Someone Comes Looking for a Spar

"How is it not mine?" The man's tone grew noticeably heavier, staring coldly at Yang Xiao. "My dog has been missing for days. It's normal for it to be a bit dirty and thin. Why are you butting in so much?"

"Oh, you say it's your dog? Then call it and see if it responds." Yang Xiao suddenly smiled, looking at the man with meaning.

The man's face darkened as he glared at Yang Xiao. "Are you looking for trouble? Didn't your family tell you not to meddle? Is my business something you can stick your nose into?"

"Just call it. If it answers, I'll leave immediately. How about that?" Yang Xiao said bluntly, calmly watching the man. Meanwhile, Huahua on the ground seemed startled, standing there at a loss, looking pitifully between Yang Xiao and the man.

"Fine, you said it!" The man was clearly riled up. He'd done this many times before—most dogs would respond when someone called out to them.

So he turned to look at Huahua and called out gently, "Xiao Bai, let's go home, okay?"

"Xiao Bai?" Yang Xiao burst out laughing. The dog was indeed white when clean, but calling it Xiao Bai? That name was way too common and tacky. The man really had no imagination.

After all, Huahua was a decent breed—a Butterfly-eared Dog, also known as a Babylonian Dog or Butterfly Dog. Its owner would never give it such a generic name as Xiao Bai.

Seeing Yang Xiao mock him, the man grew irritated. He said a few more things to the dog, but it ignored him completely, fueling his anger.

"See? It won't listen to you. Save your breath." Yang Xiao curled his lip, then turned to Huahua. "Huahua, come here."

Huahua hesitated for a moment when she heard Yang Xiao call her, then walked over to him.

"See? It came right over." Yang Xiao waved at Huahua, who trotted straight to him.

"Are you deliberately messing with me? Think I won't lay a hand on you?" The man's face turned ugly. The dog's name was clearly Huahua, but he didn't believe it belonged to this guy—probably a friend's or someone he knew.

But so what? This alley had no cameras. By the time anyone called the cops, he'd be long gone with the dog. Who could catch him?

Yang Xiao knew the guy was about to use force, but he wasn't tense. Instead, he looked at the man and said, "Aren't you worried about cameras here? Or is it unsafe?"

"Hahaha... I think you're the one who's unsafe!" The man sneered. "No surveillance here, not many people around. Since you're so keen on meddling, I don't mind teaching you a lesson on behalf of your parents—so you learn not to stick your nose where it doesn't belong!"

"Then that settles it." Yang Xiao looked as if he'd just realized something. With no cameras, he didn't have to worry about being filmed and exposing his strength.

Of course, fighting someone like this wouldn't require much of his power anyway. He might even be fine relying on raw strength alone. If he added his ability, he'd be afraid of killing the guy.

"Settles what?" The man looked at Yang Xiao in confusion. "Are you regretting butting in?"

Yang Xiao let out a cold laugh, looking at the man with disdain. "You think you're worthy of making me regret anything?"

"You're asking for death!" The man charged at Yang Xiao, his right forearm turning deep blue.

Yang Xiao immediately scooped up Huahua and sidestepped, dodging the man's punch. He set Huahua down and said to her, "Stay here. I'll take you home in a bit."

Whether Huahua understood or not, he dashed toward the man after saying that, Holy Light covering his right fist as he aimed for the man's stomach.

"Kid, you dare fight back?" The man was secretly surprised. Not only had the brat dodged his attack, but he was now counterattacking—unbelievable!

Facing Yang Xiao's punch, the man didn't bother dodging. He threw his own fist toward Yang Xiao's, determined to show him whose fist was harder.

One punch, and this kid's hand would probably break. He didn't care about lasting damage—the brat had brought it on himself.

"Bam!"

"Ah!"

The man suddenly cried out in pain. His right hand made a cracking sound—it was broken!

When Yang Xiao had clashed fists with him, he'd felt a chilling coldness from the man's ability. The guy's power was yin-cold in nature, but unlike his Holy Light, it probably only affected his right or left hand.

He'd covered his entire fist with Holy Light and used half his strength, breaking the man's hand. That showed how powerful Holy Light was, thanks to his relentless training day and night.

Effort always paid off. Now he knew his own strength—dealing with someone like this was no problem.

This guy might be decent against ordinary people, the kind with a useless ability. But his ability was clearly combat-oriented, and not weak at that.

"How did you do that?" The man cradled his right hand, which hung limp and immobile.

He couldn't figure it out. How could a teenager be this strong? And during that exchange, he hadn't even sensed what the kid's ability was—it felt like hitting an iron wall with unstoppable force, breaking his hand.

"Isn't it obvious how I did it?" Yang Xiao sneered. "I'm just teaching you a lesson. People in your line of work are despised. Switch careers, or next time it won't just be a broken bone—it might be a lost hand."

The man gave Yang Xiao a long, hard look, then turned and ran without a word. The very words he'd used earlier were thrown back at him. If not now, when?

Yang Xiao didn't chase. He'd only wanted to teach the guy a lesson and test the results of his training. Both goals were met—why bother pursuing him?

What Yang Xiao worried about was the man's backing. If that faction started looking for him, it would be troublesome. At least, he didn't want to draw too much attention.

Today's situation was unavoidable. The Problem Solver's mission required his involvement. He'd searched for Huahua for so long and finally found her today. If he backed down, the man would have gotten away with it.

Sometimes, you have to set aside certain principles to do what's right. Staying low-key was Yang Xiao's current mindset, but that didn't mean he'd ignore more important matters and keep his head down. That wasn't who he was.

Doing what he believed was most meaningful and right—that was what he held onto.