Lian shifted his focus, his grey eyes locking onto the trembling form of Baifung.
"No... no! Stay away! Stay away from me!" the plump merchant shrieked. He scrambled backwards, his expensive silk robes tearing as he pushed against the mud, trying to find a gap in the surrounding crowd.
"Who is this young man? His strength is just so great?!" the spectators whispered.
"Protect me! You useless pieces of shit!" he screamed at the two Tang masters, who remained slumped against the inn walls, their auras shattered and their spirits broken.
Lian walked forward, his footsteps silent. "Mmm... I guess all that money you have has been really beneficial to you. Since you didn't collapse from my earlier strike, you must have bought some high-grade elixirs to bolster your frame, or perhaps you have some treasure?!"
Lian didn't hesitate. He raised his left leg and brought it down with the force of a falling mountain.
CRACK.
The merchant's leg snapped like a dry twig.
"Ahhhhhh! It hurts! Please... I have money! I will give it all to you!" Baifung pleaded, tears and snot mixing with the mud on his face. But Lian's expression didn't flicker. He raised his leg again, and the merchant's other leg was crushed into the earth.
"How brutal..." Li Fuang whispered from the tower, his knuckles white as he gripped the railing.
"Mmm. It does seem excessive, especially when a man is pleading for his life," Master Bao spoke, his breathing finally steadying after the spiritual backlash. "But know this, Li Fuang: in the Murim, sometimes you must be brutal. If you spare a snake because it cries, it will only bite you once it has regrown its fangs. Even a fish can become a dragon and kill you out of spite because you gave it the chance to survive."
"Tch. I know that logically, Master... but my heart won't allow me to watch this," Li Fuang replied.
Without waiting for permission, Li Fuang leapt from the window. His robes billowed like wings as he glided through the air, a streak of light descending toward the centre of the muddy street to intercept the Formless executioner.
"Haaa... that boy is still young. He doesn't know how unforgiving the world truly is." The old master, Bao, sighed as he watched his disciple leap. "I had hoped to steel his mind with this trip, but he is still just so naïve." He shook his head, calmly brewing another cup of tea as the storm broke below.
BOOM!
Li Fuang landed in the centre of the street, directly between Lian and the broken merchant. A massive cloud of dust erupted from the impact, veiling his figure for a moment before the wind cleared it away.
"Wait!" Li Fuang roared, his voice carrying the resonant frequency that stopped all the commotion.
"Whoa! It's the Array Genius, Li Fuang! Has he come to fight this monster?" the crowd murmured, their eyes wide. They looked at Li Fuang, who stood with an air of absolute confidence, a stark contrast to the bloody scene behind him.
Lian turned his head slowly. His eyes were sharp; the grey void within them flicked with a dangerous, bloodshot intensity. His usual calmness was gone; it looked like he was ready to lash out at any moment.
"What? Are you here to fight me as well?" Lian's voice was a low vibration. "Are you with the Tang family?"
"No, Young Master. I am not here to fight." To the shock of every spectator in the street, Li Fuang didn't draw his sword. Instead, he folded his hands and gave Lian a deep, formal martial salute.
"What?! Look at him, he's bowing!" a patron gasped. "Does he know this youth? Why is he acting so cautiously? Could this boy really be from a family even greater than the Yin-Yang sect?"
"My name is Li Fuang, a disciple of the Righteous Path," Li Fuang spoke, his head still bowed in respect. "I beseech you, Young Master. I may not know the full extent of what these people did to you... But this man is pleading for mercy. Would you truly continue to attack a man who has lost his will to fight? Wouldn't that make you no different from the villains they seem to be?"
Those words "villain, mercy, and Righteous Path" pulled Lian back from the brink. The red tint in his vision began to recede, replaced by the cool, grey clarity of his normal state.
"Tch... that was close. I almost fell for my inner demon there," he thought, his chest heaving slightly as his vision cleared. He looked down at the merchant, Baifung, whose legs were twisted in an unnatural, sickening manner. The reality of his own brutality settled in his stomach, not with regret, but with the realisation of how close he had come to losing his self.
Lian took a deep, grounding breath. The crushing pressure of his aura vanished instantly, replaced by the calm, unassuming presence of a travelling scholar.
"Thank you... for waking me up," Lian responded. He straightened his back and returned Li Fuang's martial salute with perfect form.
"However," Lian continued, his gaze drifting back to the groaning merchant and the unconscious Tang masters. "These people tried to kill and rob me. What will be done about that? Justice must still be served, even if I am not the one to deliver the final blow."
"Ahhh... about that..." Li Fuang's voice cracked slightly, his confident persona wavering as he realised he didn't actually have a legal plan for the mess in the street. He looked at the ruined inn, the broken guards, and the terrified crowd.
"Why don't you explain the situation to my master? I am sure he will have a solution," Li Fuang suggested, his eyes brightening. "How about it, Young Master? Would you like to accompany me to the Zenith Tea House? It's much quieter than... well, this."
Lian considered the offer. "His master, huh? I need to get my bearings in this region, and a man of his master's reputation likely has maps and information. It would be a great help in finding the fastest route to the Azure Crane Family."
"Okay," Lian said, a small, tired smile touching his lips. "Thank you for the invite, brother. Lead the way."
Lian's aura relaxed completely. Under the stunned gazes of the city's inhabitants, the Calamity, who had just dismantled the Golden Guards, simply turned and followed behind Li Fuang like an old friend.
"What the hell is going on?" an old man shook his head tunring away as well.