Chapter 77: Rules, Laws, and Morality
In the morning, the sun had just risen, and the sunlight was faint.
Emperor Yonghe was sitting on the terrace of a small building, his eyes half-closed, feeling a bit sleepy.
Ever since he left the palace, his sleep hasn't been very good. He woke up as soon as it was daylight, and now he was starting to feel drowsy.
Downstairs on the street, more and more people were gradually appearing. Some familiar pedestrians stopped to chat and greet each other, while street vendors selling pancakes called out along the street. The voices were noisy but not sharp. This was a scene rarely seen by Emperor Yonghe, who had lived in the deep palace for a long time.
"I wonder how long days like this can last..."
Emperor Yonghe closed his eyes and gradually lost focus.
Since the Inhuman War, the Great Yan Imperial Court has been in decline, and as the current emperor, he didn't have the mood or energy to come all the way to Heyang City in Nan Province for some undercover visit.
Undercover visits are something only founding or prosperous emperors can do.
But forty years after the Inhuman War, with heavy taxes and deep-seated grievances in the Great Yan, why would Emperor Yonghe engage in undercover visits?
Without any understanding, isn't he afraid that his precious life will be taken by some fearless assassin?
He did have a different purpose for this journey, and the so-called undercover visit was just the calm before the storm.
But all that was in the future, even if he was in a hurry, he could still take a nap for now...
"Your Majesty." At this moment, Guard Chu appeared in front of him.
Unless necessary, he wouldn't disturb Emperor Yonghe's nap, after all, he was the current emperor.
"Xuantian Temple had an incident. The person named Qiao Pifu was investigating the Case of Impermanent Monster and ended up at Xuantian Temple..."
"Hmm?" Emperor Yonghe, with his eyes almost closed, suddenly became wide awake, completely free of drowsiness.
He immediately remembered the incident last night, when Sheriff Qiao Pifu was investigating the case of the tiger that killed someone, involving the Saintess of the Xuantian Sect.
"...How dare he act in such a way?"
Emperor Yonghe's heart unexpectedly became heavier.
The Blue-eyed Flying Tiger that injured someone last night was a spirit pet raised by Saintess Wu Qingxin, a member of the Xuantian Sect.
Wu Qingxin was not an ordinary saintess.
Her surname was Wu, and she was actually the adopted daughter of a Martial Saint and also a disciple of the Martial Saint.
Once she escaped from the Wuji Association, she sought refuge in the Immortal Gate, where she was recognized as a Saintess by the Xuantian Sect. From that moment on, she began her journey on the path of immortality.
Her existence itself is actually a symbol of the Immortal Gate.
Wu Qingxin has a special identity, so Emperor Yonghe was hesitant and unable to make a decision last night.
"Go to Xuantian Temple to see the specific situation."
Emperor Yonghe immediately stood up and walked downstairs, his previous laziness vanished.
...............
On the street in front of Xuantian Temple in the north of the city.
Suddenly, a figure covered in blood appeared abruptly and forcefully knocked the attacking giant tiger several meters away.
"This 'Shadow Step' is even better than expected."
Qiao Mu muttered to himself.
His martial arts has reached the 6th rank, but he has actually never properly trained in light techniques before. He has always relied on his immense strength and sudden bursts of internal power to dash forward.
However, this "Shadow Step" is a genuine light technique, with specific moves that unleash internal power. Its effects are much better than his previous brute force approach.
Upon hearing the roar of the tiger, Qiao Mu, who was originally planning to forcefully enter the Taoist temple, immediately changed direction and rushed towards this side.
With the eruption of internal power from the Heavenly Demon Disintegration Method, his figure had almost reached the point of creating afterimages. He rushed ahead of the people from Xuantian Temple and arrived here.
"I was just rushing too fast and bumped my shoulder..."
Qiao Mu stretched his shoulder and the pain made him grimace.
Martial artists have strong bodies and abundant vital energy, but that is when compared to ordinary people.
Any martial artist with a brain would not fight head-on with demons.
After all, humans shouldn't compare their strength, claw sharpness, or bone hardness with wild beasts in the first place.
Behind him.
Qian Qian quickly moved his daughter to the side and held her in his arms. Then he looked up at the figure of the man, who was dressed like a martial artist.
The man in the martial artist outfit didn't turn around. He just left Qian Qian with a view of his back, filled with intense energy.
"Are you... Captain Qiao?" Qian Qian hesitated for a moment.
Just now, when faced with Blue-eyed Flying Tiger, Qian Qian's mind was filled with memories flashing before his eyes. He never expected that it was Captain Qiao, whom he was somewhat afraid of at the local office, who saved him and his daughter's lives.
"You've mistaken me." The man in the martial artist outfit still didn't turn around, but spoke lightly:
"I am not a Captain, just an ordinary man."
"I have always been shy and introverted, and I never talk to strangers. So please don't talk to me."
Qian Qian, holding his own child, was momentarily stunned.
Roar!
At this moment, the Blue-eyed Flying Tiger shook its body, climbed up from the ground, opened its mouth wide, and let out a fierce roar again.
The roaring sound waves twisted the air visibly. The tiger was not hurt much by the impact just now. Instead, it infuriated him and made him appear more fierce.
