I'm Already the Richest Man, Why Did My System Just Arrive?

Chapter 295: Chapter 178: Drawing Prison

"Young Master..."

The corners of Xiaotao’s mouth twitched as she desperately tried to suppress a laugh.

When she could no longer hold it in, she raised a long sleeve to hide half her face and whispered, "Your reputation..."

"...I know. Say no more."

How could Zheng Xiu not know he’d been thoroughly set up by Xie Luohe?

He’d originally thought it was Xiao Buping who would lose face, so he didn’t need to worry. But now, under the watchful eyes of the entire crowd, their scorching stares were fixed upon him. Filled with hate, contempt, envy, or even lust—a bizarre assortment—they felt like steel needles stabbing into Zheng Xiu, making his whole body ache. The shame that should have been Xiao Buping’s was now entirely his to bear.

As the two of them whispered, another knightly couple, the envy of the Jianghu, quietly slipped away to prevent the wife from falling victim to the scoundrel’s clutches.

On the high platform, the tournament’s host, Dugu Xiang, visibly paled, his gaze flickering uncertainly toward Zheng Xiu. He’d heard whispers of Xiao Buping’s debauched reputation, but he never imagined the rumors inspired this much fear in people. He even began to secretly regret inviting this menace to the tournament, allowing what should have been a legendary Martial World event—the birth of the Hero Rankings—to be so tarnished.

"Xiao Buping’s" opponent forfeited.

"Iron Fan Scholar, Xiao Buping, is the winner!"

Dugu Xiang was helpless. Bound by the rules, he could only bite the bullet and announce Xiao Buping as the winner, advancing to the next round.

"Young Master, you won!"

The moment Xiaotao heard her young master had won, she didn’t care how. Her face lit up like a flower in bloom as she grabbed Zheng Xiu’s sleeve, shaking it back and forth.

Beast!

Animal!

Shameless!

May lightning strike you down!

Up on the high platform, Zheng Xiu and Xiaotao had become the focus of the entire audience. Seeing the young woman so cheerful and intimate with "Xiao Buping," the crowd couldn’t help but let their imaginations run wild with stories. ’What kind of unspeakable torture must that young lady have endured,’ they wondered, ’to become so utterly subservient to Xiao Buping?’

What Zheng Xiu didn’t know, however, was that the reason Xiao Buping was reviled throughout the Jianghu and had become the public enemy of all men wasn’t simply his penchant for other men’s wives. The most baffling and perplexing part, the most bizarre rumor of all, was that every woman who went with Xiao Buping had supposedly done so willingly. It was always mutual affection, they said. Xiao Buping never forced anyone.

And that was what made it so infuriating!

If you’d just forced them, one could almost forgive it. But it just had to be consensual!

It’s impossible to guard against that!

This was precisely why so many knightly couples, upon hearing Xiao Buping’s name, would rather give up their chance at the new Hero Rankings and flee with their partners.

Just then, unlike the indifferent Zheng Xiu, Xiaotao—who was paying close attention to the contest for the Hero Rankings—noticed something.

"Young Master, it seems you and... Xiao— er, Xie Luohe are in the same bracket, Group A."

Zheng Xiu’s eyes narrowed as he peered at the brackets posted behind Dugu Xiang. He was stunned.

What a coincidence.

He really was in the same group as Xie Luohe.

No wonder his match was called so soon after Xie Luohe’s.

But Zheng Xiu didn’t care. He just shrugged. "Doesn’t matter. I’m going to lose anyway."

"It doesn’t matter, Young Master. After all, you’re not exactly skilled with a sword."

Xiaotao noticed that "doesn’t matter" had become something of a catchphrase for Zheng Xiu. She’d picked it up herself, and now she grinned, mimicking him as she offered her words of comfort.

Zheng Xiu ordered another pot of tea.

The young man who brought the tea this time was no longer surprised. The more shameless "Xiao Buping" acted, the more fitting it seemed. ’This is the real Xiao Buping,’ he thought.

The ripples caused by "Xiao Buping" did not last long. The crowd’s attention was soon recaptured by the increasingly spectacular matches taking place in the arena.

In the Martial World, Knights lived for passion and vengeance, scattered from the northern plains to the southern seas. Opportunities to gather like this were rare.

Now, under Dugu Xiang’s leadership, nearly two hundred Knights of significant standing in the Martial World—irrespective of whether they followed righteous or unorthodox paths—had set aside their past grievances and sectarian conflicts to gather in one place. It was truly a grand event, the likes of which had not been seen in twenty years. Even if one failed to secure a high ranking, the chance to witness the techniques of so many masters and the clash of a hundred weapon styles made the trip worthwhile.

The first round was full of minor skirmishes. With the exception of Xie Luohe, whose instantaneous strike had been fueled by true killing intent, the other combatants were relatively restrained, and no lives were lost.

Occasionally, old friends would meet on the Sword Inquiry Platform. The atmosphere would be harmonious; they would bow to each other, then spar while laughing and catching up on recent years.

One male and one female Knight dueling on the platform began exchanging flirtatious glances mid-fight. Their sword tips touched, and they started taking slow steps across the Sword Inquiry Platform, circling as if dancing a tango.

There were even two sworn brothers, separated for over a decade, who happened to reunite at the event. They immediately embraced and wept on the Sword Inquiry Platform, drank a whole jug of wine, and got so drunk that several Hidden Sword Manor disciples had to combine their efforts to carry them away. Both were ruled to have forfeited.

The crowd cheered and applauded.

If Dugu Xiang hadn’t been there to issue reminders from his high seat, the Sword Inquiry Platform might have turned into a massive matchmaking event.

Thus, the first round of the contest for the Hero Rankings remained, just barely, under Dugu Xiang’s control.

With so many participants, the first round took nearly four hours before it finally concluded.

Dugu Xiang announced that he had prepared a banquet with the finest dishes within Hidden Sword Manor and invited all the heroes to move to the manor’s Sword Dance Arena. The second round of the competition, he stated, would be held after the noon meal.

Some who had lost in the first round had already slipped away in dejection. Combined with the "Xiao Buping incident," the number of people remaining on the Sword Inquiry Platform had dwindled by nearly a third as noon approached. With only a hundred or so people left, the area seemed much more spacious.

Following Dugu Xiang’s announcement that the competition would resume after the noon meal, the Knights began to file off the Sword Inquiry Platform in an orderly fashion, heading down the mountain.

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