Chapter 295: The Hour of the Tiger (3)

Chapter 295: The Hour of the Tiger (Part Three)

Click.

Huang Yue crushed the electronic documents underfoot, his voice seething with rage: "Indeed, the wolf's ambition is vast—I see you've seized this opportunity to usurp power!"

"Crushed them, have you?"

Yang Bai Ze clicked his tongue twice, "No matter. I've already uploaded the evidence into Huang Li's dream realm. You'll wait for the link invitation from the Three Judicial Commissions!"

"Yang Bai Ze, this is our first meeting. There's no place where we've ever offended you—why target us so?"

Huang Yue's tone softened slightly, yet his foot silently advanced a step.

"To do what ought not to be done, to cross lines that must not be crossed. This time, it's not you who have offended me—it is I, Yang Bai Ze, who will offend you!"

The young man's eyes gleamed like stars, radiant and luminous!

At the same time, several Wojin officials nearby exchanged glances, and the two older elders unconsciously shifted their steps.

Yet they did not move toward Huang Yue, but subtly positioned themselves before Yang Bai Ze.

Luò Hé sneered, "No need for lofty excuses! From the moment you stepped into this yamen, you never intended to coexist peacefully with us. All this is merely your excuse to create chaos!"

"Peaceful coexistence with you? It's just corruption in the same gutter."

Yang Bai Ze shook his head and smiled, "What a pity—I have a cleanliness obsession. I dislike dirty people, and even more, I dislike fools!"

"Yang Bai Ze, I was going to grant you some dignity, to cooperate in implementing the new policies. But now it seems the Empire has sent a petty schemer who only knows how to seize power and frame colleagues!" Huang Yue's tiger-like eyes blazed as he glared at the two elderly Wojin officials surrounding Yang Bai Ze.

"How? You two old relics wish to become traitors too?"

"Master Huang, we do not wish to be drawn into your conflict, but those dead commoners were also the people of the Wojin district—they cannot die in vain."

"Good, very good! Now I suspect you Wojin scum and Yang Bai Ze have conspired with the Hungu, perhaps even been manipulated by them to sabotage the unity of the Consolation Office and hinder the Empire's new policies!"

Huang Yue bellowed, "Come forth—take them all down and interrogate them with severity!"

In an instant, footsteps thundered outside, and figures flickered like shadows.

"Your mouth reeks of calling others 'Wojin scum'—have you forgotten your own origins? It seems you've hidden too long, you've forgotten your name isn't Huang Yue, but Huàng Shì Yuè!"

Yang Bai Ze shook his head and let out a cold laugh, "Huang clan, Huàng Shì, dare to reach into this yamen—you are the ones who know not death!"

Huang Yue froze in place, his body convulsing as if struck by lightning.

He had not expected his greatest secret to be so casually exposed.

"Huang Yue, Huàng Shì Yuè."

Luò Hé, who had stood firm beside Huang Yue, now wore the same expression of shock, unconsciously retreating from his opponent.

The Commander of the Quanshan City Garrison—why, that was a sixth-grade official position. By the Empire's bureaucratic rules, a Wojin could never hold such a post.

If Huang Yue's true identity was indeed from the Huàng Shì Group, then he was the most dangerous man in the entire Consolation Office!

"You brat, still here twisting facts! I shall kill you now!"

Clang.

Yang Bai Ze casually tossed aside his wine cup, pushed aside the Wojin officials flanking him, and assumed a crude and vulgar fighting stance.

"I've long anticipated you'd strike first—come, let me see what techniques your Huàng Shì family has learned from those fleeing sects!"

"Foolish to the point of death!"

Huang Yue roared, his feet cracking the floor tiles inch by inch as he lunged at Yang Bai Ze.

Bang!

Huang Yue's fist descended, only to be parried by a black umbrella that had somehow appeared before Yang Bai Ze.

The young man behind the umbrella revealed only his head, sneering, "You can't even recognize who came with me—such a fool, who else would die but you?"

"I don't care who you are."

Pfft!

A blade tip erupted from the umbrella, piercing Huang Yue's fist through bone and flesh, splitting his entire arm in two!

"Ahh!!!"

Half his body drenched in blood, Huang Yue let out an agonized wail, staggering backward.

Alas, his speed was nothing compared to the black umbrella—it was as if time itself had slowed.

The opened umbrella suddenly snapped shut, transforming into a slender black blade that slashed toward Huang Yue's head with lightning speed.

Slish!

A head flew into the air, hot blood splattering in all directions.

At that moment, the armed guards finally stormed in, their rifles trained on the man in black armor.

The black umbrella *bang* opened again, shielding from the blood raining from above.

Li Jùn turned, his robe fluttering as intricate silver fish-scale patterns leaped into view.

"The Jinyiwei are investigating this case—all others, retreat!"

His tone was not fierce, nor his voice thunderous.

Yet the guards blocking the grand doors dared not move an inch.

"Commander Huang Yue of the Consolation Office is suspected of colluding with the Huàng Shì Group's Quanshan branch in smuggling firearms. Upon exposure, he refused to repent, persisted in his wrongdoing, and attempted treachery—slain on the spot by the Jinyiwei!"

Yang Bai Ze shouted aloud, "Will you not lower your weapons? Do you wish to rebel alongside him?"

The guards exchanged uneasy glances, their rifles slowly lowering.

They did not recognize Yang Bai Ze, but they recognized the black hat atop his head and the crane emblem on his chest!

Yang Bai Ze snatched a 'Duoyanwei' rifle from a guard, expertly chambering a round.

He stood before Luò Hé, the barrel pressed to that defeated face.

"Given your family's reputation in the Empire's heartland, I can grant you this dignity—not letting you die and be cast out of your lineage."

Luò Hé's face flushed pale and green, his voice hysterical, "Yang Bai Ze, do you know whose household I hail from? How dare you kill me?!"

"Do you know who my master is? A second-tier noble—I fear nothing!"

Yang Bai Ze's voice rang clear, "Let me tell you—I slew more noble scions on my first day in Chongqing Prefecture than you've ever seen!"

"I surrender."

After a long struggle, Luò Hé finally lowered his head in resignation, "You promised me—don't tarnish my family's name."

Click.

Luò Hé did not hear the expected gunshot, but the sharp click of the bolt retracting.

He stared in disbelief, just in time to see Yang Bai Ze catch the ejected bullet.

"You... won't kill me?"

"You've already been marked—if you wish to cleanse yourself, you must do it with your own hands."

Yang Bai Ze grasped the other's arm, hauling them upright. "I grant you one chance to redeem your sins—aid me in enacting the empire's new edicts. Should your deeds prove insufficient, death shall find you still."

Luo He's expression flickered with ineffable complexity, his gaze shifting from initial disdain to present reverence.

"I submit."

At last, he bowed deeply, heartfelt and sincere: "Luo He of the Luo clan from Taiyuan, Shanxi, greets the great Yang."

Witnessing this, Yang Bai Ze exhaled a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding, turning to Li Jun.

"Brother Jun, I've secured my footing. Now it's your turn to act."

Li Jun nodded, striding toward the door.

The guards blocking the threshold scattered like startled wolves, parting to let them through.

Yang Bai Ze cast aside the 'Duo Yan Wei' in his hand, stepping to the doorway, lifting his eyes to the sky as night's hues gradually faded.

"Dawn approaches—the chaos shall soon part."

"A fine hour for murder, indeed!"