Chapter 233: Chapter 157: Xie Luohe
A major drama was about to unfold in this city. Chu Chengfeng’s hint about it being a "path that must be taken" meant that some person or convoy was about to pass through, causing a large number of Martial Artists to converge on Kang City.
There were those with grudges, those with conflicts of interest, those who simply couldn’t stand the sight of each other, or those whose ranking on the Weapon Manual had been usurped. Any two or three of these reasons were enough to plunge Kang City into chaos.
"But," Zheng Xiu asked with a frown, "aren’t you saying that Cao Dongxue is no match for the Iron Fan Scholar? He couldn’t beat him before, so how could he possibly win now?"
Chu Chengfeng shook his head. "If Cao Dongxue hasn’t had some sort of fortuitous encounter, he’s still guaranteed to lose this time."
"Then why would they fight at all?"
Chu Chengfeng laughed. "It’s simple. The entire Martial World knows about the feud between Cao Dongxue and the Iron Fan Scholar. Now that they’ve happened to meet in Kang City, Cao Dongxue has to grit his teeth and fight. Even if the Iron Fan Scholar avoids the fight and runs off, people will still say that Cao Dongxue fought him. If he doesn’t, he’ll become a laughingstock in the Jianghu and will never be able to show his face again."
"True enough."
Zheng Xiu nodded in agreement.
To put it bluntly, for Martial Artists, saving face was paramount.
In certain situations, face was more important than life itself.
"BUUURP—"
Just then, the woman, who had been focused on devouring her food, let out a massive burp of satisfaction.
Zheng Xiu looked down and finally noticed that the woman had single-handedly devoured several pounds of meat dishes that had been on her table.
From his angle, he could still only see the woman’s back, but the longer he looked, the more familiar it seemed.
"I’m talking to you two! You’ve been glaring at each other forever since you walked in. Are you going to fight or not? If you don’t make a move, then your granny here is going to clean out the trash first."
The woman laughed boisterously, completely unabashed as her words shattered the awkward atmosphere in the teahouse.
Zheng Xiu’s expression turned to one of utter shock at the sound of the woman’s voice.
That voice...
"Feng Bei?"
’It’s Feng Bei!’
’What a coincidence!’
’So she was here all along!’
Zheng Xiu’s expression changed. He started to stand up, but Chu Chengfeng immediately pressed him back down with a hand on his shoulder. "What are you so worked up about?"
The debonair Iron Fan Scholar awkwardly rubbed his nose and said in a loud, clear voice, "Brother Cao, I was in the wrong back then, but I had my reasons. As the saying goes, revenge only begets more..."
Cao Dongxue might have been able to endure it, but the moment the Iron Fan Scholar spoke those words, he truly snapped. With a flick of his wrists, he hefted the Black Steel Eight-sided Hammer and smashed it toward the Iron Fan Scholar, bellowing, "Reasons, my mother’s ass! Surrender your life, you adulterer!"
CRASH!
The table and chairs were instantly smashed in two. With a sharp WHIR, the Iron Fan Scholar pulled an Iron Fan from his robes, flicking it open with a piercing sound. He moved with nimble footwork, his elegant steps allowing him to easily weave through the flurry of hammer strikes.
Opening and closing his Iron Fan, with a few soft CLINKs, the Iron Fan Scholar tapped the hammer several times with the fan’s ribs. He dissipated much of the Eight-sided Hammer’s force and used the momentum to dart out of the teahouse.
"Sirs! Good sirs! I’m begging you, if you have to fight, please take it outside!"
Seeing that a fight had indeed broken out, the waiter and the Shopkeeper quickly dove behind the counter, a sob in their voices.
In the blink of an eye, the Iron Fan Scholar and Cao Dongxue had fought their way out the door and were now locked in combat in the street.
"With things getting smashed like this all the time, how can the shop possibly stay in business?"
Zheng Xiu asked, stunned.
"Ah, that’s where you’re mistaken, my friend. Look how quickly that Shopkeeper moved. He was clearly prepared. He may look panicked, but inside, he’s calm."
"Why is that?"
"Isn’t it obvious? Because someone will pay for it in the end!" Chu Chengfeng said with a laugh.
"Who pays?" Zheng Xiu was taken aback, finding it hard to comprehend.
"The winner, of course. What are people fighting for in the Jianghu? First, the satisfaction of settling a grudge. Second, fame. Once you’ve beaten your enemy, you also compensate the shopkeeper. You gain status in the Jianghu, your reputation grows, and paying up feels incredibly satisfying."
Chu Chengfeng raised his yellow wine and took a long GULP, a chicken leg still in his left hand. He settled in to enjoy the show from the second floor, a perfectly content spectator.
The Iron Fan Scholar clearly had no intention of getting bogged down in a fight, battling as he retreated, while Cao Dongxue, eyes wide with rage, pursued him with his Double Hammers.
Chu Chengfeng was clearly uninterested in the struggle between the supposed adulterer and the aggrieved party. He didn’t follow them out to watch the commotion. Instead, his gaze fell upon the woman who had eaten and drunk her fill.
The six bandits who had arrived later, having been called out by "Feng Bei," exchanged a look, smirked, and moved in to surround her.
They blocked the door and windows as their leader looked up toward the second floor.
"Friend," he said, "the second-in-command of Black Wind Stronghold is just passing through to take care of some business. As for the wine at your table, it’s on me, Pei the Second."
The bandit calling himself Pei the Second gave Chu Chengfeng a cupped-fist salute.
He clearly paid no mind to the weak-looking Poor Scholar next to him, not even bothering to give him a proper glance.
Pei the Second hadn’t been explicit, but even Zheng Xiu understood the subtext. ’We’re bandits from Black Wind Stronghold, and we kill without batting an eye. The Stronghold is paying for your wine, so don’t do anything stupid.’
"Black Wind Stronghold?" Chu Chengfeng muttered.
Zheng Xiu stared at Feng Bei’s back, momentarily unsure which side he should be more worried about.
’That voice, that figure... it has to be Feng Bei. But her words and actions are so strange, not at all like the Feng Bei I know. At the very least, her appetite was never this huge. Is this woman just a look-alike, or is Feng Bei trapped in a situation like mine, playing the part of someone inside Gongsun Mo’s memory?’
’If it’s the first case, I can’t believe in a coincidence as wild as meeting Feng Bei’s ancestor from two hundred years ago. But if it’s the second, then she should have noticed me by now. After all, I’ve been sitting up here in plain sight for a while.’
"Aren’t you going to play the hero and save the beauty?"
After a moment of thought, Zheng Xiu nudged Chu Chengfeng in the ribs, trying to egg him into action.
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