Chapter Nine: Xiao Meier

“Ah—!”

The three guards were still howling in agony, but their right arms were already gone, blood spurting and painting the air with a mist of crimson, a truly ghastly sight.

“It’s been so long since I last wielded a blade… I’ve grown clumsy with it,” Lin Fan frowned and sighed, tossing the long knife to the ground, a trace of frustration in his expression.

Back in the day, even with the same level of cultivation he had now, he could have severed three arms in one swift stroke without the victims realizing it.

His blade was once so fast that those guards wouldn’t even have seen, wouldn’t even have felt it—he’d have sheathed the weapon before they knew what was happening.

When a limb was cleaved at that speed, bones, veins, and cells remained momentarily fused, no blood would spray, nor would the arm fall right away.

Only after a brief pause, when gravity finally claimed the severed limb, would it drop to the ground!

He remembered well the duel with Liu Qi, the Lightning Swordsman. They stood face to face for three hours without moving. Then, as a gust of wind swept through, Liu Qi tried to strike, drawing his sword—yet Lin Fan was already walking away.

For at the instant the wind arrived, Lin Fan had already drawn and slashed, beheading Liu Qi so swiftly that the latter never saw him move.

He recalled: as he took his fifth step, a line of blood appeared at Liu Qi’s throat.

The sixth step, Liu Qi’s head fell.

The seventh, blood spouted from his neck like a fountain.

The eighth, Liu Qi’s body crashed to the dust.

……

Lin Fan sighed inwardly. But those days were gone…

He spared no further glance at the guards or Bai Shaoming, and walked downstairs. The entire second floor of the Four Seas Tavern had fallen utterly silent, so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Everything had happened too quickly. The patrons, expecting a showdown between Bai Shaoming and Lin Fan, were still waiting for a spectacle.

In the blink of an eye, Bai Shaoming was hurled aside, the guards attacked en masse, a dark figure flashed, then three guards screamed, their arms severed, blood splashing everywhere.

Everyone’s minds went blank. Only after Lin Fan had disappeared did some timid women come to their senses, shrieking that there had been a killing, stumbling out of the tavern in terror.

Clean, swift—utterly terrifying!

Those cultivators who remained, frozen in place, could only think of these words.

No matter how much time passed, they would remember the image of that youth’s departing figure, burned into their minds.

Do not provoke him.

That was the final phrase etched into every patron’s mind. Lin Fan’s figure was something they would never forget.

“What a formidable youngster,” a voice remarked from a spot some distance away on the second floor. It belonged to a filthy, beggar-like old man, who looked up as he spoke.

His eyes glimmered with a strange light, but in the end, he could only shake his head and return to wrestling with the roast chicken in his hands, tearing into two drumsticks with gusto.

Yet now and then, a sharp gleam flashed in the old man’s eyes, hinting at hidden skill. Because of this, many tried to curry favor, buying him drinks and hoping to learn a move or two.

But regulars of the Four Seas Tavern all knew: the old man was a fraud, a beggar who pretended to be a master just to swindle drinks and meals...

“Damn, something’s off. I was so busy putting on a show, I forgot the important thing!” Walking down the street, Lin Fan slapped his forehead in regret. He had come to the tavern to gather information, to see if there were any good blacksmiths around who could forge him a new blade!

Instead, he’d run into Bai Shaoming, forgotten his purpose, and after slicing off the guards’ arms, found the tavern too bloody to linger. Having just shown off in such fashion, he had to leave grandly to fit the mood.

But now that he thought about it, he still hadn’t found a blacksmith… Would his future blade be doomed before it was even born?

How would the blade feel about this?

How about the chicken, duck, and fish he’d just eaten at the table?

Lin Fan was briefly lost in self-reproach, but the smile at the corner of his lips betrayed him. He muttered softly to himself, “It’s been so long since I held a blade… That feeling was wonderful.”

That sly smile, paired with a dreamy gaze, made him look exactly like a man savoring the aftertaste of finally conquering his long-desired goddess.

“Shameless man!”

Suddenly, a scornful voice sounded beside him, freezing Lin Fan’s smile. Before he could turn his head, words flashed across his mind:

“Negative emotion value from Xiao Meier: +59!”

Lin Fan stiffly turned his head and saw a strikingly beautiful girl in red, casting a look of utter contempt as she brushed past him.

“Hey, you! Yes, you, the girl in red!” Seeing her look at him with such disdain, Lin Fan refused to let it pass. He pointed at her and called out, “Stop right there!”

He strode over to her and demanded, “Why are you insulting me?”

“So what if I insult you? What are you going to do about it? Shameless man!” The girl in red was clearly hot-tempered. She offered no explanation, just cursed him outright.

“Damn, is this karma coming so quickly?” Black lines appeared on Lin Fan’s forehead. He had just chewed Bai Shaoming out at the Four Seas Tavern, and now it was his turn, the words and tone almost identical.

“Listen, girl, you’re quite pretty, so I’ll let this go.” There was no way he was going to strike a young girl over something so trivial, and scolding her was beneath him. He could only admit defeat and turn to leave.

“Wait, who are you calling ‘little’? What’s little about me? Where?!” At these words, the girl in red became indignant. She grabbed Lin Fan, puffed out her developing chest, and demanded an answer.

“Negative emotion value from Xiao Meier: +333…!”

“Let go, let go!”

Lin Fan shook off her hand, his brow creasing into sharp lines. “Are you mad? Did you forget to take your medicine today?”

He was truly exasperated. They said only petty men and women were hard to deal with—he was beginning to think the ancients were right. This girl was impossible.

Xiao Meier: “???”

“Negative emotion value from Xiao Meier: +432!”

Xiao Meier, unused to such a novel insult, was momentarily stunned. But as she considered it, her brow shot up. “You’re the one who’s mad! Your whole family is mad!”

Lin Fan’s frown deepened. Was this never going to end? First he was insulted, then scolded for asking why, and now, when he tried to leave, she was the one holding onto him and hurling abuse.

Was there any justice in this world?

Just as Lin Fan considered teaching Xiao Meier a lesson, several harsh voices sounded behind him.

“Let go of Meier!”

“How dare you harass my sister, you’ve got some nerve!”

“You there, boy, take your filthy hands off her!”

……

Lin Fan turned, bewildered, to see five or six youths approaching. They were dressed in fine robes of silver, white, black, and other colors—the fabrics themselves marked them as children of wealthy families.

The problem was, Lin Fan was pretty sure these boys were missing a few screws. It was Xiao Meier who was holding him, refusing to let him go—when had he ever grabbed her?

“Negative emotion value from Lin Fan: +100,000!”

This value didn’t come from the system in Lin Fan’s mind; it was what he felt in his own heart. His negative emotions were off the charts.

“Well, if you won’t let go, I guess I’ll have to teach you a lesson!” One of the approaching youths, the one in silver, cracked his knuckles as he strode up. “Kid, my sister may be a handful, but if you dare harass her in broad daylight, as her brother, I can’t just stand by!”

These people really were missing a screw. Just now they accused him of grabbing Xiao Meier, now they’d upgraded it to harassment… Lin Fan thought to himself.

But he had to retort; otherwise, how could he justify having a system that collected negative emotion values?

“So what, if I harassed your sister at night instead of in broad daylight, you wouldn’t care?”

Xiao Shuihan: “???”

“Negative emotion value from Xiao Shuihan: +226!”

Xiao Shuihan was dumbfounded, unable to find a response. He never expected Lin Fan to respond like that.