“You’ve got backbone, but you don’t keep talking about dying. With me here today, I’d like to see who dares let you die!”
A voice brimming with authority rang out from the crowd. Then a figure slowly walked forward and stood beside Lin Qian.
The youth radiated heroic spirit, yet at the same time carried a steady maturity. The aura was deep and unfathomable, making people wary of underestimating him.
The middle-aged woman glanced at the youth. She did not recognise that this was Ling Xiao.
After all, portraits were far too different from the real person.
“Little brat, I advise you not to meddle in other people’s business. Sticking your nose in here will cost you your life!”
The middle-aged woman looked coldly at Ling Xiao and spoke.
Although Ling Xiao’s presence was impressive, he was, after all, only a youngster who looked sixteen or seventeen. Naturally she felt no fear.
“Meddle? Today I am absolutely going to meddle! You’re already this old, yet you still act so shamelessly. Just to cultivate on Turtle Island, you would throw yourself at the Marquis of East Commandery, regardless of your own children and husband.
“You may be shameless and willing to cuckold your husband, but you actually want to force a decent young girl to be humiliated by that so-called Young Marquis!
“You are not only shameless to the bone, you are rotten to the core. You’d make a far better brothel madam.”
Ling Xiao’s words were hardly polite. Did a woman like this deserve courtesy?
The middle-aged woman’s face darkened. She stared at Ling Xiao, unsure for the moment how to deal with him.
A young man who dared speak to her like this must surely have powerful backing.
Lin Qian looked at the tall figure beside her. Her heart suddenly filled with warmth and a sense of safety.
She did not know who this person was.
But on the vast Divine Phoenix Continent, meeting a man willing to stand up for her was incredibly rare.
In her mind, the image of Ling Xiao suddenly overlapped with this imposing figure.
Could it really be him?
Lin Qian’s pretty face flushed slightly, and her heart raced with excitement.
She had not misjudged him after all.
The Ling Xiao she admired, the teenage hero she worshipped, would never stand by and watch someone like her be bullied.
For a moment, Ling Xiao’s already dashing and heroic appearance became even more handsome and charming in her eyes.
“Kid, where did a rat like you crawl out from? Don’t you open your eyes to see who this young master is? This isn’t the kind of business you can meddle in. Scram, or this young master will have you killed as well.”
Ming Liu did not recognise Ling Xiao either.
Even if he had, his attitude would probably have been exactly the same.
He genuinely looked down on Ling Xiao. It was not an act.
After all, he had never personally witnessed any of Ling Xiao’s so-called heroic deeds. Everything he knew was second-hand from storytellers.
How much truth could there be in a storyteller’s mouth? Why would he care?
Ling Xiao acted as though he had not heard Ming Liu at all. He continued staring at the middle-aged woman and said coolly, “Get lost. I don’t want to see you again. I’ll give you thirty breaths. After that, don’t blame me for being impolite.”
Towards this kind of trash, he felt only disgust, but she had not yet done anything that warranted death.
This middle-aged woman was a typical vile opportunist.
For her own goals she would stoop to anything and sacrifice anyone else. Lin Qian was, after all, a complete stranger to her.
“Don’t let her leave! If she dares take one step, I’ll have her killed!”
An enraged roar sounded. “Stinking brat, this young master is talking to you, and you dare ignore me? I think you’re truly sick of living.”
Being treated with contempt did not feel good.
Especially not for someone like Ming Liu.
In the past, in East Commandery, whenever he spoke, no one dared remain silent. Even a virtuous woman like Lin Qian would at least respond.
Whether she agreed to his outrageous demands was another matter.
But this brat in front of him actually refused to acknowledge his words. What did he take him for?
Air?
“Young Marquis, killing this kid would be letting him off too easily. Didn’t that brothel recently add certain special services? This boy looks quite pretty. Why not sell him there? We can still earn some spirit stones to spend.”
The speaker was the same guard who had repeatedly insulted Lin Qian.
He truly played the part of a bullying lackey to perfection.
This time, however, he had kicked an iron plate.
Ling Xiao himself did not move, but Leng Mei could no longer hold back.
In Leng Mei’s eyes there was no good or evil, only Ling Xiao.
Anyone who insulted Ling Xiao had to die.
Especially with this level of insult.
Leng Mei struck. She merely flicked her finger, and a plum blossom shot through the air, instantly piercing the guard’s forehead.
“Ah—!”
The guard’s corpse flew backwards, causing many nearby people to scream in terror.
Martial artists might be braver than ordinary folk, but faced with an expert who could kill without leaving a trace, they still felt fear.
“Bastard! Who dares kill my man?”
Ming Liu’s voice carried both fury and a trace of fear. “Commander Zhang, get over here at once! This young master is being bullied!”
The Commander Zhang he referred to was a Tenth Direction Heaven cultivator, considerably stronger than this spoiled young master.
Only when Commander Zhang arrived with more than a hundred guards and surrounded Ming Liu for protection did the arrogant, triumphant expression bloom on Ming Liu’s face once more.
“I killed him.”
Ling Xiao said calmly. “Since he wanted to sell me to a brothel to be a male prostitute, I could only send him to hell first to be a little imp.”
“Just who the hell are you? Do you know who this young master is? You actually dare kill my subordinate in public?”
Ming Liu demanded coldly.
“Young Marquis, he clearly doesn’t recognise you. Otherwise he’d be scared out of his wits. How would he dare offend you like this?”
Commander Zhang said with a smile.
“Hah, exactly. In East Commandery, anyone who knows this young master’s identity treats me with utmost respect. Even officials sent from the imperial capital wouldn’t dare slight me.”
Ming Liu thoroughly enjoyed the flattery.
“Your lackey flatters well. Your narcissism is also quite something.”
Ling Xiao sighed. “Even if I didn’t know who you were before, they keep calling you Young Marquis. Unless I’m deaf, I naturally know your identity.
“The only son of the Marquis of East Commandery, Young Marquis Ming Liu.
“The most shameless, despicable piece of trash of the entire East Commandery.
“No, perhaps I’m wrong. Your father, the Marquis, might be even more shameless and despicable than you.”
“You… you dare slander both this young master and my father! Who gave you the guts?”
Ming Liu was so angry he nearly smoke poured from all seven orifices.
In his whole life he had never met someone so oblivious to death.
He ground his teeth and threatened word by word, “Since you’re a new face, this young master will give you one chance to live. In front of everyone here, kneel down and lick my shoes clean!”
Of course he had no intention of letting Ling Xiao live. Killing him outright would be too merciful. He wanted to humiliate Ling Xiao first, then finish him.
