“Stop!”
A deep shout suddenly rang out, like a thunderclap exploding in the ear.
Upon hearing this voice, Ye Qiu not only didn’t stop but instead pressed down harder with his foot, stomping heavily.
In an instant, his foot was just five centimetres away from Bai Yujing’s face.
“Insolent brat, how dare you!”
Whoosh,
A pebble shot through the air, swift as lightning, striking Ye Qiu’s instep before he could land the blow.
Instantly, Ye Qiu recoiled as if struck by thunder, his body involuntarily stumbling backwards.
Thud, thud, thud!
He retreated five or six steps before steadying himself. Looking up, he saw an old man walking out of the villa.
The old man was past seventy, thin as bamboo, wearing a vibrant brocade robe. His long hair was tied up with a jade crown, and a white jade pendant hung at his waist.
This attire clashed utterly with the modern world, as if he had stepped straight out of ancient times.
At the same time, Ye Qiu noticed the old man’s aura, natural and overwhelming, standing there like a mountain, pressing heavily on one’s heart.
Before Ye Qiu could speak, the guests nearby had already begun murmuring.
“Who’s this old man?”
“What’s with that outfit?”
“Could he be an actor from a historical drama?”
“He doesn’t seem like an ordinary person.”
The old man cast a cold glance at Ye Qiu, then took a single step, covering three metres, and appeared in front of Bai Yujing.
Seeing this, Ye Qiu’s heart sank.
A peerless master!
Then, under everyone’s gaze, the old man delivered a fierce slap across Bai Yujing’s face.
Slap!
The crisp sound of the slap echoed through the room.
The crowd was stunned.
Who was this old man?
Why was he hitting Young Master Bai?
“Useless! You gathered so many people and still couldn’t handle a small fry. You’ve truly disappointed me.”
The old man’s voice was thick with anger.
To everyone’s surprise, Bai Yujing didn’t get upset. Instead, he quickly knelt before the old man and said, “I’ve shamed you, Master. Please punish me.”
Master?
This old man was Bai Yujing’s master?
The crowd was astonished again.
Since when did Young Master Bai have a master? Why had they never heard of this?
“Strange, when did Bai Yujing get a master? How did I not know?” Tang Fei said, his face full of confusion.
Long Ye chimed in, “I’ve never heard of this guy having a master!”
“Ice姐, do you know?” Ye Qiu asked.
Bai Bing shook her head and said, “I’ve never heard of him having a master either.”
So where did this master come from?
Ye Qiu’s gaze shifted between Bai Yujing and the old man, lost in thought.
Slap!
The old man struck Bai Yujing’s face again.
This time, he hit harder, knocking out two of Bai Yujing’s teeth.
“You haven’t learned any useful skills, but you’ve certainly mastered the art of embarrassing me.”
“As my disciple, you’ve let yourself be bullied like this, it’s an absolute disgrace.”
“If word of this gets out, where am I supposed to hide my face?”
Far from being angry, Bai Yujing lowered himself further, pressing his forehead to the ground as he knelt and said, “Master, I’m sorry. It’s Yujing who has shamed you. Please punish your disciple.”
The old man stared at Bai Yujing for a while before letting out a long sigh.
“Forget it. You don’t know martial arts, so being bullied is inevitable. Get up!”
“Thank you, Master!”
Bai Yujing stood up from the floor.
The old man looked at his face and asked, “Does it hurt?”
Bai Yujing shook his head. “It doesn’t hurt.”
“You’ve lost two teeth, how could it not hurt?” The old man said, exasperated. “If you’d listened to me and trained in martial arts years ago, with your talent, you’d be a master by now. You wouldn’t be in this mess, getting bullied. Do you regret it?”
“No regrets.”
Bai Yujing forced a smile and said, “Yujing is slow-witted. The path of martial arts isn’t for me, and training is too hard, I couldn’t stick with it.”
“Besides, if someone bullies me, don’t I still have you, Master, to stand up for me?”
The old man snorted coldly. “Hmph, so you still remember I exist. If you’d told me earlier, I’d have dealt with this myself. How could this brat still be alive to come to the capital?”
“Rest for now.”
“I’ll handle things here.”
Bai Yujing was overjoyed and hurriedly bowed to the old man. “Thank you, Master!”
“Mm.”
The old man grunted, turned around, and fixed his gaze on Ye Qiu. He opened his mouth and said, “How do you want to die?”
With that simple sentence, he pronounced Ye Qiu’s death sentence.
The crowd was horrified.
This old man was far too overbearing!
“Die?” Ye Qiu laughed and said, “I’m perfectly alive and well. I’ve no intention of dying.”
“I’m not joking with you. I’ll ask you again, how do you want to die?” The old man’s lofty, domineering attitude grated on people’s nerves.
Before Ye Qiu could get angry, Master Longmei had already lost his temper.
“Bloody hell,”
Master Longmei let out a loud shout, drawing everyone’s attention, then chuckled and said, “What kind of day is it today? This poor monk’s inspiration is overflowing, I’ve composed another poem.”
“Everyone here is a cultured person. I’d like you all to critique it and see how my poem turned out.”
“By the way, this time it’s a modern poem.”
Master Longmei cleared his throat and recited with passion, “Oh, sky, you’re all grey; oh, steed, you’ve four legs; oh, lass, you’re all water; oh, fool, who the hell are you?”
When he reached the last line, Master Longmei’s gaze landed on the old man, making it clear he was mocking him.
“Pfft,”
Among the guests, a man couldn’t hold it in and burst out laughing.
“Is it that funny?”
The old man’s icy gaze fixed on the man. With a step, he appeared in front of him the next second and seized him by the throat.
The man begged in terror, “Mercy, have mercy,”
“Since it’s so funny, go laugh in front of the King of Hell.” With that, the old man snapped his wrist.
Crack!
The man’s head lolled to one side, dead on the spot.
At that moment, the woman accompanying the man pointed at the old man and shouted furiously, “You killed my husband! I’ll fight you to the death!”
“He’s your husband? Then join him! At least you’ll have company on the road to the underworld.”
The old man crushed the woman’s throat with one grip.
Thud!
A middle-aged man nearby slammed the table and stood up, pointing at the old man as he bellowed, “At the feet of the Emperor, in the heart of the capital, you dare kill so freely? Do you even respect the law?”
Bang!
The old man charged forward, pinning the middle-aged man underfoot, and said coldly, “I am the law. Convinced or not?”
“I’m not,”
Splat!
Before the middle-aged man could finish his sentence, the old man stomped down, bursting his heart.
Instantly, the guests fell silent as cicadas in winter, not daring to breathe too loudly, terrified of accidentally provoking the old man and losing their lives.
Ye Qiu narrowed his eyes. With such dominance and ruthlessness, this old man was no ordinary figure. He asked, “Who are you?”
The old man looked at Ye Qiu coldly and said, “A small fry like you isn’t worthy of knowing my name. But since you’re about to head to the underworld, I’ll indulge you.”
“My surname is Long, ninth in my family.”
“I come from the Forbidden City!”
