The sun slowly began to set. The heat seemingly vanished as if the dark clouds blew it away, resulting in a fairly dramatic drop in temperature.
The words "Qilin Guards the Nation" were inscribed on the plaque at the main door of the Qilin Guards main courtyard. Those four words were bestowed upon them by the founding emperor. Its significance was like the plaque with the phrase "Carrying out justice on behalf of the heavens" on it at Liu Shan Men's Vermillion Hall. They are both handed-down treasures.
The Qilin Guards however, hung their plaque at their main door instead as a sign that the imperial court trusted them and held them in high esteem. Commoners who passed by couldn't help but look at it. Of course, they only snuck glances at it since they didn't have the guts to look at the door to the Qilin Guards' main courtyard.
At the current time, eight warriors on guard duty were lined up in two rows on either side of the main door. They wore evidently excited looks on their faces.
Guarding the doors is a really boring job, but they were lucky as their vice-captain gave them a new form of entertainment - pick fights at Liu Shan Men. It was said that Yi Yixian beat up a number of Liu Shan Men's members yesterday. God it felt good.
It was the turn of these eight to go and pick a fight at Liu Shan Men today, so of course they were excited.
When the time for their fun finally came they spotted a group of people in the distance approaching.
The group of people were strange. They were all dressed in navy clothing which looked like a constable uniform. It looked like they were from the same organisation. There were around twenty or thirty of them.
The Qilin Guards only saw that much. The approaching group closed in on them swiftly. They didn't stop at the door, instead entering without any hesitation. The eight Qilin Guards were practically like live statues as they allowed the group of people to rush in.
One of the guards yelled: "How dare you, do you know what this place is?!"
Another one shouted: "Do you people have a death wish?! You dare trespass onto the Qilin Guards property?!"
When the eight Qilin guards noticed who the group of people were, their hearts began to race.
The leader of the group had a strong feminine charm, snow-white skin, and a beautiful face. If he weren't a dressed as a guy with a sabre at his waist, they truly would've thought a beauty had come to visit.
Some of them felt that he looked familiar, but they couldn't put a finger on who he was. His footsteps didn't slow down. He raised his foot and slammed it right into the face of the Qilin Guard in his way. His foot and the guard's face collided with a thud and he flew crashing into the door.
"A-Are you starting a riot?"!
The other Qilin Guards quickly drew their sabres. However, before their sabres could be drawn, a young man in a purple robe imitated the person previous to him and stomped another Qilin Guard in the face as well. The other constables charged at them like lightning. They didn't give the Qilin Guards a single chance to react. They each stomped the Qilin Guards in their faces. The eight Qilin Guards immediately began rolling around on the ground.
Other Qilin Guards heard noises at the door, so a number of them immediately went to see what was going on.
But before they could touch the door handle, they heard someone who sounded like a girl, yet like a young man coldly shout: "Smash!"
A wave of hot air rushed over. The doors flung open like thunderclap struck them. The sound of the doors snapping could be heard. The doors snapped off the frame and smashed into the guards who intended to see what was going on, rendering them all unable to get up from the ground.
They just saw thirty constables rush over with Liu Shan Men's Su Xiao and Tang Ye leading the group.
The group of constables looked furious. They went straight inside, scaring a group of Qilin Guards and all the other workers at the office.
The thirty or more of them attacked everybody who tried to stop them, forcing their way straight in as if there was nobody present.
On one hand, nobody has trespassed onto the Qilin Guard's grounds through their front door like this before. On the other hand, most of the Qilin Guards recognised their uniforms so they were so surprised they couldn't react in time.
Inside the courtyard, Yi Yixian had a table of wine and food. He was picking his teeth with a toothpick.
After he beat up old Huang yesterday, he beat up another five people, and giddily returned to report his achievement. Long Zaitian was quite happy to hear what he was told, and he was feeling proud about it right now. Yi Yixian was still thinking about how he'd teach Liu Shan Men's people another lesson, and get revenge on Tang Ye for last time.
He suddenly saw a group of people come as a horde towards him without slowing down.
"You? What are you people here for?" Yi Yixian was caught by surprise, but then when he realised he was in his own home ground, he laughed coldly and said: "Heh, you so eager for another beating that you'd offer yourself up?"
What Su Xiao heard lit up a fire in his eyes. He drew his sabre and walked over.
"You!" Yi Yixian barely evaded Su Xiao's attack. He then cursed: "You crazy bitch, you're actually attacking me seriously?! You know what style I train in?! You think I can't defend against your dog-shit skills?!"
"Alright, defend. Block this if you're so fucking good!!"
Su Xiao's ancient cold sabre flew at him.
Yi Yixian chuckled coldly. He trains iron ring fist, so he has two sets of iron rings to guard his arms, hence why he was unafraid of blades. He extended his right arm outwards to block while gathering energy in his left fist to counterattack when Su Xiao struck.
However, the cold light and cold energy of the sabre was hidden. Yi Yixian's warning sirens went off before he could come into contact with the sabre. He realised he was in trouble so he quickly retracted his arm, but he was a bit too slow.
