Silence lay all around, broken only by the dripping eaves and the water flowing through the gutters.
Shi Chun pulled out his blade, and blood sprayed.
That single act instantly ignited the scene, as though everything had exploded.
"How dare you!"
"Senior brother!"
"Senior Brother Wei!"
Cries and shouts erupted, figures darting about.
Some lunged forward to save him, while another blasted a palm strike at Shi Chun from a distance. Shi Chun dodged desperately, but he could scarcely evade it. The attacker was far too powerful.
Besides, people from Mount Wukang surrounded him on every side. He had nowhere to dodge. It had truly become a mob beating, fists and feet flying everywhere.
"Stop!" Xia Fuli's furious shout thundered out.
With a flick of his sleeve, he neutralized the attack on Shi Chun and swept almost everyone off their feet. He shifted like a phantom, catching Wei Bian with one hand and clamping the other over Shi Chun's head. He forced Shi Chun to his knees at his feet, poised to kill him with the slightest effort.
The blade in Shi Chun's hand plunged uncontrollably into the thick stone paving. He could neither muster the strength to pull it out nor release his grip on the hilt.
One man's intervention instantly cowed everyone present.
Bian Weiying had clearly received special consideration. She stood unharmed, staring coldly at the kneeling Shi Chun, the killing intent in her eyes impossible to conceal.
Her capable assistant, her trusted subordinate, had been stabbed right before her eyes. Even the mildest temper would have struggled to bear that, much less hers, when she had already wanted Shi Chun dead.
The others who had been knocked over staggered to their feet.
"Chuntian!" Wu Jinliang sprang up with a startled cry and made to rush over.