NOVEL NEXT Chapter 36: Arrest
The early skies brewed beautifully. The three suns of Tianxue Jingjie rose heartily from the east, eager to rule the day. Their golden beams of light peeked through the horizon, illuminating the lands.
People were out early this morning, courtesy of their early retirement the night before.
Peddlers were up and ready, setting up their stalls. Shop owners could be seen sweeping the streets, and other civilians were up and about, going about their business.
At the inn where Spark resided, Hai's little frame could be seen in a happy mood this morning, as he hummed a tune while sweeping.
Earlier, when he went to drop breakfast at the door of his customer, he found a small pouch containing seven coins. It seemed the customer wanted to extend his stay. This overjoyed Hai—now he and his father were one coin away from leaving this land.
But suddenly, his good mood was foiled, as rhythmic footsteps could be heard looming from the horizon.
At first, he didn't pay any attention to it, but then it got louder and louder, only stopping when it was right in front of his shop.
Frowning, he raised his head—and what he saw turned his expression ugly. It was a whole brigade of royal guards, and looking at the emblem of the weighing scale inscribed on the left chest of their silver-plated armor, his face turned white.
These were the Persecutors—a name that commanded fear and respect among all citizens of the Yang Empire.
These men were the ones in charge of crimes and justice; they were to the Yang Empire what people of Earth called police—only they were darker and fiercer.
Unlike other departments, nobles and royals had no sway over the actions of these few, except for the emperor himself and his heir, the crown prince.
A golden-armored man stepped out toward Hai. The little boy was scared out of his mind—this was the legendary captain of the Persecutors, Haoran. It was said that he was the strongest human beneath martial artist.
Thankfully, the man just walked past him, making Hai sigh in relief. But his brain quickly caught up. Wait—why is he heading to the inn? His heart palpitated rapidly in worry.
And what happened next almost made the poor little boy faint in fear.
"BLOODIED SHADOW, WE KNOW YOU ARE HERE. GET OUT NOW AND FACE JUDGMENT!!!" a roar boomed from the golden face-covering helmet.
Hai was clear on the fact that only three people resided in this inn—him, his father who had just returned yesterday, and his only customer.
So Haoran was here to either capture his father or his customer, as it sure as hell couldn't be him. But that was the thing—he knew his father, and he knew that the elder couldn't be the Bloodied Shadow. That left Spark.
His figure trembled for a bit before he mustered the courage to walk toward the gold knight, sweat oozing uncontrollably from his back.
"S-ir… I-I think… you might … be at the wrong place," he stuttered in fear.
Haoran just glanced down at the little boy. "I am at the right place. You should go in and call out all the residents now," he replied with a command—his voice noble and bold, leaving no room for questioning or doubt.
Hai quickly nodded, running inside the inn, heading to awaken his father and call out the customer…
Thankfully, the moment he entered the door, two figures could already be seen heading toward the entrance. He sighed in relief.
His father could be seen using a cane to support his hunched figure as he made his way outside, taking slow strides. But somehow, his pace was faster than he appeared. As for the other, Hai froze in shock as he saw the state of his customer.
Though he was dressed in fresh clothes, his bandages had long been ruined, exposing what they hid within—clean and fresh bone-deep cuts running all over his body from head to toe. Hai couldn't even begin to comprehend how such a person could be moving.
His white hair was scattered—evidence that he had just awakened from sleep. His eyes were dull and glassy, their sapphire hue dimmer than usual. Underneath his left armpit was a wooden stick being used as a crutch to support his movement. Even with this, he moved at a painfully slow pace.
Hai quickly hurried to assist Spark. Now, he couldn't be more sure that this customer of his wasn't the Bloodied Shadow.
Meanwhile, Spark on the other hand didn't mind the assist—well, he didn't even have the energy to respond to the little one's kind gesture right now.
His mind was undergoing inner turmoil. 'How did they find me? But I left no traces. I was meticulous… I'm sure of it. Pointing those crimes to me is impossible. These guys must be here for something else.'
