What Good Are Your Rules, Anyway?

"Manager Ning, you really are straightforward. I'll take that as agreement to this condition too. Third, my family is a little angry over what happened to Ma Chuwen. How about this? Strip off your clothes and let me whip you three times as an apology. What do you say?"

Xiang Li had laid out three conditions: first, seize forty percent of the shop's earnings; second, make Ning Yu his concubine; third, have Ning Yu strip naked and let him beat her.

Ning Yu's entire face flushed with anger, and even the veins in her neck stood out clearly.

Xiang Keshu chimed in from beside him, "All three conditions sound good. Manager Ning, marrying into our Xiang Family would be your good fortune."

Before Ning Yu could speak, the guard beside her lost his patience.

"You Xiang Family bastards! Tea? You only deserve to eat shit!"

Xiang Li smiled. "And where did you stray dog come from? Your master hasn't even spoken. What are you barking so eagerly for?"

He hadn't come to negotiate. He had come to stir up trouble.

Ning Yu stood up. "It seems you have no sincerity at all. Let's arrange another place to talk later. But next time, we won't just be flapping our lips."

There was nothing left to discuss. This meant a fight.

"Straightforward! That's exactly what I like about you," Xiang Li said with a smile. "But there's no need to wait another day. We'll fight today!"

The two guards behind Xiang Li released their martial souls!

One had a blood-red saber, the other a blood-red dagger.

Both were Four-Ring Soul Ancestors, and the blood on their martial souls looked unnaturally sinister.

The saber wielder stepped in front of Xiang Li. Seven-colored treasure light blossomed from Ning Yu, and five soul rings revolved around her.

"Seven Treasures Turn, Glazed Light Appears. First: Strength. Second: Speed. Third: Soul. Fourth: Defense. Fifth: Attack."

Five rays of treasure light lit up around each of them-Ning Yu and her two guards!

Ning Yu could control five soul skills and a soul tool simultaneously!

The Seven Apertures Exquisite Heart!

Ning Yu had cultivated the Seven Apertures Exquisite Heart to its highest level!

Gripping a seven-colored shortsword, she drove it straight into the saber wielder's chest!

Blood flew everywhere, yet the saber wielder remained completely unmoved. He didn't even cry out in pain, and his four soul rings continued to shine.

His expression was cold as he raised his saber. His first soul ring lit up, and a blood-red blade of light over three meters long extended from his weapon, slashing straight at Ning Yu!

What a formidable body this man had!

Although Ning Yu was a support Soul Master, her seven-colored gemstone shortsword was a Class Five offensive soul tool. With her soul skills boosting it, how could her opponent possibly remain unscathed?

Ning Yu hurriedly rolled out of the blade's path. A dark cannon barrel extended from her body, firelight gathering over it!

A Class Five soul tool, the Thunder-Gathering Cannon!

Terrifying lightning energy gathered at its muzzle. The cannon fired, striking the saber wielder directly!

BOOM!!!

Lightning ran rampant, serpents of electricity writhing through the air.

The saber wielder's entire body was blasted apart!

In the blink of an eye, his shattered body pieced itself back together. Not a single wound remained visible!

Completely unscathed!

This was beyond anything human! How could he take two hits from Class Five soul tools head-on without suffering any damage?

He was a human, not a soul beast!

As far as Ning Yu could tell, he might have some special restorative soul tool on him, at least Class Six.

How could someone with a Class Six soul tool serve as Xiang Li's guard?

And the saber wielder wasn't the only one this powerful. The dagger wielder was fighting two shop employees.

Both employees had Soul Ancestor cultivation, and seven-colored radiance shimmered around them. They were fully capable of fighting an ordinary Soul King.

Yet against the dagger wielder, they were driven back again and again, completely unable to retaliate.

One had an oxhide bow as his martial soul, while the other had an iron shield.

With one defending and the other attacking, their coordination had been seamless.

Yet the dagger wielder completely ignored the arrows' damage. Braving the soul power arrows head-on, he drove his dagger into the iron shield!

The dagger wielder's fourth soul ring lit up. He stabbed three times in succession, leaving three red spots on the shield!

Before long, the three red spots connected into a triangle, and soul power erupted across the shield.

