Setting out

"Candied hawthorns! Big and sweet, sweeter than your first love..."

"Roasted sweet potatoes! You get into Tsinghua, he gets into Peking University, and I get sweet potatoes into the oven! A sweet life is just one bite of roasted sweet potato away!"

"Step right up, don't pass us by! For just nine ninety-nine, you can't lose, you can't get cheated..."

"Step right up, don't pass us by! Don't let fate brush past you!"

Vendors' cries rang out endlessly along the vast street. Everywhere the eye could see, shifting figures packed the entire thoroughfare!

"Young master, slow down, slow down! Be careful not to bump into..."

Accompanied by the maids' anxious calls, a group hurried along with flustered expressions, keeping close behind the tall, slender figure ahead.

The street teemed with people, shoulders rubbing as the crowd surged like a tide.

Though the maids were frantic, they remained several steps behind the youth, unable to catch up with him.

Yet the youth seemed deaf to the calls behind him. His steps never faltered, as though this clamorous world had nothing to do with him.

Every time he passed a stall, another piece of food appeared in his hands.

Before long, his mouth was stuffed to bursting, and his belly had rounded out like an inflated balloon.

With a roasted sweet potato in his left hand, a skewer of candied hawthorns in his right, and a large skewer of fragrant roasted meat still being chewed in his mouth, he looked exactly like a greedy little squirrel.

Clearly, this youth had a keen interest in good food, while the dazzling assortment of other wares on the street seemed to hold no appeal for him whatsoever.

The poor maids could only keep pulling out money to pay behind him, resignation written across their faces.

A closer look revealed that this youth was none other than Young Master Fu Su!

However, he now had a new name-"Ying Ming Hao."

Not only that, but his appearance was also slightly different from before.

This was Heavenwind City, a brilliant pearl set into the very edge of the Great Qin Dynasty's territory.

The city was immense and imposing, a truly colossal metropolis.

Beyond Heavenwind City, passing through another three or four small cities meant leaving the Great Qin Dynasty's borders and officially entering that mysterious, unknown no-man's-land.

For that very reason, Heavenwind City had become an essential stop for countless travelers, an ideal place to rest and replenish their supplies.

Thus, the city was exceptionally lively, with crowds surging through its streets and alleys and an endless swell of noise.

People from the five lakes and four seas gathered here. Some were travelers passing through, others merchants coming to do business,

while still others were tourists visiting for pleasure. Along with the recent news that the Misty Sect was opening its Mountain Gate to recruit disciples, vast numbers of talented young people had been drawn here...

People of every kind mingled together, forming a brilliant, colorful tapestry.

Within this bustling city, there were not only humans, but all manner of other races as well.

Among them, the Merfolk Race was particularly striking. They had distinctive bodies, with human torsos and fish tails, and the males bore horny fins on their backs.

The females, meanwhile, had soft, translucent fins that shimmered with enchanting light beneath the sun.

Members of the Demon Race were also frequent visitors to Heavenwind City. With twin horns on their heads, fierce faces, and unusually powerful builds, they gave off an air of wild aggression.

The Elf Race drew passersby's gazes with their outstanding beauty and petite figures.

They bore paired wings as fine as cicada silk on their backs, and when they danced gracefully through the air, they looked like fairies descending to the mortal world, enchanting all who saw them.

There was also a group of monks with gleaming heads and kasaya robes, murmuring "Amitabha" over and over as though they had no quarrel with the world.

In stark contrast to these amicable groups, however, was a band of Demonic Cultivators, black from head to toe and tightly wrapped all over.

They carried all sorts of bizarre weapons on their backs and radiated a chilling aura. One glance made it clear they were no good.

Ying Ming Hao and his companions wandered the bustling street for an entire afternoon, yet still had not reached its end, as though this crowded thoroughfare went on forever.

Along the way, they kept sampling every kind of delicacy. Ying Ming Hao's belly was already stuffed round; he probably would not have an appetite again for the next ten days or half a month.

At that moment, Ying Ming Hao was contentedly sipping an unidentified drink, savoring a flavor he could not get enough of.

A group of maids and guards followed close behind him, all looking capable and decidedly difficult to provoke.

Yet anyone with discerning eyes could tell at a glance that Ying Ming Hao and his guards were clearly fat sheep from out of town, ripe for fleecing.

He was curious about everything around him and enjoyed all kinds of food without a care, looking nothing like someone who had seen much of the world.

Moreover, judging by his clothes and his lavish spending, this was definitely someone with no shortage of money.

Naturally, a group like this attracted considerable attention.

In the open and in the shadows alike, who knew how many pairs of eyes had already fixed on this fat sheep?

Although the six maids and six guards behind Ying Ming Hao all looked formidable, there were always people in this world willing to risk everything for wealth, even their own lives.

Others believed that even a mighty dragon could not subdue a snake in its own territory, convinced they were stronger than the other party and growing arrogant as a result.

Not only that, many dissolute young gentlemen present had been captivated by the six beautiful maids beside Ming Hao. The twins among them, in particular, almost had these young men drooling.

At that moment, someone finally could no longer restrain their urges and prepared to act.

It was a gang formed through the collusion of small local gangs, skilled at using sinister, deceitful tricks to achieve their aims.

A beautiful young married woman with a curvaceous figure fixed a piercing gaze on Ming Hao. Clearly, she had planned this carefully.

Having judged Ming Hao's path, she walked unhurriedly ahead, approaching him as though by chance.

When the distance between them shrank to fewer than two steps, the beautiful woman suddenly pitched forward as though she had tripped over something, letting out a startled cry.