Surprisingly, there was no sound when the two collided. The ancient cold sabre glided on Yi Yixian's arms, cutting all ten of his iron rings. But there wasn't even a sound. The back of Yi Yixian's hands and Su Xiao's blade cut against each other, leaving Yi Yixian jaw-dropped.
Yi Yixian was so scared he took two steps back. Su Xiao took his scabbard out with his left hand and clubbed Yi Yixian's face with it as if it were a sabre. His strike wasn't exactly strong, but because Yi Yixian was in a panic, he forgot to gather energy to defend himself. And so, Su Xiao's attack left him with a bloodied face and stars floating around his head like a halo.
That one hit dyed his face red with his blood. The Qilin Guards standing around who saw him were stunned.
Su Xiao shouted: "Knock him out and let's take him!"
Tang Ye gave him another palm strike, effectively knocking him out. A few constables then immediately tied Yi Yixian up like a zongzi, lifted him up and carried him back to the office.
They came out of the blue and left flamboyantly. Nobody came to the rescue of the Qilin Guards, and surprisingly, nobody stopped them.
When they reached the courtyard, somebody finally stood before them to stop them.
Tang Ye and Su Xiao had met her before. It was Si Tuo.
The beautiful woman had obviously been affected by Liu Shan Men's actions today. She didn't know what the best course of action to take was either.
"Hand him over and go back. I'll tell everybody to pretend this never happened." Si Tuo looked worried. She imposingly said: "You do know that doing this will incite a full-scale fight between Liu Shan Men and the Qilin Guards with no chance of return, right? Yang Shisan bullied us Qilin Guards back then as well. Young man, don't be impulsive."
"You done?" Su Xiao then coldly added: "Now get lost."
Si Tuo chuckled coldly and mocked him: "Su Xiao, Su Xiao, you're so pretty that even I'm a bit jealous. You just look like a girl in every way. What you're doing is acting emotionally like a woman, don't you think?"
Su Xiao didn't fall for her taunts. He grabbed his sabre handle, put on a scary expression and in a low tone said: "Get lost."
"Miss Si, this isn't a private matter. It's official business." Tang Ye then earnestly added: "Please move."
Si Tuo thought about it for a while then shook her head and replied: "I can't."
Tang Ye then hopelessly replied: "Then please forgive me for my rudeness."
A Qilin Guard then jumped out: "You bastards, Madam Si is showing you courtesy, and yet……"
Before the Qilin Guard could finish, Su Xiao punched him onto his back. The guard cried out as he bled from his nose.
Su Xiao didn't even bother to spare him a look. He just went straight to the door.
Si Tuo felt that the way he acted was just like Shen Yiren. In her mind she helplessly said: "Who said that there's only one crazy bitch at Liu Shan Men? There's another one right here!"
"Wh-What are you doing?" Si Tuo panicked as she exclaimed: "This is the Qilin Guards grounds. What you're doing is against the rules!"
"Rules?"
Su Xiao stopped in his tracks and exchanged eye contact with her. His gaze made Si Tuo feel like her heart froze up.
"Alright, let's talk about rules then."
Su Xiao looked at Si Tuo with his gaze of justice. He then glared at the Qilin Guards who came to surround them: "When you people came and beat up our colleagues every single day, did you consider the rules? Did you consider the rules when you surrounded our office with three hundred guards? Did you consider the rules when you beat grandpa Huang to death?! Listen, you people don't have any regard for the rules, but I do. My rules are referred to as the country's laws!"
Si Tuo and the other Qilin Guards were stumped. What Su Xiao basically left them speechless.
Su Xiao started to sound like he was tearing up as he spoke.
"Yi Yixian and his crew beat grandpa Huang who is an old man over seventy to death. Yesterday, he said to me… He said to me that he was going to see his grandchildren today. He said he wanted to send his grandchildren to a martial arts and academic school, so that they could join Liu Shan Men in the future and become responsible constables who would catch criminals… stop bullies from bullying the people, just like… just like the officers he served in his lifetime."
After that, Su Xiao's tears started falling. His tear drops ran down his face, but he didn't raise his hand up to wipe them away.
"I came here today to fulfil the role of a good constable. I want to let his grandchildren know that the good constable they should strive to become can be found at Liu Shan Men. As long as we're around, his death won't be in vain. As long as we're around, evildoers shall be punished."
With each sentence from him, the constables standing behind him puffed their chest out a bit more. For every drop of tear that he shed, the fire in the constables' chests burnt brighter.
"Get it? This is the rule I'm talking about. Don't bring up the rules of the conflict between the three offices. I don't understand them. The laws practiced by the nation are my rules. Yi Yixian violated the law, so I must arrest him."
Su Xiao shot glares at them, but not one of them dared to look him in the eye.
Su Xiao seemed to come to some realisation, and like the constable from Liu Shan Men back then that the people remembered, shouted: "Liu Shan Men is on duty, so all those not involved are to move away".
Glossary
Zongzi = Zongzi is a traditional Chinese food made of glutinous rice stuffed with different fillings and wrapped in bamboo, reed, or other large flat leaves. They are cooked by steaming or boiling. Picture reference (http://img03.taobaocdn.com/imgextra/i3/34141840/T2xmjWXmVaXXXXXXXX_%21%2134141840.jpg)
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