Une aura glaçante

Chapitre 89

Seeing his dark and serious face, Xiao Dao guessed that he was probably still angry. She pursed her lips and continued reading.

Wang Bibo went up and kicked one of the contestants off the stage. The contestant coughed up blood and was carried away for treatment.

Startled, Xiao Dao shrank back and hid behind Xue Beifan, trying to avoid being seen by Wang Bibo.

"What's wrong?" Xue Beifan asked, noticing her face scrunched up like a bun. "Are you feeling unwell?"

"Not really." Xiao Dao crossed his arms and glanced at Wang Bibo not far away. "I told you, that Wang Bibo is the most petty man in the world. Look how vengeful he is, tsk."

Xue Beifan followed her gaze to the distance and saw that Wang Bibo was indeed very generous, with someone even setting up a tent for him. He was sitting inside, drinking tea and resting, exuding an air of composure and wealth.

Xue Beifan couldn't help but turn around and ask Xiaodao, "Your mother doesn't have any rules about choosing a son-in-law for her daughter, right? Could it be that your mother-in-law really likes him?"

"Get lost!" Xiao Dao rolled her eyes at him. "My mother doesn't care about any of that."

"Oh, that's good." Xue Beifan seemed relieved. Sure enough, your mother is my mother-in-law.

Seeing that he was trying to gain the upper hand verbally again, Xiao Dao immediately kicked him.

At this moment, Chonghua, carrying a notebook, returned with Xiaoyue and told Xiaodao and Xue Beifan his observations: "The first round is almost over, with about a hundred left. At this rate, it may take until dark to decide the last ten."

"How are the other contestants doing?"

"Xue Xing has indeed advanced to the next round smoothly. I've looked at the others, and these are the people who are most likely to make it to the finals." As he spoke, Chonghua handed over a list with names on it. Besides Hao Jinfeng, Xue Xing, and Wang Bibo, there were also several princes from foreign tribes, as well as the leaders of several major sects.

"As expected." Xue Beifan shook his head after reading it.

"What do you mean, 'as expected'?" Xiao Dao asked curiously.

"Ever since news of my elder brother's death spread, every sect in the Beihai Sect has been vying for the top spot, but not every sect possesses the formidable strength of the Beihai Sect..."

"So you came here to choose the Ghost King for the money." Xiao Dao felt that this kind of power struggle was meaningless. Perhaps it was because she received a letter from her mother yesterday that she inexplicably wanted to go home to see her mother. She thought it would be better to help Xue Er find the last few dragon bone diagrams as soon as possible so that she could get away and go home.

As she was thinking, she suddenly heard a menacing gust of wind behind her. Before Xiao Dao could react and dodge, Xue Beifan casually patted her shoulder and asked, "We still have half an hour to go. Shall we go to the teahouse for some snacks or to the theater to watch a play?"

With that seemingly light touch, Xiao Dao felt himself being pulled slightly to the left, and at the same time, something flew past his ear.

With a "bang," a middle-aged man who had just finished his martial arts match walked towards him. Caught off guard, something smacked him right on the head, knocking out several of his teeth and filling his mouth with blood.

With a "thud," the object fell to the ground, and upon closer inspection, everyone realized it was a hard, solid stone.

Xiao Dao's lips twitched—No way! In broad daylight on such a bustling street, who would be so inconsiderate as to throw stones around like that?

Looking back, they saw several young men who looked like江湖人士 (jianghu figures, people from the martial arts world) standing there, staring at them.

"Oh ho ho, I thought you looked familiar. Isn't this Second Young Master Xue Beifan?"

The student in the lead, who seemed to be around the same age as Xue Beifan, asked sarcastically, "You're not here to choose the Ghost King too, are you? No need. Everyone knows the Beihai Sect has plenty of treasures. With your older brother dead, you'll at least get a share. Leave some way out for others. You can't take all the benefits for yourself!"

Xue Beifan didn't even bother to turn around. Xiao Dao nudged him with his elbow and asked, "Who goes there?"

"They are the four young leaders of the Sishui Gang, known as the Four Young Masters of Shandong," Chonghua explained to Xiaodao as he walked over.

A slight smile unconsciously crept onto Xiao Dao's lips as he sized up the four men, noting their well-proportioned figures of varying heights and builds. In the martial arts world, nicknames and aliases are essentially self-proclaimed titles. For someone to call themselves one of the "Four Young Masters of Shandong"... that's pretty dim-witted!

The burly man who was hit was furious. He'd even lost three teeth. He jumped up and yelled, "Who threw a rock at me?"

Xiao Dao quickly pointed at the four young masters, "Those four! I almost got caught in their trap too."

"You brat!" The big man stepped forward and threw a punch with his arm. To be fair, this young master was quite capable. In just a few moves, he knocked the big man to the ground.

Xiao Dao frowned secretly. This big guy was all strength; his kung fu was terrible!

Xue Beifan ignored the others and asked Xiao Dao, "Tea or opera?"

"Let's have some tea. I don't understand the singing here." Xiao Dao didn't want to cause any trouble and had important business to attend to, so he prepared to leave.

But the fourth young master clearly didn't want to let Xue Beifan off easily. He stepped forward to block him and asked, "It's widely rumored in the martial arts world that Xue Beihai is not dead. Second Young Master should know whether he's dead or alive, right?"

Xue Beifan glanced at the people blocking his way and smiled patiently, "If you want to know so much, go ask him yourself."

The crowd's expressions changed slightly, unsure whether Xue Beifan was someone to be trifled with or not.

At this moment, several more martial arts figures arrived. The news that Xue Beihai was still alive had spread like wildfire, and naturally many people wanted to find out more.

Xiao Dao rubbed his forehead, feeling like he was the one who caused the trouble. He figured it was best not to cause a commotion so as not to delay important matters or attract more people. So he reached out and grabbed Xue Beifan, saying, "Let's go, let's go."

Xue Beifan didn't care and followed her.

At this moment, several more people came up, blocked the way, and questioned them aggressively.

"Xue Beihai is playing tricks. I heard that the Moon Sea Golden Boat and the Holy Martial Emperor's Manual are hidden in the Beihai Crystal Palace."

"Once the Crystal Palace opens, the city will be flooded. Could it be that you two brothers are plotting something?"

"Is Xue Beihai really dead? If not, where is he hiding?"

"Is he secretly hiding in the Crystal Palace, practicing the peerless martial arts from the Holy Martial Emperor's Manual?"

Xiao Dao was getting a headache from all the questions. He glared at them and said, "Who knows if that guy is dead or not? If you're so eager to know, go find out for yourselves."

Normally, it would have been better if Xiaodao hadn't spoken up, but now that he has, things are even more complicated.

"I've always heard people say that Xue Beifan of the Beihai Sect is a good-for-nothing, but it turns out he really is the kind of guy who needs a woman to stand up for him."

The surrounding whispers started to turn unpleasant, and Xiao Dao's face darkened. "How annoying it is for grown men to gossip like that!"

This statement did have some effect; everyone lowered their voices to avoid being nicknamed "long-tongued man."