Chapter 565: Cowardice (Third)
In the corner where the newest conflict was happening, about ten people were involved. A richly dressed Early-stage Soul Exalt in his thirties stood there with an elderly man behind him and five Soul Ancestor guards stood around in front of him. In the center of those five, two males and a female—all of them Soul Ancestors—stood there.
The three of them were in rough shape. The twenty-something year old fair-skinned male was held by his throat up into the air by the richly dressed Soul Exalt, his face pale and his arms and legs flailing wildly. By his side,the twenty-year old girl had her right hand up to her lips in fright at the scene and frozen still to the spot. The third person was knocked to the ground, his face twisted in pain and anger as he rubbed at his throat.
“You dare try to play dumb with me, the great Cao Jun? Do you want to die, brat?!” The richly dressed man spat in disdain at the person whose throat he was grabbing onto. “Don’t think I can’t make you disappear from this world if I want you to!”
The eyes of the young man in his grasp were filled with fright. As a late-stage Soul Ancestor, he hadn’t the strength to push away the Soul Exalt grasping his throat. As best as he could, the young man struggled and rasped, “Do—don’t kill me! Cough, p—please, don’t kill me….”
The one known as Cao Jun seemed pleased with this reaction. With a sneer, he threw the man to the ground.
“Ah!! Zhe Hao, are you okay?”
The young woman cried out, taking the young man into her arms in great concern.
Cao Jun cracked a ridiculing smile at the actions of the young woman, his eyes filled with a lustful light.
Smirking, he said, “You better pay up the eighty mid-grade primal stones you promised. If you don’t….then don’t blame me for anything that might happen!”
The young woman patted the back of the coughing young man with one hand before looking furiously at Cao Jun, “You clearly said before the match the stakes was for eighty low-grade primal stones, not mid-grade ones! You’re being completely unreasonable you—you menace!”
But Cao Jun only cackled in response. “Don’t quibble with me little girl. One must pay what one bets. We agreed on the stakes before hand that it’d be for eighty mid-grade primal stones. If you don’t pay that amount after I win, that won’t do….”
“You—! You said low-grade primal stones to begin with, how am I quibbling? You—!” Clearly not experienced or proficient at justifying themselves, the young woman had been so infuriated by the actions of Cao Jun that her face was flushed red like a tomato, and her eyes were filled with fire.
But she could not make a clear and coherent retort after that.
“Bo-boss...please let us go. We’ve never reneged on a debt before, but we clearly betted on eighty low-grade primal stones. We….we are only normal soul cultivators, where in the world would we be able to get eighty mid-grade ones? Please don’t….don’t embarrass us…”
The one known as Zhe Hao finally managed to speak. His eyes were still filled with terror and his speech was weak. He was regretting taking part in this bet. It had been so exciting at first that he could fight with someone in an amiable and friendly bet like this, but then everything changed after he lost with the opponent asserting that the stakes had been for mid-grade primal stones. And with their opponents being the stronger ones, their intimidation tactics had completely terrified him.
“Quit your bullsh*tting in front of me!!” Cao Jun sneered, kicking Zhe Hao into the chest. With a sickening crack, Zhe Hao was sent tumbling away before spitting out a mouthful of blood!!
Completely lacking a merciful bone in his body, Cao Jun had cracked one of Zhe Hao’s rib bones with a kick!
“Do you or do you not want to die, brat?” An ominous glint entered Cao Jun’s eyes.
Zhe Hao’s body trembled with pain and fear. Completely and utterly cowed, he muttered, “Do—don’t ki—kill me pl—please….”
Curling his lips in a cold sneer, Cao Jun suddenly gave a charming ‘smile’. “Since I am a generous and reasonable person, I’ll give you the chance to live.”
Terrorized into obedience, Zhe Hao brightened up at this seemingly golden chance. “Tha—thank you, boss! Thank you so mu—”
“I wasn’t finished talking,” Cao Jun’s smile grew wider as he pointed at the girl with him, “You boys can leave, but leave the young girl. The girl will accompany me for one night and we can call it even.”
“What?!” Zhe Hao blanked. His response had broadsided him, and his face turned pale as a result, his lips trembling in confusion on what to do or how to respond to that.
The young woman in question froze completely still from her kneeling position next to Zhe Hao.
