"I wonder what was the commotion happening right now?" Jiang Ye smiled as he stared at the group of people in front of his tent. There was no need to ask anything because he knew the answer, but he still said the question to annoy these people.
It was currently afternoon, the sun was still high in the sky, its heat burning through the flesh of the slaves, but was considerably lower than when it was high noon earlier.
Jiang gazed at the group of people in front of him, composed of four officers staring at him unkindly. Among these four officers was the officer who arrested Old Man Zhao yesterday, which made his blood boil again but he forcibly calmed himself down.
Beside the group of officers were the stupid duo, Long Ziwu—who was currently wrapped in bandage and holding a walking stick to support himself—and his lackey Yang Shan, who funnily ran away from two of their encounters.
Jiang Ye could feel the aura being released by the lead officer. If he's not wrong, he was called Officer Qin or something. Then Jiang Ye shrugged his shoulders and grinned from ear to ear. He did not care what his name was. He cared what kind of trouble he was about to face right now.
"It was him, officer!" Long Ziwu cried. "He beat me up in the cave. My friend here, Yang Shan, could testify!"
How stupid, Jiang Ye sighed. Then, he said, "Beat you up? How could I beat you up when I am just a weak young man and you are far stronger than me? Even if I am stronger than you, it was not possible to make your lackey testify for you, fool!"
"What did you say!?" Long Ziwu almost spat out of blood when he heard. He wanted to go there and beat him up but he did not do so. The result would be obvious, he will just get another round of beating, which will render his body useless forever.
"Shut up you two!" Officer Qin snarled. He then gazed at Jiang Ye and asked, "Is it true that you mercilessly beat up Long Ziwu in the Extreme Dusk Cave?"
"He was lying, Officer Qin," said Jiang Ye. "Do not tell me you believe this guy's stories?"
"You—" Long Ziwu clenched his teeth upon hearing this.
"Silence!" Officer Qin interrupted. "If I am not wrong, the Lord's precious cultivation technique has still not returned to him. According to the other slaves, you are close to the old man. Is that correct?"
Cultivation technique? Long Ziwu thought in confusion then he suddenly realized something. How could Zhao Zhengjin easily beat him up if he's a lot weaker than him just a few days ago? That could only mean one thing. He was involved in the theft of the cultivation technique!
"I admit that I have been close with Old Man Zhao Zhengjin for the last six months," Jiang Ye replied. "But never would we steal whatever precious item Lord Liang Shuyue has."
"Lies!" Long Ziwu said after. "How could you beat me up when you were just a lot weaker a few days ago? No, yesterday! And now you looked as though you have been training for years. It was obvious you are now a cultivator!"
Officer Qin's eyes widened when he heard this. Then he looked at Jiang Ye and noticed that his build was vastly different from yesterday. Jiang Ye was indeed muscular just as he had seen last night, but the Jiang Ye right now looked as though he had been training for many years. It was not possible to achieve such huge gains in just overnight.
"You… Jiang Ye," Officer Qin narrowed his eyes. "You are being arrested for violating the Decree of the Domain Lord. According to this decree, any commoner, slave, and ordinary citizen who has no permission from the Domain Lord shall be arrested and punished depending on how much they practice. Come with me, Jiang Ye. Don't make this hard any further."
"No."
Jiang Ye sneered as he refused to go with him. From the brief encounter earlier he had already gauged how strong Officer Qin was, and he was about as strong as him. Jiang Ye clenched his fist and said, "Make me."
"I see," Officer Qin heaved a sigh of relief as if he was hoping Jiang Ye to refuse. Then he curled his lips and said, "We shall fight then—!'
Before Officer Qin could finish, Jiang Ye was already in front of him, his fist going toward the former's face. It was extremely fast, indeed, many people in this slavery area probably couldn't dodge it. But Officer Qin was different.
Instead of dodging, Officer Qin caught Jiang Ye's fist with one hand and used another hand to send a punch to the latter's stomach.
Jiang Ye could not dodge the punch in time as Officer Qin was tightly holding his one hand so he just gritted his teeth and decided to endure the force.
Thud!
The extreme force made Jiang Ye's eyes to widen as he spat out saliva. His body flew through the air and landed on the ground 2 meters away.
Shit, it hurts, Jiang Ye cursed. Even though he had strengthened all the muscles in his body, including the abdominal one, he it still hurts considering that Officer Qin used a lot of his power there. Also, he was extremely outmatched in experience. Instead of dodging, Officer Qin actually grasped his fist which made it hard for Jiang Ye to avoid that incoming punch.
Jiang Ye gritted his teeth and rose himself up from the ground. He glared at Officer Qin, not with hatred, but extreme hunger for more fistfight. "That actually hurts, that was impressive, Officer Qin."
He balled in hands into fish again, prepared for another bout of punching. While their fight were not particularly flashy, it still made the bystanders watching the fight to be entertained. It was not common for a slave to go toe to toe against an officer, especially Officer Qin, who had been a cultivator for a quite long time now.
"You are good, Jiang Ye," Officer Qin frowned for a moment. "Looks like you won't give up huh?"
"Of course," Jiang Ye sneered. "Let's fight."
And so, the battle continued.