Free Web NovelChapter 432: Chapter 167: Amber Awakens
Shen Bai lifted his left hand and gave it a gentle wave.
Behind him, the Dharma Golden Body let out a furious roar.
The punch, blessed by his Fist Intent, shattered every last character and landed with perfect precision on Patriarch Gao’s chest.
"You’re merely in the Unity Realm, yet you dare act so brazenly in my presence?"
Shen Bai’s expression was calm.
Patriarch Gao felt only a sharp pain in his chest, followed by the sound of breaking bones.
He was sent flying backward, rolling several times across the ground as he coughed up mouthfuls of blood.
A single strike had left him utterly powerless to retaliate.
A look of astonishment spread across Patriarch Gao’s face. "How is this possible? Even if you can punch above your weight, how could you defeat me so easily?"
His face was filled with terror, as if he couldn’t believe what was happening before his eyes.
Then, Patriarch Gao watched as Shen Bai approached him, Longsword in hand.
At that moment, the spacious courtyard was filled with members of the Gao Family, all pinned to the ground by Blood Red Sword Qi.
Amidst a chorus of wretched screams, Shen Bai strolled forward, his Longsword carving a long line in the ground as it dragged behind him.
The wails of agony all around stood in stark contrast to Shen Bai’s placid demeanor.
For some reason, a sense of dread suddenly washed over Patriarch Gao.
He sensed that Shen Bai was like a dormant volcano—calm on the surface, but ready to unleash an earth-shattering terror at any moment.
Especially the thirty-foot-tall Dharma Golden Body behind Shen Bai, which radiated an endless, seething fury.
"I have a distant relative who is an official in a Capital City! You can’t treat me like this, or I’ll write to him, and you’ll face consequences you can’t even imagine!"
Patriarch Gao scrambled backward, using both his hands and feet.
"I won’t kill you," Shen Bai said flatly.
Hearing this, Patriarch Gao breathed a sigh of relief.
He thought his words had intimidated Shen Bai.
"I can treat today’s events as a misunderstanding. You may leave on your own," Patriarch Gao said.
Shen Bai said strangely, "I don’t think you understand the situation."
Patriarch Gao paused for a moment. "What don’t I understand?"
Shen Bai said slowly, "I’m not going to kill you. I’m going to lock you up in an Observatory prison cell and see what other clues I can dig up."
"Did you really think I was going to invite you to dinner?"
Patriarch Gao’s eyes widened when he heard this.
"Shen Bai, you have no evidence! Aren’t you afraid that if you torture me to death, you’ll bring disaster upon yourself?"
"Don’t you understand the Observatory’s policy? We act first and report later."
Shen Bai’s expression turned icy. "Evidence? I *am* the evidence. Once I drag you into an Observatory prison, I’ll *have* all the evidence I need."
"How dare you!" Patriarch Gao’s face was a mask of disbelief.
Even the Observatory wouldn’t dare to annihilate a family so casually. He couldn’t fathom what gave Shen Bai the audacity to act this way.
"Too much nonsense." Shen Bai’s gaze shifted toward the outside.
Just then, he saw a squad of people in Observatory uniforms arriving at the Gao Family estate, Weapons in hand.
The fight just now had hardly been concealed.
It was only natural for people from the Observatory to show up.
The leader was a young man who radiated the power of the Meridian Realm Peak.
When he saw Shen Bai, he froze on the spot.
"You are... Lord Shen?"
Shen Bai wasn’t the least bit surprised that the man knew who he was.
After all, his portrait had likely been circulated throughout the entire Observatory by now.
After all, nobody wanted a case of friendly fire.
"Name and rank," Shen Bai said coolly.
The young man quickly sheathed his weapon, straightened his back, and said respectfully, "My name is Fang Hong, a member of the Nanxing Prefecture Observatory’s Ding Division. We detected the sounds of a battle and came to investigate."
A young expert at the Meridian Realm Peak like him was merely an ordinary member of the Ding Division in a Prefecture-level City.
Shen Bai nodded. "These people tried to assassinate me at the Official Posthouse. Take all of them back to the Observatory for a thorough interrogation. Find out who’s pulling the strings."
His Divination Skill had shown that the trail ended here; Shen Bai hadn’t been able to probe any further. But now that he had live captives, it was only a matter of time.
Unlike the stubborn and fearless Demonic Forces, Patriarch Gao was not one to court death.
Patriarch Gao struggled and yelled, "Shen Bai, you have no evidence! Using unauthorized torture is a disgrace to the Observatory!"
"You talk too much."
Shen Bai walked up to Patriarch Gao, lifted his foot, and pressed it down on the man’s face, grinding it into the dirt.
Cracks spread across the ground as Shen Bai stomped Patriarch Gao’s head into the earth.
"As expected of a master at the Unity Realm. You’ve got a hard head."
Shen Bai rested one hand on his knee, the smile on his face never wavering.
Pinned by Shen Bai’s foot, Patriarch Gao couldn’t speak. A surge of fury and indignation rose in his chest, and he passed out from sheer rage.
Nearby, Fang Hong witnessed the scene and swallowed hard. ’Lord Shen was attacked at the Official Posthouse?’
If this news reached Nanxing Prefecture, it would undoubtedly cause a massive uproar.
Regardless of Shen Bai’s power or what others might think, his status alone was undeniable.
For him to be targeted in an assassination attempt—what would that do to the Observatory’s reputation?
Then, Fang Hong recalled what Patriarch Gao had just said.
"No evidence...?"
"What evidence is needed?" Shen Bai said, turning his head.
Fang Hong gave a bitter smile. "Lord Shen, you may not be aware, but the Gao Family is distantly related to a high-ranking official in a Capital City. With solid evidence, we could execute their entire clan. But without it, if word of this gets out, it will reflect poorly on Nanxing Prefecture."
"Since when did the Observatory become so timid and hesitant?" Shen Bai asked coolly.
Fang Hong replied helplessly, "In the past, it might have been different. But Nanxing Prefecture is in turmoil these days, and the Observatory here has been leaderless for a long time, so..."
