149. Driving Back with a Shout

To say that Ma Linlang was unaware of Qi Fei and the others clashing with these people would be sheer self-deception. Within this caravan, it could be said that nothing escaped Ma Linlang's watchful eyes. Everyone knew that this recent dispute over food had been sparked by Qi Fei, yet now that the two factions were in a standoff, Qi Fei seemed to have vanished completely, which naturally aroused suspicion.

"Sigh, Old Liu, why do you suppose Chief Escort Ma isn't stepping in? Can't he see the two sides are about to come to blows?"

"What do you know? Chief Escort Ma is simply sitting on the mountain to watch the tigers fight, killing the chicken to scare the monkeys. Haven't you noticed that kid Qi, ever since he joined the caravan a few days ago, has been stirring up trouble endlessly? If you ask me, the escort leader is intentionally using Zhang Long and his men to take down that kid's arrogance."

"I don't think so. Didn't they say the Qi kid was introduced by the Wang family? Would our escort leader dare to cross the Yunshan Wang family? Unlikely. That's why I say that in the end, the Qi kid is going to win this."

Such murmurs and discussions rippled continuously through the caravan. This was precisely why Ma Linlang had refrained from expressing any opinion on the matter; he found himself caught in a dilemma as well. Yet, it was obvious that even though the number of men under Leader Li's command had grown, Zhang Long and Zhou Hu's subordinates showed no intention of backing down.

Although the martial artists under Leader Li's command were slightly superior to them in both cultivation level and overall caliber, Zhang Long's side outnumbered them two to one. Therefore, even if a real fight broke out, Zhang Long and Zhou Hu's men looked entirely at ease, with zero chance of losing. As a result, throughout the day, far from showing any restraint, Zhang Long and Zhou Hu's subordinates grew increasingly arrogant.

At high noon, several overbearing figures swaggered over to the resting spot where Qi Fei's group was having their meal. One of them, a forty-year-old middle-aged man who appeared to be their leader, strode right over and sat down uninvited beside Zhang Lang. With an unmasked, jeering voice, he called out, "Hey, you brat, you're still coming to tonight's duel, right? If you show up, I'll be sure to entertain you properly once more. How about it?"

A fierce rage contorted Zhang Lang's grim visage. He stopped eating and roared, "Get lost!"

"Hehe, I just love someone with a bit of spine. See you tonight then!" The forty-year-old fellow clearly cared not a whit about Zhang Lang's anger. He curled his lip, exchanged a glance with the three men who had followed him, and chuckled, "Hehe, go ahead and play the hero for a little longer. Don't forget how I taught you a lesson yesterday, haha. You were crying for mercy when you were getting beaten, but now you've got a lot to say, eh?" As he spoke, he reached out and lightly patted Zhang Lang's face, an action dripping with extreme insult.

This single gesture instantly pushed Zhang Lang's fury to its absolute limit. He sprang to his feet, pointed at the intruder, and shouted harshly, "You go too far! How dare you come here and throw your weight around? I lost to you in a single match last night, so what are you strutting around for? Tonight, I'll see just how capable you lot really are. This is our territory, so get as far away from me as you can. Otherwise, see if I don't give you a thrashing right now!"

"Go ahead, try starting something here!" The man curled his lip, utterly unfazed. The few cronies who had accompanied him surged forward simultaneously, not only boxing Zhang Lang into the center but also launching covert provocations from the shadows. However, because their movements were concealed by the crowd pressing in around them, apart from Qi Fei and Ma Qingshan, who shared Zhang Lang's squad, nobody else had a clear picture of what was happening. The opposing party was evidently well-prepared: not only was the thirty-something leader a martial artist of the Second Tier of the Meridian Realm, but the three men accompanying him were all Second Tier martial artists as well.

From a distance, it looked as though they were merely exchanging words with Zhang Lang. Thus, the reality of the situation was that if Zhang Lang lost his temper and struck first, he would undoubtedly be swarmed and beaten by these men, and afterwards, he would have no ground to stand on in the argument.

Zhang Lang was well aware of this. Therefore, even though their endless stream of insults filled him with fury, he had no choice but to swallow his rage and endure it.

