102. The Ba Begins

  That night was sleepless for many, but Li Aozi had a fortable rest, recharging and preparing thhly.

  He had already made up his mind: if the pn failed, he would flip the table immediately. After all, he held leverage over Tianhuan, and as a Red Arrow citizen, he wasn’t afraid to py hardball.

  Xia Jianjing’s rea was rather surprising. Despite her straightforward and aggressive nature as a terrorist, she had not shown any signs of an attack so far, cautiously ying low, which saved Li Aozi a lot of trouble.

  “Now, let’s enjoy this celebration.”

  The Kowloon Gathering began, and the crowds in Joan Capital had doubled. Li Aozi, io the event, avoided the peak travel time and took a private vehicle to the main vehe Kowloon Temple.

  Passing through the tates and the mountain path filled with tless white nterns, Li Aozi, guided by two monks, stepped into the square. It was rare to see su a-style temple in this era. High-ranking officials from Tianhuan and the temple’s head priest were giving speeches on stage, followed by the ceremonial rites led by shrine maidens and a grand onmyoji.

  The whole process was overly mystical, and Li Aozi wasn’t ied. He listened symbolically for a while, but his gaze sed the crowd, quickly notig several Frost-Pted Republic faces.

  They appeared serious and rigid, all male, which ruled them out as Frost-Pted officials or wealthy individuals—they must be Law III agents.

  With his 【Eye of Truth】, Li Aozi took a quid firmed that these Frost-Pted individuals were indeed 【Law III Unofficial Agents】.

  “Looks like the Frost-Pted Republic is up to something.”

  Li Aozi noticed these men frequently versing with some Tianhuan strongmen, occasionally casting gnces in his dire. He couldn’t help but sneer: at this point, they still wao use someone else to kill him?

  The Frost-Pted Republic, fag setbacks on the Granter front and having suffered repeated humiliations from Li Aozi, must be eager to eliminate him. But to use suderhaactics, trying to provoke stroo deal with him? That was shhted.

  Li Aozi didn’t bother with these people, but on sed thought, they might still have some use.

  “Maybe... I use them…”

  He turned and stepped directly into the exhibition hall, admiring the ons crafted by Tianhuan’s artisans over the past year.

  This was one of the ways the Kowloon Gathering increased fn exge reveianhuan’s ons were renowned worldwide, especially their cold ons like swords. Whether for colle or practical use by powerful individuals, they were always top choices.

  At suternatios, not only were there on orders, but it was also a great opportunity for craftsmen to showcase their skills. Many obscure swordsmiths were noticed through their work and could bee famous ht, achieving a leap in status. Some were here simply to show off their craftsmanship, deliberately creating fshy but impractical ons.

  Of course, this wasn’t a pce for a flea market where people could casually py with the ons. All items had plex geic code locks, and if someone was ied, they had to discuss with the craftsmen to unlod test them.

  Naturally, such strict seleethods weren’t always friendly to most buyers. There were also those who cut ers or passed off inferioods, and no one wao spend a lot of effort only to end up with something fshy but worthless. As a result, the anizers of the Kowloon Gathering often assumed both parties had reached a mutual uanding, a retively objective evaluation price.

  Buyers took on the risk, and that art of the shopping fun.

  Many attendees were seriously appraising the ons in various ways. Clearly, those attending the gathering were from good backgrounds and had their own means of evaluation and instruments.

  But even so, when Li Aozi activated his 【Eye of Truth】 and sed the crowd, he found that out of ten people, at least five had overpaid, and one had bought a mere showpiece.

  For such treasure-hunting tasks, the 【Eye of Truth】 ractically a cheat, as the quality and attributes of the items were id bare before him, sometimes even just by gng at the o see if they were genuine.

  【This really saves a lot of effort—if the pyers had a ce to attend this gathering, they’d probably thao death.】

  Li Aozi preteo browse some booths, all the while aware of the Frost-Pted agents trailing him. He didn’t mind, occasionally pig up ons to try out and engaging in versations with the craftsmen.

  But soon enough, the Frost-Pted agents’ whispers behind him started to have an effect.

