"Boss... bad news! Something's happened in Upper Clarity Heaven!" A worker rushed in. Luo Qian sat up lazily in bed. "What happened?" "The Meng Household attacked our construction site. Brother Hao and Young Master Du are missing..." Luo Qian jolted upright. "What! Didn't the Meng Household ask for peace?" Understanding dawned. His face twisted as he ground his teeth. "Damn those petty villains!"
By then, the situation in Upper Clarity Heaven had spun out of control. Meng Shao had set fires as soon as he arrived. Land there was worth its weight in gold, and the shops stood almost shoulder to shoulder. Once the flames spread, no one tried to contain them. Shopkeepers caught in the blaze heard the fighting outside and pulled their quilts over their heads, pretending they heard nothing. Only when the fire reached their own shops did they scramble up to put it out.
They cast water spells, sending rain down in torrents. The fires went out, but no one could control where the rain fell so precisely. Plenty of Meng Household retainers, caught up in the thrill of battle, were soaked to the skin. Those retainers were used to throwing their weight around. Unable to swallow the insult, they dropped their clubs, unleashed their Immortal Artifacts, and killed several shopkeepers on the spot!
That sparked public outrage. The Meng Household had bullied these small merchants for years, and now its men were killing people in the street. Dozens of shopkeepers surged forward and beat the killers to death. The fight quickly became a melee. Reinforcements kept joining both sides, but the merchants' numbers swelled faster. The Meng Household, which had held the upper hand, was soon forced back. Fewer than two hundred of its men remained, huddled together to protect one another.
The small merchants