Ye Chenyan raised an eyebrow and hauled up the impostor, whose red hair was now drooping pathetically after the beating.
“You here to beat him up too?”
“Y-Yes!” The young master’s eyes curved into crescents as he smiled. He even gave them a courteous salute. “I am Kong Shanyu, young sect master of Cloudmarsh Sect. I have yet to ask your names or where you studied.”
“And as for this one...”
He looked down at the impostor on the ground, his smile growing even brighter.
“You’re Chi Yantian, holy son of the Heavenly Fire Cult?”
Yu Qingtang was just about to clarify that the man was an impostor when Ye Chenyan shot him a look. He promptly swallowed the words and, with remarkable quickness, turned his head instead.
“You have business with Chi Yantian?”
“I do.” Kong Shanyu narrowed his eyes and flung out his sleeve with an indignant huff. “More than business. I have a grudge against him!”
“Men! Seize this heinous villain Chi Yantian, who’s been terrorizing the countryside and bullying men and women alike!”
At his command, two graceful women floated down from the rainclouds. They gave Yu and Ye apologetic smiles.
“Gentlemen, Cloudmarsh Sect is a local sect of Rongzhou. We have at least some standing here.”
“If it would not inconvenience you, please hand him over to us.”
Yu Qingtang: “...”
Something definitely smelled fishy.
But even if they were up to something, they were being so ridiculously polite about it that Yu Qingtang almost felt bad refusing. He could only look helplessly at Ye Chenyan.
Ye Chenyan chuckled and voluntarily took on the role of the bad cop.
“If you’re a local sect of Rongzhou, and the Heavenly Fire Cult is the greatest cult in Rongzhou, how do we know you aren’t planning to hand him back to them as a favor and cover for him?”
“Well said!” Far from being offended, Kong Shanyu clapped excitedly. “Very well said!”
“Cloudmarsh Sect may not be as mighty as the Heavenly Fire Cult, but we have our own upright principles! We would never shield an utterly wicked man like him!”
“Rest assured, we will absolutely not let him off lightly. In fact!” His eyes flashed with excitement. “I’m going to parade him through the streets!”
“I want all of Rongzhou—no, I want the whole world to know that Chi Yantian of the Heavenly Fire Cult committed countless atrocities... and ultimately fell into my hands!”
Yu Qingtang: “...”
Now he was starting to get it.
This young master probably really did have a grudge against Brother Chi.
Whether the man was genuine or fake apparently didn’t matter. Kong Shanyu was dead set on dumping the whole bucket of shit over Chi Yantian’s head.
Once he paraded the impostor through the streets and the crimes became accepted as fact, by the time Chi Yantian came bumbling back to Rongzhou, his reputation would already be ruined beyond repair and everyone would be cursing his name.
Yu Qingtang narrowed his eyes and leaned back slightly.
“...What kind of grudge is so vicious?”
Kong Shanyu’s gaze darted away.
“Ahem! It concerns my dignity!”
Then he muttered, “And this isn’t me abusing my authority for personal revenge. He committed crimes first. It’s just his bad luck that I happened to catch him!”
“But he isn’t Chi Yantian.” Now that Ye Chenyan understood what Kong Shanyu was after, he had no intention of playing along anymore. He tilted his head. “Can’t you tell?”
Kong Shanyu froze.
“How did you know? Aren’t you outsiders?”
“Tch.” His expression abruptly changed. “No good! We have to capture them too!”
“Sifeng! Siyu! Move!”
The two women who had descended earlier exchanged a glance. Each saw a trace of helplessness on the other’s face.
“My apologies.”
They attacked simultaneously.
Siyu leaned close to Yu Qingtang and gently advised him, “Young Master, don’t panic. We’ve already contacted the Heavenly Fire Cult. We only need to keep this stalemate going for a little while. Once they arrive—”
Before she could finish, Sifeng, who had gone after Ye Chenyan, was already planted headfirst in the sand.
Yu Qingtang: “...”
“Bro! She’s still a beautiful lady, you know. Couldn’t you go a little easier on her?”
Ye Chenyan narrowed his eyes.
“You seem awfully reluctant to lay a hand on her yourself.”
“You!” Anger flashed across Siyu’s face, and this time she truly lost her temper. “Insolent brute!”
