Chapter 2071 - Peril

The atmosphere was stifled and oppressive as the wiry, handsome young man and the guards glared at Su Yi.

Throughout the surrounding area, a crowd watched on. None of them intervened. The guards were issuing orders in the name of the city’s rules. Not even gods would dare to defy them!

Even a mighty dragon had to lower its head before a local serpent.

Besides, the City of the Beginning was the starting point of the Path of the Ancient Gods. A year later, when they wanted to leave the Path of the Ancient Gods, they’d need to pass through this city. Who’d dare to offend its guardians?

Su Yi really was new to the City of the Beginning, and he didn’t understand its situation at all.

Still, when he heard the handsome young man’s threats, he couldn’t help but laugh dryly. “You’re demanding I follow you without offering any proof of my guilt. What is that, if not a violation of the rules? You’re one of the city’s guards, yet you dare abuse the city’s rules toward your own ends. Aren’t you trampling over the very rules you’re sworn to protect?”

The guards’ expressions darkened.

Su Yi continued flatly, “I don’t know whose orders you’re acting on or why you’re looking for me, but you’d best leave and investigate properly before you come looking for me again. Otherwise, you’ll die without even knowing why.”

With that, he turned to leave.

“Stop right there!” The wiry, handsome young guard blocked Su Yi’s path, his entire body seething with murderous intent. “I’m acting in accordance with the rules. All I’ve done is deliver a message telling you to obey orders. You’re an outsider, yet you dare disobey. According to the rules, I’m well within my rights to arrest you!”

Su Yi frowned. “Assiduously carrying out your duties is all well and good, but it’s obvious to me that someone is just using you as cannon fodder.

“This is my first time here, and I don’t want to kill anyone, which is why I’m trying to dissuade you with words. If you’re clever, you’ll leave immediately. Go back and tell whoever gave you these orders my attitude. Quit seeking out your own demise and step aside!”

Su Yi fixed his cold, profound gaze on the young man. The young guard’s expression shifted in response to this formless pressure; he could sense Su Yi’s dense murderous intent.

His heart filled with unease, and he had a sudden, powerful premonition that if he didn’t step aside, Su Yi would attack without hesitation!

But then, another guard said out of nowhere, “Your Excellency Lie Leng, in accordance with the city’s rules, those who attack or threaten the city’s guards with death are to be executed on the spot!”

The other guards chimed in too, all of them clamoring to punish Su Yi severely. Su Yi’s domineering attitude had offended them, and all of them were deeply displeased.

The young man they called “His Excellency Lie Leng” looked uncertain. He was obviously hesitant.

Meanwhile, throughout the surrounding area, a crowd of experts watched the staredown with rapt attention!

Su Yi’s tyrannical, domineering bearing came as no surprise, really. Still, this was the City of the Beginning. Even gods had to treat its guards with polite deference; none would dare treat them like Su Yi was.

It seemed that violence might well break out at any moment. If the guards didn’t arrest Su Yi, they’d have no face left, and it would deal a heavy blow to their authority and the sanctity of the city’s rules.

Who’d obediently follow the rules then?

“Your Excellency Lie Leng, you cannot hesitate any longer!” said a thin-faced guard with an effeminate air about him. “The rules of the City of Beginning cannot be broken, not even by gods! Don’t forget that we control a portion of the city’s Laws of the Natural Order. Taking down a mere Great Realm cultivator will be no more difficult than turning over our hands!”

This was the same man who’d urged Lie Leng to execute Su Yi on the spot earlier, inviting the other guards’ support.

Now, when he saw Lie Leng hesitate, he spoke up once more. He was obviously a war hawk.

Just like before, when he spoke up, the other guards chimed in too. All of them expressed their strong support for punishing Su Yi.

The atmosphere was increasingly tense.

Lie Leng stood there in silence for a long time, visibly overcome with uncertainty.

But Su Yi wasn’t willing to wait any longer. The longer things dragged on, the more unpredictable it would become.

Take now, for instance. More and more people were gathering on account of this disturbance, including no small number of gods!

“Fellow Daoist Su, this is fishy. There are obviously secrets behind this. Whatever you do, don’t act recklessly. Seems to me that it’d be best to avoid the problem and leave as soon as possible. I’ll reconvene with you in secret,” Luo Xuanji transmitted at top speeds.

Of course, Su Yi knew something fishy was going on. There was no way he could have missed it.

He’d just arrived, but the city guards were already surrounding him, intent on leading him away. Someone was surely behind this.

But Su Yi had no intention of backing down. Trouble had come looking for him. Naturally, he had to resolve it!

But then, something else unexpected happened——

“You’re an outsider, yet here you are, publicly flaunting your power and violating the rules of the City of the Beginning. How will we keep the masses under control if we don’t punish you?”

The speaker was an old man in black who stood in the distance. Su Yi recognized him at a glance; he was a Mid-Rank God from the Rahu Yao Ancestor’s faction, the Nine Profundities Yao Court!

“That’s right. If you don’t punish him severely, we’ll be the first to object!”

One person after another stood forth. They were obviously allies of the old man in black, and their ranks included no small number of gods.

They were putting pressure on the guards

and

trying to use the rules of the City of the Beginning to take Su Yi down.

“Your Excellency Lie Leng, we cannot afford to delay. If things go on like this, we’ll only earn ourselves the public’s ire!” the effeminate guard frantically urged.

