“Pingxi City belongs to the citizens of Pingxi City! It isn’t anyone’s territory! The ‘Writ of Grace’ isn’t for all of you to use as a shield from the laws and an excuse to run amok. The riot last night caused countless casualties and a great disturbance. People are committing murder and arson. I am responsible for anything that happens in Pingxi City, so I have brought my men here into the eastern city to apprehend criminals and restore order. Lay down your weapons right now and exit the city for interrogation. We will kill anyone who resists!”
During the confrontation, Pingxi Prefectural Governor Wang Jianbei came forward to look at the several thousand Shatu people who were blocking the way and spoke loudly.
Of course, the old Shatu man knew the person who stepped forward. He looked at Wang Jianbei, then pointed to the soldiers behind him and maintained his arrogant attitude. “Aren’t you worried that the Grand Chancellor will condemn you for your actions, Prefectural Governor? You dare to order the soldiers in this city to slaughter our people on Shatu territory? This crime is enough to subject you to a violent death and clan extermination! The Shatu Seven Tribes will surely remember you and fight you to the end if you dare to offend us today!”
If anything happened in the city back then, the Shatu people would band together and protest. The local authorities would then try to maintain peace by letting the Shatu people have their way, even if they were being unreasonable. This caused them to slowly develop their arrogance. Although the Shatu people in the city were being pressured into obedience to a certain extent after the collapse of the Ye Clan and the attempted assassination of the Provincial Governor, it was impossible to suddenly change the arrogant attitudes of those who had been spoilt over the past few decades.
Among the Shatu people in the city, the older ones and especially those of certain social standings were the most arrogant of all. They were mostly the ones who disregarded the laws and gathered crowds to stir up trouble in Pingxi City. That old Shatu man was most likely one of the more prestigious individuals among them. He came forward and still used the old method to make Wang Jianbei back off.
The old man spoke of the Grand Chancellor, the ‘Writ of Grace’, and making enemies with the Shatu Seven Tribes as soon as he opened his mouth. With these three mentions, any ordinary bureaucrat would most likely be intimidated and would try to not further inflame the situation. However, it was a pity that the old Shatu man failed to understand that Wang Jianbei had made up his mind to get rid of the tumor in Pingxi City this time.
“Worldly matters call for public opinion, and no one can hide the sky with one hand. The Grand Chancellor is not the servant of the Shatu Seven Tribes. You may go ahead and order the Grand Chancellor to investigate me or dismiss me if you are capable of doing so!” Wang Jianbei had a trace of a cold smile on his face, as his chilly words resonated throughout the street.
“You best remember that persisting in evil will bring about self-destruction. The Shatu Seven Tribes are nothing but losers during the internal strife within the Shatu Alliance. Our Great Han Empire doesn’t even put the Shatu Alliance in our eyes as our army was able to send them fleeing with tails between their legs multiple times back in the days, let alone losers like you. Do you think a Prefectural Governor like me would be intimidated by your empty threats? If one day, you Shatu people forget your position and betray the kindness of the Great Han Empire by baring your fangs against us, we shall take care of you like how we did before, and make sure that we’ll completely erase your existence! By then, it would be too late for regrets!”
Wang Jianbei’s words were powerful and resonant. The countenance of that old Shatu man and many other Shatu people who understood his words immediately contorted.
Seeing that the other party was silent, Wang Jianbei immediately gave Liu Yucheng an order. “Continue on. Kill those who dare to resist and those who refuse to obey!”
Liu Yucheng licked his lips as he raised his hand and yelled, “FORWARD!”
“YES!”
The troop that stopped on the street immediately responded loudly in unison, before syncing their footsteps as they surged toward the Shatu people in front of them. As they marched on, the ground shook.
The countenance of those Shatu people on the streets finally contorted because they had never been met with such a situation before. When anything happened in the city back then, they were facing either the townspeople or bailiffs and the like—all they had to do was gather up and make some noise. Since safety lied in numbers, the outnumbered would be intimidated before finally backing off. As they let these Shatu people have their way over the past several decades, they grew more domineering and arrogant as they felt that the Han Chinese were nothing but pushovers.
Now that they saw the garrison in the city surging toward them like a steel mountain with their weapons, they suddenly realized that these Han Chinese people were no longer the same as the ones in their impressions from before. Their perfectly synced footsteps, their upright spears that looked like a forest, and their sturdy iron shields sent a chill down the Shatu people’s spines and made their legs buckle.
It had been several decades since the people from the Shatu Seven Tribes saw a Han Chinese troop march toward them like this.
Yan Liqiang watched the soldiers march forward beside Wang Jianbei, then gave the latter a thumbs-up. “Hahaha, well said, Prefectural Governor!”
This wasn’t flattery as Yan Liqiang sincerely thought Wang Jianbei’s words were great. They truly reflected his status as the prefectural governor.
Wang Jianbei winked at Yan Liqiang, then pointed at the streets around them which had pretty much been reduced into ruins. “I’ll leave the remaining mess to you, Liqiang!”
Yan Liqiang was about to say something, but the expression on his face suddenly changed and he reached out to grab a black arrow in his hand.
The black arrow was very different than any ordinary arrow; it was heavy and cold in his hand. The arrow shaft and arrowhead were flat, and there were many strange silver runes on the shaft.
It didn’t make any noise when it flew toward them. By the time Yan Liqiang grasped it in his hand, it was only less than three feet away from Wang Jianbei’s chest.
After Yan Liqiang’s hand caught it, the arrow trembled like a seven-inch venomous snake. It came alive and started shaking violently, trying to fly toward Wang Jianbei and making howling noises in the air.
The expression on everyone’s face immediately contorted.
Yan Liqiang roared while he channeled the force into his hand, instantly crushing the arrow in his grasp with an explosive noise, causing the rhinodrake steeds around him to buck in fear.
There he saw the fleeting shadow of an archer on top of a roof in the distance behind the Shatu people.
Yan Liqiang gave chase without even thinking. He moved like a cloud dragon on the half-collapsed roofs of the ruins, every step covering the distance of ten zhang. When the Shatu people saw him chasing the silhouette like a bolt of lightning, some people among the group immediately let loose their arrows on Yan Liqiang…
Pingxi Military Governor Liu Yucheng’s angry bellow was heard coming behind Yan Liqiang. “KILL THEM…!”
Chaos immediately broke out on the street as though a pot of boiling oil was doused with cold water…