Chapter Forty: Heroic Rescue of a Beauty

Once Zhao Liya saw that they had bought almost everything they needed, she prepared to find somewhere to give Zhang Hupan a lesson. So far, aside from being a little angry at Zhang Hupan's greedy behavior at the beginning, Zhao Liya was quite satisfied with his clothes and the air he displayed after they finished shopping.

They casually found a relatively quiet place with few people, and Zhao Liya began her first experience teaching someone.

"Smile and nod when greeting people!"

"Shake hands firmly with men!"

"When shaking hands with women, gently hold their fingers!"

"..."

In fact, Zhang Hupan had already studied all of this before starting work at the bar. But since a beauty was so enthusiastically giving him lessons, what reason did he have to refuse? Besides, Zhang Hupan was gradually beginning to feel that being with Zhao Liya was actually quite comfortable. Although her tone was always tinged with arrogance, once he got used to it, he only noticed her sweet voice and ignored the unpleasant tone.

Zhang Hupan's astonishing ability to learn left Zhao Liya extremely shocked. She had originally prepared herself to talk until her mouth went dry, but she had never expected that Zhang Hupan would grasp the key points almost as soon as she mentioned them. Moreover, every movement was perfect, and his manners were filled with the bearing of a noble gentleman. It seemed that Zhang Hupan had been born with that kind of noble air, something those ostentatious rich young masters could never compare with! Although the streetlights were extremely dim, Zhang Hupan still clearly caught the unusual light in Zhao Liya's eyes. A cultivator who was over a hundred years old actually felt secretly delighted over this: Damn, now you know how impressive I am, right? You still haven't seen what else I can do! If the Wudang disciples knew that their patriarch was secretly taking pride in something so trivial, who knew how embarrassed they would be!

"Can you dance?" Seeing that Zhang Hupan had more or less mastered the basics of etiquette, Zhao Liya asked softly.

"No!" In fact, Zhang Hupan had already studied all kinds of dance theory. Although he had never put it into practice, could a few repeated movements possibly stump a Nascent Soul Stage expert like him? But when Zhao Liya asked him this, Zhang Hupan suddenly wanted to know what it felt like to hold the slender waist of the beauty before him. Thus, without almost any hesitation, he answered that he did not know how.

"I knew you couldn't! I'll suffer a little and teach you how to dance!" After their earlier interaction, Zhao Liya had gradually stopped viewing Zhang Hupan with hostility. She had even begun to admire this young man from the mountains a little.

Perhaps because it was his first time holding a woman's waist—and that woman was a top-tier beauty at that—when Zhang Hupan's hand touched Zhao Liya's slender waist, his hand, despite him being a Nascent Soul Stage expert, actually trembled slightly out of his control. After taking a deep breath, he calmed his restless heart and gently wrapped his arm around Zhao Liya's soft waist.

Zhao Liya's heart was no less unsettled. She had always thought that Zhang Hupan was merely an insensitive blockhead and that she would never feel anything for him, so she had taught him to dance without hesitation. But this was, after all, her first time dancing with a man. She had danced with men before, but those men had been her father. When her hand rested on Zhang Hupan's sturdy shoulder, a flush of red spread across her pretty face. Zhao Liya knew that she had been wrong—and very wrong at that.

Just as the two of them were dancing in a flustered state, more than a dozen oddly styled, disreputable-looking punks began walking toward them.

It was obvious that the punks had noticed Zhang Hupan and Zhao Liya dancing in each other's arms. "Heh heh, Boss, there's a pair of lovebirds up ahead. That chick looks pretty hot. How about we bring her over and have some fun?" A lecherous-looking man with a slight build and shoulder-length hair, walking at the front, spoke to a fierce-looking bald man with an obscene grin.

The two of them naturally heard the footsteps and the short man's words. Their bodies instantly separated, and Zhang Hupan naturally used his arm to firmly shield Zhao Liya behind him. Zhao Liya was herself a martial arts expert; facing a dozen or so small-time hooligans unarmed would not be a problem. Yet for some reason, when Zhang Hupan domineeringly pulled her behind him, she did not resist at all. Instead, an inexplicable happiness surged in her heart. Standing behind this righteous, not particularly muscular man, she felt a sense of security she had never experienced before.