Qian Qian shivered instinctively and hurriedly ran into the house, holding the little girl in his arms. The pedestrians and pilgrims on the street also naturally fled in panic.
While running wildly, Qian Qian subconsciously looked back and saw the man in a strong suit suddenly step forward instead of retreating.
With his internal strength bursting out, the man's feet shattered the blue stone slabs, and his figure turned into an afterimage, pouncing towards the tiger like a hungry tiger attacking its prey.
"Shadow Sword!"
Yan City City Lord Guo Yan's sword technique relied on its complexity and exquisite moves, while Qiao Mu was only a beginner, not having mastered those sophisticated sword techniques yet.
However, with the eruption of the Heavenly Demon Disintegration Method, surging internal strength continuously flowed out from his limbs and bones. A sharp aura bloomed on his three-foot-long sword. Even if his sword technique was messy for a while, it still made the fierce tiger retreat again and again, whimpering.
Qian Qian's attention was focused on Qiao Mu's footsteps, and his eye twitched slightly.
"My family's 'Shadow Step'? Is this how you use Shadow Step?"
Shadow Step is mainly about stealth and invisibility, moving lightly on rooftops and walls in the night, with agile movements. It is a skill of a skilled thief.
And the Qiao Mu before his eyes was extremely violent.
Every step he took caused the ground's cobblestones to shatter loudly, and every step closely followed the attacking giant tiger. His figure was exceptionally quick, leaving Qian Qian only with a trail of afterimages in his sight and the sound of the cobblestones breaking in his ears.
"This Shadow Step seems to be even faster than my father used to be... Could it be that I've trained it wrong?" Qian Qian felt completely confused in his heart.
This tiger was fierce, so fierce that Qian Qian couldn't gather the courage to resist it just a moment ago.
But the figure filled with boiling energy and blood was even fiercer than it, each strike was an explosive display of internal strength, without holding anything back.
"Qiao Pifu, you must not act aggressively!"
"This Blue-eyed Flying Tiger is the spirit pet of the Saintess from Xuantian Sect."
At this moment, the moon and the chubby official from the main gate of Xuantian Temple arrived late in the distance, and seeing this scene, they shouted loudly.
"What does the rule of the Immortal Gate have to do with me, a common man like myself?" Qiao Mu just sneered, his actions not slowing down at all.
He hadn't fought against a cultivator yet.
Seeing the crowd of cultivators from Xuantian Temple rushing over, he had no choice but to act first, to avoid dying too quickly and not having time to kill this ferocious tiger.
Puff!
Qiao Mu's sword pierced the neck of the giant tiger, blood gushed out, and the Blue-eyed Flying Tiger also retreated in pain, almost standing up.
Qiao Mu leaped onto the tiger's back, clasping his legs tightly around it, one hand gripping the tiger's head tightly, while the other hand reached for the sword stuck in the tiger's neck.
"An evil beast that rampages and kills on the street deserves to be beheaded!"
Qiao Mu held the sword tightly and swung it with all his might, unleashing his hidden strength that pierced through the tiger's neck.
Surrounded by astonished eyes of the people at Xuantian Temple, Qiao Mu swiftly beheaded the tiger.
The headless body of the tiger, which had just stood upright, collapsed onto the shattered street, spurting out a pungent smell of blood like a fountain.
The tiger's corpse lay on the street near the side entrance of Xuantian Temple, next to several other bodies of pedestrians, scattered offerings, and the shattered Immortal Xuantian statue...
This scene petrified the pedestrians and the people at Xuantian Temple. They were frozen in disbelief.
The street fell into a brief silence.
Qiao Mu looked down at the massive tiger corpse, slightly stooping down to lift its head with one hand.
With his other hand, he took out a shiny white tiger hair from a small bag and held it up high under the sunlight.
He clenched the tiger hair in one hand while raising the blood-stained tiger head with the other.
Qiao Mu looked around and said loudly, "This fur indeed came from the Blue-eyed Flying Tiger of the Xuantian Sect..."
Qiao Mu is no longer a government's headhunter.
And now, no one cares about the Case of Impermanent Monster at all.
Even the Female Cultivator Ming Yue, who had spent a lot of effort catching the little kitten, didn't have the time to pay attention to it. She was trembling, her pupils contracted, and she was furious.
This person ruthlessly killed the Saintess's spiritual pet right there on the street...
However, Qiao Mu still explained the reasoning and the details of the case seriously, from the sudden appearance and the droplets of tiger fur left behind by the Female Cultivator Ming Yue last night, to the bite marks of various tiger-like monsters found on the bodies of previous victims...
These detailed statements of the case were taken from the documents submitted by Chief Constable Chen, and Qiao Mu was just retelling them.
Even though nobody cares about the case at the moment, and nobody wants to listen.
The Taoists from the Xuantian Temple were furious, their faces pale with anger. The chubby official trembled and scolded, and the rest of the people stood in place, their faces pale as they discussed fervently.
And Qiao Mu pretended not to hear, and continued talking to himself.
His eyes skimmed over the tiger corpse at his feet, the messy streets, and the half-eaten bodies of the pedestrians.
"The damned beast that kills deserves to be killed!" He stood next to the tiger corpse, holding the blood-dripping head of the ferocious tiger, and said calmly:
"This is not the law of Great Yan, nor the rules of Immortal Gate..."
"But... the principles of society!"
