Capítulo 15: Hidden Expert
Shen Li almost blew his fuse but realizing that he would have to water the library's loo for a month if he denied anything, he had no choice but to swallow his pride and bottle up his grievances.
Even an heir like him didn't dare break the hall's rules despite having more balls than Mu Cheng.
"You do not lie, Brother Hong; you're absolutely right." Despite making the best efforts to appear calm, the pain soaring within his throbbing fingers couldn't help but distort the pitch of his voice.
The old man stared at Min Hong with a trace of ridicule apparent in his gaze; however, he eventually nodded and addressed them;
"Since it's like so, this old man won't blame any of you. But remember, in the future, you cannot make a ruckus in here."
The entire hall sighed in unison as some even gave Min Hong a look of gratitude; however, as subtle as they were, the old man easily caught onto it and immediately understood that Min Hong had just cooked him a bullshit story, but he still let them go either ways.
"Hey, wait." Shen Li suddenly called out to Min Hong in a voice only the two of them could hear.
Min Hong's attack had been extremely vicious; not only had it broken his finger, it had also severed all the meridian located within it.
"Brother Shen, feel free to come find me again, so we can run further testing."
'Today is just a the surface of the iceberg-sized interest I owe you; the worst is yet to come…' Min Hong mentally completed his statement.
The two hundred heirs calmly and quietly took their seats. Seeing this, the old man nodded his head in satisfaction and started the lecture.
However, his material was vague and incomprehensible, thus they only managed to fall on deaf ears.
Soon enough, most of these little heirs began to feel drowsy, however, none of them dared to sleep. Though the old man might have no shred of cultivation to speak of; within the walls of this hall, his words still reign supreme.
If anyone angered him, they could instantly get kicked out and forget about entering the martial skill depository in the afternoon.
"This can be compared to chickens eggs; one has gone bad and one is still good. But if you want to eat the good egg, you have to eat the bad egg first…"
The old man continued to talk about all sorts of things… history, classical works, how to rule a flourishing nation, agricultural knowledge… even Min Hong almost dozed off.
However, people like Fatty Yu actually listened very attentively. They couldn't cultivate, so they had to rely on education for the future, hopefully obtaining some work within the government.
The morning slowed to a torturous crawl under the old man's slow torment; but eventually, noon came around, and with it, a breath of life that revitalized the heirs that were on the verge of being bored to their deaths.
After eating their lunch, the boys swarmed towards the Martial Skill Pavilion. Even those who had no way of cultivating were compelled to tag along. Within the Martial Skill Pavilion, countless Cultivation Techniques and Martial Skills, and going through them might offer them a lucky encounter.
The Martial Skill Pavilion had three floors, but only the bottom level was opened to all the heirs.
Even though it was just one floor, there were still twenty bookshelves completely packed with all kinds of martial skills and cultivation techniques. It was a brilliant sight that dazzled people.
"Big brother Li, I already have a life-and-death battle agreement with Min Hong. This time I'll definitely kill him to help take revenge for you," Mu Cheng respectfully promised.
No one knew how or when, but Mu Cheng had at some point sneaked over to Shen Li's side.
At this point, Shen Li was still using the atmospheric Qi to suppress his throbbing finger, but the important thing was that the meridians had been ruined, and so he had to find a physician to help him take a look at it, as soon as possible.
"It's still not the right time to kill him; otherwise, I would have killed him last time." Shen Li shook his head, before he then suddenly asked;
"That's right, how did you end up getting beaten up by him last time?"
"Ai, actually, I was just a little too careless, and that trash managed to seize the opportunity. The result really infuriated me; to think he actually managed to beat me one time." Mu Cheng replied with a regretful sigh.
That one loss had caused his reputation to plummet; the whispers and gossips going around about him only served to infuriate him even more. He believed the last time was simply a small moment of carelessness, and so this time, he definitely had quite a bit of killing intent towards Min Hong.
"Min Hong cannot be permitted to die, at least not for now. Don't mess this up." Shen Li wanted to make sure Mu Cheng got the message clearly, so he purposely repeated himself.
"Then what should I do? Just let him off like this?" Mu Cheng asked from a belly full of unwillingness.
Shen Li looked at his crooked finger, and gnashed his teeth in anger, before giving Mu Cheng a reprieve; "Though you can't kill him; should you intend to take back a couple of souvenirs, such an outcome would still be acceptable."
Hearing this, Mu Cheng's eyes lit up in excitement; "Nice! This time, I'll take what he took from me, and oh, I think I'll also have one his eyes too. Tch, seeing the gaze in his eyes really pisses me off."
The duo grinned at each other; oblivious to the fact that, Min Hong, who had been pretending to be reading an interesting tome was also wearing a toothy grin on his handsome face. The same one that iced out his fury, the more genuine they seem.
