Chapter 35
Chapter 35: My Father Is Zhao Tiancheng!
When he appeared again, Li Xingge was already strolling through the streets of Qinghua Town.
Qinghua Town was fairly prosperous. Beneath the brilliant lights, the streets were crowded with people, while carts and horses flowed endlessly through the roads.
“Hit him! Beat him! Beat that little beggar to death!”
A discordant shout reached Li Xingge’s ears, and he frowned instinctively.
Following the direction the voice had come from, he saw that in the corner of an alley, several half-grown children had cornered a ragged, skin-and-bones little beggar against the wall and were punching and kicking her.
The little beggar could only curl herself into a ball, struggling to protect her vital spots.
After the group had finished beating her for a while, the youth at their head planted his hands on his hips and imperiously ordered the lackey beside him, “A-Liang, go get my stuff back.”
“Yes, Young Master.”
The lackey answered with a fawning expression.
When he turned to face the little beggar, however, his expression became incomparably vicious.
He snarled, “You filthy mutt, hand over our young master’s things right now, or I’ll take your worthless life.”
Tears welled up in the little beggar’s eyes, but she said nothing. She only kept shaking her head.
“Then don’t blame me for not being polite.”
The lackey cracked his knuckles, let out a cruel laugh, and then kicked the little beggar in the body.
That kick sent her tumbling straight to the ground.
He crouched down, grabbed her hand, and forcibly pried open her fingers one by one.
In her palm was half a steamed bun.
Because she had been clutching it so tightly, the bun had already been crushed out of shape.
Ignoring the despair on the little beggar’s face, he snatched away the bun and turned back around.
Wearing an ingratiating smile, he said, “Young Master, this servant has taken it back. Here.”
The youth glanced at the half-blackened bun, his eyes full of disgust.
“You idiot. Do you really think this young master lacks a single bun to eat?”
As soon as he finished speaking, he slapped the lackey across the face. The blow left him seeing stars and spinning in place like a top for several turns before he finally stopped.
“You blind fool. You deserved that beating.”
Covering his already swollen cheek, the lackey did not dare show any anger, and could only continue fawning with a smile. “A fine hit, Young Master. A truly fine hit.”
The youth let out a cold laugh and ignored him after that. Instead, he turned his gaze toward the little beggar on the ground.
With arrogant hauteur, he said, “Little beggar, even if it’s something this young master doesn’t want, it still isn’t something a lowly little gutter rat like you is qualified to enjoy.”
Then his eyes rolled, and he grinned. “Though... if you can make this young master happy, then I don’t mind showing a little mercy and rewarding you with this half-bun.”
Staring at the bun in the youth’s hand, the starving little beggar unconsciously swallowed and nodded.
The youth lifted his foot and brought his shoe in front of the little beggar with a playful look on his face. “Lick this young master’s shoe clean with your tongue, and this half-bun is yours.”
The lackeys beside him immediately began clamoring along with him.
“Little beggar, what are you waiting for? Being allowed to lick our young master’s shoe is a blessing you must’ve cultivated in your past life.”
“That’s right, that’s right.”
“Other people would beg for the chance and still not get it. Don’t you think so?”
“Hahahahaha...”
...
Their merciless laughter turned the little beggar’s sallow face deathly pale, and she shook her head desperately.
Seeing that she actually dared refuse, the youth stomped on her face and ground it back and forth twice before shouting harshly, “In Qinghua Town, no one has ever dared refuse me! If you don’t lick it, I’ll kill you!”
Terror flooded the little beggar’s already battered and broken heart.
At that moment, she finally despaired of this world filled with malice. Turning her head to one side, she felt her heart go utterly cold.
Being rejected by some lowly little beggar made the youth feel he had completely lost face in front of his lackeys.
Humiliated and furious, he snarled, “So you won’t take kindness when it’s offered? Then go die!”
As he spoke, he grabbed a club as thick as a fist and swung it viciously at the little beggar’s head with all his strength.
If that blow landed, her head would be smashed to pieces.
