Yao Chuan looked at Xie Xie, who had suddenly appeared, and was a little surprised.
After all, he and Xie Xie hadn't really crossed paths.
Strictly speaking, this was only their second time meeting.
The first had been from a distance on the day of the Martial Soul Awakening.
Yao Chuan was surprised.
Xie Xie, however, was excited.
It was obvious he was curious about how astonishing Yao Chuan's Martial Soul had been when it awakened at the Spirit Pagoda.
So he took the initiative and suggested that they have a match, wanting to see which of them was stronger.
As he spoke, Xie Xie rubbed his hands together eagerly.
As for the result...
Yao Chuan simply ignored him.
He had absolutely no interest in a match that felt like children playing house.
With that spare time, he felt he'd be better off eating a few more bowls of Earthen Pot Beef.
Seeing Yao Chuan's attitude, Xie Xie was naturally very unhappy.
But there was nothing he could do about it.
He thought Yao Chuan was afraid to compete with him and was avoiding the challenge.
Mu Xi, standing nearby, got a little angry when she heard him say that.
She took a step forward, about to speak up and snap back at him on Yao Chuan's behalf.
But Yao Chuan gently raised a hand and stopped her.
"There's no need." Yao Chuan's tone was quite calm. "Why bother arguing with a little brat?"
At the words "little brat," Xie Xie's face immediately darkened.
He was just about to lose his temper.
Fortunately, the owner of the Earthen Pot Beef shop came out in time to smooth things over.
And so, the matter was temporarily put aside.
Still fuming, Xie Xie found a seat and ordered a bowl of braised beef.
After sitting down, he still felt a little unconvinced.
He secretly resolved to compete with Yao Chuan to see who could eat more.
But then...
That idea quickly fizzled out.
The appetites Yao Chuan and Na'er displayed left him completely dumbfounded.
They were like two bottomless pits!
Xie Xie stared in amazement, forgetting even to eat the fragrant Earthen Pot Beef in front of him.
Only after Yao Chuan and the others had eaten their fill and left the little shop did he finally come back to his senses. He lowered his head and poked at the beef in his bowl, which he'd barely touched.
He picked up a piece with his chopsticks and put it in his mouth.
"Mm... It really does taste pretty good..."
Mu Xi followed Yao Chuan and the others out.
Remembering the foolish look on Xie Xie's face when he'd been stunned by their appetites, she couldn't help laughing.
"Pfft... He really is just a little brat." She imitated Yao Chuan's tone as she teased him. "He even has to compete over a meal."
After saying that, she couldn't help glancing sideways at Yao Chuan beside her.
There was more admiration and affection in her eyes.
That was what she especially liked about Yao Chuan.
It wasn't just because he was so good-looking.
More than that, even though he was only six, there was always a steadiness and maturity beyond his years in the way he spoke and acted.
He was never the least bit rash.
And besides... Mu Xi secretly mused to herself.
Six and ten sounded like quite an age gap.
But by the time they were eighteen and twenty-two, wouldn't that sound like hardly any difference at all?
She thought about it happily.
Her gaze secretly drifted toward Yao Chuan, whose height had almost caught up with hers.
She was already imagining the two of them growing up together and walking side by side in the future.
But that lovely daydream didn't last more than a few seconds.
A sudden commotion behind them interrupted it.
"Get lost! Quit your damn whining!"
"Hand over the money!"
Several rough shouts were accompanied by the crash of things smashing onto the ground, the sounds especially grating.
Yao Chuan and the others all stopped at once and turned toward the source of the noise.
Trouble had broken out in front of the shop where they'd just eaten Earthen Pot Beef.
The stove had been overturned.
Clay pots of all sizes lay shattered across the ground, and steaming beef soup had spilled everywhere, leaving the place in a complete mess.
A bald, burly man and two fierce-looking lackeys were surrounding the shopkeeper, Uncle Li.
The bald man in front had a crooked dragon tattoo on his arm. He was bare-chested in the chilly early-autumn wind, and clearly wasn't someone to trifle with.
He was Guang Long, the gang leader who collected protection money in the original story.
Yao Chuan frowned as soon as he saw what was happening.