He couldn't help but think of the attack from yesterday night. Did that have anything to do with this?
No—it had to be. He was sure whoever was behind yesterday's attack must be behind today's as well. But what did they want from him?
did they know he was the culprit of mid-night slaughter?
He couldn't remember offending anyone, and he doubted this was an act of revenge. He could sense it from the attack last night—those assassins had no intention of killing him. They just wanted to incapacitate him.
He frowned. 'I can't comprehend their motives. I'll just play along for now. I'm too vulnerable right now to act carelessly,' he quickly concluded.
By now, Hai had already helped him out the doors, and now all three of them stood before the hulking figure of Captain Haoran.
A small crowd had already surrounded them, watching this commotion with rapt attention. After all, this was about the mysterious and brutal shadow—they had to see who he was. Did he really have two heads and six arms like a monster? Or was he just like them—a regular human?
Even after Spark and the other two exited the building, standing patiently in front of Haoran, they all still waited, expecting the Bloodied Shadow to walk out any moment.
Even Haoran himself was the same—his tall, robust figure carrying the epitome of strength and authority.
It wasn't until Hai spoke up, questioning, "Sir, this is all of us residing in the building. Who among us are you looking for?"
His words dumbfounded the public. For the first time, they couldn't help but gaze at the three—a child, an old man, and a cripple?
Wait—could it be that the Persecutors were really at the wrong building?
Not good. If that's so, wouldn't the true culprit flee by now once he noticed that he had been exposed?
They all murmured among themselves, coming up with different conjectures. Not once did the thought that the Bloodied Shadow was among these three cross their minds.
Even Captain Haoran was taken aback. He lifted a drawn portrait that the crown prince had given him this morning. On it was drawn the figure of a fiendish man covered with bandages, his eyes shining an eerie blue hue, and his hair rough and silver in color.
Glancing closely at the figure in the portrait, he couldn't help but feel the uncanny resemblance between them and the cripple. 'Is the prince's information wrong?' he wondered with a hidden frown as he subtly glanced at a building across.
On that building, one could see the prince—his face furious, in his hands the shattered remains of a teacup. 'That guy was this injured? I lost my men for nothing. If we had pushed for attack, I wouldn't have had to go this far…
Now I've shown my hand. This is a situation where those brothers of mine could interfere at any moment.
Argh! This is so infuriating. Now that I've gone this far, I must proceed regardless. It's even better this way—he can hardly resist me. I'll just send Bo to retrieve him from the Persecutors.'
"Bo!" he suddenly called out.
A figure quickly appeared from nowhere in response. "Yes, young master."
"Do you see what I'm seeing?" he questioned.
"Yes. It appears I've made a blunder. We shouldn't have retreated. I had jumped to the assumption that he was stronger than we could handle.
While that was true, he was nothing more than a flame bursting with its final brilliance," Bo respectfully accepted his mistake. The losses of the previous night weighed heavily on his mind, and now knowing that if he had made a better choice, his brothers he lost when retreating might have still been alive made him feel even worse.
The prince was satisfied with his answer. "At least you know when you're wrong. Master truly didn't choose wrong…
Now I want you to head to the Persecutors' quarters and wait to extract him."
After giving the order, Bo bowed and vanished as fast as he came. In the meantime, Prince Ji felt the deliberating gaze of Captain Haoran on him.
He nodded, affirming the captain's doubt.
Haoran turned his gaze back to the trio. His voice rumbled as he pointed at Spark's frail figure righteously, "IN THE NAME OF THE YANG EMPIRE, I HEREBY PLACE UNDER ARREST THE MAN SUSPECTED TO BE THE BLOODIED SHADOW. MEN, DETAIN HIM."
The silver vanguards rushed forward, stripping Spark away from Hai, cuffing him in chains, and hauling him away. "wait! The cripple was the culprit?" they all wondered finding it hard to believe.