Free Web NovelChapter 346: Chapter 342: They Were All Bewitched by This Woman Named Yang Ling
"Besides, we’re just an old man and an old woman. They wouldn’t dare lay a hand on us, would they?"
"You two should go back. We don’t want you getting hurt if things get messy in a bit,"
Chu He said with a chuckle.
"What about you?" the old man couldn’t help but ask.
"We don’t need to run. It’s broad daylight. You think they’d actually dare to do anything?"
Chu He said nonchalantly.
Seeing Chu He’s expression, Li Ping immediately calmed down.
’That’s right, who is Chu He?’
He wasn’t just famous in the Great Xia Empire; his name was known across the entire Blue Star.
Even if Sun Leibo and Yang Ling had brought Yu Qiming, or even Yu Qiming’s father, Yu Hongtao,
they couldn’t hope to make a single ripple in front of Chu He.
But the kind-hearted old man and woman didn’t know the reason for their composure.
They just assumed Sun Canxing’s family had given up all hope.
They were like ants on a hot pan, pacing around anxiously with no idea what to do.
The old man and woman really couldn’t understand.
Why was a young man like Chu He in Sun Canxing’s house?
He had just arrived in Haitong City as a tourist,
so how had they become so familiar with each other so quickly?
And from the looks of it, Chu He had no intention of leaving.
’Is he going to stay and share their fate, facing the danger with them?’
The old man and woman suddenly felt like they could no longer make sense of the world.
Chu He shot Sun Canxing a meaningful look.
Sun Canxing took the hint, helped the old man and woman out of the house,
and walked them all the way back to their own yard, making sure to close the gate behind them.
He urged them not to come out of their yard no matter what happened next.
Only after the old couple agreed did Sun Canxing return, relieved.
However, even with Chu He there, Li Ping and Sun Xuesong were still a little nervous.
They were simple, honest, ordinary people. They had never experienced a scene like this before.
The last time they’d been this nervous was when the Evil Spirit frenzy broke out in Haitong City.
The family had hidden wherever they could, and in those days, they were too scared to even sleep properly,
living in constant terror.
But fortunately, they never actually encountered an attack from the eerie Evil Spirits.
They managed to survive the long ordeal and were eventually rescued.
Later, with the help of the Empire, they received a house of their own.
Unfortunately, Sun Xuesong had an accident at work, and they were forced to mortgage the house for cash,
eventually ending up in this old district.
Soon, the chaotic sound of footsteps echoed from the alley.
Then, the source of the footsteps appeared at the courtyard gate.
It was a group of Martial Artists dressed in black, each gripping a hollow steel pipe.
The Martial Artists parted to form a path,
and Qian Huixiong, Sun Leibo, Sun Yuzhe, Yang Ling, and Cao Yangming walked out.
"Is he the one you were talking about?"
Qian Huixiong was a man who got straight to the point. After entering the courtyard, he scanned everyone present,
his gaze finally landing on Chu He. He pointed a finger at him and looked at Yang Ling.
"Yes, that’s him," Yang Ling nodded quickly.
"Master Huang, what do you think?" Qian Huixiong asked, lowering his finger.
He heard no response from Cao Yangming for a long moment.
Puzzled, Qian Huixiong turned to look back,
only to see Cao Yangming’s expression frozen like a stone statue, his whole body trembling slightly.
His body was incredibly stiff.
"Master Huang, what’s wrong?" Qian Huixiong asked, completely bewildered.
"Y-Y-You people have doomed me."
Cao Yangming looked like he wanted to cry but couldn’t shed a tear.
He hurried in front of Chu He and dropped to his knees with a THUD. "Mr. Chu, please believe me,"
"I was deceived! If I had known it was you, I never would have come."
"You are a magnanimous man; please don’t lower yourself to bother with trash like me."
"I’m just a worthless stray dog."
"Bothering with me would only be a waste of time for a person of your esteemed stature."
"Even a single second of your time is worth more than a hundred of my lives—no, a thousand of my lives could never repay it."
A storm crashed through Qian Huixiong’s mind.
Master Huang was a guardian under Qian Huixiong’s patronage.
Even in his middle-aged years, Master Huang was already a fairly well-known expert.
As he entered his twilight years, no one expected that Master Huang would actually break through to the King-Sealing Realm.
His physical condition instantly reverted, making him seem decades younger.
