Chief Palace Eunuch Wei staggered backward toward the courtyard doors, his rat-like face twitching with hysterical outrage.
“Treason! Sacrilege! You crushed His Imperial Majesty’s sacred summons!” Eunuch Wei shrieked, spraying white powder from his trembling, painted cheeks. “Guards! Seize this provincial barbarian! Cut off his hands and nail them to the city gates!”
The twelve scarlet-robed eunuchs and personal royal bodyguards behind Eunuch Wei drew slender, poison-tipped silver daggers. Their eyes gleamed with the cold, practiced cruelty of men who had tortured palace servants in dark dungeons for decades.
They took half a step forward before Tie Niu stepped casually into the doorway.
The giant blacksmith leaned against the carved lintel, holding a four-hundred-pound iron ship anchor balanced lightly between two fingers. He did not say a single word. He simply raised one thick black eyebrow and cracked his neck with a sound like a splitting pine branch.
Behind Tie Niu, ten Taichu judicial bailiffs raised their newly issued Immortal Contract Shields. The silver-and-gold pavise shields flared with blinding celestial runes that cast deep blue lightning reflections across the ceiling.
The twelve imperial bodyguards froze in place. Cold sweat soaked through their silk collars. Their silver daggers trembled in their hands. Not a single man dared to take another step forward.
