Whoosh~
The burning red sword was right at Zhuo Fan’s throat.
The crippling bloodlust made everyone’s skin crawl.
Zhuo Fan’s heart tightened, raising his right hand to catch it as it screeched to a halt. He noticed the other end of the sword was held by a twenty-year-old dainty girl with big eyes. She unleashed a sharper and deadlier blow than her 5th layer Radiant Stage cultivation led one to believe.
Not that it was of any damn use against Zhuo Fan.
Squinting, Zhuo Fan’s hand shook, and the girl was sent flying into a table. Zhuo Fan held the sword proper, his icy eyes staring at the attacker. The Three Fiends of Hell snickered from behind, drinking as if nothing happened.
No Radiant Stage cultivator, even a sneaky one, would get the better of Zhuo Fan.
The trio was enjoying the unexpected attack like a good act commenting on how the lass was weak, arrogant, and overconfident.
Clang!
Knocking on the red blade, Zhuo Fan sized it up, his mouth grinning in an evil way, “6th-grade spiritual weapon and made quite well too. A shame the owner fails to wield it.”
“Why you…” The lass glared with hatred.
Zhuo Fan had a smile for her instead, “Missie, what on earth are you doing attacking me out of the blue, especially weak as you are?”
“Ha-ha-ha…”
The audience laughed at the comedy, even the stiff disciples, mocking the girl’s stubborn streak.
The lass spared no hatred for anyone other than Zhuo Fan, “That’s my line. Who the hell are you? Why did you take our young master? Hand him over!”
“Took your young master?”
Zhuo Fan and the venerables shared a glance, “We just got here two hours ago. We don’t even know who you are and you say we took someone?”
The lass wasn’t buying, “Liar! Do you see anyone else around? If not you, then who? Despicable demonic cultivators, you all are beyond saving for not even admitting your faults!”
That touched a nerve in the rest, and it was now their turn to glare at her. Kui Lang’s side would’ve been tearing her to pieces by now, except for one tiny detail, they were frozen stiff.
Zhuo Fan shrugged, pointing at the lass, “See that? That’s a righteous cultivator for you, self-righteous and cocky. What would you guys do if a mere lass would spout such rubbish?”
“Kill her, waste her, torture her, peel her flesh, force on…”
“Yeah, yeah, but save it in your condition, alright?” Seeing them so gung ho, Zhuo Fan cooled them off with a grin, “Don’t you worry about anything, I have my ways. Why not have her join your club?”
The kids’ eyes glittered, their smiles widening.
“He-he-he, Steward Zhuo is the best. Yeah, let her get stiff like us then die as a rock!” Kui Lang snickered.
Sharing one’s suffering with another always makes one happier. Though in this case, it was just plain mean since it dragged her into this torture.
Zhuo Fan turned to the girl, his smile widening. She shivered for no apparent reason and panicked, “W-what are you doing?”
“Me? Just giving you a taste of a demonic cultivator’s handiwork, hi-hi-hi…” Zhuo Fan loomed over the lass, his smile disturbing.
The wee girl shivered in fear, losing her tough front the instant she noticed the twinkle in his eyes. Gulping, her eyes darted around for an out, and she bolted outside the tavern.
Zhuo Fan bamfed in her face and made her gasp. To make double sure, he also clamped down on her shoulder, the cracking sound earning a cry and a grimace.
Evil smiles were a trend today, as everyone bore it, wallowing in others’ misfortune.
Zhuo Fan held a pill with the other hand and grinned, inching it closer to the lass’s dainty mouth, “Girl, take it and you won’t feel pain, since dumb people are too stiff in the head to feel it to begin with. Be nice and big bro here will take good care of you, hi-hi-hi…”
“What the hell was that? Did you do the same to the young master?” The lass saw the pill with fear.
Zhuo Fan didn’t bother explaining and just laughed, “Ha-ha-ha, you’ll know soon enough the meaning of hell on earth.”
The girl shuddered and cried, “Help, senior sister, help me!”
“Go ahead, scream, no one’s gonna save you now. Ha-ha-ha…” The pack of wild beasts being under Zhuo Fan’s thumb for so long could only find joy in seeing others suffer the same treatment.
Three Fiends of Hell were beaming as well. They hadn’t been this happy in weeks. [It’s just a pit stop anyway to liven the mood before we resume our journey…]
“Stop!”
However, just as Zhuo Fan was about to stuff the Zombie Pill into the girl’s mouth, a cold shout rang out. In a flutter of white clothes and long fine hair dancing in the wind, the view of a perfect woman laid before them in the doorway.
They all gasped, with the fiend’s cups slipping from their hands.
[Such a perfect and amazing woman! How come I never knew she existed?]
“Quit your yapping, I’ll be with you… uh…” Zhuo Fan sensed the 8th layer Radiant Stage cultivation behind him but didn’t care.
Though when he took a look, he stared speechless, “Q-Qingcheng…”
Crack~
The Thunder Ring flickered, as did Chu Qingcheng’s.
“Sister Qingcheng!” The girl took advantage of the demon’s lapse of judgment and slipped away to get to her side with a victimized look.
Zhuo Fan let her go as he came to while the girl went to cry in Chu Qingcheng’s embrace, “Sister, h-he is mean. They must’ve taken young master and sister!”
“Dan’er, you’re wrong here. While he is a meanie, he isn’t one so despicable. I know his style all too well. Believe me, they didn’t do it.”
Rubbing the girl’s shoulder, Chu Qingcheng soothed her, then gave Zhuo Fan a coy smile, “I see Steward Zhuo’s style hasn’t changed at all, still picking on girls.”
[They know each other?]
They all were slack-jawed, moving back and forth between them. Dan’er was stunned.
[The perfect and elegant sister Qingcheng knows such a nasty demon?]
Zhuo Fan scratched his nose, not meeting her gaze, “I’m not sorry for the girl when she was the one insisting on casting blame. I was only giving her a lesson, that’s all.”
Everyone was bug-eyed.
[What the hell? Is the world coming to an end? Steward Zhuo always moves with purpose and savagery yet is now coming clean?]
They always had to be careful when talking around Zhuo Fan, lest he snapped. This was the first time seeing this side of him.
They looked at him like a stranger.
They also turned to Chu Qingcheng with the same shocked expression. Who could she be to make the great Steward Zhuo turn meek? [Are the rumors true? Behind every strong man is an even stronger woman?]
Chu Qingcheng stared at Zhuo Fan’s uneasy figure with a rare smile. Dan’er was speechless, having never seen her reveal such a beautiful smile…
“Zhuo Fan, are you saying it’s all her fault?” Chu Qingcheng questioned.
Zhuo Fan flicked his head away, “Of course, she came casting blame.”
“Is that what a grown man does, nitpicking with weak little girls?”
“That’s me.”
“What about me?”
“Well…”
The audience was lost for words. [What the hell are they doing?] The absurdity of it all made the situation fly right past them. But all in all, it looked like lovers flirting.
[Hey, Steward Zhuo, what are you doing flirting with a woman? Didn’t you say there’s only the weak and the strong in this world?]
They sighed, resigned, with Chu Qingcheng the only one questioning him and Zhuo Fan stuck up in his own stubborn ways…
