The group of people looked up when they heard the door open. Fu Lian’s eyes widened as she recognized two people in the group. They were the wolf man and woman that visited Fu Chen’s restaurant during lunch. 

“Ah!”

She made a sound of surprise and quickly went behind Fu Chen to hide from them. The muscles in her body began to tighten and her tail was tucked between her legs. Fu Chen felt Fu Lian trembling slightly and placed a hand on her head. Fu Lian calmed down, but didn’t seem like she wanted to show her face in front of the group of people.

Lang Ya stepped towards a podium and faced the seated group. 

“Do you know why I called you here today?”

A wolf man wearing large amounts of jewelry twirled his mustache before nonchalantly saying, “You found out that we’ve been committing crimes.”

The rest of the group glared at the wolf man with the mustache who smiled back at them. He continued, “We would have been found out sooner or later. The matriarch probably used the celebration to gather all of us together. Am I right?”

Lang Ya nodded and gestured to Old Peng who cleared his throats, “We have evidence that all of you have committed crimes of differing severities.”

He began listing off a number of crimes.

“Lang Yuen, you will be charged with 10 counts of sex trafficking. Lang Yuang, 7 counts of child kidnapping. Lang Yao, 30 counts of bribery. Lang Yen, 18 counts of money laundering….”

Old Peng continued listing off the various crimes for around 20 minutes until he reached the last three people, “ … Lang Yazhu, 380 counts of embezzlement.”

Everyone’s eyes widened and looked at the man twirling his mustache, Lang Yazhu. He laughed slightly and displayed all of the jewelry he was wearing. Only two people weren’t looking at him. Instead, they were looking at each other and seemed to be panicking.

“Lang Yuen and Lang Yueng, both of you will be tried for treason against the Azula Galactic Empire. Conspiring with the Fureur Galactic...”

A hysterical voice interrupted Old Peng, “No! You’re lying! We didn’t commit treason! The evidence must be false!”

Lang Yuen had tears streaming down her face and she looked very agitated. Meanwhile, Lang Yueng was chewing on his nails with a furious expression. ‘Damnit! How did they find out! I need to escape.’ He looked around the room, trying to find an escape route, but the only exit to the room was the door that Lang Ya had come through. Gritting his teeth, Lang Yueng reached into a pocket and pulled a small box. Within the box was a large black cylinder. He picked it up and slammed one end into his exposed skin.

Old Peng noticed Lang Yueng’s actions and shouted, “Stop him!”

Shi Feng pulled out a gun and fired at Lang Yueng’s hand holding the cylinder.

“Bang!”

The bullet pierced through his skin and flesh but stopped after reaching the bones. Lang Yueng let go of the cylinder and let out a howl. He quickly dashed towards the door knocking down chairs and people in his way. As Lang Yueng ran towards the door, his body transformed into a 4 meter tall humanoid wolf. He charged straight into the door and smashed through it with his body. 

Lang Yueng encountered a heavily armed law enforcement unit stationed outside who began opening fire on him. Meanwhile, Du Hong rushed out and jumped towards Lang Yueng’s head and threw a punch.

“Boom!”

Shock waves were created as Du Hong’s fist traveled towards the wolf man and connected with the side of Lang Yueng’s head. The wolf man’s whole body was lifted off of the ground and spun several times as he flew towards a wall. Lang Yueng slammed through the wall and lay on the ground that was now covered in rubble.

The criminals were being handcuffed when they saw Du Hong dragging Lang Yueng’s limp body into the room. Their eyes widened in fear and they appeared to become even more resigned to their fate. Lang Yuen was still sobbing and went ballistic when she saw her husband’s body. She screamed at Du Hong, “You murderer!”

Du Hong responded, “Relax, he’s just unconscious.” 

A group of law enforcement officers took out large handcuffs and other restraints to use on the 4 meter tall body. Lang Yueng’s limbs were restrained and a muzzle was fitted onto his face. The officers placed his body onto a large stretcher and carried him out of the room. Other officers followed them and led the other criminals towards police vehicles. Old Peng picked up the black cylinder that Lang Yueng had dropped and placed it into a bag. He left the room with Shi Feng afterwards to meet up with his subordinates. 

Fu Chen faced Lang Ya and said, “We’ll be leaving now.” 

Lang Ya nodded at Fu Chen, “I hope you enjoyed the celebration.”

“It was good. Thank you for inviting us. Let’s go, Fu Lian.”

Fu Lian followed Fu Chen after thanking Lang Ya. 

The room was now empty except for Lang Ya and Du Hong who were staring at each other for a while. Du Hong sighed, “I’ll try to visit you again sometime soon.”

Lang Ya nodded and hugged Du Hong. 

----------------------------------

Fu Chen and Fu Lian boarded a train heading towards the district that the restaurant was located in. Fu Lian was looking down at her feet and words appeared in front of Fu Chen.

[Why did you accept the party invitation?]

“I wanted to try out the best food the city could provide. I also wanted you to taste food from chefs other than me to develop your palate. What did you think of the food?”

[The food tasted great, but I prefer your dishes.]

Fu Chen made a small smile at Fu Lian’s response. Noticing Fu Lian’s gloomy expression he said, “I also brought you with me to see your parents for the last time.”

Fu Lian twitched slightly when Fu Chen mentioned her parents. 

“fwoosh”

The doors opened and the two stepped off the train. As they walked towards the restaurant, Fu Chen pat Fu Lian’s head and said, “I’ll make a late-night snack for you.”

Fu Lian’s expression brightened.