Heaven Knows What I Bore Witness To (Part 2)

　　I couldn't fathom what I saw. How was I supposed to? H-how come the Qilin Guard's aggression suddenly turned into fawning and pandering?! From experience, the Central Plains was supposed to be a place where an official merely one rank higher could crush those beneath him by a single rank - something along those lines. More importantly, people in the pugilistic world were supposed to fear officials. It didn't make any sense. I guess he accepted the bribe.

　　This must be the political corruption spreading. Have the Qilin Guards changed? Curse them! I shouldn't have believed all of the rumours in the pugilistic world. The people of the Central Plains don't have any principles. Upholders of justice, yeah right! I have a bridge to sell, then!

　　I had a lot of things I wanted to rage about, but the impulse to kill kicked in.

　　I want to go on a rampage! They're not even that strong! Why won't they fall for my traps?! I could skin every single one of you in the chaos! Hmm, what's that smell? This is the smell of the subordinates I sent to report to the officials.

　　The subordinates I sent had been with me for a long time. As you'd expect, they killed a lot. That was why the scent of blood was always on them. The original plan was for the official with the beard to get into a physical altercation with the people. The Qilin Guard would then take them all out. I would then use the chaos as my cover to collect their heads. Night Fortress' master would busy himself with investigating the case and stay out of Huzhou. It was a genius idea. Howbeit, my timing was off.

　　The bearded official had no b.a.l.l.s. The Qilin Guards accepted a bribe. The outcome was different to what I expected. It's now the few of us against officials, a Qilin Guard, a thousand people from the pugilistic world and a dozen adepts I don't recognise but surmised were linked to Night Fortress' master. Drats, it was the equivalent of a rabbit trying to devour an elephant.

　　I released a signal for my men to escape. They, too, noticed things were odd when they received the signal.

　　The stoic young man by the carriage with the middle-aged man quietly said, "I smell blood," and he looked in the direction of my men. For crying out loud, I wonder if he was born in the year of the dog.

　　Wait, my men!

　　It was simple to find another group of men if this group died, but people in the Central Plain are weaklings. It would take ages to recruit an actually capable group.

　　I wanted you to kill, not for over a thousand of you to demolish my subordinates! Have you no conscience?!

　　Fortunately, the official and Qilin Guard didn't hold equal rankings. The official was still out cold. The Qilin Guard company officer was busy fawning over Long Zaitian as if the latter was his idol. My subordinates took the opportunity to run. However, the young man just had to mount a horse. Displaying equestrian skills compared to my own, he galloped after my men.