The dozen or so burly yamen runners, who had been looking quite menacing, all stopped in their tracks.
Zhao, the head constable, frowned and roared, his voice trembling with fear, "What are you standing there for! You think a bitch can scare you? Take her down!"
Having received the order, the constables mustered their courage, raised their sabers and fire-and-water clubs again, and charged forward with shouts.
However, that scene did happen.
The two constables at the front had only taken three steps when their legs suddenly went weak, as if filled with lead, and they knelt down with a thud.
The kneecaps slammed against the hard flagstones with a dull thud, making them grimace in pain, yet they couldn't stand up, as if an invisible mountain was pressing down on their backs.
Immediately afterwards, the yamen runners, like felled wheat, knelt down one after another a meter away from the stall, forming a row with uniform postures, as if they were worshipping a god.
This sudden scene left everyone dumbfounded.
The shouting stopped abruptly.
Zhao Dutou's face twitched, his hand gripping the hilt of his knife froze in mid-air, and his eyes widened in shock.
Kong Qing and his gang of cronies were so frightened that they retreated repeatedly, their faces filled with horror.
The people were the first to react and began to discuss it.
"My God! What's going on?"
"Why are they kneeling down, just like before? Could this woman be a divine messenger from the Liang Kingdom?"
"My lord, you must uphold justice for our Peacock Kingdom!"
The woman in the coarse cloth skirt who had previously pointed at the constable's nose and cursed him was now pointing at Kong Qing and the others with a trembling voice, her tone distorted: "Retribution! This is retribution! There are gods watching over us, and the Mountain Goddess has been watching us all along! You heartless beasts, you will be punished!"
"Yes! The Mountain Goddess has appeared!"
"I knew this girl was no ordinary person! You bunch of blind fools!"
The people were outraged.
"Bullshit! What gods! They're just playing tricks!" Kong Qing was terrified by the bizarre scene.
But his inherent arrogance prevented him from believing it. Pointing at the kneeling yamen runners, he yelled at his servants, "Are they all dead?! Go and call for reinforcements! Summon all the guards from our mansions! Now!"
The wealthy disciples around him exchanged glances, their faces filled with hesitation.
One of the fat men, dressed in a brocade robe, whispered a word of advice: "Brother Kong, this is a bit strange. Why don't we just let it go?"
"Let it go? How can we just let it go!" Kong Qing's eyes were bloodshot as he stared intently at the blind boxes on Yu Luo's stall.
That place contains a treasure that can yield divine pills!
He grabbed the fat man by the collar and growled, "What are you afraid of! If the sky falls, the Kong family will hold it up! If anything goes wrong, I, Kong Qing, will take full responsibility! We have to get these things today, or we'll all regret it for the rest of our lives!"
A generous reward will surely attract brave men, especially one as generous as Kong Qing's promise.
The other wealthy disciples gritted their teeth and gave orders to their servants and guards.
Soon, more people poured in from all directions, numbering over a hundred, each armed with knives, guns, and clubs, completely surrounding the small stall.
With the advantage of having many men, Kong Qing's courage grew again.
He waved his fan, his arrogant smile returning to his face: "Hmph, no matter what kind of sorcery you've used, you won't be leaving here today! I advise you to obediently hand over all the boxes, kowtow and admit your mistake, and I might let you die a little easier! Otherwise, I'll make sure you die without a burial place!"
The system, now disguised as a young girl, blushed with anger and stood with her hands on her hips, shouting, "You bunch of ungrateful wretches! We come from the Liang Kingdom. Who helped your Peacock Kingdom purify the black energy? Who sent caravans to trade with you and ensure you had enough to eat? It was our Mountain Goddess!"
"Hahahaha!" Kong Qing laughed so hard he almost fell over, as if he had heard the funniest joke in the world.
"Those peasants from Liang? Don't flatter yourselves! It's clearly because our Kong family is so powerful that Liang dares not offend us and is therefore eager to curry favor! Besides, I've heard that Liang, and some other small country, have women as emperors. What can a bunch of women accomplish? They certainly wouldn't dare offend our Peacock Kingdom! Back then, we utterly defeated Yan. Would they dare to come back now?"
These remarks were so offensive that the surrounding people couldn't stand them and shook their heads.
Yu Luo sighed softly.
She couldn't be bothered to say another word.
"Go! Take them down!" Kong Qing slammed his fan shut, giving the final order.
Hundreds of servants and guards pounced on them like wolves and tigers, their swords flashing and their chilling aura palpable!
Just as the foremost blade was about to touch the hem of Yu Luo's clothes...
Yu Luo's simple blue robe fluttered even without wind.
The previously barely visible golden divine patterns suddenly lit up, their light shining brightly, as if golden flames were burning on his body.
A circle of golden divine light, visible to the naked eye, rippled outwards from her center like waves.
The divine light appeared gentle, yet it contained unparalleled divine majesty.
All the servants and guards who rushed forward were thrown back as if they had hit an invisible wall.
People and horses were thrown about, and cries of agony filled the air. Hundreds of people fell to the ground like dumplings, and some even fainted on the spot.
Kong Qing and his wealthy friends, though standing at the back, received the most direct impact of the divine light.
Before they could even utter a scream, their bodies convulsed violently, white foam gushed from their mouths, their eyes rolled back, and they collapsed straight down, unconscious, barely clinging to life.
The whole world seemed to have been put on pause.
The street, which was bustling and noisy just a moment ago, is now deathly silent.
When the surrounding people came to their senses from the dazzling golden light, the scene before them was unforgettable.
The original locations of the steamed bun shop and the magical blind box shop are now empty.
The tables, chairs, stalls, and the two mysterious women all vanished without a trace, as if they had never existed.
All that remained were the unconscious thugs and the mess in the street.
“God, immortal…” an old man stammered out two words.
The next second, someone's knees buckled, and they knelt down devoutly, kowtowing heavily towards the open space.
"The gods have appeared! The mountain goddess has shown her power!"
"Thank you, Mountain Goddess, for punishing the wicked! Thank you, Mountain Goddess!"
A large portion of the crowd suddenly knelt down.
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