Teaching a Lesson

Qing Mo was exceptionally excited now. In a moment of carelessness, he used too much force, and the bed frame let out a groan of protest before snapping cleanly in half.

Qing Mo hurriedly jumped off the bed. Looking at the crude wooden bed shattered into pieces, he slapped his forehead, nearly on the verge of tears.

"Ah! I'm done for."

The bed had already been old and dilapidated. Now that he had ruined it, it was completely useless. His standing in Qing Lin's eyes was bound to drop again.

Only then did Qing Mo take the time to inspect the crude stone room. There was a large hole in the roof, and the stone slabs on all four walls were covered in scratches of varying depths. The entire room was bare, though it had been kept very clean.

It was hard to imagine that people actually lived in a place like this.

To put it bluntly, even dogs would turn their noses up at living here. There was nothing worth regretting about it.

"Fine. Since I've come across this, I can only get Qing Lin a new home."

Qing Mo sighed and made his decision on the spot. Such a pitiful yet kind-hearted girl—if he did not look after her, who would?

What? You said I had ulterior motives?

Heh heh heh!

You were right. That was exactly what I was thinking.

Just as Qing Mo was lost in his fantasies, a burst of noisy commotion suddenly came from outside. He could vaguely hear children playing and the shrill, cutting laughter of women.

He frowned. Thinking of Qing Lin still being outside, a bad feeling rose in his heart. He immediately pushed open the door and walked out.

Outside the door, several little brats were surrounding Qing Lin, all fighting to speak at once.

"Hey! You little bastard! Did you go seducing men again?" a scrawny boy shrieked. Bullying this unwanted bastard was the happiest part of every day for him.

"My mother said she looks just like her mother. She's always trying to seduce other people's men!"

A chubby boy beside him chimed in indistinctly as he chewed on half a candy cane.

"Exactly! She's so creepy all day long. She must be doing shameful things behind everyone's backs! The toy I lost last time was definitely stolen by her!"

The little brats talked over one another, while Qing Lin, surrounded in the middle, kept her head lowered. Her messy hair hid her expression, and the hand clutching the corner of her clothes had turned white.

Behind them, several women stood not far away. Not only did they do nothing to stop it, they chatted among themselves while glancing at Qing Lin with disgust.

"I saw her with my own eyes this morning, bringing a man back into her room. Who knows what they were doing."

"Really? Tsk, she's just like her mother—a cheap little slut."

"If you ask me, it was her mother seducing those disgusting Snake-People that led to her giving birth to this bastard."

Listening to the endless stream of vicious insults around her, Qing Lin bit her lip tightly and trembled all over. Before she knew it, tears had filled her eyes.

She did not understand. She had clearly done nothing—so why did these people hate her so much?

She had heard those insults more times than she could count and could pretend not to hear them. But when she heard them slandering her mother, she could no longer endure it.

"That's not true! My mother wasn't that kind of person!"

Qing Lin's voice trembled with sobs. Her mother had clearly been a victim too, so why did these people still slander her so viciously?

"Oh? You dare talk back now?"

"Then tell us, why didn't the Snake-People choose someone else? Why did they choose your mother?"

"Exactly. Your mother was born with that seductive little face. Maybe she liked that sort of thing."

"Hahaha!"

The crowd immediately erupted in laughter. Mockery, ridicule, and contempt intertwined like an invisible net, trapping Qing Lin within it.

In truth, they knew better than anyone that Qing Lin's mother had been a victim. But in the barren, dull place that was Stone Desert City, where there was little entertainment to be found, watching others get bullied and suffer had become a way for them to pass the time. They said such things only to satisfy the darkness and twistedness in their hearts.

"No! No, my mother wasn't like that!"

Qing Lin could no longer hold back. Tears poured down like a burst dam. She bit her lip so hard that tiny traces of blood seeped out.

"She's crying, she's crying! Look, she's crying."

"She's so grown-up already and still crying. How embarrassing."

Seeing how their elders behaved, the little brats became even more vicious.

The chubby boy picked up a stone from the ground and hurled it at Qing Lin.

"Stop!"

Qing Mo opened the door just in time to see this scene. Fury immediately flared in him, and the fire in his eyes nearly burst forth.

He rushed forward in a single stride, grabbed the chubby boy by the collar, and lifted him up.

Then he raised his hand and delivered a fierce slap.

Smack!

The crisp sound of the slap echoed through the alley. The chubby boy froze for a moment, then burst into heart-wrenching wails.

"Waaah! Mom! Someone hit me! Someone hit me!"

His cries instantly drew everyone's attention, and the other little brats scattered in fright.

"How dare you!"

One of the women nearby panicked at once and hurried over. She was the chubby boy's mother.

"Hmph!"

Qing Mo snorted coldly and tossed the chubby boy away as if he were garbage.

The woman scrambled to catch him, but the boy was too heavy. Neither of them managed to keep their footing, and with a thud, they crashed to the ground in a heap. The chubby boy cried even harder.

"Fine, fine, fine! What a slut! You hooked up with someone so quickly! Pretty boy, do you know who my husband is?" The woman climbed to her feet, pointed at Qing Mo's nose, and shook with rage.

"Shut up, you shrew!"

Qing Mo did not indulge her. He stepped forward and slapped her again.

He put a little force into this slap, and the woman's face instantly swelled red.

"Ah!"

The woman let out an ear-splitting pig squeal. Her face twisted as she trembled with rage.

"Just you wait! My husband is the captain of the Mad Blade Mercenary Corps! Just you wait!"

After throwing out that threat, the woman dragged away the still-crying chubby boy without looking back.

"Hmph! I'll wait right here."

Qing Mo spoke disdainfully. The Mad Blade Mercenary Corps? He had never even heard of it. It was probably some ragtag mercenary group.

He would not fear even a Dou Emperor, much less some tiny, unknown mercenary corps.

"What's wrong with this man? He's completely unreasonable!" A woman in a floral blouse curled her lips.

"He looks decent enough. Why is he so overbearing?"

"Exactly. What a waste of that face—he has no manners at all. I'd say that little slut must have fed him some love potion, otherwise why would he stand up for her?"

"Tsk tsk, acting pitiful at such a young age. Who knows what tricks she used behind the scenes... Men only see a pretty face and lose their brains!"

The more they spoke, the more excited they became, and their words grew increasingly vicious. Qing Mo's expression darkened by the second.

"Damn it!"

A vein throbbed at Qing Mo's temple as rage shot straight to his head.

Without another word, he spun around and gave each of them a resounding slap!

Smack! Smack! Smack!

"You old hags, you sure do talk a lot! Get lost already!"

The women stood there dazed, their faces burning with pain. They wanted to curse at him, but when they met Qing Mo's murderous gaze, all their bluster vanished.

"You... just you wait... If you've got the guts, don't leave!"