Situ Shen had never seen such terrifying eyes before. Though they appeared ordinary at first glance, they inexplicably stirred fear and panic within him.
Situ Shen raised his sleeve in self-defense, maintaining a calm expression as he said, “Brother Ouyang, you might have hit your head too hard. I truly have no talismans or anything of the sort.”
His sleeve was completely empty.
Not a single talisman in sight—not even a strand of hair.
Fu Ruheng glanced subtly at Situ Shen’s sleeve, his indifferent yet beautiful brows slightly furrowed with weariness. His Adam’s apple bobbed gently as he suppressed the urge to cough.
He keenly sensed that Situ Shen was lying but didn’t know how to inform that person.
That person didn’t seem too clever—would they be fooled by this man?
Outside the screen, Ruan Ruoyin raised an eyebrow.
This character named “Situ Shen” was quite the smooth talker.
If she hadn’t noticed his subtle movements, she might have believed his nonsense.
She observed carefully: Situ Shen’s sleeve was cleverly designed with two layers, and the crushed talisman was hidden in the innermost layer.
“Ding—”
A crisp chime suddenly rang out, and a red warning box popped up in the center of the screen.
—【Situ Shen has crushed the talisman. The Situ family has dispatched people to the medicinal herb shop.】
【Warning! Demon Lord Fu Ruheng is in imminent danger of losing his life!】
Oh ho!
Defeat the small fry, and the old-timers come running—a classic trope of wish-fulfillment novels!
If Ruan Ruoyin were a reader, she’d love seeing these people come to deliver experience points to the protagonist.
But!
They were bullying her Zaizai!
That was absolutely unacceptable!
Ruan Ruoyin pressed down on Zhu Qingqing with one finger, tormented Ouyang Mu with another, then used a third finger to lift Situ Shen up and shake him violently.
Situ Shen was about to say something more.
But then he noticed Zhu Qingqing and Liu Zhaomei’s eyes widening in shock.
He wondered what was happening.
The next moment, he found himself lifted into the air and shaken back and forth, up and down, left and right.
The tea he had just drunk came uncontrollably surging back up.
It happened to spew all over Ouyang Mu’s face.
Ouyang Mu was so disgusted he rolled his eyes.
“Clatter—”
Tiny fragments fell from Situ Shen’s body.
They were pieces of talismans inscribed with special patterns.
As the fragments scattered, Situ Shen’s shaking also stopped.
He collapsed weakly to the ground, retching until even stomach acid came up.
Dazed and disoriented, he lay beside the talisman fragments. When he finally realized what was in front of him, a chill spread from his scalp down to his entire body.
Ouyang Mu saw the shattered talismans and gloated, “What are you pretending for, Situ Shen?”
“You only admit it after being exposed, huh?”
“No talismans, tsk tsk tsk—if there are no talismans, then what’s that on the ground?”
Situ Shen remained silent.
He hadn’t recovered yet and couldn’t speak. Faced with Ouyang Mu’s mockery, he was powerless to respond.
Ouyang Mu secretly reveled in the moment, as if even the pain on his body had lessened. He eagerly said to Fu Ruheng:
“My lord, he’s admitting it by default! Hurry and teach this lying scoundrel a lesson!”
Ouyang Mu tore off all pretenses and shouted, “He deceived you! He deserves to die ten thousand deaths!”
“Before the Situ family arrives, my lord, quickly finish off Situ Shen!”
Fu Ruheng paid no attention to Ouyang Mu’s clamoring.
His thick lashes trembled slightly.
Beneath his black robe, the corners of his lips curved upward ever so slightly.
He took back his earlier words—that person was actually quite clever.
Ouyang Mu called out for a long time, but the black-robed man didn’t respond to him, making him grit his teeth in frustration.
At that moment, a powerful pressure enveloped the entire second floor of the medicinal herb shop.
Situ Shen’s spirits lifted.
