"S-State Preceptor, spare us!"
Their powerful physiques only made the military officers endure more pain on the ground. Despite his sarcastic words, Liao Wenzhi still flung out several talismans, which flew onto the officers.
"Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle."
A sound like water hitting hot oil rang out, but after briefly easing, the officers' condition grew even worse.
"Aah-!" "Put me out of my misery-!"
"You fiend."
One of them glared at Liao Wenzhi and the carriage, his eyes wide with fury. His internal force surged through his body, and even in that condition, he sprang up from the ground.
"Shing!"
The officer drew his saber and slashed straight at Liao Wenzhi. Startled, Liao Wenzhi jerked backward, but for a moment, he had nowhere to dodge.
"Clang!"
A talisman shot over and struck the saber with a metallic ring, knocking both weapon and wielder away. With another thud, the officer slammed into the entrance of a shop along the street and fell utterly silent.
After that, however, the other officers still wailing on the ground stopped giving off smoke. Though their condition was miserable, they seemed to have survived.
Liao Wenzhi seemed not to have recovered from his fright. He stared blankly at the officer lying at the shop entrance, who was clearly dead.
"Wen Zhi, you kindly tried to save them, yet they repaid kindness with hatred. Look—this is the human heart. They blocked my carriage and spoke insolently, so this calamity had its cause and consequence. Let us go."
The procession began moving again. Liao Wenzhi came back to himself and followed the carriage.
This time, however, the commoners made plenty of room of their own accord. Indeed, many had already fled. No one dared raise a clamor anymore, much less call out for blessings.
Even the constables clearing the