But he had barely unleashed his aura, and had yet to call up his power, when a shout called out from behind him. He did not bother with that, of course. No one should bother with interruptions, when facing a life and death battle. And he definitely intended to slaughter these three worthless guards in front of him.Yet, the call was not to him, but to the trio standing in front of him. He watched as the fear appeared on their faces, as all three of them dipped their heads in a bow. Not to him, no. There was someone else, approaching from behind, that had caught their attention. And the respect that they were displaying at the moment, was towards this newcomer.
Not that the newcomer cared. His thick, brawny hand rose and swung, and the closest of the three idiots that had been bowing at him was thrown almost ten paces back, crashing onto the hard ground! And from the dazed look on his face and the blood pouring out his mouth, it looked as though he had been knocked out of his wits!
And this newcomer didn"t stop there either. He turned to the other two guards who had been hara.s.sing Qin Feng and slapped them as well. Which was enough to have the two of them sprawled onto the ground in front of the City"s Main Gate, along with their companion.
Only then did he turn, and offer Qin Feng a respectful bow. Although it was a slight one, to mark an apology, and from a person of superior status to someone inferior. Nevertheless, Qin Feng could sense no hostility in the same.
"My men are at fault for daring to extort someone who has committed no crime against the City, or against the Kingdom. My apologies for that. I shall definitely take them to task for this, I a.s.sure you."
The big man tapped himself on the chest as he said that, and Qin Feng could see the intent look in his eyes, as though he was waiting for Qin Feng to give some indication of what he intended. But as the silence dragged out, past three breaths of time, the newcomer seemed to realise that he had made a mistake, and spoke once again:
"Of course, since they have violated the rules for visitors to the City, all of your entry charges shall be waived for this ... instance. I trust that is acceptable to you? It should be sufficient to indicate the intent of the Guard, and an indicator that these three ... fools were acting on their own?"
Qin Feng gave out a grim laugh, as soon as he heard that. So, the guards were acting on their own, were they? It seemed the ones in charge of this city weren"t the fools that he had thought they were. At least, not when it came to their troops.
The mere fact that those three idiots were being punished was enough to make that clear enough. Still, would their Commander have been so quick to act, if he had not started to activate the puppet"s qi, and thus shown off his puppet"s fighting abilities? Qin Feng was not altogether convinced about that!
But this Commander was quick to intercede, and so saved the lives of those three rascals. And since he had already gotten away with some benefits, Qin Feng wasn"t about to insist on making a scene. So he simply pulled his qi back into the puppet, into the reservoir that he had in the same.
Yet, he did so slowly, allowing what he had already pumped into his limbs to slowly fade into the air about him, rather than throwing it off in a single burst. That might be enough to intimidate this Guard Commander, but he didn"t feel that it was necessary to do so. Not after the concessions that the soldier had already offered.
The Commander seemed to look a little relieved, as he sensed Qin Feng withdrawing his qi. It was obvious that he was much better at such matters than the fools that had tried to squeeze a bribe out of him earlier. A glance at the same showed that they were now on their knees, and looking very frightened.
Clearly the amount of respect that their Commander had offered up to this "dirty old man who cannot even afford decent clothing" was enough of a warning as to the sort of trouble that they had managed to dig their way into. And the glares that the other guards were shooting the three of them certainly promised much more pain to follow.
But Qin Feng merely pushed all of that aside in his head. He had lost only a small fraction of the power that he had stored away, and it didn"t really bother him at all. Another three to five days, circulating his qi into the puppet should be able to make up for what he had "spent". Besides, this Guard Commander looked like he appreciated the "face" that Qin Feng had given him, so he might be willing to divulge some information that he could use.
So he simply waved a hand at the trio that were on their knees, as if dismissing them altogether. And concentrated his attention on the Commander, who looked as if he was still waiting to see if there was anything else that he could do for this stranger.
"I am content with your handling of the situation. But I think I should know a bit more about Changqing City, so that ... similar circ.u.mstances do not take place inside. Don"t you agree?"
The Guard Commander pulled him aside, the moment that he was asked that. And made a rather universal gesture at him, hinting that what he was going to say was not to be repeated. Which earned him a nod from Qin Feng at once.
"I spotted one of those Red Fish Medical Hall herb-collectors speaking to the three of them earlier on, so it was a simple matter to figure out what was going on. You would do well to mask the fragrance of your herbs and such, the next time that you come into Changqing City. Otherwise, you might spark another incident. And in the streets themselves.
"And we certainly do not have enough guards to patrol every corner of the city. So ... I would rather that we didn"t have to deal with a case where there is ... blood shed, if you understand what I mean?"
Qin Feng caught on at once. It was clear that the Commander had read that question of his as a request for information. About who had been the ones who had targeted him in the first place. He had not been expecting that. Still, it was good to know the ones responsible.
"Ah! That is rather ... responsible of you. I a.s.sure you that I shall try to ... avoid getting involved in such cases while I am here. Besides, my earlier ... display just now should have made my ... abilities clear? Do you think that there would be anyone who would try to ... bother me after this?"
"Unlikely. Not for this particular visit to the city anyway. But ... the next time?"
"Well, I shall do my best to hold myself back from ... making too much of a mess for you and your men, commander. However, I would like to know if this ... Red Fish Medical Hall has any ... special rivals? Ones that enjoy ... a somewhat better odor hereabouts?"
"Ah. In that case, I suggest that you pay a visit to Fu Lai Medicine Hall."
* * *