The chaos on the long street had subsided. Soldiers and constables had swarmed in and taken complete control. Every assassin lucky enough to survive had at least two or three guards watching him and was bound round and round with restraining artifacts. None of them could stir up any more trouble.
But Cang Yuan felt no joy in victory. Covered in blood, he brandished his sword and roared like a beast gone mad.
"Didn't you want to kill me? I'm right here! Come on! Kill me! What kind of skill is hiding behind an arrow?"
"Get out here! If you're men, stop hiding!"
"Come and kill me!"
He roared it again and again until his voice grew hoarse, but no one answered.
The soldiers and constables said nothing. Neither did the onlookers.
Pan Long watched coldly and saw unmistakable malice in many eyes.
At last, Cang Yuan gave up.
He slammed the sword worth a thousand gold pieces onto the ground and sat down in a pool of blood without a shred of dignity, his expression frighteningly dark.
Pan Long sighed and walked over to him. He gently patted Cang Yuan's shoulder, sending exquisitely controlled power through him. It shook the blood and grime from his body and clothes, scattering it to the side.
Cang Yuan looked as he had before the battle once more: refined, clean, and so handsome there was something almost feminine about him.
He looked up with a weary, bitter smile, then asked the constables to arrange another carriage to take them to South Xia City's Aerospace Port.
In the carriage, Pan Long watched him sit there with his head bowed, looking as dejected as if he had lost the battle. He did not know what to say.
He felt he ought to offer a few