Chapter Eighty-Four: Release the Man!

April 29.

For the seaport city of Haicheng in the south, summer had already arrived ahead of time. After a passing shower, the air felt muggy and oppressive.

Haicheng Martial Hall.

“In the past, when we cultivated, we did not pay much attention to physical training, because the power of the stars would circulate through the body and naturally change the cells within it. But in truth, training the flesh is just as important. At the same level of cultivation, the stronger the body, the stronger the combat power. The best examples are Inspector Ye and his wife, as well as Zhu Xiong of the Summer Capital Prison. They have tempered their bodies to a truly terrifying degree...”

As Tang Youzhong spoke, he bent down to correct the stance of a group of children who had just joined the hall and were practicing horse-riding stance.

Suddenly, the main doors of the martial hall were pushed open.

A group of cultivators in blue uniforms strode in.

Seeing them burst in, Tang Youzhong frowned, for they were from the Inspectorate.

“Tang Youzhong, someone has accused you of harming ordinary civilians. Come with us.”

The leader walked up to Tang Youzhong and showed him a warrant of arrest bearing the official seal.

“Sigh...”

Tang Youzhong let out a long sigh. Turning back to the children and seeing that they had stopped, he barked coldly, “What are you looking at? Keep practicing!”

Just then, a number of instructors from the hall rushed out.

“Hall Master, what happened?”

One of the instructors glanced at the several dozen members of the Inspectorate and asked with a frown.

Tang Youzhong said faintly, “Probably about the incident from two days ago. Don’t worry, the Inspectorate will handle it fairly.”

With that, Tang Youzhong raised both hands.

Two members of the Inspectorate stepped forward and fastened a pair of special handcuffs around his wrists.

...

The next day, aboard the Sky Patrol.

Yang Ye had just helped one of his subordinates refine the mixed, impure energy in his star sea when his phone rang.

It was an unfamiliar number.

With some displeasure, Yang Ye answered.

“Inspector Ye, this is Wang Sheng.”

As soon as the call connected, a middle-aged man’s voice came through.

Wang Sheng?

After a moment, Yang Ye remembered him. Wasn’t he one of the more than ninety cultivators of the Stellar Realm who had come to support him when he had gone to the Summer Capital?

By now, Wang Sheng had become the master of a martial hall in one of the cities of China.

“Hall Master Wang, what is it? Speak.”

Wang Sheng said, “Inspector Ye, I want to ask a favor for Old Tang. What he did was indeed wrong, but there were reasons for it...”

He went on at length.

Among them all, Yang Ye had the deepest impression of Tang Youzhong.

Yet as he listened, Yang Ye was left completely baffled, because during the past two months he had been at sea and had paid no attention to anything else.

“I understand.”

Yang Ye said that calmly, and then hung up.

...

In the heartland of China, at the Spring City Martial Hall.

Wang Sheng set down the phone, which was still emitting a busy tone.

“Brother Wang, how did it go?”

Seeing Wang Sheng’s frown, Zhao Wenyu, who was also a martial hall master, asked with anticipation.

Besides Zhao Wenyu, three other hall masters were present as well.

The three were Lan Jing, Zhou Haidong, and Gu Shun.

Under the expectant gazes of the four, Wang Sheng shook his head. “Inspector Ye didn’t say it directly. He only said that he understood.”

Zhao Yi laughed. “As long as Inspector Ye knows, that’s enough. I’m afraid he hasn’t been paying attention to domestic affairs these days. Otherwise, we wouldn’t need to call him to remind him.”

Wang Sheng sighed. “Old Tang really went too far this time. Several lives were lost. If Inspector Ye does not speak up, then at the lightest he’ll be thrown into the Summer Capital Prison; at worst, he’ll surely be sentenced to death.”

Zhou Haidong nodded. “Though lives were lost, it was still understandable. If I’d run into something like that, I’d probably have done the same as Old Tang.”

