You're Strong But Now You're Mine-Chapter 54: Let Me Experience What It Feels Like to Be a Beast

Chapter 54: Chapter 54: Let Me Experience What It Feels Like to Be a Beast

Extreme Divine Weapon?

Saint’s Relic?

What were they talking about? "Why the hell couldn’t I understand any of this?"

Le Yu stepped back a few paces and ducked into the temporary rain shelter, signaling the attending medical officer to come over for emergency treatment. Even without pain, Le Yu knew he was badly hurt, his forearms twisted out of shape, chest bruised purple, and multiple lacerations on his body. When Le Yu got blasted away earlier, his blood splattered a trail on the ground, and he lost a massive amount of blood.

The most important thing was, Le Yu felt his vision getting blurred, as if a beauty filter had been applied to the world, "everything just looked hazily beautiful"—for an average dude, this would be the time to go home, invite everyone to a "funeral feast," and find peace in the afterlife.

"Only he could survive this mess."

The rain kept coming down harder, slapping the filthy muddy earth with loud splats. The commoners clogged up the city gate, showing no signs of leaving, wide-eyed and staring at those high-and-mighty folks they never got to see: the governor’s chief steward, the head of the Statistical Department.

"Per the governor’s orders, the Saint’s Relic should be secretly transported into Star Engraving County, to prevent Lv Zhong’s spies from catching wind of it."

Uncle Bo grabbed the black umbrella tossed over by an attendant, shielding Ding Yiyu from the rain and calmly said, "But because your Statistical Department agents were reckless, the Saint’s Relic can no longer serve as a secret weapon, unless..."

Uncle Bo glanced at the crowd by the city gate, noticing some folks leaving, a flash of ruthlessness in his eyes as he shook his head slightly, "...it’s too late."

The commoners at the gate had no idea they had narrowly escaped disaster by sheer luck.

Lan Yan chuckled, "Want to move secret weapons? No problem—just file a report with us at the Statistical Department—even if you only reported it to the City Guard Department, we wouldn’t be in this mess now."

"The fewer people who know, the better..."

"Right, the fewer the better. But as head of the Statistical Department and acting head of the City Guard, if the governor’s administration had told me about transporting the Saint’s Relic, I could guarantee zero slip-ups. How did things end up like this?"

Uncle Bo snapped, "If your Statistical Department agents had just let the Fourth Young Master in, none of this would’ve happened!"

Lan Yan answered coolly, "Inspecting all in-and-out goods was the governor’s order. If you have any issues, take it up with him."

"I will make sure to report the actions of the Statistical Department to the governor." Uncle Bo saluted in the direction of the governor’s office and said gravely, "But shouldn’t your department give us an explanation?"

"What explanation?"

"Hand over the criminal who assaulted the Fourth Young Master!" Uncle Bo gestured for his men to drape a cloak over Ding Yiyu, "Ding Yiyu was on official duty for the governor and got publicly humiliated and severely injured! If the main culprit isn’t harshly punished as a warning, how can the governor’s authority be upheld? Per Article 131 of the Radiant Code, any imperial official who abuses their power to injure others should be severely punished, sent to the death prison, and await execution!"

Ding Yiyu glared hatred at Le Yu as he was getting treated, shouting, "Director Lan, are you really going to bend the law for personal gain!?"

"Of course not," Lan Yan said calmly, "laws must be followed, crimes must be punished—that’s the Statisticians’ principle."

When Lan Yan said that, a bunch of agents from the Statistical Department felt their hearts plummet, sneaking glances at Captain Qian Yuliu. Chen Fu was so anxious he stomped his feet, gripping his firearm and lost in thought.

Only Le Yu, the very subject in question, remained unfazed as if nothing had happened, urging the medical officer, "Don’t stop, come on—here, here, and here, I’m still bleeding like hell."

Le Yu acted so fearlessly, and aside from "dying-and-resurrecting," Lan Yan’s attitude had also given him an odd hunch. When Lan Yan had slashed from afar earlier to save him from Chief Steward Ding Bo, Le Yu had already sensed that Lan Yan would definitely protect him today.

"However, as the saying goes, ’listen to all sides and you’ll be enlightened, only take one side and you’ll be clouded.’ The Statistical Department isn’t some oppressive dictatorship, but an agency guided by the will of the people." Lan Yan turned and said, "Captain Qian, the other side says you abused authority to harm a citizen. What’s your view on your own actions?"

Le Yu declared righteously, "I enforced the law impartially and eliminated harm for the people!

"What do you mean by that?"

