Chapter 384: The Uncomfortable Chair
Lingyun felt the pressure around his arm weaken as Luo divided his attention.
Not willing to lose the advantage, he moved immediately.
The weight pushing him forward made his first step heavier, but it also added force when he drove his shoulder into Luo’s chest. Both men crashed against the desk, the wood groaning beneath them, as the maps hanging on the wall shook in their frames.
Luo tried to throw him back but Lingyun caught his wrist.
The pressure snapped around his hand, squeezing until the bones ground together, but all he needed was just a finger space of direct contact. And he managed to get a whole lot more than that.
Heat entered Luo’s arm and the older man jerked and tried to pull away. Lingyun held on, smiling as the warmth spread beneath the skin and climbed toward the elbow.
Luo drove his knee into Lingyun’s ribs.
The cracked bone shifted, sending pain through his chest so violently that his grip loosened. Luo tore free and hit him with another concentrated burst of pressure.
Lingyun struck the wall beside the weapons cabinet.
The glass rattled but didn’t break.
Good.
Rouxi might like something inside.
He pushed himself upright, though his right arm hung lower than it should have and every breath scraped against the inside of his chest.
Luo’s burned wrist trembled and the pressure in the room flickered with it.
Lingyun laughed softly. "That hand seems important."
Luo clenched it into a fist, and the force around Lingyun’s left leg became unbearable. His knee buckled as the floor beneath him splintered.
"You think pain makes you special?" Luo demanded.
"No." Lingyun planted one hand against the wall and dragged himself back to his feet. "Enjoying it does."
Luo’s expression changed.
It was only the briefest of glimpses, but Lingyun saw the exact moment the man understood that injuring him wasn’t producing the reaction it should have.
Lingyun stepped away from the wall.
Luo struck him with pressure again, forcing his damaged shoulder backward. Lingyun let the impact turn him instead of fighting it, using the momentum to swing around the side of the desk.
The move brought him within reach.
His good hand caught Luo by the back of the neck and heat poured through his palm.
Luo shouted and drove the pressure downward. Lingyun’s knees hit the floor, but he didn’t release him. Instead, he dragged Luo down with him and pressed his other hand against the man’s knee.
The joint now burned from the inside.
Luo’s leg collapsed, and both men struck the floor, tangled beside the desk.
Head Luo clawed at Lingyun’s face while the pressure hammered against his ribs in uneven waves. Lingyun tasted blood, felt something sharp cut along his cheek, and pushed more heat into the damaged knee until the flesh beneath his palm softened.
Luo screamed and tried to roll away, but Lingyun followed him like a cat with a toy.
He caught the burned wrist again and forced it against the floor. The pressure field surged hard enough to crack more boards, but Luo’s concentration broke every time Lingyun increased the heat.
The office seemed to breathe around them—crushing one second, almost normal the next.
"You’re destroying your own power," Luo gasped.
Lingyun looked down at the hand trapped beneath his. "No. I’m destroying yours."
He burned through the wrist until Luo’s fingers curled uselessly. The pressure vanished from Lingyun’s chest like it was never there in the first place.
Air rushed back into his lungs so suddenly that he coughed, splattering blood across the floor between them. Luo tried to crawl toward the desk, dragging his ruined leg behind him.
No one moved to help.
The quiet lieutenant by the window had risen from his knee, but his weapon remained lowered. The others watched their leader inch across the floor and understood that the safest choice had changed.
Lingyun caught Luo by the collar and hauled him upright.
The man fought, but the damaged leg folded beneath him. Lingyun shoved him into the chair behind the desk and stood over him while Luo clutched his burned wrist against his chest.
The pressure returned in weak bursts, barely strong enough to stir the loose papers scattered across the floor.
Luo looked toward his lieutenants. "Kill him," he demanded hoarsely, but no one obeyed him.
His face went grey.
Lingyun leaned one hip against the desk, pretending that the position was casual rather than the only thing keeping him upright. "I think they’re reconsidering their careers. Or maybe just their bosses. There aren’t many careers for men like us... eh?"
"I can give you the cores," Luo said quickly, looking around the room for someone... or something... to save him. "The private stock, the weapons, half the district. We can divide the market."
Lingyun tilted his head. "Divide it?"
"You want territory. Information. Supplies. I can give you all of it." Head Luo was speaking faster than his lips could move and his words started to blur together.
"How cute. You still think you own those things," Lingyun purred.
Luo’s mouth opened, but no answer came out.
Lingyun placed one hand flat against his chest, causing the old man to freeze.
"There’s nothing you can offer me," Lingyun said, keeping his voice low enough that the men around them had to strain to hear it. "I already took it."
Heat spread beneath his palm.
Luo screamed as it sank through his ribs, but Lingyun held him against the chair and kept the flames inside. The fabric of his shirt remained untouched. The desk didn’t scorch, and the maps behind them stayed safely on the wall.
Only Luo burned.
The last remnants of his pressure struck the office in wild pulses before collapsing completely. His scream broke into a wet rattle, then stopped as smoke slipped from between his lips.
Lingyun removed his hand and Head Luo sagged in the chair... dead.
For several seconds, the office was silent except for Lingyun’s uneven breathing.
Then he turned toward the surviving men.
"You can work for the market," he announced, cringing as he wiped the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand, "or you can die for the man who used to own it." Rouxi was not going to be happy he was hurt.
Then his eyes brightened for just a moment and a crazed look appeared on his face. This was perfect. If he was hurt... maybe she would play nurse to his patient. Or doctor? Either way, he was going to get undivided attention from the only person he wanted in either life.
Not knowing how to read the crazed look in Lingyun’s eyes, and worried that they would be the ones to be burned next, the quiet lieutenant lowered his gun first.
The others quickly followed.
Satisfied, Lingyun dragged Luo’s body out of the chair and let it drop beside the desk. Then he sat down, leaned back carefully to protect his ribs, and tested the armrests.
Yup.
The chair was just as uncomfortable as he remembered.