At a single command, he looked every inch the imposing figure.
Yet the several experts beside Hu Yingming exchanged glances, hesitated for half a beat, and stood there awkwardly, not daring to move.
It turned out they had been frightened by Meng Zhao's earlier barrage of self-introduction.
Though Hu Yingming had said that dead or alive did not matter, if they truly injured this distinguished member of the Meng Family—
Hu Yingming could simply turn around and sell them out. Who would they even complain to then?
Men died for wealth, birds died for food—true enough, but they were not about to stake their lives for money.
This was the difference between an old-established great clan and a newly risen upstart held together entirely by money and face.
If the positions were reversed and it were Meng Zhao's side, then at a single command from him, apart from Shi Jie, everyone else—including Lü Zhong—might question whether his decision was right, but they would certainly carry it out meticulously and swear loyalty unto death.
That was precisely how great aristocratic families stood above ordinary upstarts.
Seeing that his own men had not acted, Hu Yingming trembled all over with rage. His eyes turned bloodshot, his fists clenched until they creaked, and the sparse beard at his lips quivered. His roar was like a lion's bellow.
"Why are you standing around?
You bunch of useless trash! I pay to keep you, not to have you eat for free! Get up there and fight!"
Now that he had said it, if these men continued hesitating, they would likely have to roll up their bedding and leave afterward. After weighing the matter, the experts exchanged looks and tacitly avoided Meng Zhao, charging instead at Lü Yue and the other Meng Mansion experts.
Their thinking