Don't Bully the Poor and Old

"Beast?"

"Who?"

"Me?"

Chen Xian's footsteps halted on the spot. The effect of the [Gossip Ear] entry made his hearing exceptionally sharp.

He couldn't help but feel a surge of anger.

Here he was, a man nearly eighty years old, the renowned candied hawthorn master for miles around, with a reputation and prestige second to none among the local children.

And yet some little girl dared to show him such disrespect?

He had to teach her a proper lesson!

Chen Xian thrust his straw bundle into the ground, spun around, and raised his walking stick to deliver a sound thrashing to the disrespectful little girl behind him.

But he hadn't expected the "little girl" to be so close, nor had he expected her head to be so hard.

"Thump!"

Before he could even pull back, the walking stick had already swung onto her head, producing a dull, heavy sound that numbed his palm.

"Li-little... t-tiger!!!"

Staring at the massive head meeting his eyes from inches away, the creature blinking eyes as big as light bulbs, Chen Xian shuddered violently, his words jumbling together, and his already fragile prostate nearly gave way.

This was no little girl at all—it was a white tiger with a head bigger than his entire upper body!

"Tiger dad, no, tiger mom... This old man is already eighty, my meat is tough and stringy, don't eat me..."

Though he had no idea why this great white tiger could speak in a young girl's voice and call him a beast, since she said so, then so be it!

Chen Xian begged for mercy as he stumbled back two steps.

The Six-Winged White Tiger took the blow from the walking stick solidly. Though it didn't hurt much, it felt deeply insulted.

It opened its massive maw, ready to unleash a mountain-shaking roar to loosen this old man's prostate and sphincter.

"To hell with you! Taste this old man's invincible honey-glazed candied hawthorns!"

Seeing its mouth open, Chen Xian, drawing on some unknown courage, decided to go all in. He grabbed the candied hawthorn straw bundle and shoved it straight down the tiger's throat.

At the same time, the [Gossip Ear] entry in his panel switched to [Swift as Flying].

Chen Xian abandoned his walking stick entirely, turned, and ran, his speed rivaling that of a twenty-year-old.

The Six-Winged White Tiger wanted to give chase, but having its throat stuffed was unbearably uncomfortable.

It felt a mix of sour and sweet in its mouth, as if dozens of needles were piercing its oral cavity. Though it managed to pull out the long straw bundle, the candied hawthorn skewers stuck in its mouth refused to come out.

Worse still, the red streak of light behind it was drawing closer!

The human cultivator hunting it had arrived!

Before long, a woman in a crimson long dress, surrounded by surging Sword Qi, flew through the air.

She stood barefoot on a flying sword, her hair tied with a red cord that fluttered in the wind, her gaze calm as she looked down at the Six-Winged White Tiger.

The sword cultivator flicked her wrist, and a small orb flew out, instantly transforming into a dark iron cage that trapped the Six-Winged White Tiger in place.

Then she parted her vermilion lips: "Beast, you have nowhere to run!"

But the Six-Winged White Tiger paid her no mind. It crouched on the spot, frantically clawing at its own mouth, its expression pained as it spat out saliva tinged with blood.

Shangguan Hongyue frowned slightly, her eyes shifting as she noticed the tiger spitting out several hawthorn balls!

"What a beast! In the midst of your escape, you still stoop to stealing a mortal's hawthorns! An added crime!"

Her face turned cold as she pronounced judgment on the Six-Winged White Tiger.

The Six-Winged White Tiger's heart was bitter.

It was a tiger! Why would it snatch these sour, worthless things while fleeing for its life?

Damn old man—if it ever caught him!

Just then, a commotion stirred in the village.

Chen Xian, having fled back, raised an alarm. Hearing that a tiger had entered the village, the villagers grabbed their tools and charged fiercely toward the village entrance.

A wild beast entering the village was no small matter, especially one like the Mountain Lord, a man-eating predator.

Nearly every able-bodied man in the village came.

"Over here, right here!" Seventy-nine-year-old Chen Xian led the charge, with a crowd of young men wielding knives and hoes struggling to keep up.

"Old Xian is running that fast? Like a young man?"

"Did the Mountain Lord scare him into a grandson?"

The old-timers lagging behind watched Chen Xian's swift pace in disbelief. Someone cracked a joke, easing the tense atmosphere slightly.

By the time Chen Xian led the crowd to the village entrance, they saw a massive white tiger with six pairs of wings overturn the iron cage, roaring repeatedly at a woman in red flying in the air.

"Good heavens! A white tiger with wings—I've lived half my life and never seen the like!"

"It's a Blood Beast! The legendary Blood Beast!"

"Yes, yes, yes! The storyteller said there are flying tigers and man-shaped bears in these mountains—they're called Blood Beasts."

"It looks like someone's fighting a Blood Beast, and it's a woman!"

"..."

Many people were so frightened they fell to the ground, torn between curiosity and fear.

Chen Xian stood there, trembling all over, but not from fear—from excitement, from exhilaration!

"So flashy! So bright! Wow! It's a golden legend!"

His gaze wasn't on the Six-Winged White Tiger, but on the girl in the red dress fighting it.

In his field of vision, a gleaming golden tag was flying through the air.

[Innate Sword Bone (Yellow)]!!!

It was a cultivation tag! The cultivation tag he had been waiting sixty years for!

She came, and she brought the tag flying with her!

"Hahaha, sixty years on one side of the river, sixty years on the other—don't bully the old for being poor!"

Chen Xian didn't care about anything else anymore; he kicked off his feet and ran straight toward the battlefield of one person and one beast.

"Huh?"

"Huh!!!"

By the time the group reacted, they couldn't stop him—Chen Xian had even lost one cloth sandal along the way.

The battlefield at the village entrance rumbled loudly, streaks of light flashing and colliding, followed by explosions and tremors in the earth.

In this situation, Old Man Xian running in there was practically a one-way ticket to death!

The villagers turned their faces away, unable to watch the scene of Old Man Xian being torn apart by the shockwaves of battle.

"I get it! I finally get it!"

Just then, Old Man Wang Tie Zhu slapped his thigh at an inappropriate moment, his expression one of sudden realization.

"Tie Zhu, what do you get?" The old friends beside him all looked at him.

"Pfft! You still don't understand? The person Old Man Xian has been pining for sixty years is that girl in red!"

Wang Tie Zhu said with absolute certainty.

"That can't be right? That girl looks only seventeen or eighteen—could she really be Old Man Xian's sweetheart?"

"Yeah, Old Man Xian is almost eighty! Don't go playing matchmaker recklessly!"

Everyone voiced their doubts.

But Wang Tie Zhu disagreed and continued analyzing for them: "You fools! That girl in red is clearly not one of us mortals—she must be one of those legendary cultivators."

"Legend says cultivators have profound power, extremely long lifespans, and staying young forever is nothing to them!"

"Even though this woman looks eighteen, wasn't Old Man Xian also eighteen when he first came to our village? Doesn't that match up?"

"Now that Old Man Xian's sweetheart has achieved success in cultivation, she must be here to take him away to enjoy a good life. Didn't you see how excited Old Man Xian was, running right out of his shoe?"

Everyone's gazes fell on that tattered cloth sandal on the ground.

After a moment, someone sighed: "What a devoted pair of lovers~"

"Just watch! Old Man Xian definitely won't die!"

Wang Tie Zhu stared with certainty at Chen Xian running toward the center of the battlefield, without a trace of worry for his old friend.

Everyone also opened their eyes wide, watching Chen Xian's increasingly distant back, their gazes full of envy.