Chapter 38: Slapping Himself in the Face

“Xiao Luo, if you ever find yourself threatened, Uncle Liu will stand up for you.”
The Martial Grandmaster clearly intended to snatch him away by force.
But Jiang Luo refused.
At that moment, not only was the Martial Grandmaster taken aback—even Xiao Yang was completely bewildered.
He couldn’t make sense of Jiang Luo’s behavior at all.
This was the perfect opportunity to escape danger, and he wouldn’t even have to pay a single coin.
But for reasons unknown, this man insisted on handing over the six hundred thousand taels.
“Very well!”
The Martial Grandmaster had no choice but to agree.
However, as he left, he shot Xiao Yang a cold glare and said,
“Even if you are disciples of the Giant Spirit Sect, if you dare act recklessly, we have the strength to kill you. I can guarantee the sect won’t trouble itself over such a matter.”
With those words, he strode straight into the city without a backward glance at Xiao Yang.
Xiao Yang’s expression became odd.
Where did that Martial Grandmaster find such courage? If anything happened to him and Zhou Yan,
he wasn’t sure what the Giant Spirit Sect’s response would be,
but Zhou Jingpeng would most certainly come to Northern Desert City with his sword in hand.
A personal disciple and a beloved daughter—
did they think this was some kind of joke?
Xiao Yang had no desire to explain himself.
He simply waited in silence.
As for Zhou Yan, who knew what she was thinking? She hadn’t spoken a single word.
“Brother, my name is Jiang Luo. Please look after me from now on.”
Suddenly, Jiang Luo came running over and spoke respectfully.
This caught Xiao Yang completely off guard.
He had no idea what Jiang Luo was up to now.
Seeing Xiao Yang’s confusion, Jiang Luo hurried to explain.
“I know I offended you just now, Brother. That was my mistake, and I apologize. I’ll pay every last tael of the six hundred thousand silver.”
“What are you after?”
Xiao Yang finally couldn’t hold back his curiosity.
Jiang Luo smiled.
“At first, I was planning to have someone kill you both once we reached Northern Desert City. But then I saw that young lady’s sword.”
He pointed at Zhou Yan’s sword.
“What do you mean?”
Xiao Yang looked at it in confusion, seeing nothing unusual.
Zhou Yan’s sword was decent, but at the end of the day, it was only a common weapon, not even a spiritual blade.
What could possibly be special about it?
Jiang Luo gave a wry smile and continued,
“There’s a single character—‘Peng’—engraved on that lady’s sword. Within three thousand miles, only one swordsman dares mark his blade with that character, and he belongs to the Giant Spirit Sect.”
“And since you two are from the sect, I presume you’re from Spirit Sword Peak.”
The moment he finished speaking, both Xiao Yang and Zhou Yan were stunned.
They hadn’t realized Spirit Sword Peak was so renowned.
In their memories, Spirit Sword Peak had the fewest disciples and was the poorest of all.
It should have been the least famous of the sect’s mountains.
But now, it seemed things were not so simple.
Spirit Sword Peak appeared to have quite a reputation.
While Xiao Yang was still puzzling over this, Jiang Luo suddenly dropped to his knees.
Both he and Zhou Yan were left speechless.