As members of the same squad, Qi Fei and Ma Qingshan naturally could not stand by and watch this unfold. Before Qi Fei could open his mouth, however, Ma Qingshan's expression turned icy, and he snapped, "Enough! If you've got the guts, face each other one-on-one with real skill. What kind of pathetic trick is it to resort to underhanded, dirty tactics here? Could it be that Zhang Long and Zhou Hu's men are all worthless cowards who only know how to use these cheap, underhanded methods and lack the courage to fight fair and square?"

When Ma Qingshan shouted thus, he naturally drew the attention of the others. But upon turning around and realizing that Ma Qingshan was merely a martial artist of the same rank as Zhang Lang, the leader sneered with utter disdain, "Who do you think you are, barking so disrespectfully? Are you cut from the same cloth as him—a eunuch who dares to act but lacks the courage to admit it? Let me tell you to scuttle off to wherever it's cool, or else see if I don't take care of you along with him!"

Right now, Zhang Lang's side lacked the numbers, and with the opponent possessing someone of a higher cultivation realm, they still held an overwhelming advantage. This was precisely the root cause of the arrogance displayed by Zhang Long and Zhou Hu's subordinates. Even though the average cultivation level of their men was slightly lower than that of Leader Li's group, their sheer numbers allowed their two squads to easily produce fighters whose prowess ranked among the upper echelon of the entire caravan. Therefore, backed by a Second Tier martial artist, even with Ma Qingshan stepping forward, they had no intention whatsoever of changing their attitude.

Yet, this very behavior thoroughly infuriated Qi Fei. With a sharp *swish*, he flicked a piece of dried meat he had been preparing to eat straight at the leader's head, hitting him squarely. Seeing that his action had successfully caused the group to turn back, Qi Fei couldn't help letting out a yawn before speaking in an unbothered, breezy tone:

"All of you, clear out of here right now. Can't you see young master here is still eating? If you disrupt my appetite again, whether you prefer crawling back or being carried out on a stretcher, young master will gladly oblige."

It wasn't that Qi Fei was fond of boasting; it was simply that these fellows' attitudes were too obnoxious, and their tactics were enough to make anyone frown. Under normal circumstances, he might have turned a blind eye and pretended nothing had happened—after all, there were far too many injustices in this world, and he didn't have the leisure to manage them all.

Yet Ma Qingshan and Zhang Lang were members of the same squad as him, and truth be told, Qi Fei held a rather favorable impression of both men. Consequently, it was only natural for him to step in and manage the situation. However, in the eyes of onlookers, the tone and manner of his speech seemed altogether too arrogant.

Especially given that he maintained such a nonchalant expression right before speaking, which led the opposing group to believe that Qi Fei utterly failed to take the four of them seriously. One had to know that a Second Tier martial artist was already considered an expert within the entire caravan; ordinarily, who wouldn't greet them respectfully and offer a few flattery-laced remarks? Even the official escort guards of the Zhenyuan Escort Agency treated them with utmost politeness. When had anyone ever dared to speak to them in such a manner?

In truth, Qi Fei genuinely did not take them seriously, nor did he need to. But ignorant of his background, the opposing group bristled with rage upon hearing his words. Abandoning Zhang Lang altogether, they lunged aggressively toward Qi Fei, cursing at the top of their lungs, "Damn your mother! Whose pants ripped open this time to let a creature like you crawl out?"

In the blink of an eye, they had surrounded Qi Fei, each wearing an expression that suggested they wanted to tear him apart and swallow him whole.

Faced with their movements, however, Qi Fei merely offered a contemptuous smile and paid them no heed. Even with four men boxing him in, he continued to hold the pouch of rations in one hand while leisurely fishing out a piece of dried meat or pastry with the other, steadily shoving it into his mouth. Such an attitude convinced not only the four men surrounding him but even Zhang Lang and Ma Qingshan that Qi Fei was treating the opposition with absolute contempt.

Though everyone knew Qi Fei was a body-refining practitioner whose strength rivaled a Second Tier martial artist, his opponents were four fully fledged second-rate martial artists. If they truly cast aside the rules and swarmed him all at once, the inevitable outcome would be Qi Fei coming out the loser. Realizing this, Zhang Lang and Ma Qingshan exchanged glances and dashed toward Qi Fei's side, shouting in unison, "A bunch of scum! If you dare lay a hand on Brother Qi, I'll make sure you come in standing and leave horizontal, so you'll never forget today for the rest of your lives!"

