Wu Neng’s heart trembled, and he couldn’t help but reach out to touch his buttocks. He quickly spoke in a humble tone, “N-nothing, I didn’t say anything.”
He didn’t dare to say more, secretly regretting why he had threatened this guy before leaving. He should have just waited to find someone to deal with him later.
“Get lost!” Lin Xiao spat out just one word.
“I’ll go, I’m going right now!” Struggling to get up from the ground, Wu Neng limped out, clutching his buttocks. His appearance was as pathetic as it could be.
“He beat Wu Neng and let him go. This young man is going to be in trouble.”
“Exactly, the first thing Wu Neng will do is run to Chen Tong and report, exaggerating the situation.”
“What else could he do? Kill Wu Neng right here? That would make things even worse! The only option is to leave the market street and the imperial city immediately.”
“Right, this young man isn’t a fool. He must have a backup plan after beating Wu Neng. But Chen Tong seems to be at the trading fair too. I wonder if he can escape.”
“Wait, this young man is actually continuing further into the street?”
“Who knows if he’s fearless or just foolish, but this is going to be interesting. Let’s follow him.”
Whispers of discussion arose, but Lin Xiao ignored everyone’s reactions and continued walking leisurely down the street as if nothing had happened.
Chen Tong, Chen Yan’s younger brother?
Heh, he wasn’t even afraid of Chen Yan, let alone Chen Tong. If the other party went too far, he wouldn’t mind using heavy-handed measures here.
Before long, Lin Xiao indeed heard a commotion. As the crowd’s murmurs grew louder, he turned around to see the crowd parting to make way for two figures walking towards him.
One of them was none other than Wu Neng, still limping, his face twisted in pain with every step, clearly still suffering from his earlier injuries.
The other was a man around Wu Neng’s age, but his aura was much stronger than Wu Neng’s.
At the same time, more murmurs broke out.
“Wu Neng brought Chen Tong. This young man is in trouble now!”
“Chen Tong is a genius at the seventh level of the Xuanwu realm. Even if this young man is a second-tier初级灵控师, he’s no match for Chen Tong!”
“Such youthful arrogance. A second-tier初级灵控师 with such talent—if something happens to him, it would be a real shame!”
“Chen Tong never holds back. Let’s see if this young man can survive. If he begs for mercy, maybe… but if he stays stubborn, he’s doomed!”
…
Enjoying the crowd’s flattering remarks, Chen Tong, following Wu Neng, soon stood in front of Lin Xiao.
After giving Lin Xiao a disdainful once-over, Chen Tong asked in a calm tone, “So, you’re the ugly freak who took my subordinate’s herbs and beat him up?”
Lin Xiao was slightly stunned. Took Wu Neng’s herbs and beat him up? Since when were those herbs Wu Neng’s?
Wu Neng, still wearing a pained expression, glared at Lin Xiao with a hint of fear, one hand clutching his buttocks while the other pointed at Lin Xiao, insisting, “That’s right, boss! This guy stole my stuff, and when I mentioned your name, he beat me up!”
“What do you want?” Lin Xiao didn’t argue but instead calmly watched the two of them put on their act, asking indifferently.
“What do we want?”
Chen Tong crossed his arms, sneering, “Heh, as the saying goes, even when you hit a dog, you have to consider its owner. Not only did you beat my dog, but you also stole what my dog was going to give me. What do you think we want?”
“I see!” Lin Xiao nodded as if he had just realized something, then said lightly, “So, you want me to steal your stuff again and then beat you up?”
“…” The crowd.
Everyone was dumbfounded by Lin Xiao’s words. They had thought Lin Xiao was asking Chen Tong and Wu Neng what they planned to do to him.
But instead, Lin Xiao turned the question around, asking if they wanted to be beaten up…
This was outright contempt!
They couldn’t understand why Lin Xiao still had such strong confidence when facing Chen Tong.
Hearing Lin Xiao’s words, Chen Tong was also momentarily stunned, his face showing disbelief.
Chen Tong, a seventh-level Xuanwu genius and Chen Yan’s cousin, was always admired wherever he went. When had he ever been ignored like this?
Yet now, a young man had openly mocked him.
Chen Tong’s face quickly turned furious, his eyes narrowing as he said coldly to Lin Xiao, “Very well. You’re the first person in a long time who dares to provoke me so openly!”
“Hmph, you’ve angered the boss. Your fate will be even worse!” Wu Neng, standing to the side, secretly gloated.
He had brought Chen Tong here, and Lin Xiao was still acting tough. This was exactly what he wanted to see.
The tougher Lin Xiao acted, the worse his fate would be.
“Heh, you’re just like Wu Neng—both of you are dogs!” Lin Xiao chuckled, which only made Chen Tong even angrier, his eyes practically spitting fire.
“All you do is stand there and bark!” Lin Xiao added.
Chen Tong was on the verge of losing control, his chest heaving as he growled, “Fine, you’ve successfully provoked me. Originally, out of respect for Prince Mengren, I didn’t want to kill anyone here. But since you’re asking for it, don’t blame me for being ruthless!”
With that, the aura of a seventh-level Xuanwu cultivator erupted from Chen Tong, and a cold, murderous intent spread from his body.
“What’s going on here? What’s going on!” At that moment, a voice rang out, and a group of soldiers in uniform pushed through the crowd.
“This is the imperial market street. Who dares to cause trouble here!” The leader of the soldiers shouted. With the alchemy competition approaching, conflicts had been frequent recently. They hadn’t wanted to intervene, but seeing such a large crowd gathering, they had no choice but to step in and control the situation.
He wanted to see which brat was being so arrogant as to attract so much attention.
However, when his gaze swept over the crowd and landed on Chen Tong, seeing the furious expression on Chen Tong’s face, his expression froze. Then, he forced a smile and spoke in a humble tone, “Young Master Chen, it’s you! I didn’t realize. Who’s the fool who dared to offend you… Hmph, anyone who dares to cause trouble on the imperial market street, just say the word, and we’ll chop him up!”
The leader of the soldiers thumped his chest, speaking with confidence.
This wasn’t about upholding the imperial family’s dignity—it was clear they were acting on Chen Tong’s behalf, which was actually an embarrassment to the imperial family. The imperial patrol team was taking orders from Chen Tong.
Of course, it had to be acknowledged that for small fries like them, Chen Tong’s influence was indeed significant.
“I’m the one causing trouble here. Are you going to chop me up?” Unexpectedly, Chen Tong shot back without any courtesy. Clearly, he was furious.
He had been about to deal with Lin Xiao when this group of lowly soldiers interrupted him.
“Young Master Chen, how could we dare to disturb you? If we had known it was you, we wouldn’t have dared to intervene even with ten thousand lives!” The leader of the soldiers trembled slightly, bowing repeatedly.
Although they were part of the imperial forces, they were just low-ranking soldiers with no status. They wouldn’t dare to offend Chen Tong, a friend of Prince Mengren.
“Since when do I, Chen Tong, need your group to solve my problems? Get lost!” Chen Tong barked at the soldiers.
“We’re leaving, we’re leaving right now!” The group of soldiers nodded repeatedly and quickly squeezed their way out of the crowd.
The crowd marveled in silence. Indeed, he was a young master of the Chen family. Even the imperial soldiers had to scram at his command.
“Kid, did you see that? Even the imperial soldiers have to scram when my boss tells them to, let alone you!” Wu Neng shouted at Lin Xiao, gloating.
“Now, do you regret it?” Chen Tong also asked coldly, his eyes fixed on Lin Xiao, trying to see a trace of fear in his expression.
