The atmosphere abruptly turned murderous.
"Who are you? Why were you following me?"
Constable Wu advanced step by step, his eyes seething with murderous intent.
"Men, we're under attack!" the gaunt man roared.
Moments later, a dozen more fighters rushed out of the house. Nearly thirty men now stood in the courtyard, most at the peak of the postnatal realm.
"Little Butcher?"
As he drew closer and made out that young face, Constable Wu's pupils contracted sharply.
He had seen the portrait!
As someone who practiced martial arts in the Capital and regularly dealt with wandering swordsmen and theatrical performers, he could hardly fail to recognize the man ranked thirty-ninth on the Dragon-Tiger Ranking.
"Who?" the gaunt man asked urgently.
"An Embroidered Uniform Guard Hundred-Household Commander!" Constable Wu's voice was slightly hoarse.
Suspicion and alarm crossed the gaunt man's face.
The thirty fighters behind him grew grim, then murderous intent burst from them.
Constable Wu drew a deep breath. The throwing knives along his arms seemed poised to fly as he asked coldly:
"Commander Jia, what are you investigating?"
Jia Huan answered with a question:
"What do you think could bring a Hundred-Household Commander here on your trail in the dead of night?"
Constable Wu glanced toward the stables and smiled.
"Nothing more than keeping catamites. It can't be helped-the Capital's nobles have a taste for them. Other establishments do the same business. Under Great Qian law, it's only a few years in prison. Surely a minor case like this doesn't warrant your personal attention, Commander Jia?"
Jia Huan pointed at the gaunt man, his voice chilling:
"And if you're colluding with the Tatars?"
"You sell little girls to the steppe Tatars to be defiled, feeding those barbarians' ravenous, wolfish lusts, and train catamites to plant beside the Capital's nobles so you can spy on affairs of state. You've stripped yourselves of every shred of conscience. Your dog-hearted audacity knows no bounds!"
Though still conjecture, the connection between the Tatars and the Water Mirror Theater's catamites all but confirmed those invaders' wolfish ambitions.
This was the real major case!
Boom!
Constable Wu looked as though he had been struck by lightning. Dark clouds gathered over his face, and he screamed himself hoarse:
"You're courting death!"
"Kill him! We leave the Capital tonight!"
But Jia Huan moved faster.
In the blink of an eye, he swept up before him.
Three fingers spread slightly, his thumb and forefinger curved together. The Orchid Point-Sealing Hand struck Constable Wu's chest and abdominal acupoints with the speed of thunder that left no time to cover one's ears.
This man was worth keeping alive.
In an instant, Constable Wu stood frozen like a clay statue, unable to speak or move his hands.
"Kill!"
At the gaunt Tatar's command, thirty fighters charged.
Jia Huan sank his breath into his dantian. Powerful internal energy surged into his wrists as he unleashed his footwork, weaving through the crowd like a swimming flood dragon.
Both palms struck at once.
Bang!
Of the two Tatars within arm's reach, one's neck snapped and the other's skull caved in. Both died on the spot.
Get the crossbows, now!! Constable Wu screamed inwardly, yet not a sound escaped him.
Jia Huan seized a Tatar's saber and hacked furiously. Fierce winds swirled around its hilt, and murderous energy shrouded the ground beneath him. Even the gaunt Tatar could not get close.
In little more than a dozen breaths, blood sprayed across the courtyard amid incessant screams.
Men died beneath a single palm strike or were cleaved down with one slash. An endless stream of Finger Force followed, each thrust of a finger felling another man.
Terror filled the gaunt Tatar's face. He was about to retreat when his breath abruptly caught, leaving him on the verge of suffocation. A palm strike of utmost hardness and yang energy landed squarely on his shoulder, shattering bone and meridians alike.
He hit the ground with a thud, but did not die.
Monster! Constable Wu sank into utter despair.
He had never seen anyone face an encirclement so effortlessly, as though merely swatting tiny ants to death.
Half an incense stick later, only two men remained standing in the courtyard.
Jia Huan was exhausted, his breath weak. Blood had splattered everywhere, dyeing his black robe crimson.
