The Ning'an Army men brought the horses up, and Ning Chen said, "Let's go."

He had serious business, and no time to stand and watch.

They were about to move off when Ning Chen stopped again.

He turned back to the man throwing the punches. "Could that Daoist be from the Spirit Roaming Temple?"

That took Pan Yucheng a second. "I'll call him over and ask."

Ning Chen nodded.

He was on his way when a pack of bailiffs came shoving through.

"Out of the way. Out of the way..."

The bailiffs split the crowd and came up. Their leader saw the Daoist at work on the man. "Stop!" he roared.

The Daoist stopped.

The man who had been getting the beating wailed. "Save me, Officer. This stinking Daoist assaulted me in front of everybody. Chain him and throw him in a cell, Officer, quickly."

The chief bailiff rounded on him. "Shut your mouth. Since when do you tell me my job?"

Then he looked at the Daoist. "Assault in broad daylight. That's a lot of nerve. Chain him."

"Yes!"

Several bailiffs hauled the Daoist up and put him in manacles and leg irons.

The other man got up off the ground and pointed at his own face, swollen up like a pig's head. He was crying as he complained. "Officer, look what he did to me. You have to punish this brute properly."

"Shut up!" The chief bailiff snapped it at him, then turned to the Daoist. "Why the assault in the street?"

The Daoist stuck his neck out. "Some days ago he was pawing at a woman worshipper in my Spirit Roaming Temple. I caught him at it and said a few words to him, and he had the gall to curse me. Filthy things... That night I sat to meditate and I could not settle. My head was full of what he had called me.

If I didn't give him a beating my heart of the Way would never settle again... I've been looking for him for days. Today I finally got him."

The chief bailiff had…