Under these circumstances, it didn’t take Li Tan much effort to locate the man who had attacked Qiu Jue and Xue Ying.
The man glanced warily at the crowd gathering around to watch, his gaze wavering visibly when it landed on the expressionless Li Tan, but soon it turned into a look mixed with disdain.
“Me hitting them?
Watch your words. I was merely teaching them a lesson on what respect means. Besides, they don’t seem to be in bad shape now, are they?”
As he said the words “nothing serious,” the man cast a puzzled glance at Qiu Jue and Xue Ying hiding behind Li Tan.
Although he had been angry at the time, he still had a sense of restraint. Xue Ying aside, why was that damned fatso still standing there?
He guessed it was because Li Tan had given him some pills, which was indeed half correct, so his suspicion quickly faded.
“Quibbling.”
Li Tan spoke coldly.
The man retorted mockingly, “Hey hey, isn’t that exactly what you’re doing?
That woman suddenly splashed water on me for no apparent reason. I was even willing to let it slide. But then, who knew that the fatso would rush out and start messing with me? I just gave him a little lesson. I was actually being quite generous, you know?”
“You’re lying!”
Xue Ying was so angry her face turned red. “You clearly approached on your own!”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Why would I approach on my own?
Did anyone see that?
Do you have any proof?”
The man said indifferently.
Xue Ying was at a loss for words. Indeed, she had no evidence. Even if she claimed he had tried to assault her, it might backfire.
Qiu Jue defended himself: “At that time, you were bullying Xue Ying Senior-mate because of your higher cultivation. Could I really just stand aside and watch?”
Still using the excuse of “no evidence,” the man silenced Qiu Jue.
With both parties rendered speechless, the man smugly looked at Li Tan: “Junior Brother, if you have any complaints, you can directly go to the Judicial Division. Don’t waste everyone’s time here, okay? Senior Brother is very busy.”
As previously mentioned, going to the Judicial Division would be a complete waste of time, as nobody would pay attention to an apprentice servant.
“Brother Li, let’s just forget about this and go back to the outer court.”
Xue Ying gritted her teeth and lightly tugged at Li Tan’s sleeve.
Though very unwilling, Qiu Jue also nodded in agreement to avoid causing trouble for Li Tan.
“There you go. Hurry up and leave, so you don’t waste everyone’s time.”
The man seemed to be enjoying a happy moment, his mood extremely cheerful.
“Haha, finally someone got what was coming to them. I’ve long been fed up with this pretty boy who relies on Senior Sister Zhang’s protection to do as he pleases.”
“Exactly. That silly woman and the fatso actually thought he was someone special, trying to flatter him even at the expense of offending Elder Su. Now they’re suffering, and nobody cares.”
“Everyone, move along. There’s nothing more to see. Without Senior Sister Zhang, this pretty boy is just a nobody.”
The onlookers, not minding the chaos, kept throwing verbal jabs.
Li Tan remained expressionless, continuously staring coldly at the man. For some reason, every time the man met his gaze, he felt an inexplicable chill and discomfort along his spine.
“What? Do you still have a problem?”
The man glared fiercely at Li Tan, simultaneously trying to bolster his own courage. After all, wasn’t he just another pretty boy? With someone backing him up, what was there to fear?
“Finished talking yet?”
Li Tan completely ignored the man’s previous words, seemingly not having listened to the entire conversation at all, abruptly saying this.
The man was somewhat bewildered. This reaction seemed off. Shouldn’t he be shouting things like “just wait” and “you’ll see what’s coming to you” in anger? Yet Li Tan didn’t even appear angry, his face almost devoid of any expression. Suddenly, the man realized why Li Tan’s gaze made him uncomfortable—it was because the way Li Tan looked at him was less like looking at a person and more like looking at an object.
Finding the situation odd, the man felt a bit uneasy and instinctively took half a step back, though his outward behavior remained tough. “You—” What? He didn’t finish his sentence, because he didn’t know why. Perhaps it was because Li Tan’s palm swiftly and powerfully struck his face.
In a daze, he felt pain, followed by teeth and blood flying from his mouth.
Stunned and spinning around several times, the man barely regained his senses, but before he could get angry and lash out, a heavy punch landed on his chest, sending him flying backward with a loud crash, shattering the door into pieces.
“You—you dare hit me!”
Enraged, the man trembled as he tried to stand up. However, Li Tan’s foot came down directly on him, silencing his curses and shattering the floor beneath with a loud crack.
“Finished your nonsense?
Now it’s my turn.”
Li Tan glanced at him emotionlessly, then mercilessly struck again with his foot.
Crack.
That was the sound of bones breaking, followed by deafening screams of pain.
But soon enough, the screams stopped.
The man lying on the ground was barely recognizable, motionless like a dead fish.
A brief silence followed.
“Ahhhh, murder!”
Someone in the crowd suddenly screamed, and the scene quickly spiraled out of control, with everyone running in panic.
“Is—is he dead?”
Qiu Jue pointed at the man, frightened.
Li Tan disdainfully shook his head, unimpressed. “His dantian is ruined; he’s just unconscious. Such an overreaction.” For Li Tan, who had seen much death, this was already showing mercy. If not for considering Qiu Jue and Xue Ying, this man definitely wouldn’t have survived. In other words, the man getting beaten half to death was actually lucky.
“But, what do we do next? Not to mention Elder Su, the Judicial Division won’t let us off either!” Xue Ying was visibly anxious. She never expected Li Tan’s idea of “punishment” and “seeking justice” would be something like this—ruining someone’s cultivation. According to the strict rules of Tianlang Sect, such an act was tantamount to murder. Yet, despite all this, Li Tan remained completely calm. His gaze shifted between Qiu Jue and Xue Ying. “Ah, no worries. I naturally have ways to handle this. Just insist it has nothing to do with you when questioned.”
“No way! If the Judicial Division punishes Senior Brother for this, no matter what penalty comes, I will share it. This incident was my fault.”
Xue Ying passionately insisted.
Li Tan said somewhat helplessly: “They were originally targeting me; you two were just caught in the crossfire.”
“Li Tan, what exactly is going on here? Explain yourself clearly!”
In the hall next to the lecture room, Elder Su angrily shouted, crushing a teacup into pieces with a crack.
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