Martial King's Retired Life

Would You Dare to Call Me Grandpa?

Ming Feizhen was baffled as he could be, while the two of them looked as sincere as they could be. It was unreasonable to suspect them of employing some new extortion ploy considering how wealthy their families were. Thus, the only conclusion left was that they were sick in their heads. Once he gave them the tag, he got up and noticed that afternoon was in the past, and it was time for work.

“What are you two doing? How come you’re even injured?”

“This one was ignorant.” Lu Jianqiu held his hands up in a propitious salute and expressed, “This one did not realise how great you were and was full of himself. It was like looking through a gap in the door and thinking one had seen it all, like removing makeup while in the toilet, I am without shame…”

As he listened to Lu Jianqiu ramble on and steal all his lines, Li Shoulin cut in. “You are a stuck-up prick with no honour. You took a cheap shot and were still a goner. You are trash that nobody would even use to wipe their a$$…”

Lu Jianqiu whispered, “Why are you insulting me? Curse yourself!”

“You took all my words! What else am I supposed to say?”

At this point, it was impossible for Ming Feizhen to not realise that they had surrendered. He did not focus on the environment when he was collecting information. Now that he had time to look at the collapsed walls nearby, damaged corridor and their wounds, he had a good guess as to what transpired.

The two of them recovered rather quickly before Ming Feizhen completed his analysis and then got up to avenge themselves. Alas, all four attempts at revenge ended up with their tragic defeats to him merely repelling their force back at them when through activating his true qi armour. After failing twice on their own, they combined their strength two more times, which resulted in them damaging even the corridor. Even their idols (their fathers) would not have been able to floor them in one hit each, let alone without lifting a finger. Plus, they were sure that Ming Feizhen held back, so there was as little doubt about his strength as there was his ugly appearance.

In reality, Ming Feizhen did not hold back. He did not focus on his surroundings while he was scouring for information from people, but he was able to promptly snap back if his safety was threatened. The two youths were not skilled enough for him to feel threatened. Besides the first attack Li Shoulin launched on him, Ming Feizhen never initiated an attack on them. After that, he only repelled their true qi back at them to send them flying. As visually impressive as the visual effect was, he did not inflict any irreversible damage to them; they only had a few bumps and scratches. Therefore, it was just a matter of them not using lethal force, or they would have caused far more damage. Regardless of what their misunderstanding was, though, he had every right to be their new idol.

Forget fighting Ming Feizhen for Song Yanluo; all they cared about now was keeping their heads on their shoulders. While their families had connections far and wide enough to encompass Hangzhou – and there were plenty of people in the audience who could have saved their hides – they were the ones who proposed the duel. Asking for help before they even got into the ring for an official match would have been ridiculous. The only reason they would get into the ring at this point, though, was if they did not want the rest of their lifespan. They fought for victory, not to die. They were one decision away from having to sleep for eternity in the ring they made. Following a long discussion with each other, they discovered a fact to leverage.

“He wants to be our grandpa, right?”

“Your grandpa. I’m a generation older than you.”

Putting aside their own statuses, Ming Feizhen personally demanded they referred to him as “grandpa”. It was scary to imagine that he foresaw the conclusion and was sending them a kind reminder earlier. It went without saying that they had yet to fully submit to Ming Feizhen; they merely wanted to buy some time to eventually catch him off guard.

“You two sure are standing on ceremony.” Ming Feizhen could guess what their intention was without hearing their thoughts. Smiling, he said, “In that case, once we get into the ring, knock me off.”

Li Shoulin and Lu Jianqiu: How did he know that?!

Li Shoulin and Lu Jianqiu: “We would never dare.”

“You can drop the act. I know you what you’re both thinking. I’ll give you a chance. Knock me off as soon as we’re up there.”

The two of them trembled as they mumbled they would never dare to, all whilst fearing that he could hear their real thoughts.

Ming Feizhen frowned. “What are you doing? Get up.”

The two of them were forced to stand without Ming Feizhen budging a limb.

“I’m not being sarcastic. I want you two to knock me off. It’s not that hard, is it?”

The duo only felt reassured after reconfirming with Ming Feizhen multiple times.

“Once we’re in there, hit me with your best technique, and I’ll get off on my own. I’m no longer your concern afterwards, and you two can fight whatever fight you want. You both have an ace technique, right?”

An adept’s request could never be so straightforward, right? Lu Jianqiu emulated the sequence in his mind. His problem was that he specialised in swordplay, and he was worried about causing injury, which would be troubling for him.

“I have a trustworthy technique, but it is extremely powerful. Would you be able to handle it, Grandpa?”

Ming Feizhen wagged his hand. “Don’t call me ‘grandpa’. It sounds weird.”

“Hear that? You Lus have no shame. Wouldn’t you agree, Dad?”

To nobody’s surprise, the two young lords started arguing again. As Ming Feizhen watched the two of them speechlessly, he visualised what was going to unfold soon. Unlike the two arguing, there were numerous individuals skilled enough to see Ming Feizhen come and go, meaning that he needed to set up an opportunity to leave the ring, or his hopes of chasing Hua Yumeng would be dashed. By the looks of things, he was going to need to be a father figure to them if he was going to make them obedient.

“That’s not important. Listen carefully: although I can’t take you as my grandsons, whoever can help me do this can be the other dad.”

The both of them were ecstatic to hear that. While it was new way of deciding one’s status, who would argue against an adept? In the pugilistic world, might made right. Seeing as they lost to him, they had to obey him.

“I’m dad! I’m dad!”

“Piss off! I’m your dad!”

Ming Feizhen gave them a simplified oral version of the plan.

“That’s it?”

“Simple, yes, but you need to be able to pull it off.” Ming Feizhen gazed at the moon. “There’s not much time left. You two better start preparing right now. As for injuries…”

Li Shoulin and Lu Jianqiu suddenly felt pure energy flow into them. Despite knowing it derived from an exterior source, it felt as though it was their own energy roiling, prompting them to exhale. To their disbelief, it only took them ten breaths to remove all the aftereffects of the blows from before; even their internal energy slightly improved.

“Solved? Go think about what technique you’ll use to attack me now. Your relationship in the future depends on it, so take it seriously.”

They quickly sat down to meditate, giving Ming Feizhen some much-needed peace.

Ming Feizhen: Just wait for you now… bI4ch.

Before the main event at night, Proprietor Chen had two music and dance performances on stage. The men were either busy picking up their jaws or eyes off the ground after watching the young maidens perform. Once the atmosphere was as energetic as it could be, Proprietor Chen took centre stage.

“Ladies and gentlemen, you are here to see Young Master Lu and Young Master Li’s duel. This one took it open himself to provide you with some entertainment prior, but he assumes you are bored of them by now.”

Several men yelled for encores right after, prompting laughter among the crowd.

Proprietor Chen stroked his beard with a smile. “That would be disrespectful to the two young masters. However, as you have requested so, this one shall organise more entertainment if the two young masters would permit it after their duel.”

The crowd expressed elation over the proposal.

“Without further ado, let us welcome our three stars for tonight to the stage!”