At the same time, she reached forward, attempting to catch Ming Hao's hand and keep herself from falling to the ground.

However, things did not unfold as the beautiful woman had expected.

Ming Hao reacted with astonishing speed. Like a nimble rabbit, he instantly sprang more than three meters backward, easily avoiding the woman's staged collision scam.

The beautiful woman took a very real tumble, landing face-first like a dog eating dirt and making intimate contact with the ground.

The phone in her hand, with which she had originally intended to catch Ming Hao, also clearly met empty air.

"Oh, damn!"

Clearly bewildered by this sudden turn of events, the beautiful woman raised her head with a blank expression,

and stared at Ming Hao, who had already leaped more than three meters away. For a moment, she froze, completely at a loss.

But this beautiful woman was no ordinary person. After only three seconds of lying stunned on the ground, she swiftly made a decision.

With a neat kip-up, she sprang to her feet as though nothing had happened.

Plan one failed. Time for plan two.

She gathered strength in her legs and lunged forward again, intending to knock Ming Hao to the ground with her.

In the blink of an eye, a startling smack rang out, and the woman flew backward faster than she had charged in, causing a stir all around.

In front of Ying Ming Hao, the maid Qing Yun angrily shook out her hand and muttered,

"That woman's skin is so thick, even my hand hurts from slapping her!"

Her lips stuck out in a high pout, and she looked deeply displeased.

At the sight, Ming Hao curiously rose onto his tiptoes and poked his little head out, staring suspiciously at the woman on the ground.

The woman had clearly been dazed by the blow and failed to come to her senses for quite some time.

Only after seven or eight seconds did she finally recover. Rubbing her swollen cheek, she suddenly opened her mouth and let out a piercing scream:

"Murder! This young master knocked me down, and now he's trying to kill me! Help!

"Someone's trying to murder me in the street! Is there no justice? Is there no law...?"

That cry rang through the entire street like the squealing of a pig being slaughtered.

Plenty of people had already gathered to watch. Hearing the woman's cries now, they all let out murmurs and exclamations.

The young woman's expression turned ugly, going green one moment and white the next, clearly frightened by the crowd's reaction.

Qing Yun, standing in front of Ming Hao, was grinding her teeth with fury. Without another word, she immediately called over several nearby maids, who swarmed the woman and began punching and kicking her.

The maids did not hold back at all. They pulled her hair and clawed her face, beating her until she howled, utterly powerless to fight back.

This chaotic scuffle, however, caused an even greater disturbance.

The gang members on the outskirts, unaware of what was happening, heard the woman's howls and assumed the plan had succeeded, so they all rushed over to back her up.

Their voices arrived before they did.

"What bastard has the gall to bully my woman? He must be tired of living!"

"Exactly, exactly!"

The others beside him chimed in,

"My big brother is famous throughout every village for miles around as a vicious brute! He's a ruthless man who kills without blinking!"

The group shouted as they marched over menacingly.

Yet the moment they arrived, they all stood dumbfounded-a woman lay curled up in a corner,

her face swollen like a pig's head, white foam spilling constantly from her mouth.

The woman struggled to crack an eye open. When she saw her own people had arrived, she trembled all over with excitement and stammered,

"B-Brother... Hai... a-avenge... me..."

Before she could finish, however, she received several more vicious kicks.

At that, the leader called Brother Hai flew into a rage. His eyes bulging with fury, he waved to his men and prepared to lead the charge to rescue her.

Seeing this, how could the guards beside Ming Hao possibly stand by?

The other side had numbers on its side and was actually trying to bully the few with the many. How could they allow that!

The guards rushed forward in a swarm and joined the beating, leaving only two maids to protect Ming Hao, one on either side.

The moment the two sides met, the battle became completely one-sided, turning into nothing more than a relentless thrashing.

The opposing enemies could not contend with them at all. In just a few moves, every one of them had been knocked to the ground, unable to fight back.

Just then, Ming Hao quietly crept over.

Like a cunning fox, he took advantage of the chaos to launch further attacks on the enemies already lying on the ground.

He stomped on one, slapped another, and delivered a crotch-crushing strike straight to the next...

That string of moves made every passerby present suck in a breath of cold air.

Their eyes widened as they stared in disbelief at everything unfolding before them.

By then, ring after ring of spectators had packed the outskirts.

These people knew nothing of how the incident had begun and had come purely to enjoy the spectacle.

"That youth is truly vicious! Who knows what those people did to offend him for him to strike so brutally.

"Look at his methods. They're simply cruelty taken to the extreme..."

Within the crowd, a handsome man with a faintly sorrowful air spoke quietly to several beauties beside him.

Meanwhile, on the other side, amid a cluster of restaurants, eight or nine young men and women sat in a private room overlooking the street.

They pointed at Ming Hao and the defeated enemies below, passing judgment.

"What a brat who has no idea how high the heavens are or how deep the earth runs!

"He actually dares to brawl openly in the street, in full view of everyone. Who knows whether he's a dragon crossing the river or simply hopelessly stupid?"

One of the youths spoke.

"Brother Lin is right. Once the authorities arrive, he'll have plenty to suffer."

Another young woman echoed him.

A girl in a goose-yellow dress was gazing ingratiatingly at the distinguished man beside her, who held a feather fan.

Everyone seemed long accustomed to it.

Before long, government bailiffs arrived, finally bringing the farce to an end!

When the bailiffs arrived, someone in the watching crowd murmured,

"This is already the ninth time this month, isn't it?!