The Side Character Wasn't Very Bright

Xiao Ni's gaze fell on the portrait, and his expression immediately turned much more solemn.

Although his impression of Lan Suyin had become somewhat vague, she had treated him very well back then, and he had long since etched some of her basic features deep into his memory.

The beauty mark at the corner of her left eye, the lotus pattern on the hem of her clothes, the pale blue jade sword in her hand, and the emerald jade flute at her waist—all of it awakened Xiao Ni's memories. He was certain that the woman in Galeo's portrait was Xiao Yan's mother, Lan Suyin.

Lan Suyin rarely went out, and even when she occasionally did, she wore a veil. Not to mention Galeo, even Jia Liebi and Ao Bapa might not recognize the woman in the portrait if they saw her.

"Young Master Jia Lie, spare my life! If you like it, I'll give you this painting directly to you," the old man in his sixties pleaded in a hurry, knowing he could not afford to offend Galeo.

Not only was Galeo the young master of the Jia Lie Lineage, one of the three great clans, but he was also notoriously lecherous. How could insignificant people like them dare provoke him?

"At least you know what's good for you. Get lost! Don't let me see you in Wutan City again!" Galeo released the old man's collar and spoke arrogantly.

"Yes, yes, yes! I'll pack up and get out of Wutan City right away." The old man bowed with a trembling voice, then hurriedly began gathering the calligraphy and paintings from his stall.

The old man sold calligraphy, paintings, and some ordinary wound medicine. They looked rather worthless, so few people stopped by his stall. Still, his paintings were indeed lifelike; they simply were not very suitable for selling in the marketplace.

No wonder Battle Through the Heavens only briefly mentioned Xiao Yan's mother. So Galeo, that idiot, cut off the trail. Uncle Xiao Zhan, if you had wandered around the marketplace once in a while, you might have seen Aunt Lan's portrait. Xiao Ni laughed bitterly to himself before striding over.

"Oh? Isn't this Miss Xiao Xun'er? Did you come to the marketplace today to buy something? I would be happy to serve you." Noticing Xiao Xun'er approaching, Galeo put on a nauseatingly gentlemanly manner and directly ignored Xiao Ni's presence.

Crack!

In the next instant, Xiao Ni grabbed Galeo's wrist. A crisp sound of bone breaking rang out, and Galeo's face twitched. As his scream died away, the painting in his hand landed steadily in Xiao Ni's other palm.

"This is Xiao Household territory. It isn't up to you to decide who stays and who leaves!" Xiao Ni said coldly before walking straight up to the old man. "Grandpa, you don't need to be afraid. I'll deal with this scum!"

"Then I'd like to see who deals with whom!" Galeo's face darkened as the pain in his wrist caused the anger in his heart to rise without end.

He wasn't blind. Of course he had seen Xiao Ni earlier. He had merely thought Xiao Ni was a Seventh Duan of Dou Qi waste, not much better than that waste Xiao Yan, and certainly not daring enough to ambush him. That was why he had chosen to ignore him. He had never expected this fellow to directly crush his wrist bone. Since when had Xiao Ni become so strong?

Hmph, so what if he's strong? I'm already a One-Star Dou Practitioner. Crushing a Seventh Duan of Dou Qi waste will be easy!

"One finger is enough to deal with you." Xiao Ni gave the old man a faint smile, then his face turned cold again as he fixed his gaze on Galeo.

This Galeo was merely a very minor early-stage villain. There was no need for him to waste time on trash like this.

"Then let's see whether your one finger is stronger or mine!" Galeo roared, actually charging over and pointing the index finger of his right hand at Xiao Ni's chest.

Although he had infused some Dou Qi into his index finger, it still counted as using one finger against Xiao Ni.

Bang!

Just as Galeo's finger was about to strike Xiao Ni's chest, Xiao Ni suddenly punched him in the stomach and sent him flying.

As expected of a side character. His brain really isn't very bright. I only said one finger was enough to deal with you. I never said I had to use one finger to deal with you. Xiao Ni mocked inwardly. He was already five stars above Galeo, yet this fool had still dreamed of using one finger to deal with him. Jia Liebi really ought to take Galeo to see a brain doctor someday.

"Young Master Xiao Ni, what happened?" Hearing the commotion, Payne immediately rushed over with several people.

"Galeo was causing trouble here, so I casually knocked him unconscious. Once he wakes up, remember to make him compensate for the losses here." Xiao Ni pointed at the unconscious Galeo and casually explained what had happened. Payne's face immediately filled with shock.

What was this? Young Master Xiao Ni had beaten Galeo unconscious, and he did not seem to be injured at all. That was far too unbelievable! Could it be that Young Master Xiao Ni had also become a Dou Zhe?

Yes, that had to be it. Otherwise, there was no way Young Master Xiao Ni could have knocked out a One-Star Dou Practitioner like Galeo without suffering even the slightest injury.

"I understand. Leave this place to us." After thinking for a moment, Payne did not ask about Xiao Ni's level. Instead, a rather bright smile appeared on his face.

Haha, Young Master Xiao Ni is probably about to rise. Next, it'll depend on Young Master Xiao Yan.

"Brother Xiao Ni, you're amazing! You took care of Galeo with one punch." After watching for quite some time, Xiao Xun'er finally walked over with a cheerful smile.

"He was just a clown. If you had made a move, you definitely could have handled him too," Xiao Ni said with a smile.

He had great confidence in Xiao Xun'er's strength. She was already at the Ninth Duan of Dou Qi, so dealing with a One-Star Dou Practitioner would not be difficult at all.

"Xun'er is afraid of dirtying her hands, so Brother Xiao Ni should handle this sort of thing instead."

Hearing Xiao Xun'er say that, Xiao Ni shook his head with a laugh, then asked politely, "Grandpa, where did this portrait come from?"

Although he now knew that Aunt Lan was Xiao Yan's mother, even Xiao Zhan himself did not know much about Aunt Lan's background. Since he had been fortunate enough to find Aunt Lan's portrait today, he naturally had to ask about it clearly. Perhaps he could follow this clue and gradually uncover Aunt Lan's origins.

He had always felt that Lan Suyin's death was somewhat suspicious. It might have fooled Xiao Zhan and the others, but it could not fool him. There was definitely more to Lan Suyin's poisoning. Since he had transmigrated here and activated this hidden storyline, he would certainly get to the bottom of it.

"Oh, I got all these portraits from Black Jade Pavilion," the old man answered respectfully.

"Black Jade Pavilion? I'll buy this portrait. Fifty gold coins, right?" Xiao Ni frowned and thought for a moment but did not continue questioning the old man.

Black Jade Pavilion had never been mentioned in Battle Through the Heavens. However, Xiao Xun'er was well informed and knew many things, so he could just ask her later.

"If Young Master Xiao Ni likes this painting, just take it. You helped me resolve my trouble earlier, so consider this painting my way of repaying the favor." The old man stopped Xiao Ni from taking out his money and spoke with some excitement.

Although he rarely set up his stall in this marketplace, he had often heard of Wutan City's two wastes and one flower.

The two wastes referred to Xiao Yan and Xiao Ni, while the flower referred to the lecherous Galeo. He had never imagined that Galeo would make trouble for him today, nor that the one who would stand up for him would be Xiao Ni, the rumored second waste of Wutan City. What shocked him even more was that Xiao Ni's reputation as a waste seemed undeserved. Otherwise, how could he have knocked Galeo unconscious with one punch?

"Then thank you very much." Xiao Ni smiled brightly, put away the portrait, and left with Xiao Xun'er.