Han Zhuo's presence hit the room like a blade of cold steel, there was nowasted breath. Every motion was calaculated and executed in moments, he calmly closed the door behind him with a slow, deliberate push.

~ click

Before locking the three of them inside.

"Tang Li," he said without taking his eyes off Li Wei, "I advise you to step aside."

She froze, trembling. Li Wei rose slowly, placing himself between them.

"I suggest," Li Wei said quietly, "you reconsider your conduct. Threatening a youngster while I stand here is tantamount to inviting trouble."

Han Zhuo's expression didn't flicker. If anything, his eyes went cold.

"You infiltrate the Oolong Group. You assault my guards. You steal from our vault."

He tapped his scroll bundle with the edge of his blade. "And you dare speak of conduct?"

He took one step forward. The floorboards creaked beneath him, groaning under the weight of his qi. Li Wei kept Tang Li behind his arm and straightened casually.

"Conduct," he said, "is the difference between confidence… and ignorance."

Han Zhuo's blade whistled through the air. "Then let me put this into a language even you can understand.

The merchant attacked.

Han Zhuo's strike was unusually fast as his blade moved with a streak of cold brilliance aimed straight for Li Wei's throat. But Li Wei slid half a step back, letting the attack cut only his cloth.

The young master countered with a palm strike that compressed air like a hammer.

Han Zhuo blocked with the flat of his blade, sliding back only a finger's width.

Their eyes locked. "You are not an ordinary scavenger," Han Zhuo murmured.

"And you are not just a foolish administrator," Li Wei replied.

Their auras clashed silently—

Han Zhuo's sharp and drilling, like a spear piercing stone. Li Wei's was fluid and deceptive, like water slipping through cracks.

Han Zhuo thrust again. Li Wei intercepted with the War Rod, conjured in a single flicker of motion. Metal rang as the two weapons collided. Tang Li curled behind the pillar, hands over her ears as the shockwaves rattled the hall.

Han Zhuo rotated, kicking off the wooden pillar behind him, blade spinning like a crescent storm. Li Wei's rod swept upward, redirecting the blade's arc.

Sparks scattered.

"Who trained you?" Han Zhuo hissed, switching forms mid-motion.

"My manners forbid me from answering," Li Wei replied.

He stepped in—

Too close for Han Zhuo's long blade to cut effectively—

And struck with the butt of the rod.

Han Zhuo twisted just enough to blunt the blow, yet it still cracked his guard.

He staggered back about half a step.

But for a man like Han Zhuo, stepping back was an utter insult to his pride.

"You…" He straightened, eyes burning cold. "…are far more unpredictable than our steward predicted."

Li Wei lifted his rod, pointing the tip toward Han Zhuo's chest. "Then your steward is simply a poor judge of character."

Han Zhuo exhaled once, slow and controlled. Then his qi surged, the aftershock was hard and violent.

The lamps flickered, as air within the space became heavy. Numerous scrolls in Han Zhuo's grip glowed up like crimson. Li Wei's eyes narrowed. "Spirit-binding seals."

Han Zhuo smiled faintly. "These are not seals." He unfurled one scroll with a flick.

"There Upanishads."

The script ignited, causing a resonant hum to fill the chamber.

The scrolls were not merely contracts, they were spiritual decrees. Meticiously forged from sacrificed souls, Han Zhuo chanted cryptically. "By ink of oath and binding flame—

I summon the writ of wrath unchained."

The room tore open with force, as a spectral chain burst from the burning scroll. It instinctively lashed toward Li Wei like a serpent of fire.

Li Wei spun his rod, carving a crescent arc of defense. The chain slammed into it, sparks erupting. Tang Li screamed.

Li Wei absorbed the chain's momentum, twisting it aside and driving his foot into the floor. The wood splintered below him, as most of the energy dissipated upward. Han Zhuo's smile widened by a hair.

"So you are quick. But can you keep her alive?" He extended the second scroll.

