Chapter 51: Chapter 51
“You…”
Qi Hu was stunned, staring dumbstruck at the scene before him.
This was the child of a fifth-rank expert—and yet Li Suifeng had just killed him in front of all these people?
Had it been him, even if he had wanted to move against Chen Dao, he would only have done it in the shadows.
So long as he left Elder Ji of the Valley of Ten Thousand Flowers no evidence, and leaned on the Canal Gang’s power, there would still be room to maneuver.
But to do it now, before so many witnesses—how could Li Suifeng dare?
This meant a feud to the death with a fifth-rank expert!
“Aaah!”
Su Qian looked at Li Suifeng’s face, terror written all over her own, and dropped straight to her knees, kowtowing again and again:
“Great Hero, have mercy!”
“Chen Dao and I are nothing to each other!”
The man before her was a madman—he had dared to kill even Chen Dao, let alone her.
“Junior Sister Lin, plead for your senior sister!”
Seeing that Li Suifeng’s face remained expressionless, Su Qian turned her gaze toward Lin Zhixu.
The two wounded eighth-rank guards had gone pale as well, not daring to say a word, fixing hopeful eyes on Lin Zhixu—hoping she might plead for them, if only for the sake of their shared standing as Valley of Ten Thousand Flowers disciples.
Lin Zhixu turned her head away.
Now that Li Suifeng had killed Chen Dao, there was no way she would plead for Su Qian.
“Cripple her martial arts, then take her away and squeeze some information out of her.”
Li Suifeng’s voice was flat.
Wen Bubao looked at Su Qian—at the alluring body of a woman who had cultivated charm arts—and laughed:
“Lord Feng, leave this one to me!”
“Mm.”
Li Suifeng nodded.
Wen Bubao walked toward Su Qian, all smiles. Su Qian forced out a strained smile of her own: “Senior, I’ll confess everything, just don’t cripple my…”
PFFT!
Before she could finish, the shaft of Wen Bubao’s spear jabbed into Su Qian’s dantian, and a mouthful of fresh blood sprayed from her mouth.
Her breath grew faint, her face pale.
The internal energy she had cultivated for years vanished without a trace from her dantian.
“You… you…”
Her face was ashen, and even her features seemed to have aged a few years.
“Lord Feng, rest assured—I won’t make any mistakes!”
Wen Bubao stole a cautious glance at Li Suifeng, and only when he saw that Li Suifeng had no intention of stopping him did he let out a breath.
“Li Suifeng, once the new Helmsman takes office, you can wait to be punished!” Qi Hu flung his sleeve and made ready to leave.
Faced with a Li Suifeng who had killed the son of a fifth-rank expert without so much as a blink, even he had no confidence in how things might go.
Better to leave first.
Now that Li Suifeng had offended a fifth-rank expert, if he simply decided he had nothing left to lose and roughed Qi Hu up too, it would not be worth the trouble.
“Hold it!”
Li Suifeng’s voice was cold.
“What, you mean to kill me along with the rest?” Qi Hu whirled around and roared.
He felt a twinge of guilt himself; if Li Suifeng meant to kill him now, he hadn’t the strength to resist.
In his heart he already regretted coming to gawk at the spectacle. He should have stayed quietly at home and waited for Ye Mingchu to arrive before showing his face.
By then, Li Suifeng wouldn’t have many days left to throw his weight around!
“You’re a branch Elder too—how could I possibly kill you?” Li Suifeng said evenly.
“But I didn’t much care for the tone you took with me just now.”
“Now, give yourself two good slaps across the face, and I’ll let you leave.”
“Of course… you could also choose to let me slap you instead.”
Li Suifeng watched Qi Hu with a smile that was not quite a smile. Had Qi Hu kept his head down, Li Suifeng wouldn’t have come for him so soon—but Qi Hu had made trouble for him one time after another lately. Did he really think Li Suifeng had no temper?
“You… how dare you!”
