Chapter 33: Outwardly Strong but Inwardly Weak

Chapter 33: Strong on the Outside, Weak Within

"Fire! What are you all standing there dazed for? Shoot!"

Luo Zhen watched Li Jun closing in step by step, a flicker of panic crossing his eyes. He whipped his head around and roared at a guardsman standing behind him.

The guardsman's face was craven, his voice trembling. "But, my lord, there are simply too many people..."

"Afraid of what? They're all worthless, cheap lives. Fire! If superiors demand answers, this official will take full responsibility!"

Seeing the guardsman still hesitating, Luo Zhen grabbed him by the collar, intending to hurl him forward, when suddenly his hand felt heavy. He glanced sideways in furious shock.

The guardsman captain, Qi Feng, was pinning his wrist down, head bowed, speaking in a low voice. "My lord, the Great Ming Code stipulates: any official who slaughters commoners without cause, numbering ten or more, suffers death of the flesh and a hundred years of consciousness penal servitude."

"This crime... we small folk cannot bear it."

Luo Zhen's face turned iron-green. Gritting his teeth, he enunciated each word: "Qi Feng, do you know the consequences of leading insubordination against this official at a time like this?"

"Naturally. Defiance of a superior's order results in dismissal from office."

The guardsman captain, Qi Feng, slowly raised his eyes, his expression calm. "But we small folk don't want to die."

Killing Hunsui Paoge and killing ordinary citizens—the difference in consequence was heaven and earth.

A hundred dead Hunsui Paoge amounted at most to a major malicious public security incident; the Tianfu Guards had plenty of ways to cover it up.

Even if handled properly, not only would no one pursue responsibility, superiors might even bestow heavy commendations.

But if they opened fire to massacre unarmed civilians, that would be an unpardonable capital crime.

Moreover, Qi Feng knew perfectly well that if things truly went south, Luo Zhen had a powerful backer and needn't worry, but they would likely be pushed out as scapegoats.

Furthermore, firing now would inevitably ignite public fury. By then, not a single one of these guardsmen would likely walk out of Nine Dragons Street alive.

Before one's own life, who cares if you're a lord or a superior?

"Excellent. Then this official shall let you die first!"

Luo Zhen roared in rage, his wrist shaking and twisting, flicking Qi Feng's hand away while simultaneously seizing the gun from the guardsman's grasp.

Qi Feng stared into the dark muzzle before him; a chill rushed straight to his crown, every hair on his body standing on end.

Just as he instinctively prepared to dodge, he suddenly felt his collar seized from behind, and his whole body was hauled up and flung backward.

Li Jun's figure materialized in the spot Qi Feng had just occupied.

Gunshots exploded, bullet trails streaking horizontally. Bloody blossoms instantly erupted across Li Jun's body, yet the long blade thrust from his hand did not tremble in the slightest.

*Clang!*

That fine-steel-forged long blade struck Luo Zhen's fist, but it too had finally reached its limit.

With a piercing metallic shriek, it shattered completely.

Half the blade spun into the air; the remaining broken shard continued forward with a *shhhk*, driving into the gap in Luo Zhen's fist bones!

Li Jun twisted his wrist; the broken blade flipped and torqued, prying open a crack an inch long and wide in Luo Zhen's fist bones.

The fractured mechanical bones spat clusters of sparks; the nerve bundles buried within were severed, transmitting unbearable agony to the brain.

Lo Zhen let out a miserable shriek, the pistol instantly leaving his hand, clutching his palm as he staggered back repeatedly.

Before he could even catch his breath, Li Jun had already closed the distance, a side kick driving into his face.

*Boom!*

Luo Zhen flew horizontally like he'd been rammed head-on by a speeding wooden-ox heavy truck.

While still airborne, copious amounts of white synthetic blood jetted from his mouth and nose, mixed with several shattered teeth.

*Bang bang bang bang...*

Watching Luo Zhen writhing and howling on the ground, Li Jun's expression was strange, a sudden absurd sensation rising in his heart.

A dignified Inspector of the Jie District, yet his strength was this weak—barely comparable to a newly promoted Sequence Nine.

