Execute first, report later-by imperial sanction

Tap, tap, tap-

As Yu Huatian appeared, Ma Jinliang floated down from the rooftop as well, landing behind him like a ghost.

A dense patter of footsteps sounded outside the residence immediately afterward.

Tan Luzi's icy voice rang out from beyond the gates. "West Depot business. Anyone who moves dies!"

At the same time, figures clad in black stealth clothes emerged across the surrounding rooftops, each holding a crossbow. The sounds of bolts being readied rang out without pause.

The courtyard fell silent in an instant.

Everyone's expression changed drastically, and no one dared make a rash move.

Zhao Jingzhong and the others also gathered together, staring grimly at the figure in the silver-white python robe beneath the moonlight, who looked like an immortal banished to the mortal world.

No one had expected the West Depot to arrive so suddenly.

Under these circumstances, no one would believe it was a coincidence.

Clearly, Yu Huatian had known the East Depot would fall into internal strife tonight and had laid his ambush well in advance.

All three factions had fallen into Yu Huatian's calculations!

Rustle-

The crowd at the residence's gates parted. Tan Luzi strode in with his slashing sword, accompanied by Zhao Tong with a double-ended spear on his back. They bowed to Yu Huatian. "Director!"

Yu Huatian ignored them. His indifferent gaze swept over Zhao Jingzhong and the others. "So many of you, yet you couldn't stop a single Liu Xi. Utter trash. It seems I overestimated you."

When his gaze reached Liu Xi, whose face was wary and grave, it lingered on his clothes. A trace of coldness surfaced in his eyes. "What rank are you, to think you deserve to wear the same clothes as me? You deserve to die too."

One sentence had offended eight people.

Their expressions turned exceedingly ugly.

Even the corner of Ding Xiu's mouth twitched. He was about to flare up, but quickly concealed it.

Forget it. For the sake of those two thousand taels, I won't hold it against you!

At that thought, Ding Xiu turned his gaze back to Zhao Jingzhong's head, eagerness gleaming in his eyes.

"Yu Huatian, this is an internal matter of the East Depot. What business is it of your West Depot?!"

Zhao Jingzhong demanded coldly.

Yu Huatian said mildly, "I was ordered to take charge of the West Depot and entrusted with protecting the imperial court. You gathered for a private fight over the position of East Depot director, threatening the palace's safety. Naturally, I had to come take a look."

Liu Xi cut in coldly. "What the hell is the West Depot? Your West Depot was founded less than half a year ago. What right do you have to interfere with our East Depot?"

"What the hell is the West Depot?"

Yu Huatian narrowed his eyes and swept his sleeve sharply, casting Liu Xi a sidelong look. "You ask me what the hell the West Depot is?"

"Then let me tell you!"

"The cases the East Depot cannot solve, my West Depot will solve!"

Bang!

Yu Huatian tapped his toe against the ground. The surface exploded, sending a pebble straight at Liu Xi's face.

Although Liu Xi sensed the danger and dodged in time, it still cut a bloody line across his face. He stared at Yu Huatian with an ugly expression.

"And listen closely!"

"Those the East Depot dares not kill, I will kill! The matters the East Depot dares not handle, I will handle!"

"In short!"

"Whatever the East Depot can oversee, I will oversee. Whatever it cannot oversee, I will oversee all the more!"

"Execute first, report later-by imperial sanction!"

"That is the West Depot!"

Yu Huatian turned back to Liu Xi and asked indifferently, "Was that clear enough?"

Liu Xi clutched his wounded cheek, his expression hideous. He stared fixedly at Yu Huatian but could not utter a word.

Yu Huatian's display had thoroughly cowed him.

He had only recently broken through to the Grandmaster realm, yet he still could not withstand a single palm strike from Yu Huatian. Now Yu Huatian had wounded him with a pebble. Yu Huatian's strength was unquestionably greater than his.

"I will report tonight's events faithfully to His Majesty. Apart from Liu Xi and Zhao Jingzhong, anyone who leaves now may receive leniency when I explain the matter to His Majesty."

Yu Huatian glanced at the wary faces in the courtyard and spoke calmly.

His original plan had been to wait until Zhao Jingzhong and Liu Xi had both suffered grievous losses before stepping out to clean up the mess.

But he had underestimated Liu Xi's strength and overestimated Zhao Jingzhong and the others.

Seven Innate experts had actually failed to defeat Liu Xi.

Liu Xi was wounded now, but Zhao Jingzhong and the others were injured too. If Yu Huatian waited any longer and allowed Liu Xi to absorb Wei Ting's internal energy and recover, he would become even harder to deal with.

Thus, Yu Huatian had no choice but to act early.

But with the four Innate experts under Li Zhong included, there were now a full twelve Innate experts in the courtyard.

To reduce casualties, he would have to spend a few more words.

And it had to be said that Yu Huatian's move was wise.

As soon as he spoke, hesitation appeared on quite a few faces, including those of Li Zhong's four Innate experts and Lu Wenzhao's group of four.

The former felt there was no point fighting to the death now that Li Zhong was dead. Lu Wenzhao and the others, meanwhile, found that the situation had exceeded their expectations, and the risks now outweighed the rewards Zhao Jingzhong had promised.

Zhao Jingzhong had promised that if they helped him succeed as director, he would support each of them in rising at least one rank above their current positions.

But Zhao Jingzhong could not even deal with Liu Xi. What could he do now that the even more formidable Yu Huatian had arrived?

If they did not leave now, they might all end up dying here!

At that thought, Lu Wenzhao immediately made his decision. He cupped his hands toward Yu Huatian. "Eunuch Yu, I am only a humble Thousand-Household Commander. I had no choice but to become involved in this matter. We will leave at once. Please put in a word for me before His Majesty."

