Chapter 622: Put on an Act

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Yu XiaoRan carefully moved his hands and feet back to their original positions. He completely relaxed his body before he straightened up and faced Ling Jian. There was no emotion on his face as he said, “Sire’s skills are indeed profound, but to treat guests from afar this way, isn’t it too much? As the saying goes, to kill someone is as easy as nodding one’s head! For you to humiliate this poor elder here, don’t tell me you can still have a clear conscience?”

Ling Jian coldly looked at him as he replied, “A man should strive to be a man of character, and treat whatever he utters seriously. Earlier on I said I would let him be a snowball. If I can’t even do that, then wouldn’t I be eating my words? While I might be uneducated I do know that in life, one is nothing if nobody trusts their word. Furthermore, didn’t Sire say that it was undetermined who would turn into a snowball at the end? How did it suddenly turn into me forcing this situation onto others? If I had lost previously, then the one being made into a snowball would be me! This is a just and fair matter, unless you tell me the way your Yu Family acts is so unreasonable?”

Yu XiaoRan glared at him but midway, he started to mockingly laugh as he said, “That’s right, inside the martial community, it has always been the rule of the strong. Whose fist is bigger is the correct one! Since that’s the case, then how about letting this old man here exchange a move or two with you? Do you have the guts to accompany me?!”

The moment he finished, his right hand shifted and pressed on the hilt of his sword. At the same time, an awe-inspiring pressure was emitted from him!

The rage inside Yu XiaoRan’s heart was already clamoring to be vented, and at this moment, he could care less about the urges of his family head. The only thought left inside his heart was to shred this hateful fellow in front of him to bits and pieces, even if this place was to be his grave! No matter if the youth in front of him accepted or rejected the challenge, Yu XiaoRan was determined to kill him!

He wants to fight with me through the way of the sword? Ling Jian disdainfully smiled. This guy really doesn’t know how to choose his way of dying!

“Since Sire has no objection, then prepare to take my strike! Live or die, victory or defeat; all shall be determined by the heavens. The blade is merciless, be careful.” Yu XiaoRan’s voice sounded like a frigid gale coming from a perpetually frozen winterland, carrying with it boundless killing intent. Since he spoke this way it meant that he was ready to take this to the end.

“Do you wish to die?” Ling Jian only looked at him quietly. “Do you think that your life is too worthless since you’re already so old? If you stop your hand now, you might still have several good years of life left!”

“Junior, go to hell!” WIth a ‘clang’ sound, a white flash of light was seen as Yu XiaoRan’s sword left its sheath. His figure following the trajectory of the sword was like a dragon swimming through the air as he stabbed towards Ling Jian. While the movement techniques displayed by Ling Jian previous were mystical and eccentric, Yu XiaoRan still believed that he could deal with them. Furthermore, if Ling Jian’s martial arts were only limited to what he showed earlier, then Yu XiaoRan believed that within 10 moves, he could kill Ling Jian! Since he was the head of the entourage sent by the Yu Family, his capabilities were definitely better than that of the short fat elder.

A pity, he was mistaken about one thing. What a person displayed on the surface might not be his actual strength!

An easy smile appeared on Ling Jian’s face, and he did not evade nor move, but rather leaped into the sword light like a wisp of smoke, weaving inside as though it was his own backyard. The difference was, his speed had undoubtedly increased by a notch!

“Pa!” Ling Jian flashed out of the sword light in the next moment, and from his spot far away, he blandly replied, “Did you think that you were my opponent? I just merely did not wish to kill you.”

On Yu XiaoRan’s face, there was a clear palm print.

Utter humiliation!

Yu XiaoRan felt so ashamed, he wanted to kill himself! His teeth ground together with cracking noises as his eyes glared at Ling Jian, as though he wanted to swallow him whole.

This was especially so after the sentence spoken by Ling Jian: I just merely did not wish to kill you! This gave an unspeakable sense of humiliation to this old man in front of all the audience present! This was worse than killing him outright! What a despicable and evil person!

Yu XiaoRan had thrown his reasoning out of the window at this point. He did not care about anything, not even the fact that Ling Jian had martial abilities far outstripping his. He only wanted to put his life at stake!

“What’s happening around here?! Why is it in such a mess?!” A light and yet seemingly strict voice suddenly sounded out, “Why are there so many people surrounding this area? All of you, retreat!”

The moment this sentence rang out, all the audience happily watching a good show immediately disappeared, and in that instant, the courtyard turned spic and span.

A white-robed youth slowly walked over from afar. Surrounded by billowing snow and winds, he resembled an immortal that had descended from the heavens, treading the wind and snow on his way down. That person was precisely Ling Tian.

Seeing that the situation was moving towards an irrevocable state, this Young Noble Ling finally chose to appear and deal with the aftermath.