BOOM!!

The entire shield exploded into fragments.

Fourth soul skill-Three-Star Blood Fury!

With his martial soul shattered, the shield guard let out a muffled groan and fainted on the spot.

Seeing that things had gone wrong and that their side could not possibly stand against these bizarre Soul Masters, the bow wielder shouted at Ning Yu!

"Manager, run! We'll cover your retreat!"

Shouts also rose from downstairs in Taotao Residence!

The Xiang Family and the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect had broken into all-out battle!

Even when a Xiang Family Soul Master's head was split open, bloody threads instantly sprouted from the wound and rapidly healed it!

His head had been split open, yet he could still live, still use soul skills!

Had the Xiang Family developed a Class Nine healing soul tool?

That was impossible...

Ning Yu took another hit to the shoulder.

It was a wave of light spat out by a fierce tiger Soul Master.

Late that night, Ning Yu brought her people back to Inkstone Village.

Of the forty-two shop employees, twenty-one had died. Three bodies had been brought back; the rest had been left at Taotao Residence. No one knew what Xiang Li would do to them.

Everyone, including Ning Yu, was injured, and their injuries were severe.

As for the Xiang Family, not one of them had any wounds. Every time they were injured, they recovered instantly, with astonishing speed.

While retreating, Ning Yu hadn't seen a single person on the opposing side fall.

Not even in her dreams had she imagined the Xiang Family could be this powerful.

The Healing Soul Masters were so busy their feet barely touched the ground as they treated the employees' urgent injuries.

After receiving treatment, Ning Yu instructed her subordinates to set up a mourning hall so they could first pay their respects to their fallen brothers and sisters.

Once everyone had kowtowed, Ning Yu kept vigil alone.

After burning paper money, she let out a long sigh.

"Brothers and sisters, I'll be joining you soon. Go on ahead. There's no need to wait for me."

Ji Feng entered the mourning hall and burned some paper money too.

Although he hadn't known them, it was a gesture of respect for the dead.

Looking at the names in the mourning hall, Ning Yu was filled with remorse.

"Ji Feng, I thought this would just be a discussion, that Xiang Li wouldn't attack right away. I never imagined he would be so brazen!"

"Brazen how?"

"Brazen enough to attack outright. And his strength has actually reached this level. I suspect he'll come to Inkstone Village for me tomorrow. This time, I'm dead for certain.

Ji Feng, take Tang Ya and leave. We don't want to drag you into this."

Ji Feng asked, "You knew you couldn't beat them, yet you still dared to go dine with them? Couldn't you have struck first?"

"Those are the rules of the Jianghu. Since he invited me, I couldn't refuse to go."

"You followed the rules with him, but did Xiang Li follow the rules with you?"

"No." Ning Yu's voice was very quiet.

"Then what good are your rules?"

After a long silence, Ning Yu raised her voice. "If I hadn't gone, my brothers and sisters and I would have spent our whole lives with the Xiang Family trampling on our heads!"

Ji Feng pointed at the long list of names on the memorial altar. "And now? Where have their heads gone?"

Ning Yu lowered her head without a word.

"Tomorrow, when Xiang Li comes and cuts off your head, how will you help your brothers and sisters then?"

Ning Yu had no answer.

Ji Feng asked again, "Tell me, what good are your rules?"

Ning Yu no longer wanted to mention those rules of the Jianghu.

She had left her family in Heaven Dou City to gain experience in Shrek City. She had thought she understood the Jianghu well enough, but only today did she discover that she understood nothing.

Ning Yu let out a long sigh. "Now isn't the time to argue over right and wrong. Ji Feng, when Xiang Li comes tomorrow, he definitely won't spare you or Tang Ya. I only want to give you a warning: leave, quickly."

She was right. If Xiang Li swept in without resistance, killing all the way, neither Ji Feng nor Tang Ya would be able to escape.

Ji Feng asked, "The Xiang Family Pill Shop? How does it compare to Shrek?"

His sudden question stunned Ning Yu. "Of course it can't compare. They only throw their weight around because of their connections to Shrek. How could they possibly compare to Shrek Academy?"

"Heh, then there's nothing to fear." Ji Feng's tone was relaxed.