Yu Huatian neither agreed nor refused.

Seeing this, Lu Wenzhao relaxed inwardly and waved a hand. "Let's go."

With that, he ignored the ugly expressions on Zhao Jingzhong's face and that of his junior martial sister, leading Shen Lian and the other two toward the gates.

Tan Luzi and the others were about to stop them, but Yu Huatian waved them off. His gaze lingered meaningfully on Shen Lian. "Let them go."

Rustle...

A path immediately opened at the gates, and Lu Wenzhao's group quickened their pace and left the courtyard.

At that moment, Li Zhong's four Innate experts exchanged glances, cupped their hands toward Yu Huatian, and also headed for the gates.

Yu Huatian did not stop them either.

Soon, only Liu Xi's faction and the few people Zhao Jingzhong had brought remained in the courtyard.

Zhao Jingzhong glanced back. Seeing Ding Xiu still standing there with his saber over his shoulder, smiling at him without any intention of leaving, he felt somewhat comforted.

The man might be greedy, but he did have professional integrity.

Yu Huatian paid no attention to Zhao Jingzhong's little movements. With eight Innate experts leaving at once, he felt a little relieved too. He turned to Liu Xi and said calmly, "The uninvolved parties are gone. Now it's your turn."

Liu Xi's nerves were taut as he stared at Yu Huatian. "What do you intend to do?!"

"What do you think?"

The corner of Yu Huatian's mouth lifted slightly.

Clang-

Yu Huatian opened his right hand. The Three-Pronged Sword held by a nearby West Depot expert instantly left its sheath and landed in his grasp.

Liu Xi's expression shifted. Sensing that things were going badly, he raised his hand and blasted a palm strike at Yu Huatian.

At that very same moment, Yu Huatian surged forward at tremendous speed, his longsword radiating cold as he thrust straight at Liu Xi.

Boom!

Sword light flashed beneath the night sky.

Though Liu Xi reacted swiftly and immediately circulated his true qi to counterattack, the gulf between their true qi was too vast. He had barely unleashed his strike before Yu Huatian closed in and pierced his body-protecting astral energy with a single thrust.

An icy stab of pain shot through Liu Xi's palm. His pupils contracted, and he immediately withdrew his qi and retreated, only to suffer a backlash. Along with it, a current of sword qi, utterly yin and cold, entered his body and steadily eroded his true qi.

"Pfft-"

This time, Liu Xi could no longer endure it. A sweet taste rose in his throat, and he spat out a mouthful of blood, suffering a tremendous backlash.

"What martial art is that?!"

Coming to his senses, Liu Xi was both shocked and furious, with deep apprehension surfacing in his eyes.

"The martial art that will kill you!"

Whoosh-

Yu Huatian's expression remained cold. He twisted, and his longsword cut through the air again, thrusting straight at Liu Xi's heart.

Liu Xi's hair stood on end. Knowing Yu Huatian had come to kill him and that further words were useless, he could only force himself to focus, steady his breathing, and meet the attack.

But Yu Huatian's strange true qi suppressed his own, and the palm techniques he excelled at gained no advantage against Yu Huatian's swordsmanship. For the moment, he dared not confront him directly, relying instead on his Grandmaster-level movement techniques to evade the attacks. He leaped and darted about like a monkey, looking utterly ridiculous.

Their exchange took long to describe, but in truth, it happened in a mere instant.

Seeing Yu Huatian attack, Ma Jinliang and the others no longer hesitated. They drew their weapons and charged at Liu Xi's men and Zhao Jingzhong's faction.

Of the two Innate experts under Liu Xi, one had reached the peak of the Innate realm. Ma Jinliang's target was clear, and he went straight for that man.

Both wielded swords, but Ma Jinliang's swordsmanship was clearly superior. In the blink of an eye, he had suppressed his opponent.

Tan Luzi kept the other expert, who was at the middle stage of the Innate realm, occupied.

Zhao Tong took the double-ended spear from his back and joined it into a single shaft. He had originally wanted to test Zhao Jingzhong's spear techniques, since the latter also used a double-ended spear. But remembering the director's plan, he could only suppress that desire for now and attack Wei Ting beside Zhao Jingzhong instead.

For a time, all three Innate experts under Yu Huatian had opponents, leaving Zhao Jingzhong standing alone, somewhat dazed.

But all three factions had already plunged into a melee, while West Depot archers on the surrounding rooftops occasionally loosed surprise arrows in support. Zhao Jingzhong did not hesitate for long before drawing his spear and joining the battle.

At this point, his plan to succeed as director had gone up in smoke. After tonight, he might even find himself hunted by the imperial court.

Years of scheming had flowed away like water to the east. Filled with hatred for Yu Huatian, he decided to kill a few more West Depot men to vent his anger before leaving the capital.

His gaze swept across the courtyard, and Zhao Jingzhong settled on the blue-faced assassin Zhao Tong, who was pressing Wei Ting hard. As it happened, the man also wielded a double-ended spear.

"What rank are you, to think you deserve to use the same weapon as me?!"

Recalling Yu Huatian's earlier arrogance, Zhao Jingzhong seethed with resentment and lunged at Zhao Tong with his spear.

Swish-

The moment he moved, a bone-chilling wind swept toward him from behind.

Zhao Jingzhong had practiced martial arts for years, and his skills were far from poor. He swept his spear backward and deflected the saber slashing down behind him. But the difference in strength was enormous, and he was already badly injured. Unable to withstand the tremendous force of the blade, he staggered and nearly fell, while his spear was jolted from his hand and dropped to the ground.

"Ding Xiu, what are you doing?!"

Zhao Jingzhong did not rush to retrieve his spear. Once he saw who had attacked him, shock and fury surged through him, and he shouted.

(End of chapter)