The onlooking townsfolk were all anxious. When ordinary people clash with government soldiers, getting beaten to death is considered their own fault. Wasn’t this white-clad youth being far too reckless? Carrying a weapon just gives them an excuse!

female constable’s eyes were full of worry. She was about to tell this brazen young noble not to meddle, but before she could, a sudden flash of cold light appeared before her eyes.

commander swung his blade, but a chill shot straight to his bones. He wanted to raise his knife to block, but it was already too late.

Screech—

The white-robed young man’s longsword struck out after the commander’s attack, sweeping cleanly past him and returning swiftly to its scabbard.

In that fleeting moment, one could see four characters engraved on the blade:

‘不令而行’

Edward Clark’s ‘不令’.

Blood sprayed, scattering a curtain of crimson droplets through the air.

The two Imperial Guards sensed grave danger, but realized it too late.

commander’s whole body tensed. His official blade clattered to the ground as he clutched his throat, blood gushing between his fingers. His eyes bulged in disbelief at the white-robed youth. Staggering back a few steps, he collapsed, blood seeping into the cracks of the bluestone pavement.

A single stroke to the throat.

On the backstreet, silence fell in an instant.

The loafers and ruffians watching from afar all turned deathly pale, frozen in terror.

Underground in Chang’an, gang fights that end in death are not uncommon, but on the surface, the law must be obeyed. Killing someone openly in the street almost always leads to execution in the autumn. As for killing an official in broad daylight—no one in Chang’an would dare! This is the emperor’s own city!

A few drops of blood splattered onto female constable’s face. Staring at the twitching, lifeless body of the Imperial Guard commander, her face went ashen, and for a long moment she was unable to react.

She hadn’t even seen how the white-robed youth drew his sword—how could the mighty Imperial Guard commander be dead just like that?

The white-robed youth sheathed his sword and looked at the two stunned Imperial Guards nearby.

The two guards were scared out of their wits, slowly backing away with their blades drawn. “You… how dare you… Under the emperor’s very nose, you actually killed the Imperial Guard commander in the street…”

Trembling, they ducked into a nearby alley. Moments later, several signal flares shot up into the sky.

“Ah—!”

A shrill scream rang out from some brothel.

The backstreet instantly descended into chaos. The dozen or so thugs outside the restaurant were at a loss.

female constable stared at the corpse for a long time. Only when the white-robed youth reached out to help her up did she snap out of it, suddenly leaping to her feet, both anxious and angry:

“You… how could you kill someone? Killing an official is treason, you—”

The white-robed youth glanced at the corpse. “Colluding with merchants, shielding criminals, attacking his own comrades—any one of these is enough for death, not to mention raising a blade against me.”

female constable was already panicking. Looking at the white-robed youth she didn’t recognize at all, she said anxiously:

“No matter how great the crime, it must be judged by the Three Judicial Offices before execution. You… you were too impulsive—how will you end this?”

The white-robed youth didn’t answer, sword in hand as he walked toward the restaurant.

The restaurant thugs were on high alert. The other side had already killed an official and become a wanted criminal. If they killed him now, it would be helping the authorities catch a bandit.

The head thug’s eyes turned cold. Two short knives slid from his sleeves as he lunged at the white-robed youth’s chest from front and back.

female constable hadn’t even managed to shout “Be careful!” before she saw the white-robed youth step onto the stairs—a crisp ‘crack’ sounded.

The stone slab showed spiderweb cracks. The white-robed youth pounced like a fierce tiger, and in the blink of an eye, crashed into the restaurant thug, both knees slamming into his chest.

Bang—

Bones cracked, chest caved in.

The head thug hadn’t even reacted before two dents appeared in his chest, and the back of his short fighting jacket tore open.

With a crash, splinters of wood flew everywhere.

The thug was knocked flying, smashing through the door behind him and only stopping when he crashed into a square table inside the restaurant.

The white-robed youth’s knees remained pressed to the thug’s chest. His left hand gripped the thug’s throat like a claw. Before the man could make a sound, the youth’s fingers tightened slightly—‘crack’—a crisp snap.

Blood oozed from the thug’s mouth. After two choking sounds, his hands, which had been clutching the youth’s arm, fell limply to the ground.

female constable was utterly terrified by this scene!

Such skill—no less than decades of bitter training could produce it.

This white-robed youth looked to be not even twenty. Was he even human?

“M-murder—!”

Only now did cries of alarm ring out on the street.

The dozen or so loafers watching had already been scared out of their wits, fleeing in all directions in panic.

female constable was completely stunned, gripping her goose-feather saber in confusion as she hurried into the restaurant:

“You… are you mad? How could you be so reckless, killing two people in a row? Even if you were the King of Heaven himself, there’s no way you’ll get out of this today…”

The white-robed youth heard this and his gaze turned a bit defiant:

“Even the King of Heaven has to listen to me.”

Arrogant words, but not without reason.

Because this outrageously domineering white-robed youth was none other than the ‘Little King Yama’ Edward Clark spoken of by storytellers—the only legitimate son of a non-royal king in the Great Yue Dynasty, a transmigrator who started with ‘two kings and four twos’.

But as for why this murder happened, we have to start from this morning…

Chapter Two: Tall Trees Catch the Wind

At dawn today, Edward Clark sat fishing on a small boat in Qujiang Pond, with eight soldiers standing guard outside the waterside pavilion.