183: Chapter 184 It was just an injury to one person.

They didn't use this incident to label all the newcomers as trouble, nor did they close their doors and put on an "I told you something would happen" attitude.

The auntie who sold bean cakes opened her stall as usual the next day. When she encountered the new faces that had been jostling in front of her stall the past two days, she would still scold them with a "Line up!" but after cursing, she would still hand over the cakes.

After the young woman at the East Street fabric shop cleaned up her entrance, she even specifically had her husband hang a wooden sign under the eaves that read, "Newcomers, if you don't know the way, feel free to ask."

Even Old Xu set his stall back up early on the third day.

His basket of vegetables was arranged even more neatly than before, and seeing people stop to take a second look as they passed, he actually smiled first.

"What are you looking at?"

"Zhou Yun already said, we can't let this little matter ruin our lives."

"Are you buying vegetables?"

As soon as he said this, the few newcomers nearby who had been afraid of feeling awkward if they ran into him were left even more at a loss for words.

Human nature is just like that sometimes.

If you scold him, he feels a bit better.

If someone doesn't follow his malice and instead leaves him hanging, he'll be stunned, then feel guilty, and finally start wondering if he acted too despicably.

But not everyone feels guilty.

At least, that fish that hadn't moved yet, didn't.

...

On the evening of the third day, the sky was just starting to darken.

On the small path outside the Tree House District, people were walking back in twos and threes.

Some carried wooden basins on their backs, some held newly issued bedding, and others carried small bags of spirit rice, whispering to each other as they walked.

A child was squatting on the side of the road, using a twig to poke a small beetle that couldn't flip itself over.

Not far away, a young woman was bent over, hanging freshly washed clothes on a line.

Further ahead was a girl of about ten, holding a bundle of thin firewood in her arms, walking with some difficulty.

In the shadows not far away, a person slowly stood up straight.

He was wearing the most ordinary coarse cloth clothes, his hair was messy, and there were two dry, cracked lines on his face from the sun, looking no different from the newly migrated people.

But his eyes had never once looked at what others were holding, scanning only back and forth between the young girl and the young woman.

Careful, fast, like a knife testing its edge.

Finally, he moved.

"Make way."

While he shouted for people to make way, he squeezed through at an angle, slamming his shoulder forward violently.

"Ah!"

The young girl was already holding the firewood and was unsteady on her feet. Being slammed into like that, she staggered two steps, and the firewood in her arms clattered to the ground.

She subconsciously reached out to stop it, but as soon as her hand touched the ground, the other person stepped on the end of the firewood.

"Can't you watch where you're going?"

The man cursed, his voice not loud, but very cold.

The young girl's eyes instantly reddened from the pain, and she looked up at him.

"You..."

The man didn't wait for her to finish, shoving her again with a backhand motion.

This blow was heavier than the last.

"Bang!"

The young girl's back slammed directly against the wooden railing on the outside of the Tree House District, and she doubled over in pain on the spot, unable to catch her breath.

The young woman not far away turned her head abruptly.

"What are you doing!"

She dropped the clothes in her hands and ran over. But she had only taken two steps when the man had already turned around, grabbed the young girl's wrist, and dragged her forward.

The movement was too fast, too steady.

People around them didn't even have time to react.

Someone had just opened their mouth, and before the first "Stop" could be shouted, the man's other hand was already raised.

Spiritual power surged in his palm.

Black Iron Grade Nine.

The Spiritual Pressure wasn't heavy, but it was enough to make an ordinary person collapse on the spot.

"Stop!"

This shout finally exploded.

The crowd became chaotic.

"Cleric!"

"Report to the authorities! Report to them quickly!"

"He did it on purpose!"

"Damn it, he has cultivation!"

The young woman's face turned pale; she wanted to rush over but was halted by the incoming Spiritual Pressure.

Two local men from Flower City rushed forward, but just as one took half a step, his vision suddenly blurred.

A figure was faster than them.

"Slap!"

The man's raised arm was grabbed from the side, and before his spiritual power could descend, his wrist bone made a dull thud.

The newcomer's movements were extremely steady. With a twist of the elbow and a downward press, the Black Iron Grade Nine man's entire arm was deflected, and his expression changed instantly.

"Who..."

Before he could finish, someone swept a kick into the back of his knee.

"Thud!"

He fell heavily onto one knee, shaking the ground.

Shang Youjun stood behind him, still gripping his arm, his eyes as cold as ice water.

"I said, stop first."

His voice wasn't loud, but it felt like it was scraping against the bone.

Sweat instantly broke out on the man's forehead.

