"Holy crap, could it really be that coincidental?"
Lin Xiao was so startled that he nearly dropped his chopsticks. The one that had flown out had clearly been thrown by one of the Young Master Yun's men standing behind him—and the man still had another chopstick in his hand.
A bully harassing a beautiful yet strangely abnormal singing girl, followed by a hero saving the beauty—putting those two things together gave Lin Xiao a bad feeling. Lowering his voice, he said to the others:
"I think something's wrong. Let's leave, quick."
Xu Bing and the others turned back at him in confusion.
"What's wrong with this? It's only a bully harassing a decent girl. Besides, the men behind this young master are all experts of our gang. He's definitely the son of some important figure in the Great River Gang. What danger could there be?"
Lin Xiao...
He was speechless. He couldn't exactly say that he had guessed it because he had watched too many movies and read too many novels.
None of them wanted to leave, and Lin Xiao couldn't leave by himself. After looking around, he noticed that their table happened to be beside a window. Keeping that in mind, he prepared to jump out through it the moment anything seemed wrong.
The two bullies also had some discernment. When they realized that the noble young master had been recognized, they ignored their injured hands and dropped to their knees with a thud, kowtowing repeatedly.
"We didn't know Young Master Yun was here in person. This lowly one deserves death. We beg Young Master Yun, for the sake of our being fellow members of the Great River Gang, to spare our lives."
The noble young master did not even spare the two men a glance. Instead, an old man with a goatee behind him waved his hand, and the two hurriedly gave their thanks before supporting each other and leaving.
At that moment, the old man playing the erhu hurriedly bowed to the noble young master.
"This old man thanks Young Master Yun."
The girl also gave an elegant curtsy and said in a clear voice:
"This young woman thanks Young Master Yun for saving me. If Young Master Yun had not arrived, I fear I would have been bullied by that brute and would have had no choice but to die to preserve my chastity. Such great kindness is impossible for me to repay. I am willing to devote myself to you in return for the favor of saving my life."
"Tsk, tsk!"
Lin Xiao muttered inwardly:
"Damn, how realistic. If he's handsome, she'll devote herself to him; if she doesn't like him, she'll become an ox or a horse in her next life to repay him."
Of course, he didn't dare say that aloud. It would be bad if they heard him.
Young Master Yun seemed to have taken quite a liking to the beautiful girl. He folded his exquisite bamboo fan and stepped forward, preparing to help her up as he said:
"Miss, you're too kind. For such a brute to dare seize a decent girl in broad daylight, anyone with a sense of chivalry would—Bang!"
The sudden muffled explosion left Lin Xiao, who had been watching the show with rapt attention, stunned for a moment. Looking more closely, he saw the noble young master, who had been helping the girl up, and the girl, who had been acting shy and delicate, raise their heads together. One wore a smile, while the other looked astonished. A mass of air exploded between them, blasting them two meters apart. The shockwave sent their robes flying backward with a fierce rustle.
"Excellent skill, miss!"
The noble young master withdrew the hand he had been extending to help her. With a flick, he snapped open the exquisite bamboo fan and lightly fanned himself several times before saying in a deep voice:
"If this young master hasn't guessed wrong, the two of you should be the Yin Yang Twin Evils, famous throughout the martial world."
The girl also slowly rose to her feet. The frail, pitiful air around her vanished without a trace, and a hint of danger appeared in her eyes.
"Young Master Yun has a keen eye. I've long heard that Young Master Yun, one of the Great River Three Heroes, possesses cultivation no weaker than that of the Great River Gang's leader. Seeing you today, I find the rumors were indeed true. This young woman admires you."
Young Master Yun held the exquisite bamboo fan in one hand and cupped his fist.
"It is merely the martial world's undeserved praise. May I ask what business Miss Yin Sha has with me, waiting here today?"
The woman did not speak. Instead, the old man playing the erhu stepped forward and said:
"The Salt Gang has offered a reward of one hundred thousand taels of silver for the head of any one of the Great River Three Heroes. My wife and I have been short of money lately, so we thought we'd borrow Young Master Yun's head for a while."