"This Fourth Young Master of the Ding Family tried to ram through the checkpoint, reckless as hell—that’s crime one; trampling the commoners and acting like lives mean nothing—that’s crime two; refusing inspection and disrespecting the law—that’s crime three. This bastard broke multiple laws in no time at all, so as a Statistical Department agent, it was my duty to arrest him! As for his injuries, they were all from resisting arrest, so I had to use force! And anyway, his injuries are nothing compared to mine—I got beat up way worse!"

"Bullshit!" Ding Yiyu screamed, "You fucked up my face!"

"You just got your face beaten in, but I cracked a few ribs!" Le Yu shouted back.

Lan Yan turned to Uncle Bo, "Chief Steward Ding, it seems this all started with the Fourth Young Master’s screw-up. As for refusing inspection, you said you’d check with the governor, so I’ll let that one slide. But ramming the checkpoint and injuring civilians—those are clearly serious felonies according to the penal code. To enforce justice, I ought to invite Fourth Young Master Ding to spend a little time in our Statistical Department’s detention."

Uncle Bo’s face darkened, "Lan Yan, what are you trying to do?"

"Didn’t you just ask me to enforce the law impartially?" Lan Yan said with his usual warm smile, "I know the Radiant Code inside out—you can trust me on this."

"Enforcing the law impartially means targeting the Fourth Young Master?" Uncle Bo sneered, "Are you trying to challenge Governor Ding?"

Lan Yan was about to speak when a cold laugh rang out from the back:

"Ha, double-standard dog."

Lan Yan turned, curious, "Captain Qian, double-standard... what’s that mean?"

"Means holding everyone else to strict rules, while giving yourself all the slack. To put it in Chief Steward Ding’s words, basically, only your Ding Family is allowed to break the law, but my Qian Yuliu can’t enforce it?" Le Yu rambled on, "Isn’t that what it boils down to?"

"Such nonsense."

Uncle Bo flicked his sleeve, sending a spinning cone-shaped blast of light arcing through the air like thunder. Lan Yan lightly tapped his sword, scattering the beam, and grinned, "Chief Steward Ding, why get worked up over a low-level agent? If you have a problem, say it to me. If something needs changing, we’ll change it—if not, then hell no."

"That’s your answer, Lan Yan?" Uncle Bo’s face suddenly went calm, "You ruined the governor’s big plans and won’t even hand over a single agent?"

Lan Yan’s smile faded.

"Ruined whose big plans? If the governor trusted me, none of this would’ve happened." Lan Yan said evenly, "I, Lan Yan, have devoted myself entirely to the governor and still get nothing but suspicion. Chief Steward Ding, you don’t think I feel even a little resentment about that?"

"You..."

"As for Captain Qian, if his story holds up, then he’s not guilty. As for Ding Yiyu, the accused, our Statistical Department won’t interfere—your governor’s administration can handle it."

Uncle Bo’s face went gloomy, "But what if he’s lying? Isn’t it just his word against ours? Where are the witnesses? Where’s the evidence?"

He swept his gaze around, sharp eyes cutting through the rain, scrutinizing agents, City Guard, and commoners alike, then shouted, "Who saw the Ding Family carriage ram the checkpoint?"

"Who saw the Ding Family refuse inspection?"

"Who here got rammed by the Ding Family carriage?"

"Step forward!"

With a crash, thunder rolled, but it couldn’t drown out Uncle Bo’s cutting voice. The inner city suddenly went silent—only the patter of rain on the shelter and the earth, like drumbeats pulsing in everyone’s chest.

"So he pulled this move..." "Le Yu wasn’t surprised. Everybody knew what the Ding Family meant in Star Engraving County." Ding Yi had only come to be governor five years ago, but in that time, he’d swept through the county like a storm, controlling every facet—merchants and nobles alike had all flocked to him, showing what a ruthless operator he was.

Even the agents didn’t dare take Le Yu’s side.

"Ah, in a world fueled by greed, people’s hearts are cold as ice. Only my little sis is a bit of warmth left," "Le Yu sighed, but he didn’t feel much sorrow—he wasn’t a three-year-old, after all; he knew justice couldn’t always be on his side."

Of course, the worst-case scenario would just be swapping out his identity. Even if Le Yu really did get grabbed up and tortured, he’d change faces and come back at Ding Yiyu with "interest." He didn’t feel scared at all.

Just then, a gentle voice sliced through the rain and rang in everyone’s ears: "I am Director Lan Yan of the Statistical Department."

"If anyone here witnessed what happened, please speak honestly. I may be young and powerless, favored by the governor, but I am sworn to serve the people, never let a good person be wronged, and never let an innocent be punished."

"My will’s unshakable. Heaven is my witness, and all beings know it!"

BOOM—

A thunderbolt blasted down into the inner city, striking barely ten feet in front of Lan Yan, gouging out a deep pit!

In the flash of lightning, Lan Yan looked like a living god, and everyone watching was awestruck!

