After being chased all this way and now having every escape route blocked, Li Ye finally could not take it anymore.
Even if they disgusted him to death today, he was going to teach these people a lesson and make them understand that some young gentlemen were truly beyond their reach!
"Desolate-Breaking, Spear's Extremity!"
As Desolate Qi surged violently inside him, Li Ye struck straight at Mokena, the one who disgusted him most.
Against the blinding speed of Spear's Extremity, Mokena had no chance to react. In an instant, Li Ye pierced one of his arms.
However, after drinking Berserk Beer, Mokena and the others had their sense of pain reduced to a minimum. So although Li Ye's thrust seemed to have wounded Mokena badly, it did not rob him of his ability to fight.
Seeing that his strike had failed to bring Mokena down, Li Ye frowned. These people were not utterly wicked; their preferences were simply far too unusual, so he had not struck to kill. Otherwise, had that thrust pierced his heart, Mokena would already have been a corpse.
"Old Mo, this young gentleman is too straight! What do we do if we can't bend him?"
Seeing one of Mokena's arms severely wounded in an instant, the second brother, who held a short, thick iron rod, immediately turned grave and sent Mokena a voice transmission.
"What else can we do? We can only say we're not blessed enough to enjoy this young gentleman's attentions. The wind's picking up-time to run!"
"Retreat!"
With Mokena's clear answer, the second brother and the other three immediately scattered, returned to his side, and followed him as he fled away from Li Ye.
Li Ye was dumbfounded. If he had known they were so afraid of dying, he would not have bothered running earlier and would have beaten them up straightaway.
But now that they had fled, he could not be bothered to chase them. Meeting up with Liu Erlong was more important.
A short while later, the five finally reached a secluded spot. After drinking a glass of Healing Beer, Mokena sighed.
Ever since the five brothers had confirmed their preferences twenty years ago, they had formed the Star Dou Five Scoundrels. In their twenty years on the scene, they had only succeeded a few dozen times.
Most of those had been kindred spirits-young masters who favored muscular men. Not long ago, they had finally encountered a handsome blond young master and had nearly succeeded, only for two Soul Saints to show up and beat them up.
Today, they had finally devised a new hero-rescues-the-beauty routine, hoping to win over Li Ye, a young gentleman so handsome that the sight of him made them drool. Yet they had never expected that, despite his youth and mere rank-40 Soul Power, Li Ye would have the strength to leap ranks and instantly defeat a Soul King.
"Old Mo, why don't we go follow that young gentleman? Maybe we'll succeed someday. Even if we don't, I feel we'd have a bright future following him."
"Fifth Brother, have you lost your mind? When have we Star Dou Five Scoundrels ever lowered ourselves to serve someone else?"
"Then tell us what we're supposed to do from now on, Third Brother. We can't keep hanging around this little town every day!"
"Enough, enough. Third Brother, Fifth Brother, stop arguing. You're giving me a headache."
"I think Fifth Brother is right. As your eldest brother, I'm already over forty this year. If I keep living this way, chasing pleasure, I'm afraid this is all my life will ever amount to," Mokena said slowly, clutching his injured right hand.
If they had a choice, they would actually have liked to join Spirit Hall. After all, Spirit Hall had so many handsome young gentlemen that there were bound to be a few they could bend.
But a couple of years ago, they had bent the grandson of a Spirit Hall elder, and that elder had kept them on his wanted list ever since. They truly did not dare go to Spirit Hall to throw their lives away.
Still, they would need a better plan to get Li Ye to agree to take them in as his underlings.
When he returned to town, Li Ye still saw no sign of Liu Erlong, but he did encounter the beautiful pair of sisters from earlier again.
"Hello, my name is An Nana, and this is my older sister, An Dong'er. Could you tell us your name?"
Seeing Li Ye return, Hu Liena, who had been waiting a long time, immediately pulled Bibi Dong over to him and extended a hand, wanting to get acquainted.
However, to conceal their identities, she had deliberately given herself and Bibi Dong new names, lest Li Ye recognize them upon hearing their real ones.
Bibi Dong said little about it. If Hu Liena wanted to change their names, she could, as long as they did not sound unpleasant.
Seeing Hu Liena extend her hand, Li Ye hesitated briefly before taking it. However, he only lightly clasped half her hand before letting go. "My name is Feng Yeli. You can just call me Ye Li."
After speaking, Li Ye had intended to shake Bibi Dong's hand and introduce himself to her as well, but seeing that she had no intention of extending her hand, he could only awkwardly abandon the idea.
Naturally, Hu Liena noticed what Li Ye had been thinking and said with a hint of apology, "I'm very sorry, Ye Li. My sister is rather shy and isn't used to shaking hands with boys."
At those words, a faint blush appeared on Bibi Dong's pretty face, whose expression never seemed to change. She truly had not expected Hu Liena to dare say such a thing about her.
As for Li Ye, seeing Bibi Dong suddenly blush, he actually believed that the An Dong'er before him really was shy, leaving him somewhat embarrassed as well.
"Hey, Ye Li, are you here to hunt for a Soul Ring? Would you like to come with me and my sister? I happen to need my fourth Soul Ring." On the way to the town's only hotel, Hu Liena could not help asking Li Ye.
"Sure. I happen to need to hunt for my fourth Soul Ring too, but I still have to wait for someone to come with me."
"That's wonderful! My sister is-she's a rank-66 Soul Emperor. With that teammate of yours as well, hunting for fourth Soul Rings together couldn't be easier!"
"Oh, are you that powerful, Miss An Dong'er? You only look eighteen or nineteen, yet you already have the strength of a Soul Emperor."
Hearing Hu Liena's words, Li Ye could not help looking up at Bibi Dong, who had not said a word the entire way, his voice carrying a hint of surprise and wonder.
He had thought that the An Dong'er before him was at most just over rank 50; otherwise, she would not have been too afraid even to resist when Mokena and the others threatened her. Who would have thought her Soul Power had already reached rank 66?
Presumably, she was the daughter of someone high up in a great sect or powerful faction, out hunting for Soul Rings alone with her younger sister for the first time, with little actual combat experience.
No wonder she had not dared speak, had kept that cool expression on her face, and occasionally blushed. So she had social anxiety.
At that thought, Li Ye truly felt he was a genius. After less than half an hour together, he had managed to guess her general background and personality with perfect clarity.
Hearing Li Ye say she looked only eighteen or nineteen instantly lifted Bibi Dong's mood. In all these years, she had never been as happy as she was today.
Being complimented truly felt good. Especially when the compliment came from a simple-hearted young man who was young, talented, and reasonably strong, it gave her an even more indescribable sense of pleasure.
Hu Liena usually praised her every day as the most beautiful woman on the continent, as youthful as an eighteen- or nineteen-year-old girl. But those were deliberate words spoken with knowledge of her circumstances, after all, and could not compare at all to Li Ye's unthinking remark.
Amid her delight, Bibi Dong turned her head to steal a brief glance at Li Ye, only to find that he, too, was secretly watching her.
The moment their eyes met, they felt their hearts trembling wildly. The feeling defied words, like a lost bee suddenly finding its home, or lovers suddenly reuniting after a long separation.
Oh no, this was the feeling of falling in love!
For a moment, Li Ye turned his head away in a panic, avoiding Bibi Dong's gaze, but his face was as red as a ripe tomato, and his whole body burned with heat.
But Bibi Dong was no young virgin like Li Ye, who had never had a proper relationship in either of his two lives. Although her thoughts were somewhat unsettled as well, she could still calmly watch his bright-red profile.
Before you continue