All bluster, no substance. What an official.

"Li Jun! I am of the Yan Prefecture Wu Clan! You kill me, you slap the Wu Clan in the face—they will never let you go!"

Under the dual stimulation of agony and death, Luo Zhen finally played his last card, attempting to threaten Li Jun with the Wu Clan's name.

"The Yan Prefecture Wu Clan, one of the Confucian aristocratic clans of Chengdu Prefecture?" Li Jun narrowed his eyes in return.

Li Jun's reaction was like a life-saving straw handed to Luo Zhen; he nodded frantically, voice urgent. "Yes, your Paoge Society is backed by the Gu Clan; this Nine Dragons Street is merely a stake in the arm-wrestling match between the two families..."

"So what?"

Under Luo Zhen's dull gaze, Li Jun slowly crouched, reaching out to clamp the man's nape, pointing at his own mangled neck, sneering: "Look closely. I am now a solitary man with no clan. What can a Confucian aristocratic clan do to me?"

"How dare you... how dare you?" Luo Zhen muttered, suddenly seeming to realize something, about to struggle with all his might.

*Pfft!*

The bio-chip at the back of Luo Zhen's neck was ripped out along with his spine. The man collapsed like a deflated balloon, shrinking into the ground.

[Proficiency Points Gained: 70]

[Consumed 12 Proficiency Points. Single Blade Technique upgraded to Grade Nine Grand Perfection.]

[Consumed 58 Proficiency Points. Eight Trigrams Swimming Body Step upgraded to Grade Nine Late Stage (58/100).]

"Take it."

Li Jun curled his lip in disdain, casually tossing the spinal segment to the guardsman captain Qi Feng, a half-smile on his face. "Did you see who killed the Inspector?"

Qi Feng's eyeballs twitched rapidly. He scanned the surrounding citizens watching like tigers, understanding dawning. "It was the Tiger Mound!"

"Right, it was this Japanese bandit convict!"

Qi Feng nodded vigorously, turning to his subordinates with feigned gravity. "Today, Inspector Luo entered Nine Dragons Street on patrol and was suddenly attacked by the Tiger Mound. He died heroically in the line of duty. Did you hear that?!"

The guardsmen immediately nodded in agreement, movements clean and crisp, perfectly uniform.

"You're a smart man. Rarer still, you have a conscience."

Li Jun smiled faintly, waving a hand at the Nine Dragons Street residents blocking the council hall entrance. "Let them go."

The restless crowd settled into calm, obediently following Li Jun's command, ushering the shaken guardsmen out of the Paoge Society headquarters.

Watching the council hall return to silence, Li Jun let out a long breath, walked to the coffin, and helped the slumped Kuang Qingyun to his feet.

"You alright?"

Kuang Qingyun's face had barely a patch of intact skin. He forced out an expression that barely qualified as a smile and nodded.

"As long as the brain and mechanical heart aren't smashed, I won't die." He raised a hand to touch the uneven bullet holes riddling his body, sighing. "Just costs a fortune to repair afterwards."

Li Jun grinned. "You're the new Helmsman of the Paoge Society now. Afraid you can't cough up that little bit of money?"

Kuang Qingyun fell silent for a moment, then spoke slowly. "Your strength far surpasses mine. The Helmsman's seat should be yours."

"Forget it. I haven't the ability to feed that many mouths. Besides, I'm not a Hunsui Paoge member anymore."

"Afraid of implicating us?"

Li Jun neither confirmed nor denied. "Living alone is easier."

Kuang Qingyun sighed, about to persuade further, when the coffin beside them suddenly emitted a few faint sounds of mechanical activation.

Both men whipped around almost as one, catching sight of several rays of light spilling from the apex of the spirit tablet, intertwining into a withered silhouette above the coffin.

The moment the figure's visage resolved, Li Jun froze, every muscle locking tight, his expression a volatile mix of horror and fury as he gasped, "M-Master Ding?!"

Kuang Qingyun — stripped of every sensory implant save his hearing — gave a violent start, raising his grotesque, ruinous face, fixing his two hollow orbits on the projection.