  Li Aozi set down a wakizashi, shook his head, and said to the craftsman:

  “This o suit my bat style, and it’s too short. But the craftsmanship is exquisite. I wish you find a suitable buyer.”

  There was nothing wrong with his ent, but before he finished speaking, a mog voice suddenly sounded from behind:

  “Oh, the Red Arrow man knows his stuff. A wakizashi is indeed a short bde, a you think it’s too short.”

  Li Aozi gnced back to see a burly man with a swagger approag, his aura unmistakably that of a Beta-tier warrior. He wore a rge samurai robe, clearly a member of the Dragon fa, with a venomous stooed on his neck.

  He sauntered rabbed the wakizashi from the craftsman’s hand, weighed it, and swung it a couple of times, the bde cutting through the air with a sharp hiss. He nodded approvingly:

  “What’s wrong with it? It’s pretty good. Sharp enough to cut through hair.”

  Holding the wakizashi, he cast a sly g Li Aozi, then his tone shifted:

  “Well, no surprise—Tianhuan is a small try. Our resources are scarce, and we’ve never seen the world. How we pare to the lords of the empire?”

  The nearby onlookers seemed the samurai and began whispering:

  “Hey, isn’t that Hojo’s retainer—Yanagimon Shinsuke?”

  “That Red Arrow guy’s out of luck. How did he get mixed up with this mad dog?”

  “Yanagimon’s master was defeated by a Red Arrow swordmaster and itted seppuku out of shame. Now this guy’s just a Red Arrow-hating maniac.”

  The murmurs and the look of schadenfreude among the guests caught Li Aozi off guard—he hadn’t expected to enter something like this.

  【Law III must have gotten really lucky, managing to stir up someone like this.】

  On sed thought, it made sense. Law III was a master of instigation and had probably approached many simir individuals.

  The craftsman, intimidated by the samurai’s aura, didn’t dare say anything, nervously gng at Li Aozi for help.

  Li Aozi shot a g the samurai, not wanting to waste time with him. He turo leave, but the samurai stepped in his way, blog him.

  “Leaving so soon? What, Tianhuan’s goods aren’t good enough for you?”

  Yanagimon’s tone was full of mockery, clearly looking for trouble.

  —But hearing this, Li Aozi grew irritated.

  His eyes began to glow with golden rings, preparing to crush this blind idiot when a voice shouted from the distance:

  “Hey! Yanagimon! Are y to embarrass us iionally?”

  A fident man in military uniform with his hands in his pockets walked ring at Yanagimon coldly:

  “This is the Kowloon Gathering, a sacred festival where guests from around the wather. Do you want Tianhuan to bee a ughingstock?”

  “Oh? Isn’t this Gold Tae-hyun, Captain of the Capital Guard?”

  Yanagimon showed no fear, despite fag a high-ranking officer, grinning slyly:

  “Your job is to protect Prime Minister Park’s life, not to safeguard Tianhuan’s dignity. On the trary, only samurai uphold the honor of Tianhuan.”

  Yanagimon, as a retainer of the Hojo family, held a much higher status than someone like Gold Tae-hyun, a mere soldier. Acc to the unspoken rules, Gold Tae-hyun should be speaking to him with respect.

  Gold Tae-hyun’s face darkened. He had inteo mediate this pointless altercation, but now he found himself ridiculed.

  He poi Yanagimon, shouting, “Do you even know who’s causing trouble here? Don’t think that just because Hojo-san favors you, you act with impunity. This is Joan Capital! It’s not your pce to throw your weight around!”

  “Oh? I’m curious—does that mean it’s not my pce, or is it not the pce for ‘us’ retainers?”

  Yanagimon spread his hands, now fully fronting Gold Tae-hyun.

  The rivalry between the new military fa and the traditional s had been brewing for a long time. The former, buoyed by the prestige brought by the Kowloon Gathering, had bee a bit overfident, fetting that the try was still trolled by the glomerates.

  “If you hadn’t picked a fight with a fner, I wouldn’t have had to step in to stop your foolishness.”

  Gold Tae-hyun tered, pointing at Li Aozi beside him:

  “Everyone here saw it. This f was simply evaluating the on, and Yanagimon blocked his way—what do you want? To make Tianhuan look like a nation of unreasonable savages?”

