Li Qingxian conferred with Hex Lei and dispatched a twenty-man team. After getting the witnesses’ names and addresses from Zheng Hui, the team left under the leadership of Han Anbo.
In less than half an hour, the main contingent arrived outside the gates of the Military Department.
The Military Department was a Sixth-Grade Government Office with low walls and a dilapidated gate. The guards at the entrance panicked the moment they saw the vast, imposing column of Night Guards approaching.
The Military Department was much like any other local constabulary, mainly responsible for miscellaneous duties like maintaining public order, catching thieves, preventing fires, and dredging waterways. Most of their men were ordinary constables, but they far outnumbered the Night Guard.
A guard snatched up a Bamboo Whistle and blew it hard, then scrambled into the Government Office to make a report.
Li Qingxian and Hex Lei were at the fore, followed closely by seventy or eighty Entering Grade Brocade Night Guards, their presence as imposing as a tidal wave.
As they stepped through the main gate, Hex Lei shouted, "Follow me, I know the way to the Military Department’s prison! The Night Guard is on official business! Anyone who doesn’t stand down is an enemy!"
"The Night Guard is on official business! Anyone who doesn’t stand down is an enemy!"
More than three hundred men roared in unison. Some even used their True Essence, making the entire Military Department Government Office tremble violently.
Just then, a middle-aged Military Officer wearing the White Horse Patch of a Junior Tenth Grade official emerged from a side door, flanked by two constables.
Li Qingxian recognized him at a glance—it was Zhong Baishan, the Military Department Squad Commander from the lamb soup stall that morning.
Hex Lei pointed to the side door and said, "This way."
The thundering steps of Li Qingxian and the massive, dark tide of Night Guards behind him, punctuated by the clatter of their scabbards, scared Zhong Baishan half to death.
Zhong Baishan’s knees buckled. He stared at Li Qingxian with a look of utter indignation, clinging to the doorframe as he wailed, "You Night Guards are taking this too far! I was a little greedy and had a few extra slices of lamb, but you don’t have to come all the way here to arrest me for that! I already admitted I was wrong, what more do you want? Even the worst crime only warrants death! My brother-in-law is a Sixth-Grade official in the Ministry of Works! You can’t just arrest people without cause!"
"The man’s insane," Li Qingxian said, rolling his eyes at Zhong Baishan.
"You know him?" Hex Lei asked.
"Don’t mind him." Li Qingxian walked past Zhong Baishan and entered the side door with Hex Lei and the others.
"Huh?" Zhong Baishan’s wobbly legs somehow supported him as he silently watched the large group march past him.
Once all three hundred-odd men had passed, Zhong Baishan wiped the sweat from his brow. His back was completely drenched.
"Commander Zhong, what was that all about? That was fucking terrifying."
"I almost pissed myself."
Zhong Baishan collected himself, letting his hand fall from the wall. "I was mistaken," he said.
’That’s what he said, but his hair was standing on end. That kid was only a teenager, a mere Ninth-Grade official. How was he walking shoulder-to-shoulder with the Seventh-Grade Hex Lei? What were they doing here with so many men?’
’The direction they’re headed... Oh no, the cells!’
Just as Zhong Baishan was about to move, a massive, dark silhouette followed the group inside. He caught a glimpse of a scar slashing diagonally across the man’s face, and his heart skipped a beat.
Zhong Baishan pressed his hand against the wall again.
After Zhou Henn passed, a Military Department constable whispered, "I think that was the legendary Madman Zhou. They say all five Commanders of our Five Cities Military Department together couldn’t take him on with one hand."
"Sigh. I don’t know which son of a bitch pissed off a monster like that, but Commander Tann is going to lose his mind. Come on, let’s watch from a distance. Don’t get close," Zhong Baishan said, slowly inching forward.
Li Qingxian and his men barreled through the compound. Any member of the Military Department who tried to block their path was met with a scabbard swung at their head.
They charged straight to the main entrance of the Military Department’s prison, only to find dozens of constables blocking their way, their backs slightly hunched as they aimed gleaming longspears at the newcomers.
A Ninth-Grade Civil Servant in a green robe with a quail patch stood at their head. "I am the Prison Chief of the West District Military Department!" he shouted. "Trespassing on these critical grounds is a major crime! Whatever your business is, you may state it. I will see that the matter is handled impartially."
