First Encounter with Red Elegance Manor

There were not many disciples left behind at the White Ape Martial Academy. Including Su Xinghe and the other man, there were only eight. Pressed down by the bailiffs' fire-and-water staves, they were loaded into a prison cart outside the gates.

Those young hired hands did not escape disaster either. The constables quickly searched them out from every corner of the martial academy with a list in hand.

After a bout of wailing for their fathers and mothers, seven more "criminals" were added to the prison cart.

Perhaps the clerks' crying had been a little too chilling. The apprentices had fallen quiet by then. They sat on the floor without saying a word, trembling all over with faces drained white.

Little Beggar bit down hard on his lower lip and huddled beside Su Xinghe.

As a regular at the Public Security Office, he was not afraid of being arrested.

But he had lost the little sword his boss had given him, and that left the boy deeply dejected. He hated that he lacked the strength; otherwise, he would surely kill those government bailiffs outside who knew only how to oppress the common people.

With a clang, the iron door of the prison cart was slammed shut.

The entire cage was instantly swallowed by darkness.

At the last moment, Su Xinghe looked toward the end of the long street.

His family's general store stood there, his final attachment in this county.

Now that the Public Security Office had taken him away, the road ahead was impossible to predict.

Perhaps he would only be locked up for a while. Or perhaps he would be sentenced to the ultimate punishment.

If it came to that, he would definitely resist.

But what would happen to his family?

He had once considered the possibility of