Qi Hu’s face flushed crimson. To slap himself before so many people, right here in the branch—how would he ever show his face in the Nanyang Branch again?
“I’m not joking with you.” Li Suifeng advanced slowly toward Qi Hu.
Qi Hu trembled all over with rage, yet his body couldn’t help but edge back step by step—until Zhu Dachang blocked his path and he could retreat no further.
SLAP!
SLAP!
Qi Hu struck himself twice across the face, his cheeks flushing red:
“Now may I go?”
Those two slaps had thoroughly slapped away whatever face Qi Hu had left. His expression was wretched; he wanted nothing more than to flee at once.
Hssss—
There were over a hundred Canal Gang disciples present, and every one of them wore a strange look.
Lord Feng and Elder Qi were both branch Elders—yet by all appearances, the two were not even in the same league!
Elder Qi had actually been forced, before all these people, to slap his own face.
Lei Yun’s heart shook all the harder. He had once followed Elder Qin, and after so long without any sign of him, Elder Qin was most likely dead!
He had meant to throw in with Qi Hu and hold out for a while.
But now it seemed Qi Hu couldn’t be relied on either.
He’d have to find some way to earn Elder Li’s forgiveness.
Li Suifeng came to a stop and said evenly:
“Of course.”
“You’re a branch Elder—who would dare stop you?”
Qi Hu said not a word; he spun around and bolted for the branch gate—
—all the way out onto the long street beyond.
PFFT!
Qi Hu spat out a mouthful of blood.
Sun Xi and Zhou Chao, following behind him, exchanged a glance, and Sun Xi stepped forward:
“Elder, are you all right?”
“Don’t let your temper ruin your health!”
“Isn’t the new Helmsman about to arrive? There’s no need to work yourself up over Li Suifeng.”
Sun Xi was being very attentive to Qi Hu these days—each piece of intelligence earned a thousand taels, and with another good tip or two, he could retire!
Right now, he wished for nothing more than for Elder Qi and Lord Feng to go at each other’s throats!
“They go too far!”
“Far too far!”
Qi Hu’s face was flushed crimson.
In sixty years of life, this was the first time he had ever suffered so monstrous a humiliation!
Qi Hu’s eyes were filled with cold fury:
“Once the Helmsman arrives—”
“I want him dead!”
…
The Canal Gang disciples had all withdrawn.
Only Li Suifeng, the two women—Lin Zhixu and Willow—and Zhu Dachang remained.
And Huang Jiuyuan, lying on the ground, already unconscious.
“Lord Feng, save him, please.”
Lin Zhixu looked at the unconscious Huang Jiuyuan, walked up to Li Suifeng, took hold of his arm, and pleaded softly.
Huang Jiuyuan was, after all, her elder; though she resented him for bringing Chen Dao here, he had helped her in the past.
“Cripple him.”
“Then heal him and toss him out.”
Li Suifeng glanced at Zhu Dachang and gave the order.
Huang Jiuyuan was nothing in his eyes, but the man was, after all, a seventh-rank; should he lose his mind and do something rash, he might bring some losses upon the Nanyang Branch.
A cripple, however, was of no consequence.
“Yes!”
Zhu Dachang hauled Huang Jiuyuan up and hurried off toward the quarters of the branch physician.
Huang Jiuyuan had lost every last tooth and was still bleeding; if the bleeding wasn’t stopped in time, he might truly die.
Once only Li Suifeng, Lin Zhixu, and Willow were left in the small courtyard, Li Suifeng stroked Lin Zhixu’s delicate hand and said softly:
“Today, for your sake, I offended a fifth-rank expert. So how do you plan to reward me tonight?”
Willow’s pretty face flushed red, and she turned her head away.
Lin Zhixu gave a coquettish smile and breathed softly against Li Suifeng’s ear, her breath fragrant as orchids: “And how would Lord Feng like me to reward him?”
Li Suifeng patted the plump curve of Lin Zhixu’s rear and said evenly:
“Tonight, I feel like going through the back door.”