Zhang Wenchang lifted his head from where he had slumped over the wine table, quickly wiped the tear stains from his face with his sleeve to hide his grief and sorrow, forced a smile, and said: “I’m sorry, everyone. I had a bit too much to drink and was reminded of some old memories. My emotions got a little out of hand.”
Ye Fan let out a quiet sigh within his heart. This old classmate was not having an easy life — tormented by guilt toward his wife, longing for a child he had never met, unable to hold himself together and weeping aloud, only to have these people mock him and then have to conceal his grief and apologize to others. What kind of feeling was that right now?
At this moment Zhang Wenchang had graying temples, eyes swollen, tear stains not yet dry. The grief and sorrow buried deep in his heart was fully perceptible to any onlooker. This made Ye Fan’s heart give a fierce throb. This old classmate had truly had it hard. A plain and quiet man had been reduced to this state.
“Half-decrepit white-hair, we can’t be bothered to lower ourselves to your level. Whether you cry yourself to death is none of our concern. But this friend of yours speaks very sharply — we’d like to get acquainted with him.”
Contemptuous smiles on their faces, the several people came up to the wine table, looking down from above at Ye Fan and Zhang Wenchang. Han Feiyu wore a cold smile, staring at Ye Fan: “What a small world. I always assumed you’d died in that ruin. Didn’t expect to run into you here. For over two years now, I have been thinking of nothing else but finding you and getting better acquainted.”
Ye Fan sat there calmly and poured himself a cup of wine. Completely at ease and unhurried, he raised the cup and drained it in one swallow. “What a small world… I’ve actually heard that phrase again. The last person who said it ended up harming others and instead harmed themselves. I wonder how it will turn out this time.” He was thinking of Elder Han. Hearing Han Feiyu say the same words now, he found it deeply strange.
“You’re quite composed. Stop pretending to be calm. No one can save you today. I’m going to flay you alive!” With those words, Han Feiyu’s brows shot upward in fury. His gaze was fearsome, his face contorted savagely. He could not forget the scene of being beaten to a pulp back then — it had been like a thorn lodged permanently in his heart.
“Han, junior fellow disciple, you have a grudge with him? Leave him to us. We’ll beat him until he’s crippled right here — no need for any restraint.”
“This good-for-nothing just spoke very sharply. Even if he hadn’t gotten on Han junior fellow disciple’s bad side, we couldn’t let him go.”
The several people wore cold smiles and were about to make their move.
Zhang Wenchang hurriedly stood up. “Fellow senior and junior disciples, please don’t do this. He is only an ordinary person — don’t do anything rash.”
“Get to one side, half-decrepit white-hair — this is none of your business.” One of them wore an expression of disdain, extremely impatient, and shoved Zhang Wenchang stumbling with a single push — nearly sending him sprawling.
“When you first entered the sect, Elder Ma Yun thought you were a treasure. And how did that turn out? You just happened to be the first to dissolve your Bitter Sea — what use is that? As time went on, you completely reverted to what you really are…”
“Half-decrepit white-hair, stop getting in the way. If it weren’t for Liu Yiyi always protecting you… heh!” The speaker’s cold laughter continued. Though he didn’t finish the words, everyone understood his meaning.
“Everyone, I apologize to you all. If you’re unsatisfied, come at me — don’t make trouble for my friend.” Zhang Wenchang stretched out his arms to block the group, shielding Ye Fan behind him.
“Half-decrepit white-hair, do you really think you’re someone important? Think about who you are — what kind of thing are you?” One person among them was very displeased. He swept Zhang Wenchang with a contemptuous glance, shoved him away hard, and barked: “Get out of the way!”
Ye Fan steadied Zhang Wenchang and swept his gaze over the group. “And what kind of things are you?”
“Ye Fan, don’t do this…” Zhang Wenchang hurriedly moved to stop Ye Fan, not letting him continue. Then he stepped forward again and said: “Everyone, I’m truly sorry. This friend of mine is only an ordinary mortal. Please don’t mind him. If you have any anger, direct it at me — don’t make it hard for him.”
The lead young man had long run out of patience. No longer able to hold back, he grabbed Zhang Wenchang by the collar and said: “Do you really think Liu Yiyi can back you up? If you don’t want to die, get far away from me!”
“Let go of him!” Ye Fan was still seated without getting up. He picked up a cup of wine and threw it directly in that person’s face.
“You’re looking to die!” The face of the lead young man turned ice-cold. He shoved Zhang Wenchang away, swung his palm up, and brought it sweeping down toward Ye Fan’s face.
Ye Fan sat there without moving. He reached out, grabbed that swinging palm, gave a sharp twist — crack — and snapped the wrist directly, bending it into the shape of a fishhook. Then he raised his own hand and slapped that person hard across the face, landing squarely on it.
Smack!
A resoundingly loud slap. One could clearly see the face deforming on impact. Then teeth flew loose, blood spurted out, and the entire person flew backward like a puppet — seven or eight meters — landing heavily on the ground.
No one had expected this outcome. That person struggled on the ground for a moment but simply could not get up. Both ears ringing, mind buzzing, skull nearly cracked open by the blow, he yelled out: “Kill him for me!”
Han Feiyu knew Ye Fan somewhat better than the others. He backed away at the first moment and warned the rest: “Watch out — this good-for-nothing has a special constitution. He has immense strength. Whatever you do, don’t let him grab you. Attack him from a distance — use your weapons, hack him to mincemeat!”
What he said came a bit too late. Ye Fan’s speed was too fast. He grabbed one of the young men directly, slapped him hard on both cheeks until he was dazed and dizzy with blood streaming from the corners of his mouth, then picked him up like a scarecrow and began swinging him around as a weapon.
