“I… I provoked John Doe.”
Ma Chunyu stuttered, his face as white as a sheet and he dared not meet the middle-aged man’s gaze. Though he had a head full of white hair, the man had a fresh boyish complexion. It was indeed Ma Chunyu’s fault, and John Doe was not a man to be trifled with.
“What?”
The middle-aged man with white hair asked with a frown, and his youthful face suddenly became serious. He questioned, “What the hell is going on?”
“Sect Leader Lin, don’t worry about what had happened. This time, I encountered a group of John Doe’s disciples and discovered a mighty Combined Formation!”
Ma Chunyu obviously didn’t want to talk about what he had done, so he quickly changed the subject and said, “The two strongest ones among them are only sixth-class. When I fought with them, the ones who used that formation were only one sixth-class and eight fourth-class. With their strength, I should have killed them easily, but after they set up that formation, the fight between us ended in a tie. I was even injured.”
Sect Leader Lin’s eyes lit up, and he asked, “Is there such a powerful Combined Attack in Wulin?”
“This matter is absolutely true.”
Ma Chunyu spoke up, “I’ve personally witnessed such a sophisticated formation in my life. It looks like a formation of the treasure land we found. If we can get the formation, maybe we can get into the land.”
When Sect Leader Lin heard this, he was instantly tempted.
He clearly knew the treasure land contained very powerful Qi of Heaven and Earth. Unfortunately, there existed a legendary formation, which had been lost for a long time. Now no one knew anything about it. Therefore, without the formation, they could only gaze at the treasure land and sigh helplessly.
If what Ma Chunyu said was true, they might be able to enter the treasure land by using the formation!
“I don’t know what you have done and how you provoked John Doe, but I, Lin Qingyi, will always stand by you since you are a member of the Peace Faction. I won’t let you fight alone. Even if John Doe comes over, I will keep you alive!” The Sect Leader said.
……
“Thank you, Sect Leader.”
Ma Huaiyu quickly saluted to show his gratitude as he heaved a long sigh of relief in his heart.
He was very clear about John Doe’s fighting style in Wulin. With the Peace Faction backing him up, it was unlikely that John Doe could do anything terrifying to him. After all, the Peace Faction had always kept a low profile in Wulin and had never caused any trouble. John Doe would not be ruthless to such a sect with a clean past.
Thinking of this, Ma Chunyu couldn’t help but secretly regret his reckless deeds. “No matter what happens, I must not let others know what I’ve done. Otherwise, I can no longer stay in the Peace Faction.” He thought to himself.
…
“Whoosh, whoosh…”
In the forest, gusts of wind whistled strongly through the surroundings.
With Fang Qiu as the guide, more than 30 people zoomed over, and it took them more than 20 minutes to travel 30 kilometers.
Arriving at the foot of the mountain, Fang Qiu stopped, and so did the others.
“What is the Peace Faction’s reputation like in Wulin?”
Fang Qiu looked at He Gaoming beside him and asked.
“Not bad.”
He Gaoming thought for a moment and said, “Just like its name, the Peace Faction was determined to keep a low profile and did not get involved in any fights from the very beginning. Occasionally, I heard about their good deeds, but I never heard of any bad things done by them. To be honest, it should be the first time for Ma Chunyu to do that. It must have been a mistake on his part.”
“Besides, Lin Qingyi is a renowned leader in Wulin, because he has a sense of propriety and a concern for justice when handling things, and he isn’t biased. He is an upright man.”
Hearing the brief introduction, Fang Qiu nodded knowingly.
“If that’s the case, it should be easy to handle this.”
After that, he took them up the mountain.
The group of people soon came to the top of the mountain.
The gate of Peace Faction was wide open with only two disciples guarding it. After all, there were usually few people going in and out through it.
“Who are you?”
Seeing the group of people led by Fang Qiu, the disciples guarding the gate were shocked. They didn’t dare to come forward to stop them, so they could only ask from a distance.
“I’m here to see your Sect Leader. Tell him John Doe is here!”
Fang Qiu waved his hand as he approached them,
The two disciples quickly rushed inside to report his arrival.
Fang Qiu was not an unreasonable person. After entering the gate, he led everyone to the square center inside and waited for the leader of the Peace Faction to appear.
Shortly after two disciples went to report, all the sect’s disciples rushed toward them from all directions. They surrounded Fang Qiu and his group and eyed them malevolently.
After a moment, there was a commotion.
The crowd suddenly parted to allow a middle-aged man with white hair through. His boyish complexion made him appear hale and hearty.
He was none other than Lin Qingyi, the Sect Leader of Peace Faction!
“I thought it was someone who came to look for trouble. It turns out to be a guest.”
As soon as Lin Qingyi came out, he saluted Fang Qiu and greeted, “John Doe, I’ve heard a lot about you. It’s so nice to meet you! Your reputation is well deserved.”
