What?

Cut through Bai Feiyao’s clothes—one piece at a time?!

What kind of scheme was this from Jun Beiyue?

What exactly did this even mean?

The crowd grew even more baffled, utterly unable to guess what Jun Beiyue was really up to.

Ziqing herself was startled too, but she immediately noticed Bai Feiyao’s reaction—the man had gone silent at once, clear fear written across his face!

It seemed… this approach was actually working!

And it wasn’t only Ziqing who noticed—everyone present saw it too. Bai Feiyao had fallen completely silent, his flushed, drunken face nearly turning pale.

What… what was going on?

Young Master Yu had been standing there dumbfounded at first, not understanding Jun Beiyue’s intent—but seeing this reaction now, there was hardly any need to understand. He simply had to act on it!

A servant was about to bring a blade over, but Ziqing, amused, tossed over a short sword instead. “Catch!”

Yu Xiao caught it at once, bowed briefly to Ziqing, gripped it tightly, and strode forward!

Jun Beiyue’s single sentence had stunned Bai Feiyao completely—if Yu Xiao actually cut into him, what would the consequences be?

For a moment, the entire hall held its breath, watching with intense anticipation!

But before Yu Xiao had even drawn close, Bai Feiyao suddenly, desperately wrenched free of the ropes and shouted furiously, “You wouldn’t dare!”

Though clearly outmatched in skill, Yu Xiao didn’t slow his advance at all, striding forward, saying seriously, “Bai Feiyao, either you concede, or don’t blame me for what happens next!”

“You’re not even worthy!” Bai Feiyao, clearly pushed past his breaking point, suddenly shot a vine out from his sleeve, wrapping it tight around Yu Xiao’s neck in an instant!

But just as he was about to tighten it, Jun Beiyue flicked his sleeve sharply, unleashing a wind-blade with less than seventy percent of his internal power—not to sever the vine, but to shred it to pieces outright!

Bai Feiyao startled and instinctively stumbled backward!

This man’s wind-blade—it was the genuine, authentic wind-blade technique of the Gu Shi household. His internal power was… it was this profound?!

Could it be—had he truly recovered fully, and even absorbed the combined internal power of both the Gu family head and Madam Gu?

He knew perfectly well that the medicinal poison he’d had Gu Suying secretly administer wasn’t just meant to keep him unconscious and weak—it was also meant to gradually erode his internal power!

When exactly had he been cured? How had he even known it was a medicinal poison in the first place?

Just how long, and how deeply, had this man been concealing everything?

This man—how had he possibly discovered her secret, that she was a woman?

Today, no matter what it cost her, she absolutely would not let anyone lay a hand on her clothing—not even once!

“Jun Beiyue, this is a matter between this young master and Yu Xiao—what business is it of yours to interfere?” Bai Feiyao demanded furiously.

Those words came out furious, deadly serious, perfectly clear—there wasn’t a trace of drunkenness in them at all!

Jun Beiyue smiled coldly, leaning back at ease, crossing one leg over the other. He didn’t need to say another word—public opinion alone would crush Bai Feiyao completely.

“He’s faking being drunk!”

The Yu family head was the first to cry out, forgetting entirely about his own status and dignity.

At once, the hall erupted into an uproar.

The two Qin-Se Elders rose furiously to their feet. “Bai Feiyao, we never imagined you were capable of such shamelessness!”

“Young Master Bai, if you can’t take losing, don’t compete with people in the first place—what were you trying to prove, playing the hero?”

“Faking drunkenness—how utterly disgraceful! To think we once held Young Master Bai in such regard—what a disappointment, what a disappointment!”

“Young Master Bai, you’ve behaved dishonorably. You owe everyone an apology!”

…

Amid the uproar, Baili Weisheng, who had appeared to be asleep, slumped over the table, suddenly leapt up and shouted, “Concede first, then apologize!” That single cry set off the entire crowd, and soon everyone was chanting in unison, “Concede first, then apologize… concede first, then apologize…”

Ziqing’s brow furrowed. She leaned in and murmured softly, “Could he… could it be he’s actually a woman?”

Unless he truly was a woman, how could his reaction possibly be this extreme—terrified of having his clothes cut apart in front of everyone?

If he were truly a man, standing bare-chested in public, however improper it might look, would hardly be strange at all for a drunk.

That was the only explanation that made sense—but how had Jun Beiyue figured it out?

Jun Beiyue smiled. “We’ll know soon enough.”

Hearing this, Ziqing couldn’t help but draw a sharp breath. “Beiyue, don’t do this…”

What exactly was this man planning? Wasn’t this going a bit too far?

“I just want her to apologize to Yu Xiao and admit defeat,” Jun Beiyue said coldly. Yu Xiao had, after all, been dragged into this mess entirely because of him—the least he could do was win back some dignity for the man, no?

Bai Feiyao had never imagined that all his carefully laid plans could possibly unravel like this!

Jiang Chen and Gu Suying, at this moment, dared not even lift their heads—they were struggling to protect themselves as it was, how could they possibly spare a thought for her now?

Facing the condemnation of the entire crowd, a vicious glint flashed in Bai Feiyao’s eyes, and he suddenly shot straight up into the air—he no longer cared about anything else.

He was leaving!

But almost instantly, a dark shadow shot after him, and within moments Bai Feiyao was kicked violently back down, slamming hard into the ground with a thud, nearly coughing up blood on the spot!

Jun Beiyue drifted down slowly, settling back into his seat, gazing at him coldly with disdain.

“Jun Beiyue, this is none of your business!” Bai Feiyao roared furiously, and at the same instant, countless vines suddenly surged up from the zither platform, densely covering the entire stage, trapping everyone present within!

The corner of Jun Beiyue’s mouth curled into a cold smile. He finally drew his long sword and said icily, “This, I am absolutely making my business.”

The moment the words left his mouth, he moved like a swan taking flight, his sword sweeping in a wide horizontal arc, a full measure of his internal power behind it—force enough to have leveled the entire zither platform. And yet, it shattered every single vine to pieces, leaving every person and object on the stage completely unharmed.

Not only was Bai Feiyao thoroughly shaken—even the two Qin-Se Elders and the Gu family head stood utterly dumbstruck.

The internal power of the Gu Shi household, capable of reaching such profound depths?

In the entire history of the Gu family, surely no one had ever achieved this—such profound internal power combined seamlessly with such precise swordsmanship was an extraordinary rarity indeed!

Jun Beiyue finally touched down, his sword pointed directly at Bai Feiyao’s throat, though he didn’t so much as glance at him, his gaze lowered, calm. “Yu Xiao, come here.”

Yu Xiao startled, hurrying over at once, momentarily flustered and unsure what to do.

“Ask him yourself—does he concede or not,” Jun Beiyue said coldly.

Only then did Yu Xiao manage to steady himself somewhat. He pointed the short blade forward and demanded loudly, “Bai Feiyao, do you concede or not!”

Bai Feiyao gritted his teeth, eyes bloodshot, glaring viciously at Yu Xiao, a clear warning burning in his gaze.

Yu Xiao still felt a flicker of fear deep down—but his pride won out over his hesitation, and he steeled himself, suddenly slashing forward without warning.

“Don’t—!” Bai Feiyao cried out in sudden alarm!

“Do you concede or not!” Yu Xiao shouted.

“If you dare cut me again, unless you kill this young master outright, I will have the heads of your entire Yu clan to pay for it!” Bai Feiyao warned furiously!