He said heavily:
"Get out here!"
Three women in coarse cloth trembled like chaff in a sieve inside the house. They practically crawled out, their eyes brimming with terror.
"To the stables!" Jia Huan ordered coldly.
The women crawled into the stables and, trembling, opened the concealed passage.
Jia Huan entered the underground chamber.
The fighting had awakened more than a hundred children. They huddled in the corners of their beds, eyes wide, staring at the newcomer in utter terror.
The sight made Jia Huan's heart ache!
All were children under ten. At the most innocent and carefree age of their lives, they had been imprisoned in this chamber without daylight, subjected to cruel psychological torment.
There was still a glimmer in the eyes of the little girls, delicate as carved jade. The handsome little boys were like puppets on strings; once their initial terror faded, their eyes became hollow and numb.
"Big brother, have you come to save us?" one little girl mustered the courage to ask timidly.
His heart heavy, Jia Huan forced a smile.
"Boss!"
An anxious shout rang out in the courtyard.
Jia Huan steadied his emotions and left the underground chamber.
Twin Whips arrived outside the residence, panting, only to find a courtyard full of corpses.
Seeing Jia Huan unharmed, Twin Whips let out a long breath of relief.
"Boss, I've already fired the Signal Arrow."
"Slaughter the seven women down there." Jia Huan pointed at the hidden passage in the stables.
"Yes, sir!"
It was a long time before Twin Whips emerged.
Even his normally steady composure had shattered. His eyes were red as he roared:
"A pack of inhuman dogs! We have to uncover every accomplice and tear them all into ten thousand pieces!"
Half an hour later, nearly a hundred Embroidered Uniform Guards arrived at the residence and formed two lines outside, their presence chilling.
Jia Huan said heavily:
"Twin Whips, Scholar, Drunkard, take fifty Strongmen to the Water Mirror Theater. Arrest the entire troupe and throw them in prison. Torture them hard!"
"Skinny Monkey, Fathead Fish, take these two beasts away!"
"Drunkard, leave ten men here to search the house. Don't miss a single letter."
"The rest of you, take the children in the underground chamber to the Embroidered Uniform Guard Office. Check missing-child cases from every region, then have the Shenjing Prefectural Court issue a public notice."
Dawn came, the sky barely light.
Inside the Imperial Prison, rows of pointed bamboo stakes were embedded deep into the floor, their tips protruding.
Expressionless, Jia Huan dragged the troupe master's body back and forth across the sharpened bamboo.
"Aah! Aah!"
The troupe master howled in agony, barely clinging to life.
The bamboo tips scraped and tore open his skin, exposing tendons and bones. His bones were slowly ground to fragments, his tendons stretched and plucked again and again. Yet he could not even die. It was pain taken to its utmost extreme!
"Boss, Constable Wu and the Tatar have both confessed."
Twin Whips and Scholar entered. "Those two beasts couldn't endure the torture. They're nearly dead."
Jia Huan wiped the blood from his hands and strode toward the interrogation room.
"Bring him."
After being fed a pill specially made by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the troupe master regained consciousness. The excruciating pain abruptly vanished.
He did not dare look at the exposed bones and tendons all over his body.
"Ten years ago, the Water Mirror Theater began working for the steppe Tatars. Originally, we trained female-role actors and young male performers for the stage. Later, when we saw how many nobles in the Capital enjoyed the love of men, the theater began training catamites. We taught them fear from childhood so we could control them. Once they won the nobles' favor, we secretly threatened them, making them use their access to the bedchamber to uncover court secrets."
"Six years ago, the Tatar nobles developed a taste for little girls from the Central Plains. The theater sent men roaming through the prefectures and commanderies to abduct pretty little girls and bring them to the Capital in batches. We made two trips to the steppes each year."
"Three years ago..."
Trembling, the troupe master spilled everything like beans pouring from a bamboo tube.
Jia Huan's expression was icy.
"Which Great Qian officials have been helping the theater? Anyone with financial dealings with you-name them all."
"Many." The troupe master's voice was hoarse.
Twin Whips and Scholar exchanged a glance.
Before you continue