He was more familiar with this pressure than anyone else!
It was the Earth Realm elders of the Situ family!
Excellent.
They were even faster than he had imagined.
The pressure gradually intensified, and the window on the floor shattered with a loud “bang.”
Three figures leaped in from outside.
All of them appeared to be middle-aged.
They wore grayish-brown robes with the characters “Situ” printed on the back.
One of the middle-aged men, with a crew cut, took in the scene on the second floor and his expression changed drastically. “Shen’er!”
He hurriedly helped Situ Shen up and angrily demanded, “Who? Who dares to disregard the authority of the Situ family and bully my Shen’er?!”
With his father’s arrival, Situ Shen immediately felt reassured. “Father, it’s that black-robed man.”
“Ouyang Mu and I invited two lovely ladies for tea, and this black-robed man attacked us without a word!”
Ouyang Mu was still being pummeled, letting out muffled groans from his throat to show his agreement.
Having just broken ties with Situ Shen, he obviously wouldn’t shamelessly insert himself back into the conversation, so he could only use this method to acknowledge what Situ Shen had said.
Situ Feng unconditionally believed what Situ Shen said.
He had always doted on Situ Shen since childhood. Situ Shen possessed excellent innate talent and was already close to reaching the Mystic Realm at a young age, making him the future hope of the Situ family.
Now, someone dared to bully the future hope of their Situ family. How could they tolerate this?
Situ Feng stared coldly at Fu Ruheng and sneered, “You dare to bully my son? I’ll take your life.”
After speaking, Situ Feng turned and instructed, “Son, go aside and take medicine to recover from your injuries. Watch how your father helps you reclaim your dignity.”
“Alright.” Situ Shen smiled smugly. “Father, remember to spare his life and bring him back to the Situ family so I can finish him off myself.”
Situ Feng laughed heartily. “No problem.”
He clenched his fist, unleashing the full force of his Earth Realm ninth-level cultivation. Spiritual power surged into his fist as he struck fiercely toward Fu Ruheng.
He held nothing back with this punch—it was his full-strength attack.
Although he had promised to spare Fu Ruheng’s life, Situ Feng, ever cunning, still used his full power just in case.
After all, he didn’t know the enemy’s strength.
If something could be resolved with one punch, it was best to do so.
He never gave his enemies a chance to catch their breath.
Ruan Ruoyin’s face turned cold.
Seeing the three men surround Zaizai and attack him with fists, her eyes almost shot flames.
How shameless.
If they wanted to bully Zaizai, they’d have to get past her first!
Ruan Ruoyin was about to restrain Situ Feng when she suddenly thought of something. “System, can you purchase something like absolute defense? Or a skill that reflects damage?”
She had always been helping Zaizai, leaving him with little sense of involvement.
She wanted Zaizai to enjoy himself!
Let everyone think it was Zaizai’s own strength!
The Game System popped up: [Yes, but they’re all one-time use, given their overpowering effects.]
Ruan Ruoyin grinned sinisterly. “Perfect.”
“I’ll directly spend 648 for the most luxurious damage reflection, the kind that reflects tenfold damage!”
The Game System made a gleeful sound: [Consider it done!]
As soon as the system finished speaking, Situ Feng’s fist arrived in front of Fu Ruheng.
Fu Ruheng lowered his gaze, his long eyelashes trembling slightly, with no intention of dodging.
Dodging would be useless anyway. With no cultivation to speak of, he couldn’t withstand a full-force attack from an Earth Realm cultivator.
The onlookers had already braced themselves for Fu Ruheng to be shot in the head, but what happened next terrified them to the core.
They saw a golden, shimmering shield rise around the black-robed figure. The powerful fist of Situ Feng had barely touched the surface of the shield when he was violently flung backward. With sharp eyes, they noticed that Situ Feng’s entire chest had caved in, and a torrent of blood gushed from his mouth, leaving him barely breathing.