps of heat rising from them.

He looked up again at the steaming fragments of jade on the ground.

An indescribable chill shot from his tailbone straight to his crown!

That brat...

From start to finish, he hadn't moved a single inch!

He hadn't even channeled a trace of Dou Qi!

So why did his warm jade explode?

What kind of sorcery was this?!

One Dou Shi guard forced himself to stay calm, his voice dry as he analyzed, "Young Master, that brat... he must be a hidden expert! He must have used some kind of fire-control Dou Technique we can't comprehend to silently detonate your jade!"

"Bullshit!"

Another guard immediately retorted, his face full of dread.

"What kind of Dou Technique could achieve this? Detonating something from a distance? Without even a ripple of Dou Qi? This... this is simply unheard of! Even the elders of the Alchemist Guild couldn't do this!"

"Then what do you suggest? Are you saying the jade exploded on its own?!"

"I..."

The arguing could not mask the fear in everyone's hearts.

The unknown was the most terrifying thing of all.

Jialie Ao listened to his subordinates' bickering, his face shifting between shades of green and white.

He recalled the scene just moments ago, the calm demeanor of the cloaked figure from start to finish, and that line, delivered with feigned panic: "Let's talk this over."

That wasn't fear!

That bastard was acting! He was stalling for time!

From the very beginning, he hadn't even looked at them as a threat!

A fear, colder and more humiliating than the burning pain in his body, instantly gripped his heart.

Just what kind of monster had he provoked?