Vast and mist-shrouded, Lake Tai had once been a fine place to admire the scenery. Now it looked like a slaughter ground.
The wreckage of five warships sank into the lake along with the flesh and blood aboard them. Only the one pleasure boat remained.
Xu Xiao's Telekinesis was no longer what it had been. The power it unleashed when he used it at full strength for the first time left even him speechless, to say nothing of Wang Yuyan and the other women beside him.
Only now did Wang Yuyan realize that when he said it would have made no difference even if Murong Fu had been there, he had not been belittling her cousin.
What martial art could have accomplished what Xu Xiao had just done?
It was a feat worthy of a celestial!
"You... sir." Even Li Qingluo, usually so fierce and sharp-tongued, trembled as she spoke, frightened by Xu Xiao's methods.
Her words came in fits and starts, and her full chest rose and fell uncontrollably. Clearly, she had been badly frightened.
She had only managed two words when she saw Xu Xiao look her in the eyes, and her heart quivered.
But when she thought of her daughter being abducted by such a ruthless man, she could not help speaking up again:
"Whatever you want, sir, take it out on me. Let my daughter go."
"Everyone in the martial world says misfortune should not befall one's family. With martial arts as great as yours..."
"Shh!"
Xu Xiao raised a finger, cutting Li Qingluo off.
"I think you've misunderstood, Madam Wang. I may kill without batting an eye, but I treat my own women quite well. I'm no worse than your Duan Zhengchun."
"My dear Duan! You know him?"
Xu Xiao had intended to explain that he would not treat Wang Yuyan too poorly, but Li Qingluo had only remembered the second half of what he said.
Between her daughter and her lover, she was clearly more concerned about that philanderer Duan Zhengchun.
A love-addled mind was indeed a frightening thing!
"I know him. You could even say we're acquaintances of a sort." Xu Xiao nodded.
"Then please let my daughter go, sir, for her father's sake. Her father is none other than Duan Zhengchun, Dali's Prince of Zhennan."
Li Qingluo was quick-witted. As soon as she heard that he knew Duan Zhengchun, she tried to use the connection to get Xu Xiao to release Wang Yuyan. But how could that possibly work?
"You must be joking, Madam Wang. Never mind that there is a life-saving debt between Duan Zhengchun and me; I am also an honored guest of his Duan Clan."
"Even if Duan Zhengchun himself were here and knew I wanted to marry his daughter, would he dare say no?"
"You think you can use Duan Zhengchun to pressure me? That's wishful thinking."
Xu Xiao bluntly cut off Li Qingluo's request.
To put it crudely, if he did not dislike eating someone else's used hotpot broth, it would not have been just Wang Yuyan.
Li Qingluo had an excellent figure and face too... heh heh!
A beauty was a fine thing, but he still had to hold to his bottom line. Xu Xiao considered himself somewhat fastidious.
Having said his piece, he released the Telekinesis pressing down on Li Qingluo, then stepped back twice and took hold of Wang Yuyan, whose eyes were brimming with tears.
"Mother, I don't want to go with her. I don't want to be his woman."
Smack!
"More nonsense. Now that I've brought you to see your mother, once we're back on the road, we'll find a suitable place and perform the rites of Duke Zhou tonight."
"Boohoo~"
Wang Yuyan helplessly covered her pert little backside, not daring to say anything more. Even her mother could do nothing about Xu Xiao's tyranny and ruthlessness.
What could she do?
"Yuyan! My daughter!"
Li Qingluo's eyes were brimming with tears too, but looking at the man standing just three steps away from him, she did not dare take a single step forward.
"All right, Mother-in-law, stop crying and sniveling. What a sight you make!"
"I promise I'll treat your daughter well. Besides, being with me is better than being with a brainless fellow like Murong Fu, who thinks of nothing but rebellion, isn't it?"
"I promise you, within half a month, you'll hear my name throughout the realm. In time, you'll consider marrying your daughter to me today a tremendous honor."
Xu Xiao could not stand the mother and daughter crying and sniveling.
He stepped forward and wrapped an arm around Wang Yuyan's slender waist, then used his Telekinesis to support A Zhu and A Bi beside him and rose straight into the sky.