"I saw it with my own eyes, it was the Ding Family who rammed the checkpoint!"

The first to respond to Lan Yan was agent Ailili. She strode forward and pointed at Ding Yiyu, shouting, "He resisted the law, so Captain had to take him down!"

"That’s right!"

"Exactly!"

"They started it!"

"I even got clipped by their carriage—my shoulder’s all swollen!"

Chen Fu stood next to Le Yu and shouted, "Yeah! I saw it too, it happened just like that!"

Suddenly the inner city was flooded with voices, righteous anger burning like wildfire. Not even the wind and rain could douse the people’s fury—everyone cursed Ding Yiyu and his crew in every colorful phrase they could muster.

Lan Yan looked at Ding Yiyu and the others and shrugged, "Chief Steward Ding, this is the will of the people."

"Let’s go." Uncle Bo didn’t spit out any more tough talk, just turned and left with Ding Yiyu and his men. Ding Yiyu shot Le Yu and Lan Yan a final look, burning their faces into his memory, his expression black as thunder as he walked off.

"Wait up."

Uncle Bo paused and sneered, "What, Director Lan, you really going to drag the Ding Family off to your lockup?"

"No, just that Fourth Young Master asked me something earlier, and I never got to answer."

Lan Yan said idly, "If you want to kill someone in the Statistical Department, you need to report to me first."

When Ding Yiyu had said, ’Lan Yan’s just our Ding Family lapdog,’ Lan Yan had already made it to the city gate!

Uncle Bo said darkly, "The kid didn’t mean what he said—please forgive him, Director Lan."

"No problem, no problem," Lan Yan smiled.

But just then, someone yelled, "Wait!"

It was Le Yu, bandaged head to toe after emergency treatment, walking over with an apologetic look, "Fourth Young Master, Chief Steward Ding, I had no idea I’d cause such a huge mess. I feel super guilty about it, so I wanted to say something to Fourth Young Master."

Uncle Bo glanced at Le Yu, nodding internally. "That’s more like it. This little street rat wasn’t Lan Yan—there’s no way he’d really stand up to the Ding Family. Here he was, scrambling to apologize and give them a way out."

Thinking that, he held back the now-thrilled Ding Yiyu.

Ding Yiyu noticed Uncle Bo’s change in expression and caught on quick. He calmed himself down, thinking, "All right, I’ll let you go for now—but I’ll have plenty of time to ruin you later, you little bug," and put on a mocking smile, "What did you want to say?"

"Here’s the thing, Fourth Young Master." Le Yu said respectfully, "I’m really curious—what’s it like being livestock?"

The place went dead silent.

"Come on, right now—in front of Director Lan, in front of all my people, in front of all the folks of Star Engraving County—let me experience what being livestock feels like. Hurry up now."

Ding Yiyu was shaking with rage, cold sweat mixing with the rain, feet and hands icy, lips nearly bitten through.

Uncle Bo’s face twisted, but the moment he moved a finger, he caught Lan Yan’s hand on his sword hilt, and the surge of anger in him instantly retreated.

Not saying another word, they took the Saint’s Relic and their vehicles and left.

...

"You’re pretty gutsy." Under the rain shelter, Lan Yan looked at Le Yu with a grin.

Le Yu suddenly shuddered, waving his hands, "It’s obvious what kind of dudes they are—they hold grudges. No matter what I said, it wouldn’t do any good. Why bother apologizing and feeling crappy? Hiding behind you, Director, is way more satisfying."

Though Le Yu was new to this world and a bit cautious, "he wasn’t stupid." "He’d already pissed them off; why the hell would he beg for mercy and put his fate in their hands? He wasn’t about to play the sucker."

"Instead of sitting around waiting for Ding Yiyu’s revenge, it’s better to take the initiative and piss them off. Either Lan Yan would keep him safe, or they’d come for payback fast—and he’d pay them back just as quick."

"Relax. Ding Yiyu’s dumb, but Governor Ding isn’t." Lan Yan said calmly, "Star Engraving County is still in a crisis. He won’t risk freezing out the Statistical Department by punishing you."

He paused a second and added, "And even if Governor Ding gets tricked, I’ll stop him."

Those two casual lines gave away Lan Yan’s underlying confidence. "Forget punishing you—if it ever came to that, he was fully confident he’d keep Le Yu safe."

Le Yu couldn’t tell if it was all true, so he just went along, "Thanks for having my back, Director."

"No need for thanks—I’ve always trusted you." Lan Yan smiled, "Couldn’t have succeeded without your help."

Lan Yan seemed in a good mood, and Le Yu seized the moment, "Director, could you tell me—what is an Extreme Divine Weapon? What’s the Saint’s Relic?"