Li Qingxian held up the Golden Token. "By order of Zhou Chunfeng, Disciplinary Officer of the Night Guard Divine Capital Department, I have come to rescue Zheng Gaojue, a Night Guard framed by the Military Department!"
A pained look crossed Prison Overseer Luh’s face. "My colleagues from the Night Guard," he said quickly, "Zheng Gaojue was brought here on the order of a superior officer. Without a release order from that superior, we can’t just let him go. I am but a humble Ninth-Grade official and dare not offend any of you, my superiors, but allow me to offer some sincere advice. Fights between the Night Guard and the Military Department on the streets, even those ending in broken bones, are a small matter. But storming a prison... that is a grave offense. Once word of this gets out, it will surely reach the ears of the Emperor. I urge you all to think twice."
The previously agitated Night Guards began to calm down.
Li Qingxian and Hex Lei exchanged a look. Hex Lei’s brow was furrowed.
"No matter how you look at it, forcing our way into the Military Department prison isn’t a good look..." Hex Lei whispered.
Zheng Hui also whispered, "Captain Li, I think we should just intimidate them. Once the person in charge arrives and sees this display of force, they’re bound to release him."
Li Qingxian thought for a moment, then asked, "How long has it been since we, the Night Guard, have had a clash with the Military Department?"
"There are always minor scuffles, but it’s been half a year since the last major conflict," Hex Lei replied.
Li Qingxian turned to look at the Night Guards and saw resigned expressions on most of their faces.
Seizing the opportunity, Prison Overseer Luh added, "Everyone, why not wait here for a bit? I’ll go get someone. I guarantee your Night Guard brother will be perfectly safe."
Li Qingxian glanced at the gray-haired Zheng Hui, a montage of past events flashing through his mind. He faced the assembled Night Guards, grabbed the patch on his own chest, and shouted, "Brothers of the Night Guard! Who among you can say with certainty that you’ll wear this uniform for the rest of your life?"
The Night Guards slowly shook their heads.
"Once you leave the Night Guard Office, who will treat you like you’re somebody?"
The Night Guards glanced at the gray-haired Zheng Hui and shook their heads once more.
"When the day comes that you’re just like Zheng Hui, retired from the Night Guard Office, who will be there to protect you? Who will protect your wives, your children, your parents, and your families?"
The Night Guards fell silent.
Li Qingxian jabbed a thumb back at his own chest. "It’s us! The us of right now! Today, we aren’t just protecting Zheng Hei’s son! We aren’t just protecting Zheng Hei! We are protecting our future selves! Our future families!"
The Night Guards stood frozen in place.
Li Qingxian bellowed, "Do you dare to protect the you of tomorrow, and the family of tomorrow?"
"We dare!" more than half the Night Guards roared, their breaths coming in ragged bursts.
"Do you dare to break the mongrel claws that will one day reach for your wives, children, and parents?"
"We dare!" nearly all the Night Guards thundered, their faces flushed crimson.
"Do you dare to show the men of the Military Department that we of the Night Guard are true men, and that this flock of little lambs, brave only amongst themselves, has no right to provoke us!"
"We dare!"
Li Qingxian abruptly drew his saber, pointing it toward the sky.
"The Night Guard is on official business! Anyone who doesn’t stand down is an enemy!" Li Qingxian roared.
"The Night Guard is on official business! Anyone who doesn’t stand down is an enemy!" the Night Guards roared in unison.
SHIIING! SHIIING! SHIIING!
The sound of hundreds of blades being drawn at once filled the air. The courtyard of the Military Department prison erupted in a blinding flash of steel.
Li Qingxian turned, leveled his Yanling Saber, and swept his gaze over the spear-wielding soldiers. He took a step forward. "Drop your weapons! Obstruct the Night Guard, and you will die!"
"Obstruct the Night Guard, and you will die!" the men bellowed as one.
CLANG...
A soldier’s hands went slack with fear, and his longspear fell to the ground.
Li Qingxian took another step forward, and a continuous wave of clattering followed.
Every soldier of the Military Department threw down their longspears.
"Get to the wall, hands on your heads, and squat," Li Qingxian said coldly. "Anyone dares to make a move, kill them!"
The soldiers lowered their heads, walked to the wall, and squatted down with their hands over their heads.
Prison Overseer Luh stood rooted to the spot, his face a ghastly white. He spread his arms, fingers splayed, and remained perfectly still.