Boom, boom!
Ye Fan’s strength and speed were terrifying. Swinging the man in his grip, he used him to batter the three cultivators rushing toward him. They all flew back with screams. Everyone present heard the sound of bones cracking.
“Fall back — don’t get close to him!” Han Feiyu shouted.
By this point no one needed him to remind them. The delicate-looking young man across from them was a human-shaped savage beast — utterly wild. He was gripping a full-grown person as though holding a toothpick and smashing the others around until they rolled all over the ground.
“Han junior fellow disciple, didn’t you say he was a good-for-nothing?”
“How does this good-for-nothing have divine power like this?”
The remaining few people were still shaken, with unsightly expressions as they questioned Han Feiyu.
“He truly is just a good-for-nothing. He cannot cultivate — he just has great strength. As long as you don’t get close to him, killing him would be trivially easy.” A ferocious cold smile crossed Han Feiyu’s face.
Everyone summoned their weapons at once. In an instant, light flashed everywhere. A green wood seal, a cold iron ruler, a red blood spear — all floated in the air, aimed directly at Ye Fan.
“If you want him dead, go ahead and use your weapons. I don’t mind using him as a human meat shield.” Ye Fan gave his human weapon a casual wave and said indifferently. Against these Bitter Sea realm cultivators, he had absolutely no need to reveal his true strength.
“Please don’t — everyone calm down!” Zhang Wenchang stepped forward with a look of desperate anxiety, placing himself in front of Ye Fan and shouting at the group: “He is not only my friend — he is also Liu Yiyi’s friend. You can’t do this to him…”
“Half-decrepit white-hair, get out of the way! It doesn’t matter who you invoke now. I must kill him to satisfy the hatred in my heart!” The man who had been sent flying by Ye Fan’s slap had staggered to his feet, clutching his swollen cheek, eyes flashing with cold fury. “What’s so great about Liu Yiyi? If she dares come to make trouble, there are naturally those who can deal with her!”
Watching this old classmate who had such a hard lot in life, Ye Fan gave a light sigh, patted him on the shoulder, and said in a low voice: “Move back. They can’t do anything to me.”
With those words said, Ye Fan grabbed Zhang Wenchang by the arm and flung him flying out of the way with precisely calculated force.
“What are you all waiting for — tear him apart!” the lead young man raged.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
The sound of things slicing through the air rang out ceaselessly. The green wood seal, cold iron ruler, red blood spear, and the others all came slashing and smashing in rapidly.
Ye Fan was calm and composed. He swung the human weapon in his hand, blocking continuously.
“Ahh… you hit me… you struck me!” The man gripped in Ye Fan’s hand had by now regained partial consciousness and was screaming in pain, furiously cursing. If those few people had not pulled their blows fast enough, this cultivator would already have been hacked to pieces.
“All of you together — I want to see if he can block all of it. I will flay him alive.” The lead young man — Chen Feng — his face dark as still water, ordered the people around him to strike again.
Everyone obeyed Chen Feng without question. They all brought out their weapons and slashed forward. Though they were already being careful, they still occasionally opened gashes on the human meat shield.
Ye Fan had no desire to waste time on them. At the Spring of Life realm, cutting down Bitter Sea realm cultivators was truly as simple as crushing ants. Holding the man to shield himself, he turned his body into a flash of light and darted directly in front of Chen Feng. Before Chen Feng could react, Ye Fan had already grabbed him.
“Ahh…” Chen Feng cried out in continuous anguish. He too was now being used as a human meat shield, taking wound after wound on his body.
The people around them immediately felt the dilemma of not wanting to hurt their own. Ye Fan moved like a bolt of lightning, darting swiftly about. Boom, boom, boom — the sounds rang out continuously as everyone was knocked to the ground in a heap.
Only Han Feiyu struggled to summon the green wood seal again, pressing it down toward Ye Fan, trying to crush him to death. Yet right at that moment, he was horrified to discover that the green wood seal — just expanded to the size of a millstone — had been grabbed in Ye Fan’s hand, utterly immovable.
Boom!
Han Feiyu’s soul nearly flew out of his body in terror. His green wood seal had been easily grabbed by Ye Fan, who then brought it swatting back down in reverse — as easily as swatting a fly. Yes, in that moment, he truly felt like a fly.
Crack!
Any number of Han Feiyu’s ribs were broken. He vomited blood in mouthfuls, smashed to the ground, and could no longer move a single muscle.
Bodies lay all over the ground in front of the small tavern, every one of them groaning in agony. Not a single person could get up. Not far away, Zhang Wenchang could barely believe his own eyes. “This…”
Ye Fan picked all of them up, tossed them together in one spot, and then went down the line delivering big open-palmed slaps. “You think you can bully people with this? I, a good-for-nothing who can’t cultivate, can still beat your teeth all over the ground.”
Smack, smack, smack…
Ye Fan’s hands flew in rapid motion, slap after resounding slap delivered one after another, sending spittle flying and blood spraying and teeth rattling loose.
Everyone screamed in agony, begging for mercy one after another.
Of course Ye Fan paid special attention to Han Feiyu and Chen Feng, lining them up side by side as though dragging a pair of dead dogs, slap after slap after slap — the crisp crack of open palms ringing out without end.
“You…” Han Feiyu’s nose and mouth were running with blood, his eyes full of venomous light.
Smack!
Ye Fan delivered another slap, then hauled him upright. “What a small world indeed…”
When Han Feiyu heard those words, he was so overcome with fury that he vomited blood in great mouthfuls, his whole body trembling, and nearly lost his life right then and there.