He had been hiding his cultivation, waiting for the moment when it would be easiest to succeed and least noticeable.

But he never expected that before his hand could truly land, he would be choked off in mid-air.

Shang Youjun didn't give him a chance to struggle, pressing his knee down and forcing him flat onto the ground.

"Bind him."

Two bailiffs from the Supervision Department immediately stepped forward.

"Yes!"

The young woman finally reacted, rushing over to pick up the young girl.

The young girl's wrist was red, and her back had taken a heavy hit. Her face was pale from pain, tears swirling in her eyes, but she gritted her teeth and didn't cry.

The surrounding crowd had completely exploded.

"This isn't the first time!"

"I've seen him; he overturned someone's stall in South Alley the day before yesterday!"

"You're talking nonsense; the ones who overturned the stall the day before yesterday were different people!"

"But I saw him that time too; he was standing on the side laughing!"

"So there really are people causing trouble on purpose!"

Someone was so angry they stepped forward to kick him.

But as soon as their foot was raised, they were grabbed by someone else.

"Don't move!"

"The Supervision Department is already here!"

Shang Youjun looked up and scanned the area.

That glance passed over them, and the fire that had been boiling all around was like a bucket of cold water poured over it, instantly suppressed.

"Witnesses, all of you go to the Supervision Department."

"The injured go to the Medical Clinic first."

"Whoever saw it, tell me everything from start to finish, word for word."

He threw out his instructions one by one; his voice was still cold, but it was a very steady cold.

The crowd then started moving again.

The chaos hadn't dispersed, but it now had a direction.

...

The Supervision Department was quieter this time than in the past few days.

Because everyone knew this wasn't just kicking over a basket of vegetables or swiping a wooden basin.

The young girl's wrist was swollen, and her back was covered in large bruises.

It looked very serious, but before she could even be sent to the Medical Clinic, she was healed by a Cleric along the way.

They were just worrying about where to grind their skills, so such an opportunity was absolutely not to be missed for a Cleric.

However, there were also Clerics present who said that fortunately, it was stopped quickly; if it had been any later, and that spiritual power had landed, it would have resulted in serious injury at best, or death at worst.

The air pressure in the room was incredibly heavy.

The Black Iron Grade Nine man was held in the middle, his face looking as ugly as a piece of iron.

At first, he still wanted to insist that he had just pushed her in a fit of rage.

But when Shang Youjun flipped open the logbook from the past few days, presented the witnesses, and had two bailiffs draw out the route he had taken while loitering outside the Tree House District for two whole days, he was finished.

Picking people.

Picking a place.

Picking the timing to strike.

Every single thing was nailed down tight.

More importantly, this person's record wasn't clean.

When the conflict broke out on West Street, he was there.

When someone intentionally knocked over a water bucket by the well in South Alley, he was there too.

In the previous small frictions in the Tree House District, he wasn't the one who started it, but he was present every time before things escalated.

He wasn't in a hurry to act; he was watching to see how far Flower City could endure.

Now that he had acted, it was with the intent to hurt someone.

Shang Youjun closed the logbook, his knuckles slightly white from the force.

"Please invite Zhou Yun."

When this was said, the few bailiffs in the hall didn't show the same shocked expressions as last time.

Because they also knew this wasn't an isolated case, but was linked to many of the previous disputes.

The City Lord had already given a warning beforehand.

Since they chose to offend again, it had to be dealt with severely.

...

When Zhou Yun arrived, quite a few people were standing outside the Supervision Department.

There were onlookers, witnesses, and the young girl's mother, whose face was as pale as paper, clutching her daughter tightly and refusing to let go. She had been holding back tears, but when she saw Zhou Yun enter, her eyes instantly reddened.

She didn't dare to rush forward or shout, just stood there holding her child, her shoulders tensing up repeatedly.

When Zhou Yun passed by her, he slowed his steps.

"Is the injury serious?"

The woman's lips trembled, her voice low and shaky.

"No, the injury has already healed."

"It's just that the child was badly frightened."

Zhou Yun nodded gently.

"Sit down and calm yourself. Leave the rest to me."

He didn't say anything else, but just with that one sentence, the tears in the woman's eyes almost fell.

Someone immediately brought over a stool.

Zhou Yun then walked into the hall.

Shang Youjun explained the case very concisely.

Who was injured, who committed the act, the previous attempts, and why this could be determined as intentional injury—everything was laid out clearly one by one.

After finishing, he stepped to the side and didn't speak again.

Zhou Yun's gaze fell on the man's face.

The man felt a chill down his spine, but he still gritted his teeth and held on.