From Min Hong's current position, he was perfectly placed to be aware of everything that was going on around him within a 10-meter radius in fine details, from the slightest twitch of a muscle, to the softest of snorts.
With his powerful Spirit Sense and deep Soul Qi reserves, spying on the duo's conversation was as effortless as breathing.
Realizing that they had ended their conversation and were now browsing the ancient tomes on the bookshelves like nothing had happened, Min Hong also lost interest in eavesdropping on their conversation, thus, he switched his attention to the purpose of his visit.
Based on the fragmented memories he had and all he had deduced from them, he had noticed that he had no Battle Technique or Martial Techniques at all, so he absolutely needed to obtain one today.
After scouring through an entire bookshelf, Min Hong finally settled on a Martial Skill and was just about to reach out his hand to take it when, a dark-faced fellow suddenly grabbed it a fraction of a second earlier.
"I'm sorry, this book has taken my fancy."
The fellow didn't even spare Min Hong a single glace, and simply acted as if there was no one was beside him whilst he browsed the tome.
Min Hong frowned slightly. He knew this fellow had obviously done that on purpose, but he didn't want to waste any more time on unnecessary bickering, thus, he simply switched to a different bookshelf.
Just as he saw a palm Martial Skill and reached out to take it, the dark-faced fellow who had long since been waiting for him to show an interest once again grabbed it.
"I'm sorry, this-"
Smack!
Min Hong was not even the slightest bit interested in whatever apology the guy was about to give, and instead sent him skidding across the depository with a vicious slap.
The slap was so crisp and resounding that the force behind it sent him crashing into a group who were browsing nearby.
By the time he everyone turned around to see the fellow come to a halt, they noticed her was now missing both sets of frontal teeth. It seems Min Hong had smacked in the face, rather than slap him across it.
"I'm sorry, this tome has taken the fancy of this young master." Min Hong replied with a face full of regret and a touch of apologetic flair.
"Who dares to be so presumptuous within this the depository?!"
An unemotional bellow suddenly reverberated across the area, as a black-clothed man appeared from the inner part of the depository. His face was bland, frank and strict as he stared at Min Hong and the dark-faced fellow.
His blood and qi surged just like a towering mountain, pressuring the boys and leaving them scrapping for every breath of air.
"A strong Blood Condensing Stage cultivator…"
It was unexpected that this place would actually house a hidden expert of such prowess. However, upon deeper contemplation, this was the fourth most important place in the entire Desert Flame Tribe, so having such an expert keep guard was a no-brainer.
It was forbidden to practice martial skills within the depository; after all, how could you possibly repay the tribe if you accidentally damaged or destroyed one of the tomes. This was a rule that everybody knew, and breaking this rule meant one would be sent to waterloo.
"Speak, what happened here?" The irritated black-clothed man asked with a deep growl.
"If you want to know, then ask him." Min Hong shew no ounce of fear as he spread out his arms in the most natural and innocent manner.
The dark-faced fellow instantly became indignant; he was the one who had obviously suffered a blow, so why should he be the one being interrogated?
However, upon seeing the seething old man's expression, color drained from his face as his fury turned to fear in the blink of an eye.
"S-s-senior" He only managed to stutter a single word before his brain abandoned him, leaving him staring blankly at the situation.
"Senior!"
In that exact moment however, the nearby Shen Li quickly came to his rescue.
"Senior, it was like this: Meng Hao suddenly felt an intense itch on his face, but since he had just read a palm technique, he couldn't properly control the strength of his slap, and as such caused a scene. There really wasn't any fight going on; you can check for yourself."
The dark-faced fellow called Meng Hao became even more bewildered by the situation unfolding around him. But just as he try to clarify the situation, he saw the distant Shen Li doing his best to give him a meaningful glance, so he gulped down everything he was about to say.
"You're the West Grand Family's heir?"
"Yes." Shen Li hurriedly nodded.
That person nodded his head before gazing back at Meng Hao who was still on the floor, and said warned sternly; "If your face is itchy, just scratch it; don't make such a fuss. Clean up after yourself. I don't want to see such a situation a second time."
Upon ensuring the rest of the boys also got the message, the man turned and left, leaving a crowd of astonished people wondering why Shen Li would actually help Min Hong.
"Haha, didn't you hear what he said? Hurry up and clean up your crap." Min Hong gloated at Meng Hao as if he had totally expected the turn of events.
Turning around, he walked over to another bookshelf to continue his search.
"Hateful bastard."
Watching Min Hong downplayed the event in such a manner, Meng Hao's rage flared into the heavens. It was just one slap, however, he had been unable to keep his emotions in check ever since.
"Meng Hao, endure it. If you were to open your mouth and accuse him of hitting you, then he would be sent to detention for a month, after which he would be released safe and sound.
However, if you belly up this anger now, then tomorrow, Mu Cheng will surely help you take back this face. Therefore, you must absolutely endure it." Shen Li informed as Meng Hao finally conceded.
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