Although dancing had made Zhang Hupan look utterly awkward, he had still greatly enjoyed that thrilling, blood-pumping sensation! Now, these good times and the wonderful atmosphere had been brutally ruined by this bunch of stinking hooligans. They had even discussed the woman beside him so brazenly. Cultivators were human too. They had emotions and desires, and they could become angry. At that moment, Zhang Hupan was burning with rage. If he had not been concerned about shocking the world too much, he would have already called down a thunderbolt to strike them all.

Although Zhang Hupan knew that these scum were nothing more than child's play to Zhao Liya behind him, a cultivator's dignity could not be trampled on. With him present, he absolutely would not allow the woman beside him to act.

When Zhao Liya hid behind Zhang Hupan, her beautiful face immediately appeared before everyone's eyes. Stunning! Absolutely stunning! Everyone held their breath, and every eye locked lecherously onto Zhao Liya, as if they could not wait to strip her naked!

"This chick is mine! You, get out of the way!" The bald man glared viciously at Zhang Hupan as he shouted.

Seeing how arrogant these hooligans were, Zhao Liya finally could not hold back. She had just prepared to step forward and teach them a lesson when that powerful arm blocked her again. Zhang Hupan said in a deep voice, "Dealing with these guys doesn't require Miss Zhao to lift a finger!"

For some reason, the confidence and domineering force in Zhang Hupan's voice left Zhao Liya unable to summon any desire to resist. She obediently hid behind Zhang Hupan again. She secretly wondered why she was listening to him so readily. Could he possess some extraordinary skill? Otherwise, where does his confidence come from? How did I never know that he could use martial arts?

Zhang Hupan swept his cold gaze over the crowd. Under his icy stare, the hooligans felt a sense of unease and fear they had never experienced before, and they could not help taking a step back.

"I'll count to three. Get lost immediately, or I won't be polite!" Zhang Hupan stared at the group of reckless hooligans before him as if they were already dead.

The bald man looked at the refined Zhang Hupan before him and the captivating Zhao Liya. He could not help finding his earlier show of weakness strange. After hearing Zhang Hupan's words, he became furious from embarrassment and snarled, "How dare you try to scare your Tiger Grandpa, brat? Everyone, get him!"

Everyone pulled out clubs and charged toward Zhang Hupan menacingly. It was bizarre—truly bizarre! Zhang Hupan performed the Wudang Internal Family Boxing techniques of crushing, pushing, assisting, seizing, drawing, pressing, forcing, absorbing, sticking, darting, circling, inserting, tossing, supporting, brushing, scattering, swallowing, and spitting with miraculous skill. Under his hands and feet, the men seemed like puppets tugged along by strings, completely at his mercy.

Zhao Liya's beautiful eyes shone brilliantly, and her cherry lips formed a surprised "O." It was truly unimaginable that anyone could perform Wudang Internal Family Boxing with such effortless flow and wondrous skill. Even Song Feng, Zhao Liya believed, could not perform such beautiful Wudang Internal Family Boxing. Suddenly, Zhang Hupan seemed rather mysterious in her eyes. She even felt that the young man before her seemed somehow familiar. Yet even if she racked her brains, she would never have guessed that this young man with a crew cut was the unfathomable little Taoist priest she had encountered beneath Wudang Mountain.

Seeing that he had had enough fun, Zhang Hupan slowly drew a taiji symbol in front of himself with both arms. Then he gently pushed forward and shouted, "Get lost!" The men were flung away one after another by an invisible force like sandbags. Like stray dogs, they scrambled and rolled away from this nightmarish place.

Zhang Hupan's shout jolted Zhao Liya awake as if from a dream. Although these small-time hooligans were also child's play to her, she absolutely could not have dealt with them as casually and beautifully as Zhang Hupan had. Her gaze toward Zhang Hupan was filled with admiration as she sincerely praised him softly, "Your martial arts are amazing!"

This counts as impressive? You still haven't seen what I'm truly capable of! Zhang Hupan said inwardly. Naturally, he was not foolish enough to say that aloud. He merely smiled and said, "It's nothing much. I only learned a little martial arts."

"I think what you used just now looked like Wudang's internal boxing. Are you a Wudang disciple?" Zhao Liya asked curiously.

"I suppose you could say that. I learned it from an old Wudang Taoist." Zhang Hupan answered with a smile.

"Then you must know Uncle Song—the great hero Song Feng!" Seeing that Zhang Hupan really was a Wudang disciple, the little bit of anger Zhao Liya had still held toward him vanished completely.

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