Li Wei's heart hardened, he simply couldn't prolong this fight.

Not with Tang Li and the child here, the district swarming with elite guards did not help matters.

Decision came like lightning, as he vanished like smoke.

Han Zhuo's eyes widened, while Li Wei reappeared just behind him.

BANG!

A single, precise strike to the neck. "ARGH!" Han Zhuo collapsed to one knee, blade scraping the floor. Li Wei grabbed Tang Li, pulling her close. "Hold onto the boy."

Then with one sweeping motion, he directly smashed through the far wall.

Wood shattered and stone cracked. Li Wei leapt through the plume of dust, while Tang Li clung to him and her cargo as they burst into the open air. Behind them, Han Zhuo rose unsteadily.

"Seal the district!" he roared. "INTRUDERS ARE ESCAPING!"

The alarm bells of the Iron Gate District exploded into the night.

Lanterns ignited along the terrace walls, as formations lit up the sky like constellations. Dozens of elite guards surged into the streets, while Li Wei landed lightly on a garden path. Tang Li was still in his arms.

"Brother Wei," she whispered, trembling, "you came back for us."

He brushed a hand over her head, the maiden's hair was matted and her spirit bruised.

But she and the child lived. "I made you a promise," he said softly. "I don't break promises."

Footsteps thundered from the far end of the court, where sharp Spears glinted and flamboyant auras flared. The air trembled with killing intent.

Li Wei exhaled. "Close your eyes."

Tang Li obeyed.

Li Wei set her down gently behind a stone lantern, then drew from his sleeve a thin talisman. It was one of the rare flame-scripts he had crafted during his time in the Huashan Province.

He whispered, "Ignite." Causing the talisman to erupt in a blossom of blinding light.

Guards recoiled, roaring, as Li Wei grabbed Tang Li's hand and sprinted across the terrace.

He leapt over a railing, down a second terrace and cut across a bamboo bridge. Then he veered into a narrow corridor of pavilions.

The compass pulsed at his waist. Not referencing any direction, but pointing out an impending danger. More forces were inbound, he did not bother with pleasantries and pulled Tang Li into the shadow of a carved dragon pillar.

"Brother Wei," she whispered, voice trembling, "they said… they said you wouldn't come back…" Li Wei placed a hand on her cheek, as his voice softened. "Those who abandon allies are unworthy of trust. Those who abandon children are unworthy of life."

Her eyes brimmed. "But now… we can leave, right?"

Li Wei glanced toward the lit terraces, listening to the marching of hundreds of guards sweeping the district. "Not yet," he said.

Tang Li stiffened, "Why…?"

He lifted up the ledger. "This contains the names of every child sold by the Oolong Group. Every false debt. Every forced contract. Every person they will hunt unless this chain is broken."

His gaze hardened. "If I escape now, I doom all of them."As he conversed with Tang Li a shadow loomed across the tiles.

The figure stood overlooking the city, spiritual aura cold as ice.

Aside from his pride Han Zhuo was barely injured, but he was enraged. The shrewd merchant was wielding the third scroll firmly in his grasp.

His voice cracked across the terrace like thunder."Li Wei. You will not leave this district alive." Behind him, more guards flooded in.

Tang Li froze as Li Wei tightened his grip on her hand. "My apologies," he murmured.

She looked up. "For what?"

"For what I am about to do." He formed a seal with two fingers.

The air shook as a circle of emerald light erupted beneath them, spiraling upward.

Han Zhuo's eyes widened. "That technique—! Impossible!"

Li Wei's smile was thin. "Tell your steward," he said softly, "that the next time he touches someone under my protection… I will take one of his hands."

The formation burst causing a surge of verdant qi to swallow the terrace. Li Wei vanished into the night with Tang Li in his arms.

Han Zhuo's roar echoed across the stone courtyards "SEAL THE METROPOLIS! THAT BASTARD LI WEI HAS ESCAPED WITH THE LEDGER!"

But the young master was already gone.

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