âYou brute! Donât start begging me for mercy now that youâve started this! Attack him!!â
It was Zhang Qian who made the cry to action. He still wasnât clear on what was going on, but there was one thing for certain: Bai Yunfei made the first move!!
It didnât matter what the case was now. If the enemy was striking, then their group had the justification of âself-defenseâ, so none of them had to wait around for the sake of observation anymore.
With all that said, âself-defenseâ wasnât the primary reason why he was willing to start fighting now. As someone who wasnât a complete idiot and also quite familiar with cases like these, Zhang Qian knew it was better to start a fight and then wait for negotiations between the families. And during those negotiations, it was usually those with the more powerful families that held the advantage.
He also wasnât going to be the one fighting either. Considering his power and companions, how could each of them not have guards with them? Dozens of guards came forward at once at his call to flood the restaurant with battle-ready soul cultivators.Â
Qin Shoufeng was hesitant at first. His past experiences with Bai Yunfei was still fresh on his body. But he thought about it again. They were in Swallow City, what was there to be afraid of?! No matter how powerful Bai Yunfei was, this was his city.Â
As the saying went, âa powerful dragon cannot quell the snake in the grassâ.Â
Qin Shoufeng was that snake, and Swallow City was the grass! If anything, he wasnât a snake, but a mighty tiger! If the dragon had a fierce enemy, the tiger would most definitely be a contender. And even if he himself wasnât strong enough, he still had his family he could fall back on.
So how could he let an outsider of all people treat him as such?!
Convinced now that this was the best course of action, Qin Shoufeng snarled. Allowing all of his past grievances and anger for Bai Yunfei to leak out, he jabbed a finger at his direction. âTeach him a lesson he wonât forget!â
âWhoosh! Whoosh!!â
Two shadows darted out from behind him even faster than the first group of guards. They were clearly stronger than the others, and several of the other restaurant diners noticed it as well.
âSoul Exalts!!â
  âŠâŠ
Everyone thought Bai Yunfei was in for trouble now. With so many people attacking a single Early-stage Soul Exalt, how could he stand a chance? It seemed like overkill for Qin Shoufeng and the others to have so many people do his bidding even. If it took a single cow knife to behead a chicken, then Bai Yunfei was that chicken, and Qin Shoufeng was using multiple knives to do the job.
But then in the second after, everyoneâs jaws dropped practically to the ground as if they all saw a ghost or somethingâŠÂ
Bai Yunfei didnât look bothered at all with how many people were coming at him. If anything, he gave a mirthful smile as they approached. Those who were strong enough in the audience saw a wave of energy come pouring out from Bai Yunfeiâs body before it flew for the closest person two meters away. When it reached, the person wasâŠimmediately glued to the ground!
He wasnât the only one. Roughly at the same time he was affixed to the ground, the other incomers immediately came to a stop where they stood as well!
It was definitely a strange sight with how everyone came to a screeching halt. Something was seemingly putting a stop to everyone there as if they were suddenly encased in an invisible block of ice.
Even Qin Shoufeng and his friends standing in the back had been affected by it!
This wasnât the Soul Anchoring Technique. There wasnât a need to do so. All Bai Yunfei needed to do was a small soul attack with a secondary layer of elemental energy to shackle their movement. This was a combination useful against those who were Soul Exalts.Â
In truth, these people were the real rabbits and Bai Yunfei was the tiger. All it took was a single soul attack and these people wouldnât be able to lift even a finger.
  âŠâŠ
âThis Qin Shoufengâs a really annoying guy, should I teach him a lesson, Xinyun?â
Bai Yunfei asked Tang Xinyun after a moment to stare at the frozen-still figures of those in front of him.
âItâsâŠbest not toâŠâ She replied, a little hesitant to say otherwise. âYou promised father to mediate this peacefullyâŠâ
âThatâs true. Resorting to violence before negotiations can take place wouldnât be too appropriateâŠâ Bai Yunfei smiled. âThen Iâll stop here. Letâs get going.â
âYes.â
Nodding, Tang Xinyun followed behind Bai Yunfei through the âstatuesâ on their way out of the restaurant. Neither of the two bothered to even give Qin Shoufeng a look.
âAw, really? I wanted to teach them a lesson! Forget it! Xiao Bai, letâs get going, thereâs no need to bother with idiots!â
Flying in a circle around the âstatuesâ, Xiao Qi chirped once in annoyance before taking Xiao Bai with him away. âIf Xiao Lan was here, he wouldâve ate these guys right away! Hmph, what a bunch of idiots!â
The soulbeast in question was currently in the Core World training. He wouldnât come out for the time being unless Bai Yunfei called him out.
Bai Yunfei stopped by the counter of the restaurant where the waiters and shopkeeper were currently standing. While they were still trying to figure out what had happened, Bai Yunfei dropped a few coins for their food and walked out with Tang Xinyun.
The entire restaurant remained quiet for a short few moments after the two left. So long was their stiff silence that a few patrons came from the outside in to eat a meal. When they saw the people just standing around like statues, most of them froze up for a second too. Looking around for a moment, they all decided that itâd be better not to eat here and backed out.Â
A prudent decision.
âThudâŠthudâŠthudâŠâ
Some time after, the sounds of several things falling down to the ground brought the residents of the restaurants back to the real world. Looking down, they all noticed that Qin Shoufeng and the others with him were all unconscious on the ground.
  âŠâŠ
âYoung master! Young master! Thereâs trouble! The second young master is in trouble!â
In the manor of the Qin, a single servant could be heard running through the halls with reckless abandon. The only time he stopped was when he came across a young man dressed in purple robes.
This man was Qin Shouhao. âWhat is it?â He asked, âWhat trouble did little Feng start this time?â
âIâŠIâm not sureâŠâ The servant wheezed, tired from his sprinting earlier, âBut the second young master was found unconscious in the restaurant Immortalâs Eatery! His friends from the Zhang, Li, and Zhao were all found unconscious with their bodyguards as well!â
âWhat?!â Qin Shouhao exclaimed, âThey were all together, and everyone was knocked unconscious?! How many people were there, and who are they?!â
âWeâreâŠnot sure about it so farâŠâ The servant was cowering now. âThe messenger has yet to tell us anything detailed. Several guards are currently on their way over to investigateâŠâ
âLittle Hao, whatâs all this racket?â
A solemn voice spoke out to Qin Shouhao from the halls behind him. A middle-aged man in his forties came walking up to him a moment after.
âUncle.â Qin Shouhao greeted the man. âLittle Hao has gotten himself in trouble with some powerful people and was found unconscious. I was just about to go investigate.â
âOh?â Qin Hu snorted, âStirring up trouble is all that one seems to know!â
Feeling slightly helpless about the situation, Qin Shouhao shook his head. Just as he was about to start making his way out from the manor, a second servant came running up to him from the main gates.
âYoung master, sireâŠthere are two visitors outside requesting an audience with the lord.â This servant bowed respectfully.
âAn audience with father? Who are they?â Qin Shouhao blinked. These visitors were a confident one if they were wanting an audience with his father the moment they came.
âA male and female. The female stated she is Tang Xinyun from the Tang.â
âTang Xinyun?â Qin Shouhao was even more mystified now. âIsnât that Shoufengâs fiance-to-be? Why is she here? Did she decide to see Shoufeng after receiving all those gifts we sent?â
Qin Hu was equally surprised. âAnd thereâs another, you say? Is it one of the sons of the Tang, Tang Jing or Tang Zhi, perhaps?â
But the servant shook his head.
âThe other person saidâŠheâs Bai Yunfei from the Crafting School!â