Chapter Seventy-Four: A Clear Conscience

"Don't come any closer, don't come near me, I don't want to..."
Lingyue's desperate cries broke into sobs, her body suddenly swayed, her eyes rolled back, and she collapsed limply to the ground.
The chill radiating from her vanished an instant before she fell.
A strange silence descended over the scene. After several seconds, one of the bridesmaids called her name tentatively, "Lingyue, Lingyue, are you alright?"
Li Yunfei quickly pieced together what had happened.
He recalled the girl who had been ablaze from head to toe—she too had burned fiercely for a time before fainting.
As he suspected, it was because both of them had just awakened to their powers. Not knowing how to control or restrain these new abilities, and in a state of extreme emotional turmoil, their uncontrolled outpouring of power quickly exhausted them, leading to unconsciousness.
A sudden uproar broke out. The middle-aged man whose wife and son had both perished at Lingyue's hands let out a feral roar. He seized a heavy iron tea can from the curb and charged at Lingyue, bringing it down toward her head with all his might.
He was in his fifties, and that son had been his only child. Now, with his wife and son both dead because of Lingyue, his hatred ran fathoms deep.
He knew Lingyue was an Awakened and would surely join Zixiao in the future. This was his only chance for revenge.
The bystanders gasped in horror, but the man, eyes bloodshot and wild as a maddened beast, was so terrifying that no one dared to stop him.
Li Yunfei's eyes narrowed, and in a flash he was by Lingyue's side before the tea can could strike.
He crouched beside her, and with a thought, a "Mystic Ice Talisman" appeared in his hand. He opened his palm, holding it three inches above Lingyue's face.
Since the talisman was within the effect of his Concealment Talisman, nobody else could see it.
From one perspective, this family could be considered victims, but Li Yunfei felt not the slightest sympathy.
From the couple's actions, they were no better than the groom's family.
When their son had harassed a girl during the wedding play, not once had they intervened.
Now, with the girl unconscious and utterly defenseless, the man sought to kill her.
Since he clearly harbored murderous intent, Li Yunfei felt no guilt in killing him if it came to that.
Though supernaturals were subject to the law, Li Yunfei did not believe for a moment that the laws governing them would be identical to those for ordinary people.
If they were, there would be no need for Zixiao to establish a special military tribunal.

If judged by ordinary law, though Lingyue had no intention of killing, she would at least be guilty of involuntary manslaughter.
But awakening was not something within human control; she had killed only because she awakened while being assaulted.
Li Yunfei didn’t know how Zixiao’s laws for supernaturals worked, but by his reasoning, Lingyue was guiltless.
If no one stopped the man’s blow, he would certainly be guilty of attempted murder—a capital crime.
With a heavy thud and a series of sharp cracks, the tea can landed squarely on Li Yunfei’s palm. He didn’t budge. He softly uttered, "Swift."
The Mystic Ice Talisman vanished in a wisp of frost, which, guided by Li Yunfei’s spiritual power, surged up the tea can and enveloped the man.
In a heartbeat, he suffered the same fate as his wife and son, frozen solid into a human ice sculpture.
However, talismans and innate powers differ. The Mystic Ice Talisman froze its target, but did not shatter them.
That was of no consequence.
Having shielded Lingyue and immobilized the man, Li Yunfei produced a Concealment Talisman, pressed it to Lingyue’s left shoulder, and commanded, "Swift."
Before all eyes, Lingyue’s form vanished.
Li Yunfei scooped her up, then struck the frozen man with a swift palm. Avoiding the crowd, he darted lightly away from the compound.
With a crash, the man shattered into icy fragments on the ground. The iron tea can remained intact—the talisman’s power was insufficient to make steel brittle.
The scene was silent for a long while. Finally, someone thought to call the police, but no one dared approach the spot where Lingyue had disappeared.
They had no idea what state Lingyue was in, or whether approaching would bring the same fate as that family. They also had no clue she was long gone.
...
Du Lingyue awoke slowly, opening her eyes to see a ceiling of army-green canvas.
Her consciousness returned in an instant, and she sat up abruptly as memories of what had happened flooded back.
Looking around in panic, she discovered she was inside a tent, lying on an air mattress, covered with a light summer quilt.
A quick check revealed that aside from the torn left shoulder of her clothes—ripped by those thugs—she was otherwise unharmed. She breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
A snuffling noise came from outside the tent. "Mmm, smells so good! Honghong, how’s the lean pork congee Master made?"
A high-pitched sound answered, "Yiyi... (It's delicious, but Master, why didn’t you put in preserved egg this time? I always saw you add that before!)"
A warm laugh followed. "Silly fox, you can’t eat preserved eggs. You should also avoid too much salt—it’s not good for you."
"Yi... (Oh, I see! So once I become human, then I can eat it?)"
"Yes, then you can have as much as you like."
The conversation was between a pleasant male voice and an animal of some kind, their words mixing with the clatter of chopsticks and the aroma of food drifting into the tent.
What surprised Du Lingyue most was that the man seemed to be conversing with the animal, whatever it was.
Few people have heard a fox’s call, so by sound alone, Du Lingyue could not identify the creature.
A mouthwatering scent wafted into the tent, and Du Lingyue swallowed involuntarily.
She hadn’t eaten much all day yesterday and now her stomach was aching with hunger.
She cautiously unzipped the tent a little and peered out.
Outside was a grassy clearing in a forested mountain. A handsome man, dressed in a black T-shirt, camo hiking pants, and black outdoor boots, sat sideways to the tent on a folding stool.
Before him was a collapsible table, an aluminum pot, two bowls, and a fiery-red little fox standing on the table, lapping up its congee.
It was early morning. Soft sunlight filtered through the branches, dappling the ground with light.
A thin mist twined among the trees, turning the woods into an ethereal scene; dewdrops glistened in the grass, sparkling like tiny crystals in the dawn.
In this gentle light, man and fox enjoyed their breakfast in perfect harmony.
Had the man been dressed in ancient robes, with the table and stool replaced by stone furniture, Du Lingyue would have thought she had stumbled upon an immortal.
At that moment, her stomach grumbled loudly at the scent of congee, shattering the tranquil scene.
Outside, Li Yunfei and the little fox paused and turned in unison toward the tent.
Du Lingyue’s heart leapt. She instinctively jerked her head back from the gap in the zipper, her heart pounding.
It was the natural reaction of someone caught peeking, but fortunately did not trigger her powers.