Your IQ and EQ, young lady! The male lead is taking all the collateral damage!
Ning Yingying absolutely hadn’t considered the consequences of these words as she said them. She’d only been thinking of how she always saw Luo Binghe wearing that jade Guanyin close to his skin, never parting with it. Girls in particular invariably wanted to get their hands on the things their crushes treasured, which they hoped would confer upon them the satisfaction of being in a “special position.” But Luo Binghe simply refused to give her that recognition. Displeased, she’d brought it up in this half-sweet, half-brazen manner.
Of course he’d refused, okay?! Luo Binghe’s washerwoman mother had spent almost her entire life savings to finally, with great difficulty, give her son the consecrated protective charm she wanted for him. It was the only bit of warmth in Luo Binghe’s dark world, always by his side, and even in the future when he was at his darkest, it could summon up his last dregs of humanity—so how could he randomly hand it to anyone else?!
Ming Fan, both angry and jealous, advanced a few steps. “Luo-shidi, you sure are stuck-up, refusing to show Ning Yingying-shimei your pendant,” he snarled. “If this keeps up, when we face strong enemies in the future, will you refuse to even lend a hand?!”
Young man! There’s definitely a logical gap between your first and second lines!
“It’s fine if he doesn’t want to. Shixiong, don’t bully him!” Ning Yingying hadn’t thought things would turn out like this, and she anxiously stamped her feet.
How could Luo Binghe best Ming Fan at this point? Not to mention a group of junior disciples who were Ming Fan’s lackeys were also ganging up on him.
In a moment, that jade Guanyin fell from Luo Binghe’s neck into Ming Fan’s hands. Ming Fan raised it up for a look, then suddenly laughed loudly.
“Why…why are you laughing?” Ning Yingying said, confused.
“I thought it had to be some rare treasure, for him to protect it so fiercely. Shimei, guess what it is?” Ming Fan tossed the jade pendant into Ning Yingying’s hands, positively gleeful as he chuckled. “It’s a counterfeit…”
“Counterfeit?” Ning Yingying asked. “What’s that?”
“Give it back.” Luo Binghe enunciated each word. His fists slowly clenched, a treacherous undercurrent surging in the depths of his eyes.
Shen Qingqiu’s fingers involuntarily twitched once, then again, and again. Naturally, he remembered that the jade Guanyin was a counterfeit—he also knew that it was Luo Binghe’s biggest berserk button.
For an entire year, the washerwoman had scrimped and saved on food and utilities, but because she lacked experience, a conman had tricked her into paying a high price for a fake charm. Heartbroken after this, her body had steadily deteriorated. Luo Binghe would undoubtedly be unable to forget this pain for the rest of his life. Thus, this was the one insult that Luo Binghe could never tolerate.
As a bystander, Shen Qingqiu desperately wanted to reach out, beat up Ming Fan, snatch back the jade pendant, and toss it to Luo Binghe.
Also, if he did that, maybe Ming Fan wouldn’t thoroughly offend Luo Binghe? Then, later on, he could keep his paltry little life.
【 OOC. 】
“Thank you. Shut up.”
“You want it back, I’ll give it back. Who knows which street stall this cheap thing was purchased from?” Ming Fan plucked the pendant from Ning Yingying’s hands, disgust in his tone. “I’m afraid giving it to Shimei would dirty her hands.”
So he said, but he had not the slightest intention of returning it.
Luo Binghe’s face was tight. Suddenly, he struck out with both fists, hitting the couple of low-ranked disciples restraining him.
Enraged as he was, his blows were not directed by technique; they were random strikes fueled by the anger within. At first he managed to cow these low-ranked disciples, but they quickly realized that he was in truth incredibly weak and that only his demeanor was impressive.
Also, Ming Fan was snarling at them. “What are you standing there for? He dared to attack his shixiong—teach him what it means to respect seniority!”
At this, they all regained their courage and surrounded Luo Binghe, clobbering him.
Ning Yingying was scared stiff, her pitiful brain capacity still not understanding how things had progressed to this state. “Shixiong!” she cried. “How could you do this?! Hurry up and tell them to stop, or—or I’ll never talk to you ever again!”
“Shimei, don’t be angry,” Ming Fan said in a panic. “I’ll tell them to stop hitting this guy, okay?”
He was distracted. Before he finished speaking, Luo Binghe broke free from the many arms and legs entangling him—and sent a fist into Ming Fan’s nose.
A wild wail. Two twin streams of fresh blood jetted from Ming Fan’s nostrils.
Although she had been about to burst into tears, at the sight of this, Ning Yingying couldn’t help but let out a stifled laugh.
Sister, really, do you like Luo Binghe, or do you want to screw him over?! Shen Qingqiu howled in his mind.
Before this point, Ming Fan might feasibly have let Luo Binghe go, but now that he’d been humiliated in front of his crush, he couldn’t back down, no matter what.
The two boys twisted into a fighting heap, but no matter how exceptional Luo Binghe’s talent, he was still young, and he hadn’t been cultivating with proper instruction. It was, for the most part, a one-sided beatdown. Yet Luo Binghe remained silent, teeth clenched.
Shen Qingqiu wanted desperately to intervene—but the System exploded with a terrifying cascade of alarms.
【 Severe OOC! Severe OOC! Severe OOC! Important things must be repeated three times! In this situation, Shen Qingqiu would choose to smile! He would watch from the sidelines, hands in his sleeves! Or personally beat Luo Binghe himself! 】
Was it really going to make him look on while a child was being abused? This was really too much… Even so, Shen Qingqiu couldn’t afford to take risks.
While he was anxiously fretting, a compromise suddenly came to him.
Cang Qiong Mountain Sect had a minor technique, “Plucking Leaves, Flying Flowers.” At a glance, it wasn’t very useful, just aesthetic and interesting. The novel had described how Luo Binghe used the technique to win the nth woman’s affections. As Shen Qingqiu had, since his arrival, been furiously reviewing various manuals, he had also recently seen a description of it.
He plucked a nearby leaf and channeled a touch of spiritual power into it. The first time, he channeled too much. The leaf couldn’t withstand his power and instantly split into several pieces. He succeeded the second time, held the leaf between his fingertips, and gently blew, letting go.
The leaf shot toward Ming Fan like an airborne knife.
As Ming Fan’s long and horrible scream split the air, Shen Qingqiu shook out his hand and wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead.
No wonder they said that to an expert, even a flower or tree could be used to hurt people! But he hadn’t killed Ming Fan just now, right…?