Confrontation

Xue Chang couldn't believe that this cute little critter was really the almighty space god he heard so much about. It just seemed a bit too far fetched.

But Yong Heng confirmed it. This was an Asura.

"Xue Chang, what is with the puppy?" Tian Kai smiled nervously while staring at the little dog rubbing its head on his young master's leg.

Just like he thought, nothing was ever normal around his boss.

"Apparently he is my new training partner?"

"You don't sound so sure about that."

Xue Chang looked up from the puppy with a smile so wide spread across his face, even the gums around his teeth were baring.

"Tian Kai, I haven't been sure of anything for months now!"

The two of them began to move back away from the crowd. As they moved back, the crowd around them started to disperse. No one seemed to care anymore now that the spectacle was over.

After a couple of minutes, only two people were left on the streets left. The woman who was about to be struck by the militiamen, and her son. The two of them sobbed silently in each other's embrace as the young man looked behind him at the man and child who had recently just left.

"Tian Kai… thank you."

________

"So that puppy is supposed to help you cultivate your spell? You're not going to sacrifice it or anything are you?" Looking into its cute black beady eyes, a feeling of endearment immediately began to build within Tian Kai.

"I don't think so. It looks like I will have to raise him and in return he is supposed to grant me some strength I think."

"But how do we raise a dog? None of us have ever had a pet before, do you even know what it eats?"

Xue Chang broke out into a nervous sweat as he mumbled under his breath.

"What did you say Xue Chang, I didn't hear you?"

Cough cough, "Um, well I think I have a good idea of what it eats…"

A bad premonition built up inside of Tian Kai as he watched Xue Chang continue to add strangely.

"Well spit it out, what's wrong with its diet?"

"So remember how your container of fish sauce had suddenly disappeared without any explanation?"

It took a good five minutes before Xue Chang could calm Tian Kai down from his rage. Any endearment that had been built up before had completely been removed from him.

Now there was only a bittersweet feeling left.

After what happened in the marketplace, the two of them decided that the shopping trip was over and it was time to return to their house.

Unfortunately even over there wasn't safe.

"Look they're here!"

Stationed in front of Xue Chang's villa was a rowdy group of men. And standing there in front of them was the militia group that had just ran off moments prior.

"That's them! They're the ones who attacked us!"

The militia clearly brought reinforcements over under false pretenses in order to take revenge on Tian Kai. It wasn't a surprise that they knew where he lived considering Wang Fan was backing them.

With his connections, doing a quick background check wasn't difficult at all. Especially when they were already under fire thanks to the Wang Family's familial bias.

But it was a little odd that the group seemed a little nervous. As if things weren't going well for them.

"Are you Tian Kai?."

An older bearded man with a powerful physique stepped forward and asked him calmly.

Although most of the city guard was under Wang Fan, it was not all of them. The army had been split between Wang Fan's side and those who believed that this abuse of power was outright villainous.

As such, sometimes there views and actions were at odds with one another.

The bearded man was actually one of those who was against Wang Fan. But he could not just ignore the words of fellow militiamen. Even if they were from a different faction.

As such when it was reported to him that Tian Kai, a supposed troublemaker in the city, had been causing trouble for the soldiers; he had to come and check it out personally.

But he was a bit surprised. He didn't expect the Tian Kai everyone was talking about to be THE Tian Kai.

He was a popular adventurer who had become a little famous recently along with a couple others such as Yong Heng.

It was thanks to him and his brother that several discoveries were made about the secrets attacks occurring over in the borders of their city.

He contributed more than any of the guards have, making people begin to view him as a hero. Of course this didn't mean his reputation was only good.

Many merchants disliked him for his clever and deceitful ways when trading with him, and just a while ago he had broken into someone's house in order to help his friend challenge them to a duel.

"Is something wrong sir?" Tian Kai responded politely because he could tell this man had no ill intent and he was a senior.

"Complaints about you have been appearing within my office lately. I was hoping you'd be able to follow me back and allow me to ask you a few questions."

The middle aged man's grouchy voice contained a trace of respect.

Usually young men like Tian Kai would allow their status and fame to get to their head and begin looking down on others.

But his respectful tone toward a senior and someone without a reputation as grand as him gave the head guard a good impression.

And even more so made him question the legitimacy of the complaints.

But before he could continue to question Tian Kai, one of the militiamen began to scream behind him.

"What are you doing! Tie him up and bring him back to he garrisons. He's guilty, don't you hear me? Guilty!"

The bearded man looked menacingly toward the militiaman in silence. This immediately caused him to shut up.

Although they could brag about their backing all they want, it was still difficult for them to question their higher ups.

Especially this man, who even Wang Fan couldn't remove from office despite all of his connections. The head of the faction against Wang Fan. The captain of the city guards.

"You better shut up or I'll get angry."

A sudden burst of energy erupted from the guard's body as the mood in the air changed.

Even Xue Chang never expected this man, to be a level five Qi refiner!

Other than his uncle and father, this was undoubtedly the most powerful person Xue Chang had met by far.

Surpassing even Wang Fan or the guild master, both of whom were in the fourth level of Qi refinement.

What was an expert like him doing as just a city guard?!

Tian Kai could tell from the man's aura that this was no laughing matter. This wasn't something he could just brute force his way out of like before.

"Alright, I don't mind answering some of your questions." Although Tian Kai wasn't sure about this man's background, his hostile actions against the previous militiaman showed that they weren't from the same group.

Maybe this guy was actually a little decent?

The head guard nodded in thanks, "I promise I won't take too much of your time."

The militiamen who had problems with Tian Kai previously were shaking to themselves.

At first they were trying to gather people from Wang Fan's side to come help them deal with Tian Kai.

They never expected that the captain of the guards would be present at that time. They changed the story a bit on what happened, hoping that he wouldn't dig too deeply into it, yet things weren't going as planned at all.

He was well known for his punishments, especially on those who abused their power.

If they allowed Tian Kai to tell the truth on what happened not only will the shame of them being chased away by a dog be revealed, but their protection money acts will be discovered too.

The captain would undoubtedly give them the death sentence!

And just as the militiamen were about to fall to their knees and beg for forgiveness, a sudden turn of events changed their minds.

"How about you let me deal with the interrogation?" An imposing voice brought everything to a pause.

From out of nowhere, the footsteps of a single person could be heard reverberating throughout the air.

The captain of the guards turned his head over to face the figure with a sneer in his face.

"Well if it isn't the well respected young master of the Wang Family."

Wang Fan stepped forward with a dangerous look glittering in his eyes.

For the first time in a long time the leaders of the two factions of the city's military meet. And Tian Kai was forced into the conflict between them.

Meanwhile Xue Chang couldn't figure out how to tell Tian Kai that the Asura had just eaten some of the groceries they had just bought.

'…should I tell him?'

They all had their own worries.