Fang Qiu shook his head.
Obviously, Lin Qingyi was trying to avoid the matter of Ma Chunyu by making a few polite remarks.
But how could this be possible?
“I’m a guest, so I didn’t force my way in.”
Fang Qiu said, “However, as the saying goes, one never visits a temple for no reason. Since I’m here today, there must be something I need to talk to you about. But judging from what you’ve just said, you don’t seem to know much about what I’m going to say. In this case, I’ll have to relate everything in detail to all the people in your sect.”
When Lin Qingyi heard this, he immediately smiled bitterly.
He knew that Ma Chunyu must have provoked John Doe, but he didn’t know what he had done exactly. Frankly, he was also very curious about what Ma Chunyu had done to make John Doe come to him with so many people.
Everyone was confused.
He Gaoming stood up and narrated the whole story about what Ma Chunyu had done.
After that, all the people of the Peace Faction fell silent.
Everyone could tell who was right and who was wrong. They didn’t expect that Ma Chunyu would help a woman with such a vicious heart and even hurt John Doe’s men because of her.
What he had done was indeed wrong!
Fang Qiu came face to face with the Peace Faction leader.
The bunch of brothers behind him felt very assured to have a leader whom they could depend upon. Without John Doe, no one would stand up for them when they encountered such a situation.
John Doe had been a pillar of strength to these cultivators who did not belong to any sect in Wulin. They all knew John Doe was willing to stand up at any time to support them!
“So, you broke into my sect today just for this matter?” Lin Qingyi asked.
“Yes,” Fang Qiu nodded and said.
“To be honest, it was indeed Ma Chunyu’s fault. However, considering that he is the honorary elder of the Peace Faction, he should be punished by the Peace Faction, no matter how big the mistake he made. So, John Doe, if you happen to have some leisure time, how about staying in our sect for a few days? As for Ma Chunyu, I’ll inform you as soon as he is punished. What do you think?” Lin Qingyi said.
“No.”
Fang Qiu shook his head and directly rejected his offer, knowing full well that Lin Qingyi was partial toward Ma Chunyu. If he let the Peace Faction handle this matter, Ma Chunyu would get off with only a light or no punishment at all. He would be placed in solitary confinement for two days at most, and that matter would be considered as resolved for them.
It would be monstrously unfair to his injured brothers!
“I don’t have to take him away, but since I’ve brought my brothers here, you have to hand him over.”
Fang Qiu continued, “I won’t kill him, but he has to face the consequences. I don’t want to make trouble here, but I also hope that Sect Leader Lin will not force me to do that!”
His words shocked everyone present!
For He Gaoming and the others, John Doe’s words sounded exceedingly domineering.
John Doe’s intention was to accord them some respect; he promised not to kill Ma Chunyu and not to take him away. But they must hand Ma Chunyu over and personally watch how John Doe would punish him!
If they refused, John Doe would have to resort to using force. At that time, they couldn’t blame him if he were to tear the Peace Faction down!
All the people from the Peace Faction looked solemn and were fearful that John Doe would take action.
“Well, it seems you’ve decided to confront us today?”
Lin Qingyi sighed softly and said, “I know that you are a great master, but the Peace Faction has earned a place in Wulin, so we have to think of the negative consequences of this matter. It’s not appropriate for me to hand him over merely because of your threats.”
“If you want to pick a fight, fight with me instead of my disciples.”
Speaking of this, Lin Qingyi stepped forward and said, “I have long heard that you are second to the guru. Today, I’m going to take this chance to see how strong you are.”
“But I won’t fight for nothing!”
Fang Qiu stood up and said, “What are the benefits and losses?”
“If you win, it proves that I’m not capable enough to protect him. Then I’ll hand him over.”
Lin Qingyi added, “But if you lose, I will give you the explanation for this matter. It’s just that you have to promise me one thing.”
“Bullshit.”
He Gaoming said indignantly, “It sounds as if my master has brought us to bully the Peace Faction. The man from your sect did something wrong. It’s your duty to hand him over. Why should we win to get justice done? Shame on the Peace Faction!”
His strong criticism exasperated all the Peace Faction disciples.
In their eyes, Lin Qingyi was a great leader who had put in great efforts to protect his people in the sect. How could they tolerate He Gaoming scolding him harshly like this?
All of a sudden, all the disciples of the Peace Faction looked daggers at He Gaoming.
“Hand him over. You can’t beat me.”
Fang Qiu didn’t want to waste any more time on idle talk, so he directly made the request.
Unexpectedly, his words aroused great indignation among the people from the Peace Faction. They were all infuriated because they thought John Doe looked down on them.
As for He Gaoming and the others, their eyes lit up one by one.
“Awesome! He deserves to be the oldest!”
“The oldest, you have plenty of guts.”
“He’s super cool.”
The brothers sighed softly and their eyes were full of awe and respect as they looked at Fang Qiu!
