Chapter 301 - 178: Jianghu Heroism, Righteousness Never Stands Alone

Chapter 301: Chapter 178: Jianghu Heroism, Righteousness Never Stands Alone

In the corner of the restaurant, three young men sat at a table against the wall.

Each one was tall and powerfully built, with shoulders as broad as a doorframe. Seated, they towered a good half-head above the other diners.

The one who had spoken was sitting with his back to the wall. A knife scar ran down the back of his neck, starting from his hairline and disappearing beneath his collar.

He had a buzz cut, a fleshy face, high cheekbones, and a square jaw.

He spoke again, his voice cold. "This Holy City gets worse every year. Kids these days make a huge fuss over a few fireworks. They’ve never seen the world."

The two men beside him also snickered. One raised his glass and took a sip, while the other, with his legs crossed, picked his teeth with a toothpick, his eyes scanning the restaurant as if looking for something interesting.

The restaurant’s atmosphere fell quiet for a moment.

The voices of the group of girls quickly died down, and they didn’t dare look toward the corner.

Even Liu Xi, who was usually boastful and petty, rarely kept his mouth shut. But after looking up and getting a clear view of the speaker, he lowered his head and silently ate a mouthful of food, his chopsticks moving a little more gently.

Song Wanqing also fell silent. She stared down, stirring the soup in her bowl, the spoon making a faint clinking sound against the rim.

Zhao Hexiang glanced at her, wanting to say something, but he opened his mouth and then closed it, unsure of what to say. In the end, he just refilled Song Wanqing’s cup with tea.

This time, Song Wanqing finally took it and had a sip, which made Zhao Hexiang ecstatic. ’Finally, our relationship has taken another step forward!’ Even so... Song Wanqing hadn’t looked at him once the entire time.

Liu Yu was still looking out the window, watching the parade floats disappear... She hadn’t heard a word Liu Xi had said. She was just silently making a wish.

At Wan Ze’s table, he gave a piece of his cut steak to his sister, then glanced back toward the three men. His gaze paused on the scar for a moment before he looked away.

He had no intention of getting involved.

He didn’t like Liu Xi. Now that the man had run into a hard case, it could only be said that he was reaping what he sowed.

He exchanged a look with Zhou Xianchuan.

Zhou Xianchuan was waiting for Wan Ze’s signal. Wan Ze shook his head slightly, telling him to stay out of it.

So, he didn’t plan to intervene either. He lowered his head and continued eating, picking up a piece of stir-fried pork and chewing it with relish.

Sun Fan had actually heard them too, but he merely glanced up for a second before lowering his head and continuing to eat, completely unfazed.

Xiaoyu, however, was a little nervous. She leaned closer to Wan Ze and asked in a low voice, "Brother, those men are so scary."

"It’s fine. Eat up." Wan Ze placed a piece of fish in her bowl, smiling easily.

Never mind three men; even if there were thirty... he wouldn’t be afraid.

But whether or not he would make a move depended on his mood.

The restaurant remained quiet like this for about ten minutes or so.

The three burly men finished their meal, paid their bill, and got up to leave.

As they walked past Wan Ze’s table, the scarred man’s gaze paused on Wan Ze for a fraction of a second before moving away. He then strode out.

The sound of their footsteps faded down the hallway and eventually disappeared in the direction of the stairwell.

Liu Xi glanced back to make sure the three men were really gone. Only then did he let out a sigh of relief, leaning back in his chair. He picked up his teacup, chugged a large gulp, and then said, feigning bravado, "I was just worried you all might get hurt if a fight broke out. Otherwise, I would’ve taught them a lesson. You guys don’t know, but my cousin knows a lot of tough guys. It’d take just minutes to call a few people over."

"Would it kill you to just shut up for a second?" Zhao Hexiang finally couldn’t take it anymore.

Liu Xi’s expression changed. He slammed his teacup on the table and looked at Zhao Hexiang with an overbearing glare. "What do you know!"

"You!" Zhao Hexiang was furious, but his lips trembled twice, and he couldn’t form a response. 𝘧𝓇ℯℴ𝓂

It wasn’t that he didn’t know how to argue; he just felt it would be too ugly to start a fight in a place like this. He quickly glanced at Song Wanqing, who was looking down and fiddling with her communicator, seemingly having heard nothing.

Liu Yu put down her chopsticks, growing more impatient. "Both of you, stop it."

Liu Xi snorted coldly but still gave her face and dropped the matter.

...

Downstairs, the three burly men walked out through the building’s revolving door, and a cold wind rushed in to meet them.

"What’s going on?" the scarred man asked with a frown, a hint of dissatisfaction in his voice. "We haven’t even had enough to drink and they’re telling us to hurry back?"

The man walking beside him pulled out his communicator and glanced at it, his own brow furrowing. "There’s a message from Brother Tian."

The scarred man paused, took the phone, and glanced at the screen. The sight of it sobered him up considerably.

On the screen was a brief message, just a few words: "Return at once. Urgent."

He handed the phone back without another word of complaint. "Where’s the car?"

"This way," the man said quickly.

The scarred man nodded and quickened his pace, heading toward the parking lot.

But then, the man hesitated for a moment and asked in a hushed voice, "Brother Ma, you didn’t... you didn’t get into a conflict with that group of students just now, did you?"

The scarred man, Brother Ma, turned back and shot him an irritated glare. "I wasn’t talking about you, Xiao Yunkai, so what the hell are you panicking for? They’re just a bunch of little brats who haven’t even hit puberty. So what if I insulted them? It’s not like I was going to eat them alive, was I?"

Xiao Yunkai gave a bitter smile and rubbed his hands together. He had no choice but to reveal the truth, his voice sinking even lower. "Brother Ma, I’m not overreacting. The person sitting at the table next to them... was Wan Ze from the Dragon Eagle Martial Arts Hall..."

Brother Ma’s footsteps stopped dead.

The two men beside him also looked over abruptly. ’Why does that name sound so familiar!!!!’

"Wan Ze? The one with the surname Wan? The one who injured you?"

Xiao Yunkai nodded, his expression grim.

Brother Ma froze for a second, then spun around abruptly, looking as if he was about to head back inside. He started cursing, "Why the fuck didn’t you say so earlier! Let’s go, I’ll get some payback for you. So what if they’re from Dragon Eagle? Does that mean people from Dragon Eagle can just beat up members of our Divine Martial Society whenever they want?"