# 143
Chapter 143 – Rules
The deep-blue eye of wind hovering in Han Shaoyun’s palm vanished without warning, as if it had never existed.
Everyone from Team 136 froze; even Han Shaoyun himself was dumbstruck.
Where’s the wind eye?
My huge wind eye—where did it go?
He stared blankly for a moment, then lifted his gaze to Chen Muye and the others, a smile tugging at his lips.
“Well done.”
Chen Muye: …
At that moment Lin Qiye seemed to think of something; he looked into the distance and saw a man in military uniform lift a corner of the Anatta Domain, golden ripples rolling off his body as he stepped inside with a dark expression.
Baili Pangpang, Cao Yuan, and Shen Qingzhu followed obediently behind him.
“Brother Zhu, why’d you snap your fingers just now?” Baili Pangpang leaned toward Shen Qingzhu and whispered.
Shen Qingzhu frowned, pondered a second, then answered slowly, “Instinct?”
“Are you Thanos or something?”
“……”
Shen Qingzhu couldn’t be bothered with Baili Pangpang’s teasing. If the fatty weren’t his boss, he’d already be cursing; as a wage-slave, he knew his place.
When Lin Qiye spotted Shen Qingzhu, his eyes lit up; he roughly guessed what had happened.
Han Shaoyun’s wind eye was, at its core, just air spinning and compressed at extreme speed. Shen Qingzhu’s [Qi Min] could control air itself—sucking the atmosphere out of an area was child’s play.
Turn the place into a vacuum and your wind eye can’t survive, simple as that.
In short, Shen Qingzhu was the perfect counter!
Even though Han Shaoyun was a Sea-realm powerhouse, his [Great Wind Calamity] leaned toward “calamity”; in pure air manipulation it was far inferior to Shen Qingzhu’s [Qi Min].
Perhaps that was why [Great Wind Calamity] ranked 079 while [Qi Min] sat at 068.
Yuan Gang narrowed his eyes at Han Shaoyun hovering mid-air. A cold glint flashed; in the next instant he appeared above the man, right fist swinging down, golden ripples surging like a falling meteor!
Boom——!!
A dull thunderclap rang out. Han Shaoyun was hammered from the sky, smashing into the asphalt and carving out a crater several meters across, smoke billowing.
Yuan Gang landed steadily before the pit, clothes flapping, golden light wreathing him like a battle-buddha. His fists rained down.
Thud-thud-thud——!!
The earth shook; cracks spider-webbed outward. When the whole street was on the verge of collapse, Yuan Gang finally stopped.
He bent, grabbed the half-dead Han Shaoyun by the collar, and hoisted him up.
“Former captain of the Night Watch team in Gusu City, current Thirteenth Seat of the Believers—Han Shaoyun…” Yuan Gang’s uniform was spotless, his voice flat. “You’re in my hands now. Spend the rest of your life repenting in the Purification Chamber.”
At those words Han Shaoyun’s blood-caked lips trembled; he seemed about to speak. His bruised eyelids lifted, despair and pleading surfacing in his gaze.
Yuan Gang’s brows knitted. Suddenly a blade tip pierced Han Shaoyun’s heart from behind, the point bursting through his chest!
Yuan Gang’s pupils shrank; he jerked his head up, rage igniting in his eyes.
“Captain Chen, what do you think you’re doing?”
Cloaked Chen Muye stood calmly behind Han Shaoyun, slowly withdrawing the Straight Blade. “Killing.���
“He’s no longer a threat; he’s bound for the Purification Chamber. His life or death is for the tribunal to decide… who gave you the right to kill him?”
“He tried to kill my teammate, so he dies.” Chen Muye paused. “Besides, for him this is also release.”
Yuan Gang looked down. Han Shaoyun hung his head, yet a faint smile crept across his blood-streaked face; life sparked in his dead eyes.
Yuan Gang let go.
Han Shaoyun crumpled, blood trickling out. A pierced heart would kill any normal person, but a Sea-realm powerhouse still clung to one last breath.
He stared at Chen Muye, lips moving.
Chen Muye hesitated, then bent and placed his ear to the dying man’s mouth.
“Beware… Yiyu… he will return… to kill that boy…”
With the final word Han Shaoyun’s eyes dimmed; all breath left him.
After a long silence Chen Muye straightened, gazing at the crimson body in the snow, and slowly closed his eyes.
“Captain Chen, no matter how you spin it, this was out of line,” Yuan Gang said quietly.
“If you think I broke the rules, go file a complaint with Shao Pingge.” Chen Muye turned away, heading toward the rest of Team 136. “In Cangnan, I—Chen Muye—am the rules!”
Yuan Gang watched his departing back and, after a while, sighed in resignation.
“Still as hot-tempered as ever…”
……
“Captain, what exactly was the deal with Han Shaoyun?”
After dispelling the Anatta Domain, Hongying sidled up to Chen Muye and asked.
Chen Muye was silent a moment. “A pitiful man controlled by the Church of the Ancient Gods.”
“But he really seemed desperate to kill Qiye. Can those cultists really control someone that thoroughly?” Hongying tilted her head.
Before Chen Muye could answer, Wu Xiangnan spoke up. “I know a bit about their contracts. Once signed, they bind the soul itself, acting from the root of thought. Even if the victim resents the order, they can’t refuse or hinder it in any way—actions, words, even thoughts all serve the command.”
“So they’re basically puppets?”
“Pretty much. Some gladly play puppet and enjoy it; others live in agony…”
Lin Qiye frowned and voiced the doubt in his mind:
“If that’s true, why did the Church let Han Shaoyun leave Night Watch after controlling him? Wouldn’t keeping him inside, pretending he was free, be far more useful?”
Everyone stopped walking.
Hongying’s mouth fell open; she stared at Lin Qiye in shock. “Little Qiye, your mind… is seriously dark!”
“… Isn’t that the obvious tactic?”
“Qiye’s right,” Chen Muye said slowly. “Though Han Shaoyun didn’t stay, we can’t rule out… other Believers hiding within Night Watch.”