Cao Yangming was clearly eighty years old now,
but he looked like a man of about fifty.
In present-day Haitong City, Cao Yangming was considered one of the top figures.
Even his own big boss, Yu Hongtao, who had many powerful experts on his side, had to be polite when seeing Cao Yangming.
Qian Huixiong never, ever imagined
that he would one day see Cao Yangming bowing and scraping like a fawning lapdog.
Seeing Cao Yangming’s behavior,
Qian Huixiong immediately understood that the young-looking man was someone he absolutely could not afford to provoke.
Otherwise, Cao Yangming wouldn’t have, in front of everyone,
made himself look so pathetic and wretched.
"Sir, may I ask your name?"
Qian Huixiong asked, his tone now respectful, a complete change from his earlier demeanor.
"This is Chu He, hailed as the number one expert on Blue Star,"
"He is also the National Guardian War God of our Great Xia Empire."
"If not for Mr. Chu’s protection, the Great Xia Empire would have long been plagued by Evil Spirits."
"And the Lighthouse Empire, the White-Red Empire, and the Great Jing Empire would have likely made their moves against the Great Xia Empire long ago."
A Martial Artist who had been standing outside the gate walked in.
Copying Cao Yangming, he knelt directly toward Chu He and said, "Mr. Chu, we didn’t know it was you."
"If we had known, we absolutely would not have come today. Please, Mr. Chu, forgive us."
One by one, the Martial Artists outside in the alley knelt down, shouting in unison, "Please, Mr. Chu, forgive us!"
The scene made Qian Huixiong feel dizzy.
Who was Chu He?
Qian Huixiong knew the name, of course,
but he had never looked into it deeply.
After all, a figure like Chu He was simply too far removed from his world.
Forget Chu He; even his ultimate boss, Yu Hongtao,
could terrify Qian Huixiong with a single word.
And Yu Hongtao himself was worlds away from a monumental figure like Chu He.
The reason Qian Huixiong had earned Yu Hongtao’s favor was simple:
he was very good at sizing up a situation.
And it was precisely because of this that Qian Huixiong didn’t even know what the man whose name shook the entire Blue Star, Chu He, actually looked like.
Qian Huixiong reacted instantly. He dropped to his knees with a THUD and began forcefully knocking his forehead against the ground.
"Mr. Chu, I was blind and failed to recognize Mount Tai! Please, forgive me."
"I’ll take them and leave immediately."
"The only reason we came here today was because we were led astray by this woman, Yang Ling."
"Please rest assured, Mr. Chu, once today’s matter is concluded, I will be sure to visit again"
"to formally apologize to you."
Chu He said nothing, so Qian Huixiong didn’t dare to stop. He kept kowtowing, and soon, his forehead started to bleed.
The sound of his thudding kowtows echoed continuously in the courtyard.
The other Martial Artists looked at each other, unsure of what to do.
Seeing that Chu He still gave no indication of his thoughts,
Qian Huixiong didn’t dare to pause for even a second.
Each impact of his head was like a heavy hammer striking the hearts of the onlookers.
The gash on his forehead widened like torn fabric, and blood gushed from it like an out-of-control stream.
What started as a trickle soon became a torrent, winding down his face, which was already covered in sweat and dirt.
The blood forked at the bridge of his nose, resembling two tragic tear tracks,
dividing his face into two distinct parts.
One side was as pale as paper, while the other was dyed crimson with blood, creating a shocking, stark contrast.
The metallic smell of blood filled the air, mingling with the evening chill to create an indescribable sense of oppression.
With every kowtow, Qian Huixiong’s body trembled violently,
as if every bone in his body was protesting this inhuman torture.
Finally, with a particularly heavy THUD,
his body could no longer support him. Like a puppet with its strings cut, he slumped forward limply.
He remained in a kneeling position, his knees digging deep into the rough ground,
his hands stretching out feebly in front of him, fingertips barely touching the filthy ground.
And his face finally came to rest limply on the patch of earth that had been stained red with his own blood.
On his open palms, a few small scratches remained from his struggle.
It wasn’t due to blood loss; Qian Huixiong had fainted from the repeated, violent impacts of his head against the ground.
Each time, he had smashed his fragile head directly,
until his vision went black, the world began to spin, and he finally plunged into complete chaos.
In that moment, everything around him seemed to stand still.
All that remained was his sprawled body and that shocking splash of red on the ground.
