An awkward look immediately crossed Huo Yuhao's face. He scratched the back of his head, a trace of embarrassment in his deep blue eyes. "Uh... well, I'm really sorry. This is my first day running the stall, so I didn't prepare enough. This last fish on the grill is all I have left, and..."
He glanced at Tang Ya beside him, whose mouth was glistening with grease as she ate, and lowered his voice. "This one's reserved for Teacher Xiaoya."
"Huh? You don't even have one left?"
Wu Feng's face fell, and even her fiery red ponytail seemed to droop. She stared longingly at the black carp sizzling on the grill. "Can't you let me have this one? I'll pay double!"
The moment she heard someone trying to snatch her grilled fish, Tang Ya, who had been sitting at a small table nearby, wholly absorbed in tackling the fish in her hands, jerked her head up.
The next instant, she sprang up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. She rushed to the grill in a few strides and spread her arms in front of it, still clutching her unfinished skewer of grilled fish, with grease and a tiny cumin seed lingering at the corner of her mouth.
"Wait! Yuhao saved this one for me! Nobody's allowed to take it!"
Her clear voice rang out with complete conviction, drawing the attention of several nearby students waiting to buy fish.
Wu Feng's brows knitted, anger beginning to flare in her crimson eyes. Ning Tian stood beside her, platinum-blond hair falling over her shoulders. Her azure eyes darkened slightly as well, betraying a hint of displeasure.
Only then did Tang Ya take a proper look at the faces opposite her, and her expression froze.
People from the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect.
She quietly lowered her outstretched arms, her fierce, food-guarding expression swiftly shifting into a peculiar sort of embarrassment.
The Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect and the Tang Sect were both ancient sects with ten thousand years of history, and they had fought side by side as allies ten thousand years ago. As the Tang Sect's sect master, making such a furious fuss over a grilled fish had rather disgraced her sect.
Tang Ya cleared her throat and was about to say something to ease the tension when a male voice, anxious and ingratiating, came from the side, abruptly breaking the atmosphere around the stall.
"Nannan, I was wrong! What do you want me to do before you'll forgive me?"
Everyone turned toward the voice.
A tall, slender girl was striding toward them, her long, golden waves of hair rippling like a waterfall in the evening breeze. Her skin was fair and her features exquisite, but her almond-shaped eyes were cold as though covered in a thin layer of ice. An aloof chill radiated from her, warning strangers to keep their distance.
It was Jiang Nannan, the renowned beauty of the outer court.
And who else could the burly young man following her every step, his face earnest and pleading, have been but Xu Sanshi?
Xu Sanshi was tall and powerfully built, with broad shoulders and a wide back. His fitted black clothes hugged his solid muscles, and his face was quite handsome. Yet now he stooped and wore an ingratiating smile, like a large dog trailing its owner in hopes of a morsel. Not a trace remained of the imposing young master of the Xuanming Sect.
Tang Ya's eyes lit up at the sight of them. She waved at Jiang Nannan and called, "Nannan, over here!"
Jiang Nannan's gaze shifted slightly; she had clearly noticed Tang Ya.
But she did not stop. Instead, she quickened her pace, tossing out words as cold as ice without looking back. "Xu Sanshi, we settled everything between us long ago. I already told you that you owe me nothing, and there is no relationship whatsoever between us. Please stop bothering me from now on."
With that, she walked faster, heading straight toward Tang Ya.
"All right, Xiaoya's calling me. Stop following me."
"Nannan!"
Xu Sanshi panicked. Forgetting where he was, he abruptly strode forward and grabbed Jiang Nannan's wrist.
His movement was hurried and forceful, all five fingers clamping tightly around her slender wrist as though he feared she would run away the moment he let go.
"Listen to me-"
"Let go!"
As his hand closed around her wrist, Jiang Nannan felt its strength and touch, and her expression changed. Certain unbearable memories instantly surged into her mind, like an icy needle stabbing deep into her heart. Her whole body shuddered, and she swung her arm hard, trying to shake him off. But Xu Sanshi's grip was too strong, and her struggles were utterly futile.
Wu Feng, already seething with frustration after failing to get any grilled fish, happened to witness the scene.
