Retainer Banquet

A small temple bred fierce demons; a shallow pond bred plenty of turtles.

Even among this small group of retainers, there were unspoken rules.

But something like this was nowhere near enough to frighten Fan Lang.

Fan Lang smiled faintly, raised his cup, and toasted the bearded man before him. "No matter what, you came to warn me out of kindness. Let me drink to you."

The two raised their cups and drank.

Afterward, Fan Lang pulled Butcher Girl to her feet and left their original seats.

Seeing this, everyone assumed Fan Lang had backed down and intended to move to one of the lowest-ranked seats. What happened next, however, nearly made their jaws drop.

Fan Lang did not head for those lowest-ranked seats. Instead, he walked all the way to the first seat in the right row. By rank, it was the highest seat among all the retainers.

The number one retainer!

Fan Lang sat down without a care, as if it were only natural.

Some people widened their eyes, some gaped, and some even dropped their chopsticks.

Sitting there—wasn't that courting death?

"Hey! Kid, you've taken the wrong seat! Sitting there will get you killed. Get over here, now!" the kind-hearted bearded man from earlier urged.

"I haven't taken the wrong seat. This spot is quite nice, and I don't intend to move," Fan Lang said calmly.

"Have you gone mad? That's Jin Duanshan's seat. He's a level-seven Mystic Spirit, the strongest of all the retainers. You've taken his seat, and he won't let you off. There's still time to change seats now. Once he gets here, it'll be too late for regret."

"You're meddling too much. Worry about yourself."

Fan Lang had no intention of changing seats, nor did he show the slightest hint of fear.

The bearded man got nowhere and cursed under his breath, no longer bothering to persuade Fan Lang.

Several other retainers disliked Fan Lang's arrogant behavior and began making snide remarks.

"What an idiot who doesn't know his own limits. He actually dared sit there. Let's see how he cleans this up when Jin Duanshan arrives."

"He's barely become a retainer, and he's already got his tail in the air."

"There are always fools in this world who love courting death."

"Leave him alone. What does his life or death have to do with us? If Jin Duanshan kills him, it'll make the wine taste even better."

The retainers all believed Fan Lang was doomed this time and waited eagerly to watch the show.

Fan Lang could not be bothered to argue with them. That would have been beneath him. He simply drank at an unhurried pace, occasionally chatting with Butcher Girl beside him.

"They think a level-seven Mystic Spirit can kill you," Butcher Girl said.

"Mystic Spirits differ from one another. Some Mystic Spirit experts can indeed threaten me, but ordinary Mystic Spirits definitely can't." Fan Lang grinned.

"If you defeat that Mystic Spirit called Jin Duanshan later, those people gossiping behind your back should be dumbfounded, right?"

"They're just trash. No need to take them seriously."

Fan Lang was not merely talking big. From the inside out, he utterly despised this bunch of trash.

As time passed, more and more retainers arrived. Many were startled when they saw Fan Lang's seat, but no one spoke up to tell him to move anymore. Most of them wanted to see chaos and were eager for this new retainer, Fan Lang, to stir up a hornet's nest.

Nearly everyone had arrived when a tall, imposing figure appeared at the entrance to the banquet hall, drawing everyone's attention.

The man stood over two meters tall, his body covered in bulging muscles and his skin bronze-colored. A great staff as thick as a wrist was strapped across his back, while Mystic Power surged around him like crashing waves. Simply approaching him made one feel oppressed.

Jin Duanshan!

Everyone recognized him. He was the strongest among the retainers, and anyone who had ever tried to provoke him had paid a painful price.

At previous Retainer Banquets, Jin Duanshan had always occupied the first chair, closest to the city lord, receiving the city lord's favor and generous treatment.

"Hehe, Jin Duanshan is here. Time to watch the show."

"I wonder how furious Jin Duanshan will be when he sees someone has taken his seat."

"That Fan Lang fellow is dead for sure."

The crowd gloated, each one as excited as if pumped full of blood, craning their necks to watch.

Jin Duanshan entered the banquet hall with a grim expression. Sensing the strange atmosphere in the room and noticing everyone staring at him, he frowned.

"Damn it, why are you all staring at me? It's not like flowers bloomed on my face!" Jin Duanshan snapped.

No one answered. Instead, several people pointed at Fan Lang, making their meaning obvious.

Jin Duanshan looked in that direction and saw Fan Lang occupying his seat. His tiger-like eyes instantly sharpened!

Jin Duanshan kept a grim face as he strode over step by heavy step.

Everyone assumed this was the signal that a fight was about to break out.

Jin Duanshan stopped in front of Fan Lang, his towering body casting a shadow over him. Fan Lang did not even look up at Jin Duanshan and continued eating and drinking as he pleased.

Just when everyone thought Jin Duanshan was about to explode, an unexpected twist occurred.

Rather than lashing out at Fan Lang, Jin Duanshan turned around and looked at the retainer seated in the second position on the right. "Move. I want your seat."

"What?" The retainer who had been called out was dumbfounded. He had been eternally second, always beneath Jin Duanshan, and had occupied that seat for a long time.

"Stop talking nonsense and give up your seat. If you're not convinced, come outside and fight me," Jin Duanshan said fiercely.

"Brother Jin, it was clearly this kid who stole your seat. Why aren't you settling things with him? Why are you taking my seat instead?"

"Three counts. If you still don't move, I'll make your head bloom. Three, two, one!"

The moment he finished saying "one," the eternally second retainer rose in furious frustration, moved to the third table, and drove away the person who had originally been third.

One stone stirred up a thousand waves. The first became second, the second became third, and nearly everyone changed seats. The scene was utterly ridiculous.

No one had expected this situation, much less understood why Jin Duanshan tolerated Fan Lang sitting in the seat of honor.

Only Jin Duanshan himself knew why.

He glanced sideways at Fan Lang and recalled everything that had happened in the Underground Arena yesterday.

This kid is someone I can't afford to provoke!

Yesterday, with nothing better to do, Jin Duanshan had felt the itch to gamble and brought some money to the Underground Arena to watch the fights. He had witnessed Fan Lang's feat of consecutive victories firsthand, especially the final battle, which had been truly shocking.

Jin Duanshan knew how terrifying Fan Lang's strength was, so naturally he did not dare act presumptuously before him and willingly settled for second place.

The others knew none of these details and could not understand what was happening at all. It felt as if they had seen a ghost.

Hot-tempered Jin Duanshan had actually backed down before Fan Lang?

Anyone with even a little sense could tell something was amiss. From then on, no one dared say another disrespectful word about Fan Lang, and they all learned to keep their mouths shut.

After a while, the city lord, Luo Jiuxiao, finally arrived.