There was movement
in the military circle. "Don't you
dare!" shouted Governor Li.
"Somebody shoot that man!"
Nobody shot, and one of the spear-men from the front row walked across the square, to a raucous and celebratory welcome from the pirates and people. No sooner had this happened than two more men dashed across the square. Then the circle of soldiers around Governor Li melted away like the snows in the eastern mountains in summer, and before Wen had fully recognized what had happened, Li was nearly alone, with just a couple of officers beside him. And Liang Sheng, who had taken advantage of Fengzi's distraction to quietly levitate himself out of the pit and to his master's side.
"It looks to me
like this is all over," said Wen.
Still, nobody had assaulted Li, perhaps because the man had the look of
a cornered beast about him and you couldn't really be sure what would happen if
you charged a cornered beast.
"You'd like to
think so, wouldn't you?" Li shouted.
"I wish to the gods I'd killed you myself, rather than depending on
the law to do it!"
"And that's why
you're not worthy of the mandate of heaven.
Don't you think?"
"You think
you're so smart." Li spat. "Can your magician do this?" He poked at Liang, who whimpered and
grumbled, then said something in a language Wen didn't recognize.
The two men
vanished.
There was a moment
where the only sounds Wen could hear came from birds over the harbor, and then
the crowd erupted in frustrated anger.
It required a good deal of loud, strenuous diplomacy to prevent the
citizens from tearing to pieces the soldiers who had tried to defend their
governor.
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