“Repaying a favor…?” Old Lu clearly didn’t understand.

Qi Xia shook his head helplessly.

This middle-aged man before him was timid, greedy, loved to lie, was impulsive, and easily got carried away—he had almost every flaw concentrated in one person, yet Qi Xia simply couldn’t bring himself to dislike him.

Qi Xia could only stop discussing this issue with him and walked directly toward Zhang Shan.

These people seemed to never attack him directly—the situation was somewhat strange.

“Why did you tie up my teammate?” Qi Xia asked.

Zhang Shan moved his back, which had been painfully struck, and said, “Didn’t I already say? This is Chu Tianqiu’s idea. You attacked pretty viciously just now too, yet Chu Tianqiu didn’t have me tie you up…”

“If Chu Tianqiu can’t give me a legitimate reason, I’ll be even more vicious.” Qi Xia’s tone was very serious, not at all like he was bluffing.

“Damn, can’t you talk nicely? But it doesn’t matter anyway—Chu Tianqiu wants to see you.” Zhang Shan waved toward someone not far away. Little Glasses ran over, and Qi Xia once again saw a familiar face.

“Zhang Shan, are you alright?” Little Glasses asked.

“I’m fine. You take this person to see Chu Tianqiu.” Zhang Shan waved his hand, then moved his back, helped up the young man Qi Xia had knocked down, and left with Qiao Jiajin.

Little Glasses looked Qi Xia over, then said, “Mr. Qi, right? Please follow me.”

Qi Xia nodded cautiously and followed.

The two continued forward through the corridor until they arrived at the door of a classroom at the southernmost end.

Little Glasses gently knocked on the door. “Mr. Chu, Miss Yun, I’ve brought him.”

“Let him in.” A man said from inside the room.

Before Little Glasses could speak, Qi Xia pushed open the door and entered the classroom.

Yun Yao was sitting at a desk applying nail polish, while an elegant-looking unfamiliar man seemed to be writing something on the blackboard with scratching sounds.

As soon as the two saw Qi Xia, they both turned to look at him.

“Oh! The down-and-out handsome guy!” Yun Yao pointed at Qi Xia and called out happily. “Have you agreed to become my ‘rumored boyfriend’?”

Qi Xia ignored Yun Yao and instead stared at the unfamiliar man.

“Qi Xia?” The unfamiliar man smiled, placed the chalk in the blackboard’s groove, then patted the dust off his hands. “I’ve heard much about you. I’m Chu Tianqiu.”

Qi Xia nodded and walked forward. Little Glasses behind him tactfully closed the door.

Yun Yao stood up and walked toward Qi Xia. Her body carried a refreshing fragrance. “Qi Xia, it’s so great that you came!”

Chu Tianqiu also walked toward Qi Xia, his face constantly wearing an elegant smile. “I’m very sorry to meet you in this manner. I hope you can forgive me.”

“Chu Tianqiu, tell me your reason for doing this.” Qi Xia got straight to the point.

“You mean… me restraining your teammate?” Chu Tianqiu smiled slightly. “How should I put this? This is our territory after all. Actually, I don’t need to explain to you.”

“Let me confirm with you…” Qi Xia frowned slightly. “You tricked us here, then restrained my teammate, and you’re not planning to explain the reason to me?”

“So what if I am?” Chu Tianqiu pushed up his glasses. “Qi Xia, this is your first time coming to ‘Heaven’s Mouth.’ Perhaps you don’t know the rules here.”

“Then what are the rules here?” Qi Xia asked.

“I am the rules.” Chu Tianqiu showed his smile again, smiling in a way that made Qi Xia very uncomfortable. “As long as everyone listens to me, I’ll lead everyone out sooner or later.”

Qi Xia looked coldly at Chu Tianqiu, not knowing what he was calculating. A strange atmosphere permeated the air.

“Oh my… What are you two talking about?” Yun Yao stepped forward to mediate. “It’s clearly your first time meeting, why so serious? You’re going to be teammates in the future.”

Seeing that neither responded, Yun Yao remembered what Chu Tianqiu had said before about “kings not meeting kings.” Perhaps these two people really weren’t suitable as teammates, but both of them were very intelligent and were indispensable forces. Losing either one would be a huge loss for “Heaven’s Mouth.”

“Can you give this idol some face?” Yun Yao smiled as she pulled Qi Xia’s hand and then Chu Tianqiu’s hand. “You two shake hands in front of me, and from now on you’ll be good friends.”

“That’s not necessary.” Qi Xia withdrew his hand.

“Exactly.” Chu Tianqiu also withdrew his hand. “Yun Yao, don’t worry. Qi Xia is a smart person. It seems he also understands the ‘rules’ of this place.”

“Let me confirm with you one last time.” Qi Xia frowned slightly. “You consider yourself a ‘local tyrant,’ so people who join ‘Heaven’s Mouth’ must unconditionally be commanded by you, obey your orders, and cannot raise questions, right?”

“Although somewhat biased, the general meaning is about right.” Chu Tianqiu pushed up his glasses. “Of course, I’m not some ‘local tyrant,’ just the leader of this place. You know that if there’s ‘a group of dragons without a head,’ so many people would be like loose sand, and in the end no one could leave.”

Yun Yao shook her head helplessly. “Qi Xia, don’t take it the wrong way. Although Chu Tianqiu is our leader, his goal is to lead us out. Everyone is still ‘teammates’ after all.”

Qi Xia nodded again, looked at the two people in front of him, then suddenly turned to Yun Yao and said, “Can you step back a bit?”

“Step back?” Yun Yao froze, then smiled and asked, “What? Does my scent not smell good?”

“No, it smells very good.” Qi Xia said. “But I hope you’ll step back a bit.”

Yun Yao thought for a moment, nodded, and retreated two steps back. “I get it. You want to look at my figure, right?”

After saying this, Yun Yao spun around on her own.

“No, I’m just afraid of hurting you.” Qi Xia said.

“Hurting me?”

Before Yun Yao and Chu Tianqiu could react, Qi Xia suddenly took a large step forward. He imitated the way Qiao Jiajin struck the black bear from his memory—shoulders following the waist’s movement, his right arm swinging out like a rope, his fist rotating one hundred eighty degrees in the air as it struck.

Originally aimed at Chu Tianqiu’s chin, the punch flew to his mouth instead. It seemed his combat skills really needed more practice.

Thump!

Chu Tianqiu had no time to react at all and took the punch solidly. He let out a wail, then fell straight to the ground like a felled tree.

Yun Yao was so frightened she covered her mouth with both hands. She didn’t understand why things had developed this way.

Qi Xia shook his somewhat swollen and painful right hand and walked toward Chu Tianqiu again.

Chu Tianqiu’s mouth was full of blood from Qi Xia’s punch. He lay on the ground with a pained expression.

Qi Xia slowly crouched down beside him, staring into his eyes and asking word by word:

“Chu Tianqiu, what are you pretending with me?”