The guards gaped as if they’d seen a ghost.
“Uh!”
In the midst of their shock,
Jiang Luo raised his hand and slapped himself hard across the face.
Smack!
He didn’t stop after the first blow, but alternated left and right, striking himself ruthlessly.
Xiao Yang and Zhou Yan were dumbfounded.
“Has this fellow gone mad?”
At that moment, Jiang Luo finally spoke.
“I, Jiang Luo, insulted you both with my words. I deserve this punishment.”
He showed no mercy to himself, the blows resounding crisply.
Even Xiao Yang was a little impressed.
What a character—
not only could he bring himself to do this, but he did so with remarkable force.
“Enough, enough!”
Xiao Yang grabbed Jiang Luo’s hand, somewhat exasperated.
“Are you trying to frame me? When your family arrives, will you claim I beat you?”
It was the only explanation Xiao Yang could think of.
But Jiang Luo quickly protested.
“No, I simply want to join Spirit Sword Peak.”
“Huh???”
That answer left Xiao Yang stupefied.
What on earth?
“Kid, I’ll give you ten taels of silver—go see a doctor. The way you’re carrying on is making me nervous.”
Xiao Yang tried to help Jiang Luo up. Even if he wanted to become a disciple, he should be apprenticing to Zhou Jingpeng, not to him.
What was the meaning of this?
At that moment, a group hurried over,
arriving just in time to see Jiang Luo kneeling, with fresh handprints on his face.
The middle-aged man leading them erupted in fury.
“You dare! How could you humiliate my son so?”
Jiang Dachuan roared, preparing to strike.
Watching the rampaging man, Xiao Yang was utterly speechless.
If he claimed he hadn’t struck Jiang Luo, not only would Jiang Dachuan never believe it—he himself could hardly believe it.
How could Jiang Luo have beaten himself up?
“Father, wait!”
As the man charged forward, Jiang Luo quickly stood and threw himself in front of Xiao Yang.
“Son, are you addled from the beating? Get out of the way! As long as I’m here today, even if they are disciples of the Giant Spirit Sect, they will pay for this!”
Watching his father lose control, Jiang Luo clung to Jiang Dachuan’s leg.
“Father, I did this to myself.”
He hastily explained.
The surroundings fell silent.
Everyone stared at Jiang Luo in astonishment.
A good dozen heartbeats passed before Jiang Dachuan recovered.
“Son! If there’s something you can’t say, just tell me. No matter how powerful the Giant Spirit Sect is, I’ll stand up for you, even if it costs me my life.”

As he spoke, he reached out to stroke Jiang Luo’s face—a scene so awkward
one might have suspected something entirely improper was happening.
“Father, I want to cultivate at the Giant Spirit Sect, and I’ve already found a way in. All it takes is six hundred thousand taels, and I can enter Spirit Sword Peak.”
Jiang Luo was practically bouncing with excitement.
Xiao Yang, on the other hand, was dumbfounded,
and soon shouted,
“You shut up! I never agreed to take you as a disciple.”
If he really accepted this fellow, he’d never be able to explain himself when he got back.
He’d sooner die than take him in.
At this, Jiang Luo scrambled to his feet and made to throw himself at Xiao Yang’s legs.
“Brother, I dream of learning the sword.
I want to be a swordsman—I once vowed that I’d apprentice myself to Senior Zhou!”
He was practically giddy.
Faced with Jiang Luo’s feverish enthusiasm, Xiao Yang was at a loss.
How did he keep encountering such eccentrics?
What was any of this supposed to mean?
“If you want to be a disciple, go to Spirit Sword Peak. Pay your ransom and get lost.”
He had no desire to continue entangling himself with this man and just wanted an excuse to leave.
At that moment, the Martial Grandmaster who had brought the news suddenly spoke up.
“Nephew, don’t let these two deceive you. I suspect they’re swindlers. Why don’t we just seize them and interrogate them thoroughly?”
A cold light flashed in Xiao Yang’s eyes.
From the very beginning, this man had targeted him at every turn. He had held his peace for the sake of avoiding trouble, but now the man dared to push his luck.
“Heh. Whether or not I’m a disciple of the Giant Spirit Sect is none of your business.”
He shot back without hesitation.
The Martial Grandmaster’s face darkened,
a murderous glint in his eyes.
Sensing the tension, Jiang Luo quickly tried to smooth things over.
“Uncle Liu, these two really are disciples of the Giant Spirit Sect—of Spirit Sword Peak, no less.”
“Look at that young lady’s sword; it bears the mark of Lord Zhou the Sword Marquis.”
At this, both the Martial Grandmaster and Jiang Dachuan looked closely.
When they saw the character ‘Peng,’ both involuntarily shuddered.
The Martial Grandmaster immediately bowed in apology.
“Sir, I deeply regret any offense. Please forgive me.”
His abrupt change of attitude made Xiao Yang even more awed by his master.
Just how formidable was his teacher, to inspire such fear in these people?
After all, Zhou Jingpeng hadn’t set foot outside for at least ten years.
Yet even after a decade, his reputation remained undiminished.
“Be more careful next time,”
Xiao Yang said coolly.
“Yes, of course!”
The Martial Grandmaster nodded repeatedly.
Jiang Dachuan was no less dramatic than his son.
With a loud smack,
he fell to his knees.