His show of force after landing on the boat had completely put an end to the three young women's thoughts, leaving them no choice but to go along with him.
"Oh, right. My name is Xu Xiao. Within half a month at most, my name will spread throughout the martial world and all under heaven."
As Xu Xiao and the others rose into the sky and flew away, only his words remained, echoing behind them.
Li Qingluo sat weeping on the deck at the bow, unable to stop her tears for a long while.
Only after more than an hour had passed did a female servant come forward and gently try to console her:
"Madam, we should return to the manor first. We can only take our time planning what to do about the young lady."
"If all else fails, we can go to the authorities and use the clan's connections to seek help from the imperial court. The court won't leave such a ruthless man unchecked."
Those words jolted Li Qingluo awake as if from a dream. Still weeping, she thought of something and immediately scrambled to her feet, saying hatefully:
"Right. Back to the manor to gather people, and find someone to send word to Dali for me."
"That heartless man hasn't come to see the two of us all these years. Now that our daughter has been taken, I refuse to believe he'll still do nothing."
Li Qingluo gnashed her teeth as she stared at the sky where Xu Xiao had flown away. She did not believe a word of his nonsense.
Though his miraculous skill was peerless, she did not believe martial arts could match the imperial court's troops.
Dali was a small country, but it still had a considerable army. On top of that, her husband's family in name was the Wang Clan, a gentry clan of Jiangnan.
She would find people to raise a commotion and pull strings. Even if it took issuing wanted notices throughout the land, she would rescue her daughter.
In an instant, countless plans flashed through Li Qingluo's mind. She wanted revenge.
And so, accompanied by her two personal female servants, the three soon rowed a small boat toward Mantuo Manor, ready to begin their great undertaking of revenge.
Meanwhile, Xu Xiao flew toward Gusu City with the three women. Before long, they passed over it.
Xu Xiao did not land in the prosperous city, however, but continued flying with the three women.
"Where exactly are you taking us?" A Zhu, who was beside him, was knowledgeable. Seeing that Xu Xiao had passed Gusu City without stopping, she could not help asking.
"Where? To hold a wedding for you, of course. Did you think I was just joking?" Xu Xiao answered without looking back.
"You!" A Zhu badly wanted to say that she had already lost her body to him, so what use was talking about a wedding now?
Somehow, though, she felt a little anticipation instead.
What young woman did not look forward to a wedding? Even A Zhu and A Bi, whose bodies Xu Xiao had taken by force, were no different.
Just as Xu Xiao had told Li Qingluo, ruthless as he was, he had not treated them harshly in any way since taking their bodies.
Now he was even taking them to hold a belated wedding, and she did not know how to describe this man.
"Oh, right. Do any of you know the way to Kaifeng?" Xu Xiao asked as he flew.
All three women shook their heads. Wang Yuyan had never stepped beyond the inner gate, and although A Zhu and A Bi had been out, they had not gone far.
"What are you going to Kaifeng for?" Wang Yuyan, in his arms, had stopped crying. Hearing they were going to Kaifeng, she asked in puzzlement instead.
"Of course, it's to hold a wedding that will make you known throughout the world, and while we're at it, talk to the emperor of the Great Song about something."
"Huh?" ×3
Xu Xiao's startling words left all three women stunned.
Talk to the emperor about something!!
In feudal times, the order was heaven, earth, ruler, parents, and teachers. They had neither Xu Xiao's audacity nor his ideas.
"What are you so surprised about? You'll find out when the time comes."
Xu Xiao said no more. He descended from the sky and found a merchant caravan, asked which direction Kaifeng lay in, then took flight again.
He headed north from Gusu City, intending to go to Kaifeng Prefecture, the most prosperous and wealthy place of the time.
Since he had boasted that he would do something big, he might as well give this age the greatest shock of all.
He would go straight into the Great Song imperial palace and hold a wedding feast there!
The old Zhao family's realm would be nothing but a history of humiliation from now on. It would be better for him to take charge of the land for a while.
The thought filled Xu Xiao's heart with excitement. This was the great undertaking of one man standing against a nation, an idea he had never had before.