Song Qingshu slammed his hand on the table: âDamn it! If you want to fight, go outside and do it, so as not to disturb my enjoyment of drinking!â
Hearing his sudden change of heart, Cheng Yaojia couldnât help but chuckle. She subtly pointed her slender finger at the cup on the table, indicating that he was drinking tea, not wine.
Song Qingshuâs breath caught in his throat. He glared at her fiercely, thinking, âIâll deal with you slowly when I have time.â
Having spent so much time with him, Cheng Yaojia was gradually becoming less afraid of him. As if guessing what he was thinking, she smiled and raised her chin, revealing her smooth, pink neck.
Song Qingshu was admiring the womanâs gentle beauty when he heard a burly man from the Loyal Army shout, âWho the hell do you think you are?!â
It turned out that Song Qingshuâs slam had startled everyone present, causing them to stop what they were doing and turn to look at him.
Hearing his subordinateâs curses, the middle-aged man inwardly cursed. His subordinateâs cultivation was insufficient; he couldnât perceive that the seemingly simple strike from his opponent had rendered all the experts in the arena helpless. He, however, was perfectly aware of the level of skill required.
Just as he was about to apologize, his expression suddenly changed drastically, and he hurriedly reached out to pull his subordinate away. Those on the second floor only saw a blur before their eyes, followed by a piercing scream. Looking in the direction of the sound, they saw the burly man who had spoken earlier, his mouth full of blood, a chopstick inserted into his chin and exiting below his nose, effectively sewing his mouth shut.
Song Qingshu sat calmly in his seat, casually picking up his teacup, and coldly said, âIf I didnât dislike killing, you would be dead by now.â
The crowd was horrified. In that instant, the other party had attacked, injured someone, and then returned to his seat as if nothing had happenedâyet no one present had seen it clearly.
Just who was this person? This was the question on everyoneâs mind: were they friend or foe?
At this moment, who had the heart to fight?
The middle-aged leader of the Loyal Army stopped the bleeding by sealing his subordinateâs pressure points. He then said to Song Qingshu, âMy subordinate was blind and disrespectful, offending you. He has now received his due punishment. Letâs leave this matter at that. Farewell.â
He knew that with such an unfathomable person by his side, it was impossible for them to cause trouble for the Mount Hua Sect again. However, the Mount Hua Sect couldnât stay by this manâs side forever; there would be plenty of opportunities to strike.
After speaking, he gestured for his men to leave.
Yue Buqun and his group, already at a disadvantage, now had a glimmer of hope and dared not detain these fierce men.
Unexpectedly, Song Qingshu spoke up: âYou can leave, but this person must stay.â
Seeing him point at his son, the middle-aged manâs face changed drastically. Suppressing his anger, he asked, âI donât know what my son has done to offend you, sir. I apologize on his behalf.â
Song Qingshu smiled slightly and took Cheng Yaojiaâs small hand: âYour son hasnât offended me, but he has offended this friend of mine.â
Being held by the hand in public, Cheng Yaojia was immediately filled with shame. She tried to pull her hands back, but he held them firmly, making her wish she could disappear into the ground.
The only saving grace was that no one present knew her. If people knew that the young mistress of their family was behaving like this with another man, she would rather be dead.
The middle-aged man glanced at his son with suspicion.
Zhang Hongfan, looking embarrassed, leaned in and roughly explained the whole story.
Hearing his sonâs words, the middle-aged man wanted nothing more than to slap him to death. His son was good in every wayâintelligent, quick-witted, and even talented in battleâhis only flaw being his womanizing ways, which had caused trouble several times already.
Then, he could barely clean up his sonâs messes, but this time heâd run into such a tough nut to crack, and frankly, he wasnât confident.
However, since he was his beloved son, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and step forward, saying, âMy son is dissolute and has offended this youngâŠmadam. Fortunately, she is unharmed, not a hair on her head. Therefore, I hope you will be lenient and not hold it against a child. I will certainly prepare a generous gift to apologize when I return, and also to help this madam calm her nerves.â
âMadam it is, what young madam?â Song Qingshu snorted in dissatisfaction.
âI misspoke, I misspoke,â the middle-aged man groaned inwardly. He had initially assumed Cheng Yaojia was a young woman because of her delicate features, but his attention to her hairstyle immediately caused him to mistakenly call her âYoung Madam,â a rather inappropriate title.
âUnfortunately, I donât care for your generous gifts. Leave your son behind, and you can leave,â Song Qingshu said calmly. In truth, from both the Golden Serpent Campâs and the Jin Dynastyâs perspective, he had no reason to show mercy to the Dabie Mountain Loyal Army. His leniency was solely out of consideration for their status as a Han Chinese righteous army.
The middle-aged man was both shocked and furious: âWhat if I donât leave him behind?â
âIf you donât leave him behind, then none of you are leaving,â Song Qingshu said coldly.
âYour martial arts are not necessarily invincible. Do you really think weâre easy to bully!â the middle-aged man roared, thrusting forward with an overwhelming aura.
âSo itâs Zhang Rou, the leader of the Loyal Army.â Song Qingshu had already suspected something, but he couldnât understand why Zhang Rou would leave the main camp for Yangzhou, which made him uncertain.
âYouâre very confident in your skills?â Song Qingshu didnât rush to attack, but instead asked.
Zhang Rou replied in a deep voice, âDozens of battles, large and small, Iâve never been defeated. Of course Iâm confident.â
Song Qingshu shook his head: âThen youâre probably going to lose.â Before he finished speaking, he had vanished from his spot.
Zhang Rou was shocked. After his previous lesson, he had been on high alert, but in the blink of an eye, his opponent appeared before him. Fortunately, he was a veteran of countless battles and instinctively defended his vitals, saving his life.
Actually, his martial arts werenât that bad; it was just that Song Qingshu was too fast. He hadnât even had a chance to use his skills before he was defeated.
âHe actually withstood one of my attacks?â Seeing his opponent cough up blood and retreat, Song Qingshu didnât continue his attack. Instead, he glanced at the distant street and frowned.
A troop of Qing soldiers was approaching. It turned out that the Yangzhou prefect, Wu Zhirong, had recently disappeared without a trace, and the entire city was under martial law. Hearing of the disturbance, the patrolling soldiers had rushed over.
âBoss, the Qing soldiers are here!â Li Haotian noticed the situation outside and hurriedly reminded Zhang Rou.
âAs long as weâre alive, we can always fight again. Letâs gather our men and then come back to rescue our young master,â Li Binan advised from the side.
Zhang Rou gritted his teeth. A man of his time, he made a decisive decision: âLetâs go!â
Song Qingshu frowned, unwilling to fight in front of the Qing soldiers, and let them leave.
âFather, wait for me!â Zhang Hongfan cried anxiously, quickly following them outside.
Song Qingshu wasnât so polite to him. He casually picked up a chopstick and flicked it at Zhang Hongfanâs leg. Zhang Hongfan screamed and fell flat on his face, only able to watch helplessly as his companion disappeared without a trace.