Holy crap, they're husband and wife?
Lin Xiao was so shocked that his teeth nearly fell out. This was more than a fresh flower stuck in cow dung—it was like sticking it into watery manure and pulling it back out: thoroughly fouled.
Young Master Yun seemed to have expected this. He smiled.
"There are many people who want my life, but I've remained alive and well all this time. I just wonder whether the two of you have what it takes."
The moment he finished speaking, Lin Xiao knew things had gone bad. He grabbed his three companions and shouted:
"Run!"
He leaped up, smashed his head through the window, and jumped outside. The instant he landed, he heard a sharp erhu note ring out from inside the restaurant. Then the air bulged, and a tangible wave of sound swept across. Xu Ji, who had been following him and was about to jump out, was sliced in half midair by an invisible sound wave. His upper body flew out while his lower body fell back into the restaurant, spraying blood across the window.
Xu Bing and Ji Zitao reacted even more slowly. They only heard a string of screams from inside the restaurant, including the voices of two people. They were probably dead.
"God damn it."
Lin Xiao was terrified. He had only gone out for a meal, yet he had run into experts clashing. Clashing was one thing, but the gap between their levels was far too great—he didn't even qualify to watch from the sidelines.
He had no idea what was happening inside. He could only hear a series of muffled bangs and the sound of the erhu. Every so often, a hole would be smashed through the restaurant's wooden outer wall, or a huge gash would be sliced into it. He didn't dare go back to look. He glanced down at Xu Ji, whose eyes remained wide open in death, then turned and ran.
After running less than a hundred meters, he saw a group of men in Great River Gang uniforms patrolling the street ahead. He hurried over and stopped them.
"Someone is trying to kill Young Master Yun. It's happening at Tianxiang Tower."
The burly leader was startled. He hurriedly called out to his men:
"Brothers, follow me!"
A large group of people charged over. Lin Xiao thought about it, then followed from a distance.
The group rushed to the front of Tianxiang Tower. The main door exploded outward in a mass of air, and several streaks of cold light flew out. The Great River Gang underlings who reached the entrance immediately collapsed in a heap. No one knew whether the Yin Yang Twin Evils had struck them or whether they had been accidentally injured by Young Master Yun inside. Either way, the people behind them were so frightened that they did not dare charge in for the moment.
The leader had also suffered a minor injury. His expression shifted uncertainly before he reached into his clothes and pulled out a bamboo tube. He tugged it, and amid a shrill whistle, a streak of fire shot into the sky with a loud pop, blooming into a huge ball of light.
It was the Great River Gang's distress signal. Lin Xiao could see several ordinary gang members on patrol rushing over from the street. He no longer dared flee and could only hide in the middle of the crowd while cursing inwardly:
"Damn it, I just came out of seclusion and ran into something this exciting."
It was like encountering a major boss right after leaving the beginner's village. He was utterly speechless.
More and more Great River Gang members surged over after seeing the signal, while the battle inside Tianxiang Tower also entered its fiercest stage. Wave after wave of sound broke through the wooden walls. Occasionally, one of the wooden pillars supporting the building would be cleaved apart, and the small tower began to sway precariously, looking ready to collapse. Through the holes and gashes, Lin Xiao could vaguely see the battle inside. It seemed that the Yin Yang Twin Evils had gained the upper hand.
That was especially true of the woman, Yin Sha. The veil covering her face had vanished, revealing an extremely beautiful countenance. The only flaw was a scar on her left cheek that slightly marred her appearance, though not by much. At least the overwhelming majority of men would not mind such a scar.
Her martial arts were extremely formidable, in no way inferior to those of the renowned Young Master Yun of Linjiang Prefecture. Her speed in particular was astonishingly fast. Even with Young Master Yun and his two other men surrounding her, they could not touch so much as a corner of her clothing.
Before you continue