Chapter 57
“`
“That old fool really, spends all day dreaming up nonsense.”
“Do I, a promising young man, look like someone with such a vulgar taste?”
“All I wanted was to help Miss Yan Yu improve her cultivation level, but alas, the world always misunderstands me. Truly, being too handsome is a sin.”
In the courtyard, Li Xiaobai touched his human skin mask, feeling helpless inside.
The room on the western side of the yard was a grocery store, filled with all sorts of miscellaneous items.
He still invested two lower grade spirit stones to transform the entire room into a simplified version of a bathhouse.
“Miss Yan Yu, this bathhouse has amazing effects. Cultivating inside can yield twice the result with half the effort.”
Li Xiaobai said with a smile.
“Hmm, thank you, young master.”
The voice of Situ Yanyu was as tiny as a mosquito’s, as taking a bath was quite an embarrassing matter in this not so enlightened world.
“Hmm, you go ahead and cultivate at your own pace, I’ll take a walk outside.”
Li Xiaobai smiled and walked out of the room, heading towards the street.
It had been several days since he arrived, and he hadn’t had the chance to properly explore the city and get to know it.
Moreover, he really did need a more high-end bathhouse. The characteristic of Tangneng First-class bathhouse was that the more luxurious the location, the more potent the benefits of bathing there.
The makeshift bathhouse set up at the Situ Household was the least effective.
Li Xiaobai wanted to buy a store; he was not short of spirit stones.
On the road, people hurried by, most of them dressed plainly, ordinary folks. Occasionally, a family scion would pass by riding a tall horse, causing everyone to keep their distance.
“All of you, brace up! We will pull that kid out of the Situ Family. He dared to compete with this young master for a woman. I’ll make his life worse than death!”
A commotion stirred in the crowd, hooves thundered, and Li Xiaobai spotted Wang Ergou, whom he had sent flying earlier.
Ergouzi, in his arms, was clearly agitated as well, having vivid memories of Wang Ergou.
“You bunch of good-for-nothings, knocked out without even seeing what moves the opponent used, you bring shame to the Xia Family!”
“If you make such amateur mistakes again in the future, all of you can pack your things and get lost!”
In the crowd, a young master astride a white steed seethed with anger. A few sycophants around him were yelling and howling.
This young master had a pair of snake-like eyes, deep-set eye sockets, and severely lacked vitality; one could tell he frequented places of ill repute – not a good sort at all.
Situ Yanyu had actually caught the eye of such a person, which was more bane than boon.
One of the eagle-eyed lackeys spotted Li Xiaobai and cried out in alarm.
The young master immediately turned his gaze, flicked his reins, and his horse charged up to Li Xiaobai.
The hooves thundered incessantly, and the white steed, eyes like that of a hawk, snorted out two long, hot plumes of white smoke, causing the surrounding crowd to immediately scatter.
Looking up at the young master looking down on him, Li Xiaobai felt an unwarranted annoyance; this was an effect of the human skin mask.
The human skin mask could slightly alter one’s personality.
The current Li Xiaobai was the image of a half-dead, melancholic prince, not to be provoked.
“Young master, it was him who injured us!”
“Young master, you must seek justice for us!”
“Young master, this brat dared to compete with you for a woman, let me cripple him for you!”
The bunch of lackeys shouted and bawled, but no one dared to step forward and take action.
“Shut up, all of you!”
The son of the Xia Family couldn’t bear it any longer and yelled at his lackeys.
These lackeys were as useless as pigs holding up his majestic entrance; they had completely ruined it, making him lose face.
The crowd went silent.
“So you are the pretty boy Yan Yu has recently met. What’s your name?”
“Ye Liangchen is my name.”
“Was it you who injured my men?”
“`
The young master of the Xia Family asked, not knowing why, but from the moment he saw Li Xiaobai, he had an inexplicable urge to beat him up.
It must be because the other party had injured his subordinates.
Oh, it’s definitely not out of jealousy.
“Eh, that’s right, I did it,”
Li Xiaobai slowly nodded.
“Do you know who I am?”
“I don’t know.”
“I am the Third Young Master of the Xia Family, Xia Liu!”
“So what?”
Li Xiaobai’s expression was somewhat odd; these days, one could encounter all sorts of characters, even someone who calls themselves ‘Xia Liu’, truly baffling.
“So, there’s no need for explanations, just obediently endure my wrath.”
“Bring him to me!”
At Xia Liu’s command, the cohort of thugs behind him surged forward, and together they dragged Li Xiaobai into a side alley.
“Young Master Xia, what is this about?”
The city patrol felt helpless; they couldn’t meddle in the affairs of the big families, but since they had stumbled upon it, they nonetheless had to seek justification, otherwise, they would be neglecting their duties.
This point, of course, was clear to the young master of the Xia Family as well.
“Brother Liu, rest assured, we just want to have a heart-to-heart with this brother, nothing else. Continue on with your patrol.”
Having said that, Xia Liu produced a bag of Spirit Stones and stealthily handed it to the Captain of the patrol.
There were rules within the city that forbade private fights, so on the surface, they still had to give face to the patrol, at least offering an explanation for them to report back.
The Captain weighed the Spirit Stones and immediately smiled from ear to ear.
“Since that’s the case, we’ll continue our rounds. You guys have a good talk, but make sure not to cause any trouble.”
“Heh heh, understood.”
The sycophantic thugs pushed and shoved Li Xiaobai into the side alley.
The bystanders around them shook their heads in resignation; this was the way of the world, the powerful rule, the big families really could do whatever they wanted.
“Chop off his hands and feet for me.”
A trace of mockery flashed in Xia Liu’s eyes; he wanted to see how long Li Xiaobai could keep up his act.
“Yes!”
Several thugs with sharpened knives expertly pinned down Li Xiaobai’s arms; it was clear this wasn’t their first time.
“How about it, if you beg for mercy on your knees right now, perhaps this young master will be in a good mood and spare you!”
Xia Liu laughed heartily.
“I’m from out of town, believe it or not, I have a hundred ways to make you kneel and beg for mercy, and you, you can do nothing about it.”
Li Xiaobai said indifferently.
“Chop!”
Xia Liu’s chest swelled with nameless rage, and he personally wielded the knife, viciously chopping down at Li Xiaobai’s wrist, a cruel smile on his lips.
The other men also moved simultaneously, their curved knives raised high, stabbing towards Li Xiaobai’s limbs.
But then, they were all stunned.
“Crack!”
A clear sound rang out, sparks flew, and the knives in their hands instantly broke into several pieces.
Xia Liu’s eyes were filled with horror; his knife had not even left a scratch on the opponent’s flesh.
[Attribute Points +3…]
[Attribute Points +10…]
“If you could really chop off Liangchen’s hands and legs, Liangchen would actually be most grateful, but sadly, in this world, the only one who can wound Liangchen is Liangchen himself.”