Moments later, Zhe Hao spoke again, his voice trembling, “How….how could we do that…? Boss….please let us go….”
He had realized it then—this was the goal of the man the entire time!!
The glint in Cao Jun’s eyes intensified, “You willing to bet if I can make it so you’ll disappear without anyone knowing?”
Again, Zhe Hao’s body trembled under Cao Jun’s glare. Sweat pooled over his forehead as he recognized the threat. This person could well and truly kill him!! He was a soul cultivator without any backing or power, how could he go against someone like him? No one would know if he died by the hands of someone like Cao Jun, would they?
Fear like never before gripped at Zhe Hao’s heart. This was a completely terrifying situation he found himself in. A trembling hand of his pushed himself off of the ground. Eyeing the young woman next to him with guilt, he….turned around to leave!!
He was complying with Cao Jun’s ‘request’ and abandoning her to save himself!
The young woman stood there transfixed with mute shock at what Zhe Hao had just done. She couldn’t believe the person that had personally been trying to court her for so long—and herself having a touch of a fancy for him in turn— was willing to throw her behind so that he could escape.
“Zhe Hao!! What are you trying to pull—are you a man or not! How can you abandon Tianmeng like this?!”
An indignant voice boomed out from the second male on the ground besides them. His frail frame trembled with anger and disappointment as he watched Zhe Hao try to leave.
“Ye Yu….I….” Zhe Hao opened his mouth to speak, but when he saw the cold look in Cao Jun’s eyes, his mouth snapped shut again. “Ye Yu, we should leave….” He replied meekly, “We’re only normal person, we can’t win against someone like him. He….he really can kill us, he will kill us…..no one will help us here….we should just….just leave...he won’t hurt Tianmeng, she’ll be back tomorrow, maybe….”
His voice grew meeker and meeker with each sentence spoken. Him trying to save the other male companion seemed to be his way of trying to lighten the guilt of his current actions, though his words were barely audible by the time he finished speaking.
But Ye Yu gave him a glare filled with disappointment. He had finally discovered what kind of person his years-long friend was. “It was you that brought us here—it was you Tianmeng believed in that she decided to come here….And now—now you want to throw her away like that…? And that she ‘won’t be hurt maybe’?! How—how can you even say such crap?! I misjudged you!”
“I….I didn’t know this would happen! I only came here because I heard this place was exciting….” Zhe Hao tried to argue, but just one look from Cao Jun was all it took to shut him up again. Looking down at the ground so as to avoid his companions stares, he turned and left the place in defeat.
The young woman watched him as he left, her eyes brimming with tears of despair, her mouth already starting to cry out at a moment’s notice.
Seemingly enjoying this type of reaction from her, Cao Jun laughed jovially, “A guy like that isn’t worth crying over, little girl. Allow me to treat you right, tonight, you’ll know what it means to have a ‘real’ man, hehe….”
Her delicate frame shuddered in fear as Cao Jun approached. Having never been in such a situation, her face was deathly white, unsure of what to do. All she could do was back away slowly.
At that moment, a person came forward to put himself in between her and Cao Jun.
“Don’t worry, Tianmeng, I’m here!” The youngster named Ye Yu spat, glaring hatefully at Cao Jun. “You bastard! I won’t let you hurt her! We’re students of Tianhun Aca—”
“Bang!!”
A fist slammed into his stomach before he could finish his sentence. As a mid-stage Soul Ancestor, Ye Yu was completely powerless to stop Cao Jun from acting. Staggering backwards in pain, Ye Yu coughed twice and was immediately apprehended by the men with Cao Jun, preventing him from getting back up again.
“Ah!! Ye Yu!!”
Frightfully screaming out his name, the young girl moved to rush towards him, only to be stopped by Cao Jun and forced to move in another direction in her fear.
A lascivious smile was now on Cao Jun’s face. Delighted in the young girl in front of him, his right hand caressed at the cheek of hers.
“You’d best let your mongrel of a hand stay by your side, or you’ll be eating with your left hand for the rest of your life.”
Suddenly, a calm voice spoke out to Cao Jun, freezing him in place.
Eyes flying to the person who spoke, the young woman’s eyes widened in shock at first, and then in joy, “In—instructor Bai!!”