Half of Zhang Zixuan’s heart turned cold. Knowing full well there was no room for negotiation in this matter, he forcibly suppressed his resentment and stiffly kowtowed three heavy times toward Xuan Qing.
Then, gritting his teeth, he said: “Young Master Huo, I am willing to acknowledge my defeat and accept the consequences.”
Seeing the other fellow wearing an expression that suggested he wanted nothing more than to tear him apart while remaining completely powerless to do so, Xuan Qing curved his slender lips into a charming, amused smile: “As expected of Young Master Zhang; your breadth of mind is truly extraordinary.”
Zhang Zixuan’s face stiffened into a rigid mask, his smile thoroughly strained as he mused inwardly: Today’s humiliation will be repaid a hundredfold another day!
Only then did Xiao Jingyang speak up lazily: “Scram.”
Granted permission, the group immediately scrambled away in panicked haste, crawling and stumbling like stray dogs fleeing from venomous serpents or wild beasts.
Deep within a gloomy, uninhabited alleyway, intermittent groans of agony echoed through the shadows.
“You worthless piece of trash, how dare you betray me?!” Zhang Zixuan snarled with a ferocious expression, viciously backhanding the man opposite him across the face.
The burly, thick-limbed fellow knelt on the ground with a bruised and battered face, weeping bitterly as he begged for mercy: “Spare my life, Young Master Zhang! I had no choice! That was the Third Prince!”
If not mentioning it was bad enough, bringing it up only fueled Zhang Zixuan’s rage further as the humiliation he suffered earlier resurfaced with stinging intensity.
Seizing the man by his hair, Zhang Zixuan yanked upward forcefully, forcing him to tilt his head back.
Leaning in slowly, Zhang Zixuan glared at him with venomous malice, his voice grating through gritted teeth: “What Third Prince? What the hell kind of Third Prince?! He just happens to be better at picking his parents than others; does he really think he’s some sort of supreme figure?!”
The treasonous, blasphemous words pouring continuously from Zhang Zixuan’s mouth left the other man dumbstruck, temporarily making him forget the agonizing pain tearing at his scalp.
Fang Qi had never imagined in his wildest dreams that Zhang Zixuan would dare utter such vitriol against the Third Prince. Was he completely unafraid of royal retribution? The man had clearly lost his mind.
“Have you gone mad? Aren’t you afraid the Third Prince will punish you for this crime?” Fang Qi stared at him in utter shock.
“Heh, since he dared subject this young master to such massive public disgrace today, I will definitely make him pay!” With a savage expression, Zhang Zixuan patted the other man’s cheek and sneered with grim malice.
“Please, Young Master Zhang, let this old master’s past offenses go and spare me!” Fang Qi trembled.
Enjoying the pitiful, awkward spectacle like a spectator watching an amusing show, Zhang Zixuan felt his mood lift slightly.
With a meaningful, wicked smile, he slowly opened his mouth: “If you want me to let you go, fine. Crawl like a dog between my legs, and bark like a dog twice. How about that? Hmm?”
Hesitating and glancing about in panic, Fang Qi finally gritted his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut Screw it, saving my life comes first!
Standing nearly seven feet tall, the burly man dropped onto all fours like a dog, inching forward step by step beneath Zhang Zixuan’s legs while emitting a pair of muffled barks.
“Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Truly a good dog!” Zhang Zixuan roared with laughter, immensely pleased with himself.
Enduring the humiliation, Fang Qi forced a careful, flattering smile: “Young Master Zhang, I’ve done everything you asked. You should let me go now.”
Casting a malicious, ill-intentioned glance down at him, Zhang Zixuan let out a cold laugh: “When did I ever say I was letting you go? You insisted on kneeling down to play a dog for this young master anyway.”
“You! You despicable, shameless bastard!”
Hearing this blatant reneging on his promise, Fang Qi trembled all over with unadulterated fury at the shamelessness.
“Daring to glare at this young master? Tired of living?!” Another heavy slap landed, this time infused with spiritual energy.
A sharp, burning pain flared across his face as Fang Qi spat out a tooth mixed with blood. His cheek swelled visibly in a matter of seconds.
Completely stunned by the blow and realizing escape tonight was hopeless, Fang Qi simply closed his eyes to await death! Running afoul of this beast meant sheer bad luck it was only a pity he hadn’t yet taken a wife.
Growing bored of the game and finding the amusement stale, Zhang Zixuan waved dismissively at the guards flanking him: “Men, same as usual drag him off and finish it.”
No one answered. The surroundings remained deathly still, the atmosphere taking on an eerie, chilling quality.
Turning his head in confusion, Zhang Zixuan froze: a towering, shadowy figure stood directly behind him, while his several bodyguards lay sprawled across the stone floor in awkward, lifeless heaps, their life force entirely extinguished.
“What kind of person are you?!” Zhang Zixuan cried out in sudden terror.
Raising its head, the dark silhouette revealed a pair of crimson, bizarrely vertical pupils that locked unwaveringly onto him. The gaze was icy, ruthless, and filled the space like a massive apex predator in the middle of a hunt, radiating a terrifying, bone-chilling aura of extreme danger.
“You shouldn’t have touched him.” Uttering the freezing syllables from within the shadows, the figure unleashed a surging, heavy wave of spiritual energy that erupted violently into the night.