Mid-August.
Summer was lush with leaves and branches.
Along the road through the Back Mountain, vegetation grew thick, screening out the blazing sun overhead.
Standing on the road, Jiang Man looked at the man and woman before him, both bearing extraordinary poise.
He spoke calmly. "Are you mocking me?"
Zhang Bai froze at his words. "This is the first time anyone has asked me that. Do you think asking that makes you seem unbothered, or makes what someone else said wrong?
"Then you're mistaken. I simply stated the facts. That's all."
"People like them have such strong pride. They demand our respect without even taking a look at what they are," the woman added.
Jiang Man calmly took out his notebook and began writing. "Zhang Bai looked down on me and mocked me for being inferior to others."
Then he looked at the woman, momentarily unsure what to write.
"Bai Qing," Fang Yong supplied.
Jiang Man nodded and continued writing. "Bai Qing felt I didn't deserve her respect."
Both of them frowned as they watched his actions.
They hadn't expected him to write these things down.
Petty men were difficult to deal with.
"Forget it, forget it." Zhang Bai tossed out a hundred Spirit Sources. "Consider it our mistake in judging you. To think you were this pathetic."
Then he looked at Fang Yong. "So these are the people you associate with, Junior Brother Fang. I misjudged you."
With that, he made to leave.
Jiang Man interrupted their turn. "I have a question."
Zhang Bai looked at him. "Why should I answer you? I don't converse with petty men."
Jiang Man smiled. "I don't blame you. My light arrived a year late, leading you to misunderstand. Now that I'm here, all those perceptions should be corrected."
As his words fell,