“Ling Jian? I asked you to come out and see what had happened, but why have you gone off to play here?! You still have to help me to grind the inkstone, how infuriating!” Ling Tian seemed as though he was in a fine temper. “This young noble here just had the inspiration for an outstanding poem, and I was waiting all along for you to help me make my ink! To think that you still have the time to jump around like a monkey! As punishment, I want you to copy out the Thousand Character Classic ten times, and you will not get any meals until you’re done!”

Ling Jian lowered his head, as though he did not dare to talk any more, with an indignant look! Where was there still that arrogant demeanor of his?

Right now, Yu XiaoRan was still infuriated, so how was he willing to let the matter rest just like that? He viciously spat out, “So you’re Young Noble Ling? The way your Ling Family treats their guests is really….”

Before he could finish speaking, he was actually interrupted by Ling Tian, who faced him beaming as he exclaimed, “I believe this must be the famed Yu XiaoRan, Elder Yu, am I right? I’ve long heard of your great name, resounding in the ears like thunder. Your name hangs bright like the moon in the sky and seeing you in person today, I must say that your person outstrips your reputation! This is truly a justified reputation! Haha!”

Yu XiaoRan turned red in embarrassment at the words.

His face still bore the fresh imprint of being slapped, and hearing Ling Tian’s words, this Ling Jian seemed to actually be his study assistant. There were no discrepancies with his own family’s notes… but to say that his name resounded like thunder at this moment, it was nothing more than venomous sarcasm!

“This kid is indeed vicious, please allow me to first teach this kid a lesson before meeting up with Elder to converse, haha.” Ling Tian turned around, and his face immediately changed as his voice grew harsh. “Ling Jian, you little rascal, getting more and more disobedient now, are we?! Running around day and night, causing trouble everywhere you go, whatever next?! If it was not for you following me for so many years, I would have long ago chased you off! Look at how you made Elder Yu angry! You’re to copy the Thousand Word Classic once more, for a total of 11 times today. Do you understand?”

“This subordinate accepts his punishment, and he is convinced with it.” Ling Jian lowered his head, drooping it as though he was completely deflated of his ego.

“Still not retreating?!” Ling Tian waved his sleeves angrily, his voice booming out.

“Yes!” Ling Jian’s figure flashed and he immediately vanished from the spot.

The two of them seamlessly played out this ‘act’, with unbelievable speed and at an unbelievable rhythm. In the time taken for a person to finish a sentence, they had already exchanged two or three sentences, and this act of deceiving oneself had passed just like that…

During the process, Yu XiaoRan and company were all stunned with their mouths wide open, and they seemed like they wanted to say something, but Ling Tian did not even give them half a chance to speak. From his display of lashing out severely at him, to giving out the punishment, and finally chasing him off, it happened before the six of them could even react. By the time they realized something, Ling Jian had long disappeared.

Study assistant?! Punishing him to copy the Thousand Word Classic, Ling Tian are you crazy?! How powerful you might be, it could not have reached the point where you could casually make such an expert into your study assistant! Furthermore, the Ling Family Courtyard consists of over a thousand people, so how could there only be one study assistant attached to you?! This farce is a little too exaggerated! In addition, for forgetting to help you grind your ink, you punished him to copy the classics ten times, but only once for offending us?! What kind of bull was this? Even if you wanted to put on a show, there was no need to make it so excessive, right?

“Hehehe, I’ve made a fool of myself.” Ling Tian apologetically laughed. “That bunch of rascals are all like that, if they don’t get scolded, they won’t feel comfortable. I’ve already harshly punished him. Hais, to control a family is too hard! I have to worry about every single small little thing, and nobody can leave me at ease with them. This is such a headache. I’ve definitely become a laughingstock in front of all you elders.”

The six of them were so angered by this, they clenched their teeth so hard that they almost cracked. However, on the surface, they managed to smile and laugh along as they replied, “No problem, it’s just a servant, we won’t put it to heart.”

“I really can’t feel at ease leaving them alone.” Ling Tian sighed once more, before suddenly recalling something and opening his eyes wide at them as he continued, “Just look at me, I only just recalled. Just now, there were so many people here. What exactly happened?”

Yu XiaoRan almost vomited blood in response. This Ling Tian really knows what to ask. Just now there were so many people present and yet you did not bother to stop a single one of them, and you chased them away before asking us?! Do you wish for us to recount our own humiliation! This is taking it too far!

“Oh, I apologize for the offense.” Ling Tian ‘sincerely’ said. “How about this, I’ll gather everyone back here and interrogate them one by one. Relax, I’ll be fair in front of all the people present, and if they really offended my esteemed guests, then I, Ling Tian, will gather all of living things present here and punish them for everyone to see, in order to vent your frustration. How about that?”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep