Why do I have so many masters?

The flames on the lanterns were slowly being doused, and the originally lofty and transcendent Immortals descending on dragons had become a pitch-black mass, unrecognizable from their former appearance. The burned silk and paper turned dark and ashen, falling like black butterflies fluttering their wings.

The air was filled with an unpleasant odor.

Because the startled common folk were frantically pouring water, even Wang Anfeng's body was wetted by more than half, his black hair damp and drooping over his body, and flecks of black ash from the burned lanterns sticking to his clothes.

His head hung low.

Not far away, a woman dressed in a sky-blue brocade dress hastily ran over. When she saw Wang Anfeng protecting the children behind him, overwhelmed by fear and the relief of being saved, she let out a sharp scream that didn't match her figure or attire, stumbling over with tears in her voice.

Then, she nearly fell to the ground, embracing both children in her arms, and burst into earth-shattering cries of relief and regret.

The little girl and boy, who had been so brave just moments ago, also started crying, calling for their mother; the three of them cried together. After a spell of tears, the woman remembered this wasn't the place for it, wiped away her tears, and pulled her two children to move toward a safer area.

The place was now overcrowded with people, terror overwhelming her heart; she had nearly lost her children, a thought that was enough to weaken her knees with fear.

But the little girl and boy kept looking back, at the young man still bolstering the ten-zhang tall colossal lantern, viewing his silhouette, which seemed much taller against the backlight. Suddenly, the little girl spoke up with a brittle voice:

"Thank you, big brother..."

Wang Anfeng turned his head and revealed a smile, an expression that could barely be called a smile, his lips lifted at the corners. His teeth were not clenched in extreme rage, trembling cheeks and all, but lightly biting together.

The little girl shrank back and whispered to the boy beside her:

"Brother, big brother looks like he's really in pain..."

The boy didn't know what to say.

He had just faintly heard something.

Wang Anfeng's body trembled slightly, the smile on his face not fading, but his hands gripping the lantern unconsciously tightened; the lantern let out a faint crackling sound as the huge structure trembled once and then again, its whole casing humming.

From the southern end of the street, Wuxin and Tie Lin arrived, weapons ready.

From their appearance, it was evident that the Mid-Autumn Festival lantern celebration, which had gathered countless innocents, had posed significant hurdles for these two famous detectives, preventing them from providing timely assistance.

The last bucket of water was poured down from above, extinguishing the final flames.

Water danced on the lantern, with most of it eventually drenching Wang Anfeng's body—his back, shoulders, and arms wet with dirty water, yet all around there were only sighs of relief.

A ten-zhang, over thirty-meter-tall gigantic lantern, which if fallen, would have surely caused many deaths and injuries, but this time there were only a dozen or so people with minor injuries, all inflicted in the chaos of trying to escape the unexpected event.

During the Mid-Autumn Festival, no one had lost a family member or friend.

This was indeed an event to be thankful for, and even to celebrate.

Amidst the laughter of relief, the shouts of joy upon finding friends and family unharmed, and people embracing each other, Wang Anfeng felt the murky water drip from his hair before falling, his eyes downcast. At that moment, the turbulent emotions in his heart nearly compelled him to shatter the lantern to smithereens with his Qi Mechanism.

But instead, he gently placed the lantern down, making a gentle sound.

This was the Mid-Autumn Festival, after all...

"This hero..."

"Thank you for saving our lives, thank you so much!"

Many people crowded around, their faces etched with deep gratitude. Before they could speak, they were pushed aside by Tie Lin, who sported two new wounds. He pulled a Token from his waist and shouted:

"Ministry of Punishment on the case, unrelated individuals, please step back."

After repeating this several times, the teary-eyed common folk began to turn away. Tie Lin put the Token away and looked over at Wang Anfeng, disheveled, and a bit listless. He assumed his low spirits were due to his failure to capture the perpetrator. Clapping him on the shoulder, he jestingly said:

"How about that?"

"Getting surrounded by the common folk's gratitude, that feels pretty good, doesn't it?"

Wang Anfeng raised his eyes to look at the initially icy detective.

Who, without looking at him, just turned his head toward the distant lights, shrugged, and said, "Back in the day, I joined this line of work because I wanted to be in the center of everyone's attention, to hear such flattering words."

"Only, after arriving in the Capital City, interacting with the common folk became rare, and my injuries increased with every case, leading me further and further astray."

Apart from a layer of blood on his shoulder, the section of Vermilion Clothes on his waist and abdomen was a shade darker than the rest, obviously stained with blood.

Wang Anfeng didn't say much more, nor did he have the interest to continue. His gaze shifted towards the direction the carriage had left. Although they had only lost track of the Martial Artist for a short while, with his skills and ruthless nature, he probably had already found a new place to hide.