The shopkeeper looked at the local thug Gu Da, who was being held up by his employees, then at the scene beginning to descend into chaos. His face instantly frosted over as he demanded coldly:
"Talk! Who sent you here to cause trouble?"
Gu Da stiffened his neck. Like a dead pig unafraid of boiling water, he looked ready to take any beating or killing they could dish out and stubbornly declared:
"Nobody sent me here, and I'm not here to cause trouble! Your shop sold me rice with cockroaches in it. That's why I stepped forward to tell the truth!"
"What, you dare sell inferior grain, but we customers aren't allowed to criticize you? Have you flown into a rage out of humiliation and decided to destroy the body and erase the evidence?"
"Then come on! If my blood can show everyone your shop's true colors, even if I die, my death will be worthwhile!"
For all the thug's impassioned words, his legs, which kept shaking like a rattling sieve, had long since betrayed his true feelings.
The shopkeeper's lips twitched slightly.
He hated thick-skinned fellows like this most of all. Judging by the situation, even if he had someone beat the man up, he would never pry his mouth open and learn anything. Instead, he would only hand others ammunition, lending weight to the supposed evidence that his shop intended to destroy the body and erase the evidence.
Just as the shopkeeper hesitated, unsure what to do next.
Suddenly, a gentle force pushed the crowd to either side, opening a broad path wide enough for two people to walk abreast.
Those pushed aside noticed nothing. By the time they realized what had happened, they saw a young man of extraordinary bearing walking past with perfect composure, an exquisite