She was outspoken and fiery by nature, saying whatever came to mind on the spot. What did she care about the reasons behind it all? Seeing this tall boy harassing a girl in the street, acting so recklessly and overbearingly, sent her anger shooting straight to the top of her head.
"Hey! You big oaf, didn't you hear her tell you to let go? What do you think you're doing in broad daylight?!"
Wu Feng darted forward and planted herself just ahead of Jiang Nannan's side. Her fiery red ponytail swung as she tilted her head back and berated Xu Sanshi, undisguised fury burning in her crimson eyes.
Jiang Nannan's expression changed. She hurriedly reached out to catch Wu Feng and pull her back. "Don't-!"
But it was already too late.
All Xu Sanshi could think about was Jiang Nannan's cold expression. His anxiety, frustration, and sense of grievance had nowhere to go. Being suddenly rebuked in public by some little red-haired girl he did not know, with so many spectators' gazes stabbing into his back, only poured oil onto the fire. His fury erupted.
His face instantly darkened.
He was the young master of the Xuanming Sect, after all, and had grown up being fawned over. It was only his guilt over what he had once done to Jiang Nannan that made him act so humbly. Now any random person dared order him around? Did they really think he was so mild-tempered?
"Get lost!"
His arm shot up, and a surge of icy Soul Power welled from his palm. A layer of white frost instantly condensed in the surrounding air.
His broad, fan-sized hand swept straight toward Wu Feng's face, trailing a biting cold wind. The force of it howled through the air. If it landed while Wu Feng had yet to activate her Martial Soul, she would likely suffer badly.
"Look out!"
Ning Tian's expression changed drastically when she saw it, her platinum-blond hair flying as she hastily shouted a warning. But she was a little too far away to intervene in time and could only watch the ice-wreathed palm descend toward Wu Feng.
Yet beside her, a figure had already moved the instant Xu Sanshi raised his hand.
In the flash of a spark, he caught Xu Sanshi's descending wrist with unerring precision.
Five fingers clamped around that thick wrist like iron pincers, forcibly halting the palm wrapped in icy Soul Power in midair, barely three inches from Wu Feng's cheek.
It was Nezha.
Nezha stood in front of Wu Feng, his black hair stirring slightly in the gust stirred by his sudden movement.
He tilted his head and met Xu Sanshi's startled, angry eyes. The corner of his mouth curved slightly, his tone cold.
"Big guy, ask whether I agree before you hit one of my people."
"You-"
Xu Sanshi's face was dark, and the aura around him surged violently. He was a three-ring Soul Elder and the young master of the Xuanming Sect, after all. How could he show his face after a twelve-year-old boy caught his wrist in the street and left him unable to move?
"Let go!"
He growled, the muscles of his right arm swelling as icy Soul Power gathered over his fist. He drove a punch straight at Nezha's chest.
Nezha neither ducked nor dodged.
Rather than loosening his left hand's grip on Xu Sanshi's wrist, he tightened it further. At the same time, he raised his right hand, palm forward, and casually met Xu Sanshi's ice-wreathed fist.
Fist met palm.
There was no deafening crash of colliding Soul Power as one might have expected, only a muffled thump.
Xu Sanshi felt as though his fist had slammed into a mass of red-hot iron. Then a scorching backlash poured back through his palm, surged along his arm, and struck his chest. It rattled his blood and breath, bringing a sweet taste to his throat; he nearly spat out a mouthful of blood on the spot.
He staggered back two steps before finally steadying himself. Raising his head, he stared at the boy in horror.
Nezha withdrew his right hand, a wisp of lingering crimson flame slowly dissipating from his palm.
He flexed his wrist, his joints making several crisp cracks, as though he had just done something utterly trivial.
"Nezha!"
Wu Feng poked half her head out from behind Nezha, her fiery red ponytail swinging. Her earlier fright had already vanished like smoke, and now her face was filled with the smug delight of someone who had support.
She lifted her chin at Xu Sanshi, then turned toward Nezha, her eyes shining. "You were so cool just now."
Ning Tian hurried forward and stood beside Nezha. Her azure eyes swept coldly over Xu Sanshi before turning to Wu Feng. Only after seeing that she was unharmed did she breathe a small sigh of relief.
Before you continue