"Zhou Yun."

"I admit it, I did make a move."

"But it was just a moment of anger, a push, I didn't really do anything to her. If Flower City wants to punish me to death for this, I fear people outside will feel disheartened when they hear about it, right?"

As soon as these words were out, a wave of uncontrollable cursing came from outside the door.

"What a load of crap!"

"You even used your spiritual power!"

"If it weren't for Department Head Shang Youjun stopping you quickly, that child would have lost her life!"

Shang Youjun looked up and swept his gaze toward the door.

The cursing immediately quieted down.

Zhou Yun, however, wasn't provoked into any emotion by these words.

He just lowered his head and flipped through the case log, turned to the pages Shang Youjun had recorded earlier, stopped, and looked up at the man.

"A moment of anger? What anger? Where did this anger come from?"

"You were there on West Street, South Alley, and outside the Tree House District these past few days."

"And this evening, how long did you wait on that path?"

The man's expression changed slightly.

Zhou Yun's voice remained very calm.

"Picking a young girl to attack is also a moment of anger? Did she provoke you?"

The man's mouth twitched, wanting to explain.

But Zhou Yun didn't give him the chance to finish that rehearsed speech.

"The first small disturbance, you were watching."

"The second small disturbance, you were still watching."

"The third time, you personally took action."

"You are not a first-time offender, nor was this a slip of the hand."

He closed the case log gently. His voice wasn't loud, but it suppressed every bit of noise in the hall.

"You were testing Flower City's bottom line."

Once these words fell, the man's face finally turned completely white.

Because Zhou Yun didn't beat around the bush at all.

He didn't follow his script of "slip of the hand" or "impulse" to argue, but instead directly exposed the underlying intent.

It was so quiet outside that even the sound of breathing could be heard clearly.

Zhou Yun lifted his gaze, shifted his eyes from the man's face, fell upon those outside the door, and then slowly retracted it.

"Flower City is willing to take people in because we want to help people survive."

"But being willing to take people in does not mean we are willing to take in evil."

"And it certainly does not mean that others can use Flower City's gentleness to hurt Flower City's people."

The man's Adam's apple bobbed.

"Zhou Yun, I..."

Zhou Yun finally looked at him and asked gently.

"What are you relying on?"

The man was stunned.

"It is your cultivation."

Zhou Yun answered for him.

"You think that as a Black Iron Grade Nine, suppressing a young girl takes no effort. Even if things blow up, it would just be paying a little compensation, offering an apology, and then pushing the narrative toward a 'slip of the hand'."

He spoke very calmly.

But the calmer he spoke, the faster the blood drained from the man's face.

Because every word was right.

Not a single bit off.

"Since that is the case."

Zhou Yun paused.

"Then we shall judge you based on what you rely on most."

The air in the hall tightened abruptly.

Even Shang Youjun lifted his eyes.

The next moment, Zhou Yun's voice fell; it wasn't heavy, but it was like a knife blade scraping across the ground.

"Abolish his Dantian."

There was dead silence outside.

Immediately after, it was as if everyone had been stunned by this sentence, forgetting even to draw a breath.

The man shuddered violently. When he looked up, for the first time, true panic appeared in his eyes.

"Zhou Yun!"

"I only hurt one person, you..."

"Only... is that so?"

Zhou Yun interrupted him.

"That hand you raised today, if no one had stopped it, do you not know what the consequences would have been if it had landed?"

The man's lips opened, his throat as if blocked by something, and he couldn't squeeze out a single word for a long time.

Zhou Yun looked at him, his tone still not rising in the slightest.

"Flower City's rules will not treat things as if they never happened just because you hadn't actually beaten someone to death yet."

"And we will certainly not wait for the next time, when you actually land your hand, to reason with you."

"Since you rely on your cultivation to bully others, then Flower City shall take your cultivation away."

"This is the punishment."

"And it is also to tell those who come after that Flower City's gentleness is reserved for those who are willing to live their lives, not for you to use as a whetstone for your blades."

As the last sentence fell, the crowd of Flower City residents outside, who had been suppressing their anger, didn't even cheer.

Because it was too heavy.

It was so heavy that they were stunned at first, then the pressure that had been clogging their chests suddenly released, and after it released, only silence remained.

Some quietly reddened their eyes.

Some subconsciously clenched their fists.

Others watched Zhou Yun's back, their throats bobbing several times, but said nothing.

The young girl's mother held her child, her shoulders trembling slightly, and tears finally fell.

It wasn't fear.

It was that breath that had been hanging in the air, which finally settled at this moment.