“Don’t get mad, don’t get mad!” Yu Qingtang hurried over at a jog and started digging at the sand. “I’m digging, I’m digging! Miss, hold your breath, okay? Sand in your mouth is a pain to clean out!”
Siyu: “...”
Sifeng: “...”
Kong Shanyu: “...”
Yu Qingtang scooped away two handfuls before looking back at Ye Chenyan.
“Wait, don’t you have that totem that’s good at digging holes? Use it!”
Ye Chenyan stared at him, then grudgingly reached down and pulled Sifeng out of the sand himself.
He raised his head again and looked toward Kong Shanyu on the raincloud.
“They’re no match for me. Want to try yourself?”
Kong Shanyu met his gaze, then suddenly pressed a hand to the jade set against his forehead.
“You think you can look down on me just because I’m young?”
“Let me tell you, I might look like I’m only at Qi Refining, but my cultivation is far beyond Qi Refining! My elders merely warned me not to break through too quickly, or I might stay a child forever, so this jade seals my cultivation!”
“Once I remove it—”
Yu Qingtang turned around and reached out to touch Ye Chenyan’s neck.
“What a coincidence. You two are pretty similar.”
Ye Chenyan’s expression turned strange.
Yu Qingtang blinked.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
Ye Chenyan looked away, cleared his throat, and murmured, “D-Don’t touch me like that in front of everyone.”
Yu Qingtang: “...”
He yanked his hand back and immediately shuffled two steps away.
“Could you not say it like I was doing something indecent?!”
Ye Chenyan touched his own neck and raised an eyebrow.
“Were you not—”
“Ahem! Ahem!” Yu Qingtang cleared his throat loudly and cut him off. “Don’t say inappropriate things in front of children!”
Kong Shanyu appeared extraordinarily sensitive to the word children.
“Who’s a child?!”
Ye Chenyan folded his arms.
“Whoever gets worked up about it.”
“I’m not worked up.” Kong Shanyu forcibly sat back down. “Who’s worked up?!”
Ye Chenyan let out a low laugh.
“Anyway, we caught this thing.” Yu Qingtang pointed at the fake Chi Yantian. “So logically speaking, we should be the ones deciding what happens to him.”
“Normally, handing him over to you would be fine. The problem is, you plan to use him to trash Brother Chi’s reputation. That part’s not so fine.”
Kong Shanyu’s ears practically perked up.
“Brother Chi? You know Chi Yantian?”
“We do.” Yu Qingtang spoke with complete sincerity. “We’re actually pretty close.”
“But I can also totally understand why someone might have a grudge against Brother Chi. With that temper of his and that mouth... well, it’s not exactly hard to imagine.”
He had already assumed the posture of a gold-medal mediator.
“How about you tell us what actually happened? Maybe I can help mediate between you two.”
On the ground, Siyu was helping Sifeng brush the sand from her clothes. She shot Ye Chenyan an annoyed glare, but her expression softened somewhat when she looked at Yu Qingtang.
“It really wasn’t anything serious...”
“How can you say it wasn’t serious?!” Kong Shanyu cried indignantly. “It was an earth-shattering matter!”
Siyu looked helpless and hurried to placate him.
“Yes, yes. Earth-shattering. My mistake. I misspoke.”
Yu Qingtang propped his chin in one hand.
“How serious are we talking?”
He started guessing.
“Did he steal your food? Or feed your meal to his little flame?”
“How could this possibly be about food?!” Kong Shanyu snorted. “This is about dignity!”
Ye Chenyan looked thoughtful.
“He treated you like a child?”
Kong Shanyu’s eyes widened.
“H-How did you...”
“Huh?” Yu Qingtang scratched his head in surprise. “But you are a child.”
Kong Shanyu sprang off the raincloud in fury.
“I knew it! You’re all on the same side!”
“Stop!” Yu Qingtang raised a hand, signaling him to calm down.
To his surprise, Kong Shanyu actually stopped for a moment and looked at him suspiciously.
“What?”
Yu Qingtang asked politely, “Do you know which direction the Heavenly Fire Cult is?”
Though confused, Kong Shanyu still pointed it out.
Yu Qingtang turned to face that direction, clasped his hands behind his back, and gazed into the distance with a grave expression.
He said nothing.
