"No? You're telling me no?"
The instant Wu Pengfei refused, Li Jieyang's eyes turned cold. He stared at him, his voice rising sharply.
A chill settled between his brows. "You're just a lowly chief of Prison Officers, earning a few thousand taels of silver a month. Why stake your life on it?"
"Keep one eye open and the other shut, and not only will you keep your life, you'll gain wealth and glory. Isn't staying alive what life is all about?"
Li Jieyang stepped forward and lightly patted Wu Pengfei's shoulder, trying to persuade him to move aside.
Wu Pengfei's shoulders trembled slightly. It was clear he was afraid.
Facing a cultivator, he felt an invisible pressure.
Yet his duty still kept him from stepping aside. He stood before Li Jieyang, refusing to yield an inch.
"Exalted Immortal, of the two people you're protecting, one founded the largest underground organization in the Dynasty, and the other is his son. Anyone who dares break into a prison has committed a crime that cries out to heaven. The court has ordered me to arrest them!"
"Please, Exalted Immortal, allow me to do my duty!"
Li Jieyang bowed deeply to Li Jieyang.
"..."
Li Jieyang fell silent.
He neither agreed nor refused.
He simply took a pouch from his pocket and handed it to Wu Pengfei. "Open it first."
As though realizing something, Wu Pengfei opened the pouch with trembling hands.
"Hiss..."
At the sight of its contents, his breath caught.
His body began trembling even harder.
Seeing his hesitation, Li Jieyang smiled and patted his shoulder. "Think carefully. Is your loyalty to yourself, or to the court?"
With that, he walked past him and headed straight ahead.
Soldiers stood in dense ranks before him, their iron armor gleaming.
Yet none dared bar