Sensing things were reaching a boiling point and fearing Qi Fei might suffer, they hurriedly shouted to summon nearby members of Leader Li's faction to come to their aid. Although the commotion here wasn't overwhelmingly loud, the intrusion of Zhang Long and Zhou Hu's men into their territory hadn't gone unnoticed; the guards under Leader Li's command had been keeping a watchful eye on Qi Fei's direction all along. Hearing the summons, they immediately knew a fight was about to break out, and within moments, over a dozen men rushed over. Meanwhile, those stationed slightly further away, alerted by passing word-of-mouth, also converged upon the scene in a steady stream. Seeing figures trickling in from all directions to surround them, Zhang Lang, whose anger had been suppressed for far too long, finally let it erupt.

"I've had enough of you bastards! All you know how to do is bully the few with the many! Still feeling cocky? Want to compare numbers? Now let's see whether your few men outnumber us, or if we have the upper hand!"

The moment Zhang Lang's voice fell, it was met with roaring approval from the newly arrived martial artists. It was obvious that everyone's pent-up resentment toward Zhang Long and Zhou Hu's subordinates had long since reached a boiling point; now that this suppressed fury had found an outlet, it burst forth like a torrential mountain flood.

Some of the more hot-tempered guards had already clenched their fists and drawn their weapons, eager to rush forward and beat those fellows into swollen pigs' heads. As the situation spiraled completely out of control, the faces of those four troublemakers abruptly drained of all color, turning as pale as paper.

In particular, Zhang Lang's booming shouts turned their legs to jelly, prompting them to stammer frantically, "A misunderstanding! This is all a misunderstanding, brothers! The few of us merely heard that this little brother is exceptionally talented, so we came specifically to pay him a visit. We harbored absolutely no intention of showing disrespect to any of you!"

As the saying goes, as long as green hills remain, one needn't worry about firewood. These fellows knew how to read the room; seeing the surrounding crowd looking as though they wanted to flay them alive, they dared not utter another tough word. Otherwise, they might well receive a thorough beating, and owing to the principle that the crowd couldn't be punished as a whole, they wouldn't even be able to seek justice afterwards.

Having weighed their options and made their decision, even as they offered apologies to Leader Li's men all around them, they shot a vicious, threatening glare at Qi Fei when nobody was looking. It was abundantly clear that these fellows hoped Qi Fei would help cover for them. Otherwise, although they were about to suffer misfortune today, they would undoubtedly band together afterward to settle accounts with Qi Fei.

Of course, had Qi Fei possessed a weaker disposition or merely average Second Tier martial artist capabilities, he might have yielded to their intimidation, covered up the incident, and let them leave unscathed.

Yet, in front of Qi Fei, could such a thing ever happen? Seeing that the gazes of Zhang Lang, Ma Qingshan, and the others had all converged upon him, Qi Fei acted as though he felt no pressure from the heavy atmosphere whatsoever. He tossed two more pieces of dried meat into his mouth, then met the expectant eyes of those men and said, "I already said: do not disturb my appetite. Since the four of you insisted on being so blind and even attempted to gang up on me, I'm afraid I have no choice but to let my brothers help you carve this lesson into your memories."

Just as his voice trailed off, he shifted unhurriedly a few steps to the side, slipping right out of the center of the encirclement. "As for these trouble-making fellows, deal with them however you see fit."

With that, regardless of the ruckus about to erupt, he nonchalantly strolled over to find a seat nearby, resuming the task of feeding his still-unsatisfied stomach. To him, the squabbles of such low-tier martial artists held not a shred of interest or motivation for him to intervene personally.

Unless those fellows were utterly blind and crossed his bottom line, Qi Fei couldn't even be bothered to converse with them. Thus, under the present circumstances, ensuring that the people around him whom he favored were not wronged was quite enough.

This was not because Qi Fei was overly soft-hearted or unwilling to bicker; rather, he felt that Tong He was right—in everyday life, there was simply no need to lower oneself to the level of such people. If one truly grew impatient with certain individuals, wiping them out entirely was the most direct solution.

Qi Fei striking now would result in casualties, so under normal conditions, he genuinely wished to avoid exposing his true strength casually. However, while he had no intention of making a move, Zhang Lang and the others felt entirely differently.

The moment Qi Fei stepped back, those guards, who had long been eager to vent their frustrations, swarmed forward like a hive of bees, each seeming to fear that landing one fewer blow would subject them to everyone else's contempt. Qi Fei felt no pity for them whatsoever; after all, these beaten men were only reaping what they had sown.