Kong Shanyu patiently waited for a while before finally losing his patience.
“What are you even looking at?”
Yu Qingtang gestured for silence.
“Shh.”
He pointed ahead and continued staring into the distance as though contemplating some profound mystery.
Kong Shanyu followed his gaze.
Unfortunately, children were not known for their patience. After staring for a while, he turned back suspiciously.
“You’re not messing with me, are you? There’s nothing there!”
Yu Qingtang slowly withdrew his gaze and looked at Ye Chenyan.
“...Bought us another incense stick’s worth of time. As expected of me.”
“Your turn.”
“You!” Kong Shanyu flew into a rage. “You really were messing with me!”
Ye Chenyan stepped forward and raised an eyebrow in apparent difficulty.
“He’s only at Qi Refining. If I hit him, something might go wrong.”
The moment those words left his mouth, Sifeng and Siyu immediately moved in front of Kong Shanyu, shielding him warily.
This man had shown absolutely no inclination to go easy on beautiful women, and he didn’t seem particularly respectful of either the elderly or the young either. They were genuinely afraid he might beat their little young master up.
“If nothing else...” Yu Qingtang pointed toward the fake Chi Yantian’s men, who were sprawled all over the place, including several who were attempting to quietly wriggle their way to a safe distance. “Why don’t we tie them up first?”
“Stop them from escaping now, then argue over custody later.”
Kong Shanyu narrowed his eyes.
“Fine.”
He raised a hand.
“Sifeng, Siyu, help out. Whatever else happens, these scoundrels have been terrorizing the locals, so they need to be punished regardless.”
Yu Qingtang muttered, “Damn. Looks like he only has a grudge against Brother Chi. Otherwise he doesn’t seem like a bad kid at all. Now it’s even harder to hit him.”
Ye Chenyan quietly leaned closer.
“I can do it. Want me to?”
Yu Qingtang grabbed his hand.
“Absolutely not. I’m afraid you’ll cause an accident.”
Ye Chenyan glanced down at their joined hands, then turned his palm and caught Yu Qingtang’s hand in return, his eyes curving with his smile.
“Okay. I’ll listen to you.”
Just then, everything changed.
The Blazing Rhinoceros, which had been lying flat on its back moments ago, suddenly surged to its feet.
It charged straight at the red-haired impostor lying on the ground pretending to be dead and rammed him head-on.
Then it kicked up its hooves and bolted.
Without so much as looking back, it raced off toward parts unknown.
Its stride was firm and determined, its tail swishing merrily behind it. Compared to its dispirited appearance earlier, it looked positively rejuvenated.
Yu Qingtang: “...”
He looked down at the fake Chi Yantian, who had screamed and then collapsed back into the sand.
Yu Qingtang scratched his head.
He was beginning to seriously suspect this man might not actually survive until the real Chi Yantian arrived.
Kong Shanyu frowned, a trace of sympathy flashing through his eyes.
“Do we still need to tie him up when he’s already like this?”
“Doesn’t look like he can escape anymore. Forget it.” Yu Qingtang waved a hand.
Then he abruptly turned toward the Heavenly Fire Cult, his expression lighting up.
“I hear something. Are they really here?”
“What?” Kong Shanyu’s senses were not as sharp as his, but even he detected something unusual.
He whipped around toward the two women behind him and shouted angrily,
“Sifeng! Siyu! You tipped off that tigress again!”
Yu Qingtang’s eyes widened, and he slapped a hand over Kong Shanyu’s mouth.
“Shhh—!”
“You can’t talk about people like that!”
He looked up.
The Heavenly Fire Cult party had already arrived before them.
Tu Jiaojiao stood at the front in red. Her attire was even more exotically styled than it had been back in Jinzhou, accentuating her graceful, dazzling figure.
She was beautiful like a curved blade freshly drawn from its sheath.
She gave a cold laugh.
“Tigress?”
Yu Qingtang let out two dry laughs and clamped his hand even more firmly over Kong Shanyu’s mouth.
“He’s just a child. He doesn’t know any better. He was talking nonsense.”
Kong Shanyu struggled to raise his head.
“I’m not a child!”
All four of Sifeng and Siyu’s hands came down at once to cover his mouth.
“Holy Maiden, please don’t hold it against him!”
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