Gu Shun said, “Under the latest laws, Old Tang will definitely not escape punishment. It just depends on whether Inspector Ye is willing to intervene. He only needs a single sentence, and Old Tang can be fine.”

...

While Wang Sheng and the others were thinking about how to help Tang Youzhong, Yang Ye was squatting on the deck, opening the China News Network.

On the front page, the most eye-catching headline read: The Tang Youzhong case will be publicly tried this afternoon.

“What exactly did that fellow do?” Yang Ye muttered with a frown.

“Husband, what’s wrong?”

At that moment, Long Xiaoqing walked over and asked curiously.

Yang Ye said, “Remember Tang Youzhong? It seems he’s been accused of some crime. I’m checking into it.”

“Oh?” Long Xiaoqing sat down beside him, her eyes fixed on his phone.

After looking into it for a while, Yang Ye finally understood what had happened.

Two days earlier, something had occurred in Haicheng.

A young woman named Liu Fang, abandoned by her boyfriend, had become unable to think straight. She had run to the twenty-eighth floor of the Haicheng Hotel, intending to jump.

A large crowd had gathered below to watch the spectacle.

Some people had their phones out, livestreaming. Others even shouted up at her, telling Liu Fang to jump quickly so she would not waste their time.

Liu Fang had not originally intended to jump, but after hearing the cries from below, she flew into a rage and leaped.

At that moment, Tang Youzhong, who had received a report by phone, happened to arrive with his men.

For a cultivator, rescuing someone who had jumped from a building was no difficult matter at all.

Liu Fang was saved.

That should have been the end of it.

But Tang Youzhong was furious. He ordered those in the crowd who had been egging her on and shouting for her to jump to be arrested.

There were twenty-five of them in all.

Tang Youzhong then threw all twenty-five from the rooftop, letting them experience the sensation of free fall.

Of course, Tang Youzhong had never intended to kill them. He had only meant to teach them a lesson.

On the spot, several people were so frightened that they fainted, and some even urinated themselves.

The whole incident had naturally been filmed and livestreamed.

Among those twenty-five, five were so traumatized that they developed mental disorders. That very night, they wrote suicide notes accusing Tang Youzhong of being their murderer, and then killed themselves in various ways. One was rescued in time, but four died.

Once he learned the details, Yang Ye said to Long Xiaoqing, “Xiaoqing, make a trip to Haicheng for me. I still have several people here whose refinement isn’t finished.”

As he spoke, Yang Ye leaned close to her ear and whispered a few words.

“Wonderful!”

Long Xiaoqing sprang up with delight.

...

Haicheng Inspectorate.

“After review, it is hereby announced that Tang Youzhong abused his authority and is sentenced to five years’ imprisonment!”

After a round of proceedings, the Inspectorate judge announced the verdict.

Tang Youzhong lowered his head and said nothing.

He had nothing to say about the verdict. He was simply extremely unhappy, because he was now filthy from head to toe.

When he was brought out, many rotten eggs and wilted vegetable leaves had been thrown at him.

Naturally, these had all been done by the families of the dead.

“Wait!”

Suddenly, a clear yet gentle voice rang out.

Everyone turned toward the courtroom door.

There stood Long Xiaoqing in a blue uniform, five stars pinned to her epaulets.

At present, who in all of China did not know Long Xiaoqing?

“Lady Ye!”

“Why has Lady Ye come?”

“Yes! Even Inspector Ye has been alarmed by this?”

...

Whether those present or those watching the livestream, all were astonished, and the discussion began at once.

Long Xiaoqing walked into the courtroom and said indifferently, “I have been asked by my husband to deliver a few words. They are all his exact words.

“First: if I had encountered that matter and caught the people, I would have simply thrown them straight down from the building. I wouldn’t have cared what shape they were smashed into.

“Second: although China has now enacted laws to protect ordinary civilians, those laws are not meant to be used as a weapon to threaten cultivators.

“Third: no matter what one does, one must take responsibility, including for the words one speaks.

“Fourth: release them.”