Chapter 140: Hitting on My Woman

Chaos Stone Ridge really lived up to its name.

Stones of all sizes were piled and stacked together—some of them especially tall. As you walked deeper in, it even felt like a small maze.

Inside, a few shifty-looking people were hiding behind a huge boulder, secretly watching a sunny young man sitting on a rock not far away, playing the suona.

“Huge Tiger, I’ve been watching. Ever since Zhong Teng took people to Mo Lan City, there’s been no one who can keep Zhong Qiu in line. He’s been bouncing around the city every day—people from Long Teng are annoyed by him. These past few days he stopped causing trouble in the city and has been sneaking out here early every morning to practice suona. Pretty bold. And he didn’t bring any Long Teng people with him. It’s the perfect chance for us to teach him a lesson.”

A skinny little man reported fawningly to the burly man beside him.

“You sure no one from Long Teng is tailing him?”

“Don’t worry, Huge Tiger. I waited at the city gate early this morning—I saw him sneak out alone with my own eyes. No one followed.”

Hearing that, Kuai Hu’s face split into a ferocious grin. He stared viciously at the kid still playing the suona like he was in his own world, and spat darkly.

“Hmph. Finally, I’ve caught my chance. That pretty-boy dared to hit on my woman—today I’m going to teach him a proper lesson.”

The skinny man’s heart clenched, chilled by the killing intent. He hurriedly stopped him, trembling.

“H-Huge Tiger… Brother Qiu said it’s fine if you want to beat him up, but you have to leave him alive. We still need him to keep Long Teng in check. After this hunting tournament is over and Brother Qiu becomes City Lord, then you can do whatever you want to him.”

Kuai Hu glared impatiently. “Yeah, yeah, I got it. But I’m telling you, taking his life would be even better. Doesn’t Zhong Teng treasure this little brother of his the most? Kill him and Zhong Teng will definitely lose focus during the hunting tournament. We can ambush him—最好把 Zhong Teng弄死 too.”

The skinny man shrank his neck. “Brother Qiu said Zhong Teng is ruthless. He’s afraid Zhong Teng will go all-out and drag us—Blood Devour—down with him. Then we’d just be handing an advantage to those people from Red Lotus Stronghold.”

“Tch. Isn’t Yi Beiming already severely injured from insect backlash? With that sickly body—more fragile than a woman—how’s he supposed to compete with Brother Qiu for the City Lord position?”

“That’s just… what if. Yi Beiming is always full of schemes. What if the ‘backlash’ is fake?”

“Hah. It’s definitely real. The info came from inside Red Lotus Stronghold—can’t be fake.” Kuai Hu grinned, smug.

The skinny man’s eyes widened. “So we have an informant inside Red Lotus Stronghold?”

Kuai Hu realized he’d slipped, cursed himself, then shot the skinny man—and the other underlings nearby—a hard glare.

“Dare to pry into higher-ups’ business and you’ll lose your lives.”

The underlings quickly averted their faces in panic, signaling they wouldn’t dare, wouldn’t dare.

The skinny man also put on a show of looking away, chuckling awkwardly as if he’d heard nothing.

But once he lowered his eyes, his pupils rolled—flashing with a sharp gleam. Summoning courage, he asked, “Huge Tiger, when do we move? Zhong Qiu snuck out—he won’t practice long. He might leave any minute.”

Kuai Hu’s mouth curled upward into a savage smile. “Now.”

With that, he hefted his big axe and swaggered out from behind the boulder, chin raised, and shouted at Zhong Qiu provocatively:

“Hey, pretty-boy—so you’re the one trying to seduce my woman, huh?”

That sudden booming voice startled Zhong Qiu so badly that his suona note split—and the piercing noise spread across the wilds.

Yun Qimu and the others, still on their way over, immediately covered their ears, frowning in disgust.

“Tch—this is way too loud. My ears hurt.”

But with a fat sheep dangling up ahead, they didn’t retreat. Since they’d come all this way, they had to fleece the sheep first and earn a nice round of profit.

Right then, the fat sheep Zhong Qiu stared in terror at the suddenly-appearing Kuai Hu—and then at the several ill-intentioned men filing out behind him. He instantly realized something was wrong, but still forced himself to respond.

“Y-you… why are you here? I didn’t seduce your woman—don’t slander me.”

Kuai Hu bared a mouthful of shark-like teeth, a brutal bloodlust rolling off him.

“My woman is Hei Meier. The one on the street the day before yesterday who said you played well and were talented—and you stood there grinning all stupid. Then she said you were cute too. What, you think I didn’t see? My guys saw it with their own eyes. And you still dare deny it?”

Zhong Qiu clutched his little suona; his face turned green.

“How was I supposed to know she was your woman? Besides, it was pure artistic exchange—nothing as filthy as what you’re imagining. If you don’t believe me, we can go back to the city and confront her.”

He spoke righteously, but Kuai Hu didn’t fall for that little trick.

“Tch. Smart, aren’t you—trying to go back and call Long Teng for help? Hmph. You think you can treat me like a monkey and toy with me? Not happening. We’ll beat you first. If you die or end up crippled, that’s on me.”

His underlings immediately roared and surged forward like wolves toward Zhong Qiu.

Only then did Zhong Qiu truly panic. His pale, tender face looked like he was about to cry.

Damn it—he’d only snuck out here to practice so he wouldn’t torture his buddies’ ears, planning to go back later and surprise them… and now Kuai Hu, this vicious tiger, had latched onto him.

“Seducing his woman,” my ass. He didn’t even like that woman.

Seeing the black axe about to split his head open, Zhong Qiu grit his teeth, hugged his little suona, and bolted to the edge of the rock—then jumped.

The rock was pretty high. Luckily his legs were sturdy and he’d always been climbing and scrambling around. When he hit the ground, his knees only hurt a little. He rolled and scrambled up and kept running.

Seeing that, some of Kuai Hu’s men jumped down after him like dumplings being tossed into a pot, while others ran back to take another route to cut him off.

Zhong Qiu was panting hard, his fair face flushed red—but with that “couldn’t even tie down a chicken” physique, how could he outrun Kuai Hu, who’d fought frenzied beasts through wind and rain?

Before long, Kuai Hu caught up.

A fist slammed into Zhong Qiu’s eye socket, sending stars exploding in his vision—his head ringing.

If he hadn’t only recently awakened his ability and gotten a tiny bit tougher, he suspected he would’ve died on the spot.

Even so, he wasn’t doing well. Another punch smashed him down with a whump. The gravel on the ground sliced his palm, and his precious little suona clattered away with a series of clang clangs.

Yun Qimu stepped on the suona. It seemed to press uncomfortably into her foot, so she instinctively lowered her head to look, asking suspiciously, “This is a suona?”

Zhong Qiu, face-down on the ground with his brain rattling and his vision going black, lifted his head toward that pleasing voice.

In a hazy blur, he saw a beautiful woman standing there as if bathed in divine light. She bent down, picked up his little suona, and toyed with it in her hands, smiling with crescent eyes.

Zhong Qiu reached out, his bruised-black eye socket and face wearing a dazed, dreamy expression:

Ah, big bro… I think I just saw a goddess.