A Villain Has His Match

"God! All I did was coast through the entire last world! Did they really have to throw me into another world in less than three days?!"

Li Qingyu, the young lady of Li Manor, wailed to vent her frustration. If the maids and guards around her had not long ago received her orders not to approach, these words would likely have been overheard.

"What am I supposed to do now?! I'm only in high school! How would I know anything about managing a merchant guild or developing a business? If I'd known, I would've read more books. Only now do I realize that top students are the way to go! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!!!!"

Li Qingyu let out a round of "furious howls," the cries of an "underachiever." Watching secretly from the shadows, Gu Sheng thought the little girl was rather adorable.

After wailing for a while, Li Qingyu slumped weakly onto the table again. Only after a long time did she raise her head and encourage herself. "Chu Xin, you can do this. Believe in yourself, you definitely can..."

Before long, the energetic young girl had reappeared, once again trapped in the endless cycle of burning the midnight oil and burying herself in paperwork.

"She seemed... a little dumb."

After watching for a while, Gu Sheng shook his head slightly. He could see it now—this "White Rabbit" was truly innocent and naive. She insisted on handling everything personally, and her sense of responsibility was so strong that she seemed determined to work herself to death.

Gu Sheng withdrew his gaze. Having confirmed that this first "fellow traveler" was merely a White Rabbit with little threat to speak of, he could not be bothered to keep watching her. He had a mission tonight!

"Over there?"

Gu Sheng closed his eyes and sensed the surroundings for a while, then narrowed his eyes toward a loft several Courtyards away. After observing the patrolling guards for a moment, he slowly melted into the darkness and sped toward his target.

"Qin Da, Qin Da, Qin Da!"

In a passageway on the eastern side of Li Manor's side residence, Qin San strode along and raged, "Who the hell do you think you are? What right do you have to meddle in my business? You humiliated me in front of so many brothers and didn't leave me even a shred of dignity. What do you take me for...

"Bah! And you call yourself Senior Brother! Damn it, you're always looking down on me. Just wait until I train the Flying Star Sword to the sixth level and become a First-Rate Expert. Let's see if I'll still give a damn about you, you bastard..."

Cursing under his breath, Qin San arrived at his door. Still seething with rage, he kicked it open.

Bang~

The two door panels slammed heavily against the wall behind them and bounced back, swaying for a while before finally coming to a stop.

"Hmph! Bastard!"

Qin San's face was flushed red, and he reeked of alcohol. After venting, he had sobered up somewhat. Not bothering to take his anger out on his door, he stepped into his room, shut the door behind him, and headed toward the inner room beyond the screen.

"Mm~"

After taking a few steps, Qin San suddenly stopped with his right foot raised. He slowly set it down and looked around, instantly breaking out in a cold sweat. He clearly had not lit any lamps or started the stove, yet the room was brightly illuminated, and the heating brazier was giving off waves of warmth.

Even the incense burner in the center of the room was releasing wisps of green smoke. After inhaling it, he felt much more sober and alert.

Qin San looked around, then suddenly his pupils contracted. There was actually someone wearing a tiger-faced mask sitting on his desk.

"Who are you..."

Qin San opened his mouth to shout, but the moment he spoke, a black shadow flew from the tiger-masked man's palm and struck his throat with precision, choking back every word he had intended to yell.

Flap! Flap! Flap!

With a burst of fluttering clothes, the tiger-masked man crossed more than ten feet in an instant and appeared before Qin San.

Seeing this, Qin San suddenly curled the hands covering his throat into claws and attacked the man before him.

Qin San had considerable combat experience. His hands formed sword fingers—one hand lunged for Gu Sheng's eyes, while the other jabbed toward his Shanzhong Acupoint.

"Heh heh!"

Gu Sheng gave a low laugh and reached out with both hands, neither dodging nor evading, to seize Qin San's hands. As a Third-Rate martial artist whose strength did not even reach a thousand jin, he actually dared to clash head-on with Qin San, whose strength was at least three times his own.

Gu Sheng's right hand accurately deflected Qin San's sword fingers aimed at his Shanzhong Acupoint, while his left hand seized Qin San's other sword-finger hand, which had split into two fingers in preparation to gouge out his eyes.

"Ah!"

Gu Sheng circulated his Inner Force through his left hand, twisting and snapping with the motion. Qin San's two right fingers were dislocated, drawing a hoarse scream from him.

Gu Sheng formed tiger claws with both hands and accurately seized Qin San's shoulders. With a crisp crack, Qin San's eyes turned savage, and his hoarse cries of pain grew even more intense.

Whoosh~

Gu Sheng pressed the attack, dragging and yanking downward with his tiger claws along Qin San's arms. Qin San's arms immediately hung limp at either side of his shoulders.

Gu Sheng dragged Qin San by the collar to an armchair, slapped the man into the seat, and tightly bound him with a long rope. Then he slowly removed his tiger mask and smiled. "We meet again, sir!"

"It's you—it's you, you little bastard!"

The moment Qin San saw Gu Sheng, he tried to struggle wildly. Unfortunately, Gu Sheng's rope was no ordinary rope; no matter how he struggled, it was useless. "You little brat, what exactly did you do to me? Why has my Inner Force become so weak?!"

Gu Sheng drew the Jade Chill Blade and flourished it above Qin San's head. Strands of black hair drifted down, and Qin San instantly became like a rooster with its neck wrung—he did not dare make another sound.

In truth, his voice was not loud to begin with. Gu Sheng had shown restraint in his attack; without ten to twenty days, Qin San would never fully recover. During that time, he could only speak in a hoarse voice.

"Hmph! Qin San, it wasn't me who tampered with you. It was your own greed!"

Gu Sheng sheathed his blade and spoke leisurely. "Did you think it was so easy to take advantage of me? Those tea leaves truly were a treasure. They could refine Inner Force, and whenever the medicinal effect took hold, your Inner Force would weaken as it had just now before regenerating.

"Except I added a little something extra. Remember the smoke from the incense burner? I put something in it. It triggered the tea leaves' effects early while extending their duration. Tonight, your Inner Force will basically remain at this level."

"Bastard!"

Qin San cursed inwardly, then put on an indignant expression. "Kid, I admit that I was indeed in the wrong during the day, but you already got the silver, and you even took an extra nine thousand taels. What are you doing coming here now?"

Deep down, he still clung to a sliver of hope—that Lang Ge had not been exposed, and this brat had only come after him over some other matter.

"You're still pretending? What's the point? You should know this blade in my hand very well, shouldn't you?"

Gu Sheng drew the Jade Chill Blade and used its mirror-smooth surface to pat Qin San's thick-skinned face.

"Yes! I admit it! I admit that I was in the wrong this morning!"

With the cold blade against his cheek, Qin San endured the sweat trickling down from his scalp and forced himself to remain calm. "This morning, I really shouldn't have used Inner Force to shatter your Jade Chill Blade, and I was even planning to deny it. That was indeed wrong.

"But, little brother, you already took an extra nine thousand taels of silver. Isn't it a little excessive to come settle old scores like this?" Qin San had made up his mind to play dumb and refuse to admit to anything else.