Alex had no idea what was happening.

People kept shouting a name at him-Bai Xiaochun.

In the Xia language, he understood the words clearly. Bai meant white, pure, clean. Xiao meant small. Chun meant innocent, simple, genuine.

Together, it meant “the small and innocently pure one.” Harmless. Gentle. Naive.

So how in the world was that name being tied to the word rapist?

“Bai Xiaochun!” one of the villagers screamed at him. “Admit what you’ve done!”

Alex’s eyes snapped toward the two women staring at him with fury and disgust. A cold realization slid down his spine. If he handled this wrong, he wouldn’t live another minute.

“All of you!” Alex shouted back. “Just because my father is dead, you start blaming me for everything? I’m telling you—I did not rape anyone!”

“Bai Xiaochun!” one of the women shrieked. “How can you be this shameless? You raped me—and twenty-two others—and now you dare say you didn’t do it?!”

Alex stepped forward, anger blazing through him. This time, he shouted because he knew he was right.

“I am not a rapist! I did not touch you! If I did what you accuse me of, may I die on the spot right now!”

The entire village fell silent.

A wave of hesitation rippled through the crowd. Bai Xiaochun was known as a troublemaker, a rascal, a nuisance-but there had never been proof that he was a rapist.

“I’m telling all of you,” Alex said, “we will go to the judge and prove the truth. Whether I’m guilty or not.”

“How dare you say that!” an old man roared, slamming his cane against the ground. “The judge of this city is your uncle! He has always sided with you! Never with us villagers!”

“How dare you accuse the judge!” Alex fired back.

“He is the most righteous man in this city. It’s not because I’m his nephew, and it’s not because you’re villagers. He sides with truth. If the truth is with you, he will side with you.”

“You cannot scream ‘justice’ and expect it to bend your way just because you shout the loudest! He sees justice for what it is!”

The villagers stared at him in disgust, some looking like they might actually gag at his words.

“Our judge! Our judge!” the old man cried out in grief and rage. “He is the most corrupt man in this entire city!”

“Yeah!” someone else shouted. “Everyone knows that if you pay him enough money, black turns white right in front of everyone!”

Alex didn’t know whether the judge was truly that rotten.

But he knew one thing he had to stay alive long enough to find out.

“Say whatever you want,” Alex shot back. “The judge is the most honest man I know in this city!”

The villagers were beyond reason now. Their anger had passed the point of argument.

Finally, one of them screamed, “We have to take this city back from the corrupt clan! We’re done being treated like scapegoats! It’s time to kill the Bai clan!”

“Yes!” others joined in, voices rising, spreading like wildfire through the crowd.

Alex stepped forward and shouted over the chaos. “You’re traitors! Hiding among villagers and stirring them up to rebel against the Empire! Do you know what happens because of this?”

“The Empire will send soldiers here and slaughter every one of you! You can try to kill the Bai family—but the Empire will never let you live after this! This is rebellion!”

In Xia, there were two great powers that ruled the land.

The Empire.

And the Murim.

They existed within the same country, side by side, and never interfered with each other.

Villagers paid two kinds of taxes-one to the Empire, and one to the Murim for the protection of their daily lives. The Murim functioned like a legalized mafia within the system, filled with powerful people who could easily kill ordinary villagers if they wished.

Within the Murim, there were three great forces that balanced one another. The Orthodox sect, which existed to uphold justice. The Unorthodox sect, which operated in the gray areas. And the Demonic sect, which used power without restraint.

From what Alex could see, these two women clearly belonged to the Orthodox side. They were the kind who protected people and delivered justice.

Which meant one thing.

He had to make absolutely sure they did not judge him guilty.

Or they would kill him. Then again, even these villagers were strong-trained from birth. Any one of them could end his life right now without effort.

Listening to Alex, the villagers had to admit one hard truth they all knew.

The Empire chose the ruling clans of each city. To rebel against the clan was the same as rebelling against the Empire itself. And rebellion meant only one ending.

Eradication.

Still, some of them hated Bai Xiaochun too deeply to care about the consequences.

Alex saw it in their faces. This was dangerous. If he pushed them any further, they might snap and forget everything-law, fear, reason. They would tear him apart before anyone could stop them.

He had to end this quickly.

“All of you,” Alex said, raising his

voice again swear under the watch of the Sky-I am Bại Xiaochun, Just like my game says, am pure and innocent. If you don’t believe me, I will prove it to now.”

you right

The villagers stared at him as if he had gone insane.

This was the man they considered worse than any criminal.

A disgrace so notorious that even children knew his name as an insult. And now he

dared to speak of innocence in front of them?

Alex turned and walked back into the house.

A murmur rippled through the crowd.

“Is he trying to run away?”

“No. He said he would prove he’s innocent.”

“He’s the worst bastard in this city. Even the kids know that. How could he possibly

clear his name?”

“I’m telling you, he’s trying to escape.”

“Impossible,” another villager said. “We’ve surrounded the place. He can’t run this time.”

“Hey,” someone suddenly shouted. “He’s coming out!”

Alex stepped back outside, carrying a large wooden box in both hands.

He walked straight to the center of the crowd and set it down in front of them. There were about twenty villagers watching him, their expressions tight with suspicion.

He opened the box slowly.

Inside were a lot of gold ingots.

“Now,” Alex said calmly, “whoever believes that I, Bai Xiaochun, am innocent and pure just like my name says may take these two gold ingots as my heartfelt thanks for honoring the truth.”

Twenty pairs of eyes widened at once, locked onto the gold.

“And you,” Bai Xiaochun said, turning to the pitiful woman who had accused him, “feel sorry for you If you say I’mannocent, I’ll give you ten gold ingots. The rest of you will only get two each.”

Every eye in the crowd locked onto the gold.

Some of them had never touched gold in their entire lives.

Alex knew how Xia worked. People traded in copper coins called wen, then silver, and only rarely gold. One gold ingot like this was worth a fortune-around ten thousand dollars by common measure.

What he was really saying was simple: Call me innocent, and I’ll hand you twenty thousand dollars. You, the accuser, will get a hundred thousand.

The villagers stared at the money with trembling hands and dry mouths.

Suddenly, one man stepped forward.

“All of you!” he shouted. “This isn’t about money. This is about justice! How dare you accuse Bai Xiaochun like this? I told you from the beginning-it’s impossible for him to be the bad guy. He’s the purest, most innocent person I’ve ever known!”

He stepped even closer to Alex, chest out, voice loud and righteous.

“I declare from the bottom of my heart-this has nothing to do with the gold. Bai Xiaochun, you are the most innocent man I have ever seen!”

“Good,” Alex nodded calmly. “You can take five gold ingots. Since you are so honest

and a real man, consider it my thanks for your justice.”

“Thank you, Young Master!” the man said without hesitation. He grabbed five gold ingots and hurried away.

The rest of the villagers stood frozen, stunned by what they had just seen.

“Well, everyone,” Alex said casually, “the gold is limited. If you don’t take it now, I

might run out before the last person gets the chance to uphold justice.”

Their eyes lit up all at once.

“Bai Xiaochun, you are the purest and most innocent man under the sky!”