Chapter Ninety: Flamewind City, Part Two

“Stop, stop! I’m not selling this. Give it back to me, now!”

As the three of them were looking around with curious eyes, a panicked cry drew Ji Mo’s attention.

She turned and saw, only a dozen steps away, a girl of fifteen or sixteen in plain clothes kneeling beside the street, tears bright in her eyes, both hands clutching a half-transparent jade box. Opposite her stood a fiery-faced young man in his twenties, holding the other half of the box. It was clear that the two were struggling over it.

“What’s going on? Are there still people forcing a sale in Firewind City?” Ji Mo could not help asking in surprise.

“What’s so strange about that? Such things happen in every world. That girl doesn’t seem to have awakened her bloodline. At fifteen or sixteen, and only at the third level of qi refinement, she’s bound to be bullied in the Flameborn Tribe’s world, where strength is supreme. Of course, that red-faced youth hasn’t awakened his bloodline either, or he wouldn’t be snatching the girl’s belongings.” Geng Xiao glanced that way and answered indifferently.

Ji Mo’s brow frowned despite herself. Along the way, all she had heard was how proud and formidable the Flameborn Tribe was, how different this race was from all the others. Yet the moment she entered the city, she saw this scene. It seemed that the Flameborn Tribe was no different from any other race after all; they too would bully the weak with the strong. The passersby clearly found nothing unusual in it, and no one came forward to speak for the girl in plain clothes.

Though Ji Mo felt indignant at what she saw, she also knew that with her current ability she simply did not possess the power to intervene when she saw injustice. She could only stand silently to the side.

“Let go. Give the thing back to my sister!”

Just as the red-faced young man was growing impatient at the girl’s refusal to loosen her grip and was about to kick her, a ten-year-old boy suddenly rushed out from somewhere. His small body shot forward like a cannonball and reached the pair in an instant. Caught off guard, the young man was sent flying backward at once.

“Little brat. You’re courting death!”

After being knocked away, the red-faced youth somersaulted to the ground, his expression dark as ink. He turned back, murderous intent in his eyes, and advanced step by step toward the siblings.

Though he too was only a cultivator, he was already at the eighth level of qi refinement, and moreover, he came from a small family in Firewind City. Even if he himself had not awakened a bloodline, his family had many strong members who had. As for this pair of siblings before him, they were mere orphans, like two rootless duckweed. Such people actually dared to disrespect him in Firewind City? They were truly seeking death.

“Who are you calling a little brat?” The boy’s eyes turned cold as he glared at the young man advancing toward him.

“Little brat...” The red-faced youth had only just begun to speak when he immediately realized something was wrong. He cut himself off, his already purplish-red face darkening all the way to black. He stared at the boy with eyes that seemed ready to spit fire. Ji Mo could not help but burst out laughing, her brows and eyes curving into a line. She found the boy extremely adorable.

“Who’s laughing? Who’s laughing?” The red-faced youth, humiliated and enraged, was covered in murderous aura and was just about to pounce and tear the boy apart when he suddenly heard a mocking laugh. His ferocious gaze whipped toward the source of the sound, and in that instant he saw the three of them.

A single sweep of his eyes showed him that the two young men beside Ji Mo were far stronger than he was. But judging from their bearing, they were clearly outsiders. For an outsider cultivator of high rank to injure a local low-rank cultivator would be a grave offense. Thinking of this, the red-faced youth’s expression grew even darker. He fixed Ji Mo with a venomous stare and said, “Was that you laughing just now?”

“Chi Luer, don’t take your anger out on the innocent. Let me tell you, I have already awakened my bloodline. If you dare insult me, have you considered the consequences?” Ji Mo was just about to reply when the boy’s angry voice rang out before hers.

“You? What? You say you’ve awakened your bloodline? How is that possible? You—given the lowly status of your parents, you, you little brat, how could you possibly...” The red-faced youth, who had been about to lash out at Ji Mo, was jolted back by the boy’s words. He stared at the boy as though he had seen a ghost, pointing at him with a trembling finger, unable to form coherent speech.

But before he could finish a single sentence, his body was flung backward by an invisible force. As he rose through the air, his eyes, once filled with ferocity, were suddenly flooded with boundless terror. Unfortunately, it was already too late. When he had been thrown several dozen zhang away, his body exploded in midair with a dull bang, bursting into a cloud of blood mist. Many around them, when they looked again at the pair of siblings, now did so with utterly changed eyes.

“What happened? Who struck him?” Seeing the red-faced youth’s body explode without cause, Ji Mo froze in place. Only after a long while, and after the siblings’ figures had disappeared from sight, did she come back to herself and ask foolishly.

“No one struck him. It was the power of the rules. In Firewind City, no ordinary person may insult one whose bloodline has awakened. Those without awakened bloodlines are counted here only as ordinary people. That boy probably grew used to bullying others and showing off. Once he heard that the child had awakened a bloodline, he still dared to speak filthy words, so naturally he was punished by the rules of this place.” Bai Ze explained.

“What? The power of the rules? There is actually rule power in this city?” Ji Mo was greatly startled. The mystery of Firewind City felt as though it had surpassed the bounds of her understanding.

With her cultivation and experience, she ought not to have understood rule power, but she had the soul of the Peony Immortal in her sea of consciousness, and she had also encountered the divine beast Ao Feng at the bottom of Blue Moon Lake. Though neither had explained rule power to her in detail, they had mentioned it obliquely a few times. Ji Mo did not know much, but she understood how terrifying a force it was: one that could turn law into automatic restraint.

“This place is different from the outside world. There is much rule power within this city. Whoever breaks the rules will be erased, no matter who they are. So, Little Mo, you must remember this: if no one provokes you, never meddle in matters that are none of your business. Understand?” Bai Ze had assumed she came from the Ten Great Cultivation Realms, so he did not find her awareness of rule power strange. Rarely, however, he put on a stern face and spoke to Ji Mo with great seriousness.

“Yes, I understand.” Ji Mo nodded gravely.

If not for that boy having awakened his bloodline, her own little laugh just now might have caused who knew what sort of trouble. Thinking of this, she felt a slight chill in her heart.

To be continued...