  “Only cowards care about others’ opinions,” Yanagimon sneered. “Besides, that guy o you is from the Red Arrow Empire. What? Are you defending an enemy of Tianhuan?”

  “I don’t care about your personal grudges. This is an iio!”

  “Fine, if I’ve disrupted the order, arrest me. Take me away, lock me up—why aren’t you doing it, Captain Gold? Afraid?”

  Yanagimon ughed mogly, knowing full well that Gold Tae-hyun didn’t have the authority to arrest a retainer of the Hojo family.

  The try would never risk a fallout with the Hojo family. In fact, the whole of Tianhuan ractically armed by the Hojo . If anything happeo the Hojo family, the nation would be thrown into chaos.

  Because of this, the retainers of the Hojo family acted with near impunity, running wild across the try.

  Even if Yanagimon itted a crime, Gold Tae-hyun wouldn’t dare arrest him.

  Yanagimon’s aura of Beta-tier peak strength only added to his intimidation.

  Tianhuan ce where power equaled privilege. Many times, strength was the deg factor. As a Beta-tier elite and a retainer of the Hojo family, Yanagimon beloo the “untouchable” tier.

  Gold Tae-hyun’s face turned red. If he dared arrest Yanagimon, the man would e back for revenge sooner or ter. He didn’t evehe Hojo family’s help—just the elite Beta-tier samurai would be enough to make him lose sleep for the rest of his life.

  Let alone daring to arrest him—Gold Tae-hyun didn’t even dare fight here, knowing the potential sequences.

  Li Aozi, seeing Gold Tae-hyun’s dilemma, calmly watched the se unfold without aion.

  This was Tianhuan’s internal power struggle, and he had no desire to get involved. However, Yanagimon wasn’t satisfied with just humiliating Gold Tae-hyun and soon turned his attention back to Li Aozi, provocatively being him.

  “Hey, Imperial guy,” Yanagimoured at Li Aozi and then at the exhibition hall in the distance:

  “I know you’re not happy about this, but I, Yanagimon Shinsuke, care about face. Today is the Kowloon Gathering, so no bloodshed allowed—how about we make a bet?”

  “Not ied.”

  “Don’t be so quick to refuse,” Yanagimon said with mock siy. “Our try invited you as a guest, and you’re being so dismissive?”

  Li Aozi raised an eyebrow:

  “What’s it to you?”

  “I see you’re from a distinguished family, given your handsome appearahis Kowloon Gathering is full of treasures, but there are always distins between them, and treasures have their own hierarchy.”

  Yanagimon g Li Aozi, thinking to himself: This guy, though, does look like quite a beauty.

  But, too bad you’re from the Red Arrow Empire.

  He spread his hands and made a proposal:

  “You and I will each pick 10 treasures. We’ll take them to the judging pao assess their total value. If your eye is better than mine, I’ll admit you didn’t insult Tianhuan’s swordsmiths and even cover your expenses. But if I win, you’ll have to cover mine.”

  Li Aozi tilted his head:

  “You’re so ordinary. Where does this fidene from?”

  “Are you going to take the bet or not?” Yanagimon tinued in a mog tone: “After all, for you Red Arrow people, living in mansions and driving V8 luxury cars, it must be hard to appreciate how scarce our resources in Tianhuan are.”

  “Pfft—”

  Yanagimon’s nonsensical remark made Li Aozi ugh.

  “If you want to provoke me, at least be straightforward about it,” Li Aozi waved his hand. “Fine, I’ll clear out my shopping cart, and you’ll pay for it.”

  “Heh, blind fidence.”

  Yanagimon was secretly pleased: not only was he deliberately causing trouble, but he also kneealthy the Red Arrow people were. If he could fleece Li Aozi, it wouldn’t just be revenge for his master but also a tangible gain. Plus, spreading the word that a Red Arroaid his bill would be great for his reputation.

  Fame and fortuhere was no way he could lose.

  Besides, he was well-prepared. Those Frost-Pted agents had already provided him with a list of renowned swordsmiths. As long as he followed their suggestions, he was sure to win in terms of total value.

  “I’m definitely going to win!”

  FAL