When folks first lay eyes on Mo Wentian, they might be fooled by his silver hair and kindly look, pegging the old man as some gentle soul.
And truth be told, that’s spot on, but only when he’s dealing with regular people or patients, that’s when he’s all warm and fuzzy.
But face him down as an enemy, and Mo Wentian’s attitude matches Xu Fei blow for blow, if not outstripping him in ruthlessness!
By the time Xu Fei heard the screams and doubled back, he saw dozens sprawled on the ground, each turned into a pincushion.
“Master, ain’t this a bit too brutal, even for you?”
Hearing Xu Fei, Mo Wentian let out a cold snort.
“Hmph! What do you know, kid? I taught you ages ago, mercy to your enemies is cruelty to yourself, besides, try being cooped up in this reservoir for a week!”
Seeing his master still fuming even after sorting out this lot, Xu Fei didn’t dare push it, opting to busy himself elsewhere.
He strode over to Huang Jingming, writhing on the floor, and gave him a couple of sharp kicks.
“Oi! Quit faking it, I know how my master measures his strikes, keep playing possum, and I won’t mind beating you into real shape!”
Realising Xu Fei wasn’t messing about, Huang Jingming dropped the act quick, grovelling, “You… you’ve already thrashed me like this, what more do you want?”
At this point, Huang Jingming had a proper ‘sod it all’ vibe, but Xu Fei wasn’t here to bicker, he had bigger fish to fry.
He sauntered over to the table, casually scooped up the jade arhat, and pressed on, “I don’t care about the rest, but how’d you lot know I’ve got the Yang Force?”
“Well… it’s a long story…”
Huang Jingming, likely playing for self-preservation, spilled the beans fast, no hemming or hawing.
After hearing it all, Xu Fei finally pieced together the whole tale.
Turns out, the Red Buddha Society, under orders from the Blood Cloak Sect, had been secretly tailing Xu Fei and everyone around him, Huang Jingming just one cog in the machine.
Once, after a routine stakeout, Huang Jingming headed back to report, only to get pulled aside by a higher-up.
Inside a small room, just him and the Red Buddha bigwig, the guy laid out his game.
The higher-up flat-out said Huang Jingming had picked up traces of a mysterious power lately, grilling him on whether he’d been plotting to jump ship by picking up some other sect’s tricks.
Huang Jingming shook his head like mad, denying it, answering whatever they threw at him, till he walked right into their trap and got his words twisted.
“You said one of the people you’ve been around lately was Xu Fei’s master, Mo Wentian?”
“Yeah, didn’t you tell me to watch that old codger? He’s the standout one I’ve been near lately!”
Clearly, the Red Buddha higher-up knew something, but kept it close, probably figuring Huang Jingming wasn’t worth the intel.
Later, that same bigwig handed Huang Jingming the job of snatching Mo Wentian, specifying Xu Fei had to show up with the bargaining chip they wanted.
