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TOSDAG Chapter 13: Shen Fei
🕑 Added 2024-12-18 06:59:13 +0000 UTCLeek P.O.V
I was sure that the guy in front of me was someone annoying at the very least, and I wasn’t just saying that from Lanruo and Ning’er’s reactions, just from the face he was making it was obvious that this wouldn’t be a pleasant meeting, but even more so, the ki he was emitting was unpleasant, something like the equivalent of smelling like rotten eggs while the others didn’t have any particular smell.
“You! The elders in my family forced me to go see you, and in your house they said that you had gone to train, but now I see you here with another man, do you want to make fun of me?” Said the young man in a rather pretentious and haughty tone.
I was going to intervene, but Lanruo held my arm and gave me a look that asked me not to before frowning at the redhead, and taking a step forward. “Shen Fei, is your eyesight as bad as your attitude? Don’t you see that I’m here too? Do you want to ruin our shopping day?”
The red-haired man’s gaze shifted to the pink-haired girl before looking at me once more and pointing at me with his finger. “Lanruo, are you saying that guy came with you? Is he your guard?” He asked, glancing at my armor. “If that’s the case, your house should be taught that servants should keep their distance, the fact that someone like him talks and laughs so casually with the eldest daughters of two noble families is like a toad wanting to eat swan meat”
I raised an eyebrow at the guy’s words, not feeling particularly offended, after all, it was more or less understandable that I was mistaken for a guard, and the contemptuous and haughty tone was so cliché that it was almost sad, if I had to point out something it would be that final sentence, was it some kind of saying or something? It sounded a little ridiculous if I was honest.
But contrary to me, Lanruo and Ning’er didn’t seem to take his comment so calmly.
“Shen Fei, talk to him like that again and your younger brother will be forced to take your place due to your inability to carry on your bloodline”
The guy, Shen Fei, blinked a few times at Lanruo’s veiled threat of castration, but when he registered it, his gaze narrowed. “Are you defending him? I remember a few years ago you always talking about marrying Ye Han, now that he’s gone and you’ve scared away so many men, your standards have dropped so much that you’ve decided to resort to servitude? It seems that my father’s words about the Huyan family weren’t that wrong”
Lanruo seemed a little surprised and even more annoyed by his words. “That was so many years ago, and yet you still mention it now? And you even dare to insult my family? I thought you were just a stray dog, but it seems that even those animals have more nobility in one paw than you have in your entire body”
"Say and do what you want, it's your family that will bear the shame of your actions with this guy, but if people see MY fiancée chatting so happily with another man, my pride and reputation will be affected, and that is something I will never allow, do you understand?" He said, looking at the orange-haired girl in the last part, as if he was warning her, but when he saw the dark look she was giving him, his brow furrowed even more.
"What's with that look? Did my words about this nobody bother you too? After the great favor my family does by associating with yours, you still want to embarrass me? Isn't this a sign of how much your family is taking advantage of us? Ning'er, you should worship the ground I walk on like a good wife, don't you think so girls?" He asked, taking the two girls he was with by the waist.
In response, they laughed before saying things like 'Master Shen is absolutely right' or 'Master Shen is so wise'.
The three of them laughed like idiots for a few seconds before the redhead pointed at me. "Now, I am incredibly generous, so if you get on your knees to apologize and then swear to never come near my property again, you can quietly go and continue licking your master's boots until she gets fed up with you and throws you away"
"You-" Lanruo was about to lose her temper, but this time it was me who stopped her, I understood why she didn't want me to do anything, there was only one day left for my meeting with the city lord, so making too much of a fuss could backfire.
But honestly, in this case, I doubt there was another way out, so I did what I thought was best, I welcomed the troubles with open arms.
"What are you waiting for? On your knees, servant." The redhead repeated, but I simply looked at him with a blank expression.
"What's with that expression, didn't you hear me? Apologize for what you caused, NOW"
"…" I simply raised an eyebrow.
The redhead gritted his teeth slightly when he saw that I wasn't the least bit intimidated, but rather I looked bored. "You! Are you mocking me by pretending to be deaf? Do you really think that because you're Lanruo's plaything I won't hurt you?!"
"Can you be a little less cliché?" I finally spoke up, making a request which seemed to take the fool by surprise.
"What did you just say?!" He said loudly, causing many of the people around us to start paying attention to us.
"I asked you if you could be more original, what's with the whole stereotypical haughty act? What's next? Are you going to try to beat me up? Or threaten me by backing me up in your family's name? Come on, you can try a little harder and at least do something unexpected, right?" I asked with just enough volume so that only those who were involved in this conversation would hear my words.
His face turned red with anger, and he advanced with his fist raised.
"See? There is the attempt to beat me up." I said, reinforcing my body with ki as much as I could without materializing my aura while I crouched a little, not enough to dodge his blow, but only so that his knuckles did not collide with my nose but with my forehead.
You see, actually giving effective blows is not as easy as it seems, there are several points of the body that are hard enough where if you gave a blow, your fist would be the one that would get hurt, places like the elbows, knees, forehead, but of course, this only applied to "normal" people and not to people with superhuman strength, after all, what would it matter if you hit someone in one of those points if you already had enough strength to destroy concrete or solid rock?
