Chapter 24: Bring One In, and Slay Without Mercy

Bring one, and I'll slaughter him.

"Woo... ah, hiss, my... teeth, my... teeth..." The servant who had been slapped senseless by Bai Qi, his two distinctive upper front teeth, unfortunately, were knocked out by Bai Qi's palm. His speech was now whistling, his words indistinct, and both cheeks had swollen into a pig's head.

"Hmph, I didn't expect that even in this world, people would still have such ugly, vile faces. Most disgusting of all is scum like you, who dares lay a hand on a little girl. What, did you eat shit or something? You look human, but you're nothing but a dog." Bai Qi spat out his curses through gritted teeth, then with his free right hand, seized the servant's left hand that held a fan and twisted hard. "Crack!" The crisp sound of breaking bones made everyone's expressions freeze: some were shocked, some fearful, some whispered behind their hands, and some even seemed to reveal a fleeting trace of dark delight. Yet these fleeting expressions were washed away by a sudden, throat-tearing scream.

The young master in white had his arm snapped by Bai Qi, and as he howled, Bai Qi's right hand clamped firmly over his mouth, leaving only flaring nostrils for breath. Tears burst forth as though a sluice gate had opened, pouring down his face, and his muffled sobs fell on Bai Qi's ears without stirring the slightest pity.

Bai Qi, growing impatient, shifted his right hand from a palm to a fist and drew it back. With lightning speed, he drove it straight into the young man's chest. "Pfft~" The young man in white arched back like a thrown javelin, spraying blood and bits of broken bone, forming a grotesque arc in the air.

"Boom!" He crashed into a wall more than ten paces away, the dull thud raising a cloud of dust. His silhouette was embedded in the wall, his fate uncertain—dead or alive. Bai Qi paid no further attention to the young master with his peculiar tastes, instead turning toward the servant who knelt clutching his bleeding mouth, crimson oozing through his trembling fingers. Bai Qi strode over, crouched down, and, seeing the wretched state of the man, gave a cold snort. "In broad daylight, dogs like you are never in short supply, and often quite popular. But you disgust me. So—go to hell." Bai Qi's right index finger gathered a white glow, which should have felt warm and comforting, but now radiated a biting chill, as though it trapped the soul in a glacial abyss, not the ultimate cold, yet enough to make any who saw it instinctively draw away.

Seeing the murderous intent well up in Bai Qi, the servant with the shattered teeth was terrified. His blood- and saliva-stained hand clutched at Bai Qi's pant leg, pleading in broken words, "Hero... please spare me... I was wrong, I beg..." But before he could finish, his swollen head thudded to the ground repeatedly in desperate kowtows, his forehead splitting and bleeding.

"Honestly, your act almost moved me, stirred a bit of pity. But with people like you, all smiles in front and knives behind, I can't afford to be careless. So, I'll grant you a swift end. Farewell." With that, Bai Qi's right index finger jabbed straight into the servant's forehead. The three-foot pillar of chilling white light pierced through his skull, snuffing out his life in an instant—without regret, without sympathy.

The bystanders couldn't help but cheer, but Bai Qi ignored them. He couldn't say they were evil, nor that they were good. Perhaps, in the future, they would witness similar events and, just as today, do nothing—bystanders, passersby. Bai Qi felt a vague sense of gravity.

"Hmph! What a cruel brat, daring to kill here!" Suddenly, an angry roar sounded from afar, and more than a dozen men followed in its wake.

Seeing the situation turn, the crowd quickly scattered, leaving behind only a few half-dead servants, a little girl, an old man unconscious on the ground, and the half-dead young master embedded in the wall.

The little girl rushed over, tears still glistening at the corners of her eyes. She tugged at Bai Qi's sleeve, her voice trembling, "Brother, you must go! Otherwise, those bad people will catch you. Hurry!" She clung to his sleeve and pushed at him, urging him to flee.

Bai Qi patted the girl's head and smiled gently. "Be good, little sister. I’m not afraid of them. Just hide nearby for a while, and remember: don't open your eyes. If you do, I'll be angry." He gave her a deliberately stern look to make his point.

Still uneasy, the girl pushed at him again. Bai Qi, slightly exasperated, slowly raised his right hand, turned it into a palm, and gently tapped the back of her neck. She went limp, her small body slumping into Bai Qi’s arms. He stroked her head, placed her quietly on a grass mat by the wall, and made sure she was well hidden from sight.

As the group of men drew closer, their aggressive air unmistakable, Bai Qi chuckled coldly under his breath. "Heh, truly a bunch of idiots. One comes, I kill one—what a pity, now a whole pack has come."

In no time, the area within ten paces of Bai Qi was packed with men. The market stalls had cleared out, leaving only rows of abandoned stands and empty space. The man at the front, a middle-aged fellow, spoke first: "Boy, who are you to act with such cruelty? You're young, and you have some skill, but this... is unacceptable."

As the man droned on, Bai Qi sized him up. His clothes were more ornate than the others, his face full of thick black beard, his eyes slanted upwards like the base of a pear—unyielding, obstinate. A quick glance at the others showed only a few with any real skill, but this middle-aged man's power was clearly above the rest.

"Whether I'm acceptable or not is hardly your concern. Judging by your look, you must be that useless whelp's elder? Instead of teaching him properly, you let him commit such vile acts. But don’t worry, he’s not dead—just lost an arm." Bai Qi's words dripped with mockery, even as his mind rapidly calculated the most efficient way to handle these men.

"My son may be vicious, but he never killed or set fires. You, on the other hand, waste no time in taking lives. You’ve killed my servant without hesitation. I think you need to visit my estate and have a long talk." With a slight nod, the middle-aged man signaled for his men to act.

Immediately, two figures darted forward. They looked like twins, every movement perfectly synchronized, their clothes nearly identical—as if they’d stepped from a mirror. Both were lean and wiry, each wielding a five-foot whip coiled around their arms.

Bai Qi focused on their weapons. The two whips seemed almost alive, their tails twitching subtly, the bodies black-red and gleaming with a sinister sheen. The two men licked their lips in unison, as if savoring the prospect of devouring Bai Qi.