He was rather surprised.
Wasn't this something Tang Wulin wouldn't encounter until three years later?
Why had it happened so much earlier?
As Yao Chuan was wondering about it,
inside the shop, Xie Xie—who had just been stunned by the others' appetites—saw the scene, and his eyes immediately turned red.
He shot to his feet.
Without a word, he charged straight at Guang Long, who was blocking the doorway.
"Stop! What are you doing!" Xie Xie shouted, trying to shove Guang Long aside and protect Uncle Li.
But how old was he now?
Even three years later, in the original story, he hadn't been a match for Guang Long.
Now he was just a little kid who'd awakened his Martial Soul not long ago.
Guang Long was pointing at Uncle Li and swearing. Hearing the shout, he turned around impatiently.
When he saw a half-grown child charging at him, a sneer of contempt immediately spread across his face.
"Where'd this little brat come from? Get out of my way!"
He didn't even bother using his Martial Soul. He simply kicked out, fast and hard.
"Thud!"
Xie Xie didn't even have time to react before the kick slammed into his stomach.
The pain drew a muffled groan from him. He doubled over like a shrimp and flew backward, landing with a splat on the greasy floor, soup splashing all over him.
"Damn it, you little brat. Tired of living, are you?" Guang Long spat, then strode over to Xie Xie, who was curled up on the ground. He looked down at him. "You dare meddle in my business?"
He pointed at Xie Xie's nose and cursed.
"I'll teach you some manners in place of your mother! I'll show you what the rules are!"
The word "mother" was like a red-hot needle, stabbing straight into the most painful place in Xie Xie's heart.
He jerked his head up.
His dark green eyes instantly filled with bloodshot veins, brimming with deep-seated hatred and madness.
"Don't you dare talk about my mom!!" Xie Xie's voice cracked as he shouted.
Fury and humiliation swept over him, shattering his reason in an instant.
He forgot the pain and instinctively roused his Soul Power.
"Light Dragon Dagger!"
He gave a low growl and jerked his right hand up.
A faint glimmer flashed, and a small, exquisite golden dagger appeared in his palm.
Summoning all his strength, he gripped the dagger and slashed hard at Guang Long's reaching hand!
It all happened too suddenly.
Guang Long hadn't considered the child a threat. He had no idea Xie Xie had Soul Power, let alone that he'd dare use a blade.
"Slice—!"
A soft sound rang out.
A shallow but distinct cut appeared on Guang Long's outstretched wrist.
Beads of blood immediately welled up.
The wound wasn't deep, but the pain and the humiliation of being injured by a child sent Guang Long into a rage.
"You little bastard! How dare you?!" Guang Long sucked in a sharp breath from the pain. His eyes instantly turned red, like an enraged bull.
He was completely incensed.
He threw every rule about not hitting children out of his mind.
His huge, fanlike palm rose high, whistling through the air as it came down hard toward Xie Xie's little face, red with anger.
If that slap landed, with Guang Long's strength, Xie Xie would be seriously injured at best.
Uncle Li, standing nearby, was stunned and let out a cry. "Don't hit the child!"
Mu Xi and Na'er, standing a little farther away, also covered their mouths in alarm.
At this critical moment,
a figure appeared silently between Guang Long and Xie Xie, as if out of thin air.
It was Yao Chuan.
He moved so fast that he was almost impossible to follow. He merely raised a hand, casually.
His small, fair hand steadily and effortlessly caught Guang Long's thick, heavily muscled wrist as it came down, trailing a gust of wind.
Guang Long's powerful slap stopped dead in midair.
It didn't budge an inch.
It was as if it had struck an invisible wall.
Guang Long froze, staring in disbelief at how a child who looked even younger than the boy on the ground had stopped him.
He tried hard to yank his hand back or force it down.
But the child's small hand felt like an iron clamp, its strength astonishing. He couldn't move at all.
Yao Chuan looked up calmly at Guang Long, who was several heads taller and had a face full of burly flesh.
His voice was as casual as if he were talking about the weather.
"You're a grown man. You can't leave a little kid alone?"
"Aren't you embarrassed?"
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