“Enough!” Lie Leng gnashed his teeth, then turned to the guard. “Zhou Bing, if you care so much,

you

take responsibility for this. Go capture him yourself!”

Zhou Bing froze, flabbergasted. “Me?”

The other guards were stunned, too.

Lie Leng turned around and patted him on the shoulder. “I can see that you’re loyal and eager to carry out righteousness in the name of the public good. You cannot abide rulebreakers, so I trust that you’ll handle this beautifully. Go on! Do well, and I’ll make sure you get full credit!”

“But I...” Zhou Bing opened his mouth to say something.

However, Lie Leng interrupted him before he got the chance. “What is it? Can you bear to see the city’s rules broken? Rest assured. If anything goes wrong, I’m sure the Second Libationer will intervene!”

Zhou Bing’s expression filled with uncertainty.

When the crowd saw this, the whole situation suddenly seemed somehow different. Lie Leng didn’t want to let someone else use him as a weapon!

And although that Zhou Bing guy shouted quite aggressively, he wasn’t actually all that capable. His only real skill was fanning the flames...

Su Yi naturally saw this too. Inwardly, he commented,

This Lie Leng guy isn’t stupid after all. He’s obviously realized that something isn’t right here.

Suddenly, that old man in black bellowed, “Does the City of the Beginning have rules or not? Tell me, is there law and order we outsiders can take confidence in here?”

His voice boomed far and wide. His numerous allies chimed in to express their intense displeasure.

The crowd frowned. Even an idiot would have realized that the man in black wanted to borrow the guards’ hands to hurt Su Yi!

But no one spoke up on Su Yi's behalf. After all, the old man in black was a Limit Realm Mid-Rank God, as well as a subordinate of the Rahu Yao Ancestor!

Suddenly, Su Yi turned his attention to the old man in black. “You really want to die, huh?”

The old man instantly looked stricken.

A moment later, he laughed coldly, “Su Yi, this is the City of the Beginning. According to the rules, anyone who dares attack someone else in city limits is subject to strict punishment, and they must offer up their life in penance! Do this, and everyone will seek out your demise. Can you bear the consequences of...”

Here, his voice trailed off.

Because Su Yi had appeared immediately in front of him. He wrapped his hand around the old man’s throat and hefted him into the air. The old-timer’s face went red.

Everyone was startled.

He dominated a Mid-Rank God just like that? Su Yi is just too ferocious!

Most of those present had no idea that Su Yi had slain multiple Mid-Ranks at Falling Cloud Lake shortly before the Path of the Ancient Gods opened. Otherwise, they would never have been so surprised.

“You really are stupid, you know,” Su Yi said flatly. “There are countless people in this city who’d love nothing more than to kill me, but none of them have come out into the open.

"Yet here you are, insisting on risking yourself first. You really think that the rules of the city mean you can do whatever you want without fear, huh? Don’t you realize that if I want to kill someone, ‘rules’ mean nothing to me?”

His calm, casual words were like a bone-chilling wind. Everyone present felt their hearts shake.

“I’ve just about figured it out. You’re bait,” said Su Yi. “If I kill you, I’ll have violated the city’s rules, and I’ll become the common enemy of everyone in it. That would, in turn, give my enemies an excuse. They’d no longer be restricted by the city’s rules, and they could strike to kill without reservations.”

The old man in black visibly lost his composure. In the end, he broke down.

“I see. You’ve finally realized how stupid you are,” said Su Yi. “Someone wanted to use your death to attack me here in the City of the Beginning. Tell me, if you leave here alive, how will they get what they’re after?”

Veins bulged in the black-robed old man’s forehead, and his expression shifted erratically. He understood. How could he not understand?

It was just that sometimes, those directly involved in something were blind to the big picture.

The old man had agreed to provoke Su Yi simply because he was convinced that Su Yi wouldn’t dare to violate the rules by attacking him within city limits!

The crowd was in uproar. Many of the onlookers gradually came to their senses and realized how perilous this situation was.

Someone was using the black-robed old man’s life as a tool. Whoever they were, they were betting that this would be enough to get Su Yi to break the city’s rules!

But using a Mid-Rank God as a throwaway pawn was unquestionably shocking.

Off in the distance, Lie Leng broke out in cold sweats.

He suddenly realized that he too was almost certainly being exploited, and in much the same way!

Had he attacked Su Yi in accordance with the rules, he’d have solidified the accusations against him.

But no one cared whether he, Lie Leng, lived or died. In other words, he was an expendable pawn! Once he accomplished his mission, he’d be thrown away!

The atmosphere shifted as the crowd grasped how perilous and fishy this situation was. Some of them even broke out in cold sweats on Su Yi’s behalf.

Earlier, the situation had been rife with tension. Violence could have broken out at any moment. Had Su Yi fallen for their provocations and attacked, win or lose, he’d have fallen into his enemies’ trap!

When the time comes, even the city lord would be obligated to handle Su Yi, the criminal who’d violated the rules!

This scheme was unquestionably ruthless and far too insidious! A moment’s incaution and Su Yi would have become a wanted criminal and public enemy within minutes of arriving in the City of the Beginning!

Luo Xuanji, who’d been watching in secret this entire time, couldn’t help but inwardly sigh in relief.

She’d long since sensed that something was fishy here.

But now, Su Yi had seen through the situation, including its hidden dangers, and he hadn’t attacked. Luo Xuanji instantly felt much calmer.