Now, what would happen if this principle was applied, but in reverse, I was stronger than this red-haired guy, I could tell by his ki, but if I added a ki boost to that, then what would be the result?
Then this guy could very well be a normal person hitting a reinforced steel beam with all his might, so what happened to him was not at all pleasant for him.
"AAAHHHH!! My hand!" He screamed, backing away while holding the wrist of his injured hand.
For my part, I barely felt a slight pressure on my forehead.
"You! You dare attack me! My Sacred Family will not let you run away after this!" The red-haired man screamed while still holding his hand.
I pretended to be disoriented by his punch, shaking my head before speaking. "What? Attack you? Everyone here saw that you punched me in the face and got hurt, I haven't even raised my arms." I said, looking at everyone around me.
Ning'er and Lanruo, who looked worried, also looked around me, and although the former seemed a little nervous, Lanruo noticed me winking at her and gave a short malicious smile before speaking in an indignant and annoyed tone.
"Shen Fei! First you dare to hit my father's guest, and then when you prove that you can't even throw a punch properly you blame it on your incompetence? Don't you have any blood on your face?"
The whispers of the crowd increased, and I could hear things like. "Shen Fei is attacking the Huyan family's daughter's companion, and then he's screaming in pain? He wasn't at the gold rank?"
"He couldn't even throw a punch properly, did he lie about his rank?"
"I heard that the Sacred Family had donated a large amount of money to the Holy Orchid Institute during their first year, do you think they really lied about their rank?"
Whispers like those spread around us, which the redhead didn't miss, his teeth clenched as he made a grimace that was somewhere between painful and angry.
I could see from his expression that he was considering attacking again, but would he do it? I mean, no matter how upset he was, after that first failed blow, he should realize that there wasn't much he could do with his strength, right?
Unless, of course, he used his demon spirit, but he wouldn't do that, right? Lanruo had explained to me that openly using them in the middle of the city during a fight was a relatively serious crime due to the destruction and potential casualties that could result from something like that.
If this guy was really a noble, he would know that, so he wouldn't dare do something stupid like that, right? Personally, I didn't want passersby to get hurt just because of an impulsive idiot's lack of self-control, so if I saw him transform, I would do everything I could to knock him out in one hit before he finished changing and then deal with the consequences.
Shen Fei's eyes moved between me and the crowd several times, his frown growing deeper by the second, but when I was sure he would attack again, he turned around, walking away while still holding his injured hand.
"LET'S GO!!" He shouted, and immediately, the girls accompanying him shuddered before running to his side.
"I'm going to remember your face, this isn't over." He said, turning his face and looking at me with all the hostility he could muster before continuing to walk away.
"Well, color me surprised, I thought he would transform and jump on me for a second round." I said quietly.
"Leek…"
I turned around when I heard a voice, and could see that although Lanruo exhaled more calmly, Ning'er was the complete opposite, she was nervous and kept shifting her gaze between Shen Fei's distant figure and me.
She looked like she wanted to say something, but this wasn't the place to talk, after all, although a considerable part of the crowd began to disperse the moment Shen Fei turned around, there were still quite a few people watching.
Lanruo also seemed to notice this, so she took the lead, taking Ning'er's hand and moving forward. "Come on, let's talk somewhere more private." She said, and in response, I nodded and followed them.
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Leek P.O.V
Once we got to the restaurant, we headed to a private space where we could talk, and after being given complimentary drinks and left alone, I decided to be the first to speak.
"Well, since we're alone I'd like to hear what you wanted to tell me before, Ning'er." I said, looking at the girl, who gave me a look that was both complicated and a bit surprised.
"H-how did you know?"
"It was pretty obvious from the look you gave me earlier, I have almost no information besides the fact that your fiancé seems to be an idiot with a stick stuck up his ass that you don't like at all, so if you're willing to tell me how things are, I want you to know that I'm ready to listen." I made sure to infuse as much sincerity as possible into my words and always look Ning'er in the eyes so that she wouldn't think for a moment that any of my words were a lie.
Ning'er looked a little unsure, but she still never looked away, that is until Lanruo patted her shoulder. "I think you should tell him the same thing you told me yesterday"
Ning'er lowered her gaze slightly. "I…"
"I know you said you wanted to solve this on your own, but didn't I tell you yesterday? Letting someone into your life means they'll meddle in your affairs if they really care about you, wouldn't you do the same if the roles were reversed?" The pink-haired girl said with a soft smile and in an older sisterly tone.
The younger girl opened her eyes in surprise, looking at me once again, taking a long, calm breath, managing to calm her expression again before looking into my eyes and speaking again, only this time, the trembling and doubt had almost completely disappeared.
"I would like to share the problems I have, could you please listen to me?" She said it more as a formality, as a final confirmation that I really cared, as if she wanted to make sure that I was genuinely interested.
I smiled as reassuringly as possible before nodding. "Of course"
And that was how Ning'er decided to tell me her story.
X-X-X-X-X
Well, another chapter, not much to say about this one, basically I've set the stage for what happens in the next one, which should be released on the 25th and will be between 3.5k and 4k words.
See you in the next chapter.
