Xue Beng

"Not at all. I just like people who are so straightforward."

Qian Renxue waved a hand and poured them more tea.

Xiao Wu sat beside them, looking from Nezha to Xue Qinghe, her mind full of questions.

Why did these two speak exactly alike? They were both so flowery and formal. It was exhausting just listening to them.

Back in Notting City, she and Nezha had always spoken plainly. They had never exchanged such pleasantries.

The three chatted a little more about what they had seen on the road and asked a few questions about cultivation.

It was all harmless small talk. Nezha answered every question without missing a beat, leaving no opening.

After chatting for a while, Xue Qinghe set down his teacup. "Are you two heading straight to Heaven Dou Royal Academy today, or would you like to look around the city first?"

Xiao Wu's eyes lit up, and she answered at once. "Let's look around the city first!"

She hadn't even finished exploring half the street she'd been on earlier.

Xue Qinghe smiled, took a key from his sleeve, and set it on the table. Then he gave them an address. "I have a private residence in the city. It's usually empty, so you're welcome to stay there for now, if you don't mind."

Nezha didn't refuse. He took the key. "Thank you, Young Master Xue."

Once they left the restaurant, Xiao Wu let out a long breath of relief.

"What's wrong?" Nezha glanced at her.

"He talks in such a flowery, formal way. I'm not used to it." Xiao Wu rubbed her face. "When you were talking to him, I didn't even dare interrupt."

Nezha burst out laughing.

The two continued along the main street. Xiao Wu hadn't had her fill of shopping earlier, and now she was full of energy again, looking left and right and occasionally tugging Nezha into a shop.

As they wandered, a commotion suddenly rose up ahead.

Several richly dressed young men swaggered down the middle of the street. The one in front looked about seventeen or eighteen. He wore a brocade robe, with a fine jade pendant hanging from his waist, and strutted like a peacock showing off its feathers.

Passersby hurried out of his way. No one dared block his path.

A few other well-dressed young men followed behind him, then two burly men who looked like guards. Soul Tools hung at their waists. Their auras were restrained, but they had a lean, formidable air.

The young man in brocade was listlessly surveying the street vendors when his gaze suddenly stopped.

He had spotted Xiao Wu.

A pink dress, long hair like a waterfall, and fair skin that seemed almost translucent in the sunlight.

She was still young, but anyone could already see that she would grow into a peerless beauty.

The young man's eyes lit up in an instant, as if he'd discovered a rare treasure.

He sauntered over, fanning himself with a folding fan, and stopped right in front of Xiao Wu. With a snap, he folded the fan and lifted her chin with it, leering.

"What a pretty little girl. Isn't it boring to shop alone? Why don't you come sit with me at the restaurant over there?"

Nezha: ...

Xiao Wu turned her head to avoid the fan, frowning. "Who are you?"

"Me?" The young man opened his fan and smugly waved it twice. "You don't even know who I am?"

One of his lackeys immediately stepped forward, pointing at the young man with an arrogant air. "This is His Highness the Fourth Prince! Hurry up and pay your respects!"

Nezha understood.

Xue Beng. The Fourth Prince of the Heaven Dou Empire, and Xue Qinghe's only surviving younger brother.

On the surface, he was a spoiled wastrel who spent all day tearing around Heaven Dou City with a pack of lackeys, bullying men and women alike.

In truth, it was all a mask he wore to protect himself. He had seen through the terror hidden beneath his gentle Crown Prince brother's face long ago. To survive, he had no choice but to pretend to be a good-for-nothing who never applied himself.

Nezha's gaze fell on that smug face.

In the original story, the Fourth Prince was a typical clown in the early stages, though he got redeemed later on.

He just hadn't expected to run into him as soon as he arrived in Heaven Dou City.

Xue Beng waved his fan, his gaze glued to Xiao Wu. "Come with me, little girl. If you're with me, you'll have all the good food and drink you could want. It'll be much better than wandering around this street."

As he spoke, he reached out to grab Xiao Wu by the wrist.

Xiao Wu watched his hand reach toward her, her expression blank.

Nezha knew that look all too well. It was the look Xiao Wu wore whenever she was fed up and wanted to hit someone.

Crack.

The sound of a bone dislocating rang out, crisp and clean.

Xiao Wu caught Xue Beng's wrist in one hand and twisted it to an angle no normal person could manage.

His face shifted from smugness to surprise, then from surprise to agony, finally settling into a pig-like shriek.

"Ah—"

Xiao Wu let go, then immediately kicked him in the stomach.

Xue Beng flew backward and crashed into a fruit stand by the roadside, sending apples and pears rolling everywhere.

His brocade robe was smeared with fruit juice and dirt, and his carefully maintained folding fan had flown off to who knew where.

"You—you've got some nerve!"

Xue Beng struggled to his feet amid the fruit, his face turning from green to white. "Do you know who I am?"

"I don't care who you are!" Xiao Wu planted her hands on her hips and lifted her chin. "You mess with Sister Xiao Wu, you get beaten all the same!"

Xue Beng trembled with rage and shouted at the two guards behind him. "What are you standing around for? Get them!"

The two guards exchanged a glance and released their Martial Souls at the same time. Four Soul Rings rose from beneath each of them, two yellow and two purple. They were both Soul Ancestors.

The Fourth Prince might have been useless, but his guards weren't just there to fill out their uniforms.

But to Nezha, Soul Ancestors were no different from good-for-nothings.

He wasn't planning to use his full strength, though.

They had only just left Qian Renxue's restaurant before running into Xue Beng. Who could say whether such a coincidence was genuine?

If Qian Renxue had arranged this to test them, revealing their true strength would only cause trouble.

Nezha exchanged a glance with Xiao Wu. Years of tacit understanding made her understand what he meant at once.

They released their Martial Souls at the same time.

Three Soul Rings—one yellow and two purple—rose from beneath their feet, slowly turning in the sunlight.

A wave of astonished cries erupted from the crowd.

"Three rings? They're so young, and they already have three?"

"Is that second Soul Ring purple? A Thousand-Year Soul Ring?"

"Whose disciples are they? Could they be from some great sect, out gaining experience?"

The two Soul Ancestor guards were stunned as well.

They had assumed these two plainly dressed youngsters would be easy to deal with. They hadn't expected to run straight into a pair of iron walls.

Twelve or thirteen years old, three Soul Rings, Soul Elder rank, and an unheard-of Thousand-Year Soul Ring as their second. That kind of talent was among the best in all of Heaven Dou City. They clearly belonged to some great power.

But they were already charging forward. The arrow was on the string; there was no taking it back.

Damn it, people from great powers dressed this plainly? What were they pretending to be commoners for?

The two exchanged a glance, inwardly groaning. If they hit too hard, they might injure the other side and invite revenge. If they went too easy, they might fail to carry out their orders and be punished by the Fourth Prince. They could only fight with their hands tied.

Nezha and Xiao Wu had no intention of holding back.