Martial King's Retired Life

I’m Busy

“Two?” Song Lian blurted, brows knitted.

They suspected an adept was snooping around based on the presence they detected moments ago. When they investigated the same presence they sensed at an inn, they heard of a mysterious and unstoppable womaniser who had risen in Hangzhou lately.

The four of them were not too far off from each other in terms of abilities, but they could only identify one individual as strong. Thus, the fact that Lady Bai identified two individuals indicated that she was superior to all four of them.

“What makes you say so, Lady Bai?” queried Song Lian.

Lady Bai did not answer. She did not like providing explanations. She cared for very few things and people in her life, and they could not hold a speck of dust compared to her husband in terms of importance. She lived in her own world and only had eyes for her husband.

“Two people – both impressive.” The casual remark to herself surprised the four men again, while the eight-months pregnant woman casually sat back down and shut her eyes to protect her peace.

“If she says so, then it must be true.” Bai Zhiqing went to gently warm his wife’s hands after his equally mindless remark.

They were used to the Bai couple’s lovey-dovey ways by this point. Jin Buhuan laughed it off as he flicked Bai Zhiqing a thumbs up in slow motion as if he was afraid of disturbing Lady Bai.

The other three patriarchs pondered if the person releasing his qi and then erasing it was arrogantly warning everybody of his arrival or plotting something. While there were plenty of capable martial artists in the world, being able to slip away off their four radars was not a common occurrence. No matter who they looked at in the room, they could not find the answer to why there was another adept of this calibre in Hangzhou.

“Matriarch Zi?”

“Impossible.” Stroking his big beard, Jin Buhuan asserted, “Miss Zi so busy preparing for her big day that she probably doesn’t have time to even spare us old men a glance, let alone bother with a children’s fight.”

The four of them were at Lionwood Court in the first place for the fight to kill time because the wedding was still a long way away.

“Miss Zi? You sure know how to flatter someone.” Song Lian had never heard Jin Buhuan refer to Matriarch Zi so nicely. In fact, he had never heard anyone speak so nicely of the violent sword master.

“Keep your ignorance to yourself. This old one once had the opportunity to learn from her, hehe.”

Jin Buhuan once met Zi Wutong when she was actively punishing evil and had a shorter fuse, and he cracked numerous uncomical jokes. Seeing as how he referred to her nowadays, it was self-explanatory as to what he “learnt” from her left him traumatised. Even his chuckle sounded depressing.

Ling Yaoshi averted his gaze from the window and beamed. “Lady Bai has already been ambushed twice, yet he still dares to show himself. Hangzhou really is a stressful place to be in.”

The blackness above became a suffocating blanket. The crossing rays of light in the ether seemed to have no end in sight. The audience was puzzled, wondering why the atmosphere was so tense when it was just a dispute between some youths who could not stand the sight of each other. The hostility that one’s opponent emanated was a rather abstract concept to grasp. Even the audience could sense the hostility violating their senses, though, and the sensation only intensified with the passage of time. To young martial artists, however, the aura was virtually non-existent.

“You courting death?”

“You courting death?”

“You want to taste my great sword?”

“It sounds like you want to have a taste of my iron spear.”

Li Shoulin and Lu Jianqiu had been verbally assaulting each other since noon; they already fought several rounds despite the fight officially being at night, breaking several weapons the venue prepared for them.

Ming Feizhen was surprisingly the most serious person on the scene. He sat cross legged on the ground, palms facing up on his thighs and eyes shut as he practiced some incredible discipline. Nothing the other two did could distract him or make him budge.

Both Li Shoulin and Lu Jianqiu knew what they were talking about when it came to internal disciplines, but they could not have focused in isolation for several days, let alone sit still for hours on end. Hence, the duo laughed at Ming Feizhen for acting but later respected his focus when they finished their sixth fight, and Ming Feizhen still had not budged.

“What’s his deal?”

“Has he lost his mind?”

Li Shoulin despised people pretending to be who they were not. He could not figure out who Ming Feizhen was trying to impress, so when he recalled Song Yanluo telling him to not harm Ming Feizhen, he had a real taste of jealousy.

Recognising Li Shoulin was angry, Lu Jianqiu cracked a smirk. “If you’re too scared to hurt him, walk away. Stop acting like a pitiful dog.”

“I’m too scared?!” Li Shoulin strode over to Ming Feizhen. “Hey, get up! Stop acting. I’m getting sick of you.”

Ming Feizhen did not respond.

Annoyed, Li Shoulin extended an arm to push Ming Feizhen. “You too incompetent to understand Chin-”

As a grin came to Lu Jianqiu’s lips, he heard a gale blow past his ears, freezing his expression stiff.

Rumble!

Lu Jianqiu: What… just happened?

Lu Jianqiu turned around to see Li Shoulin lying in a heap among the wall of dust after involuntarily ploughing through a building. He did not see how it happened. All he heard a split second before it happened was Ming Feizhen utter, “Get lost.”