The little beggar trembled and shut her eyes, quietly waiting for death to descend upon her.
Yet the pain she had imagined never came.
“At such a young age, and yet you already treat human life like grass.”
A gentle voice sounded beside the little beggar’s ear, and she hurriedly opened her eyes.
The club that should have fallen on her head had been caught firmly in one large hand.
A figure now stood before her, broad and tall as a god in her eyes, shielding her from harm.
The vicious youth strained with all his might, yet could not wrench the club free from that clean, pale hand.
“Who the hell are you? How dare you interfere in this young master’s business? Do you know who you’re crossing?”
The vicious youth bared his teeth as he glared at the sudden intruder.
That intruder was none other than Li Xingge.
“An ordinary man, nothing more.”
Li Xingge replied indifferently.
“A lowborn worm dares meddle in my affairs? Right now, this instant, get on your knees, kowtow three times, and call me Grandfather. Then this young master might consider leaving you an intact corpse!”
The vicious youth’s face twisted savagely.
As he looked at Li Xingge, a trace of jealousy flashed deep in his eyes. There was an inexplicable bearing about this lowborn nobody that made him feel inferior, and that was something he could not tolerate. This nobody had to die.
Seeing that Li Xingge remained unmoved, the vicious youth furiously barked orders at his lackeys, “What are you idiots standing there for? Get him! Beat him to death! If anything happens, I’ll take the blame!”
The lackeys exchanged glances, their fingers cracking loudly as they approached Li Xingge with vicious grins.
“Kid, remember to grow eyes in your next life!”
Li Xingge gave a light laugh.
Zhanxu left its sheath. A flash of sword light swept through the air, and several fine heads flew skyward.
Blood sprayed across the vicious youth’s face like a fountain. The scene unfolding before his eyes utterly stunned the pampered young master.
Though he had always been arrogant and tyrannical, when had he ever seen such a ruthless figure who killed without blinking?
For a moment, his body slipped beyond his control, and he wet himself.
His legs went weak, and he collapsed onto the ground, his teeth chattering as he stammered, “My father is Zhao Tiancheng! Don’t kill me! If you kill me, you’ll die too!”
Li Xingge let out a mocking laugh and shook his head. “Kill you? I’m afraid you’d dirty my sword.”
Hearing that, the vicious youth finally let out a breath of relief.
It seemed his father’s name was still very useful.
And of course it was. In all of vast Qinghua Town, how many people did not know his father’s great name?
Thinking of the humiliation he had suffered today, the vicious youth secretly ground his teeth.
Once he was safe, he would definitely make his father personally step in and hack this lowborn nobody into pieces.
At the same time, he would let everyone else see exactly what happened to those who offended Young Master Zhao.
He struggled to his feet and tried to sneak away.
But Li Xingge stopped him. “Did I say you could leave?”
The vicious youth’s body stiffened, and his already weak legs began trembling once more.
Li Xingge turned his head and looked down at the little beggar on the ground.
“Do you want revenge?”
Li Xingge asked softly.
The little beggar nodded, then immediately shook her head again.
“Pick it up. Go kill him.”
Li Xingge pointed at the fist-thick club lying on the ground.
Kill someone?
The little beggar’s face turned pale, and she shook her head like a rattling drum.
“So be it.”
Li Xingge turned and began to walk away.
As she watched his figure gradually retreat into the distance, the little beggar’s heart tightened for no clear reason.
“No!”
The little beggar let out a scream and abruptly scrambled to her feet.
No one knew where the strength came from, but she snatched up the club from the ground.
Under the vicious youth’s terrified gaze, she brought it down on his head again and again.
The vicious youth let out screams of incomparable agony. Those screams grew weaker and weaker, until at last, there was no sound at all.
Looking at the vicious youth, now beaten beyond human likeness, the little beggar seemed to lose all her strength. She collapsed to the ground, gasping heavily.
Li Xingge’s footsteps paused, and a strange smile curved at the corner of his lips.