"Mu Yukong! What is he doing here?"  Mu Chen whispered to himself.

 

Mu Yukong and Mu Chen used to be quite close to each other. And although Mu Chen was several years younger, Mu Yukong used to call him his 'Big Brother'. 

 

But after Mu Chen was injured, Mu Yukong only visited him once. Then he never saw him again. Mu Chen had also isolated himself and didn't bother to contact him. So he didn't know how Mu Yukong was doing now.

 

"Looks like he finally stepped into the Spirit Condensation realm." Mu Chen scoffed. Only someone who was at a realm higher than Liu Fengying could suppress her attack with such ease. Last time he saw Mu Yukong, he hadn't entered that realm.

 

With how rude Mu Yukong was being with Liu Fengying, Mu Chen felt both angry and unbelievable. So he instead moved into a corner of the booth. He wanted to see what Mu Yukong was planning.

 

Mu Chen used his hand to make a signal to Fengying. This was the code language Mu Chen had created together with Fengying and Mei'er for silent communication when they went to hunt beasts in the Dark Forest.

 

Hearing Mu Yukong's words, Liu Fengying was somewhat flustered and panicked. In her anger, she had completely forgotten the rules of the city. 

 

"Mu Yukong! Don't talk nonsense." Liu Fengying retorted, but it lacked confidence.

 

Fortunately, she already had her divine sense covering her surroundings while attacking Liu Dong, so she 'saw' Mu Chen's signal. Knowing Mu Chen was beside her, Liu Fengying felt her nervousness decrease by a lot.

 

"Hahaha! Miss Liu...are you going to deny your crime in front of so many people? Ai...I never imagined the granddaughter of Liu Clan's Matriarch was not only arrogant but also shameless…" Mu Yukong lamented. 

 

"Tsk! Who would have guessed the Liu Clan's genius was just someone arrogant and didn't even put the rules into her eyes…"

 

"I thought she was a beautiful fairy...but she turned out to be a petty person. Even bullying others while defying the rules..."

 

"Yeah...although very beautiful, her heart is black…"

 

Some of the people who were with Mu Yukong started to gossip about Liu Fengying. 

 

"You! Shut up!" Liu Fengying glared at them. The people gossiping immediately quieted down.

 

"I don't know what you are talking about. Stop your baseless accusations." Liu Fengying pretended to be ignorant as she said to Mu Yukong. As long as she denied it, what could Mu Yukong do?

 

Seeing Liu Fengying deny, Mu Yukong wasn't surprised at all. Instead, he looked pleased.

 

"Miss Liu, sometimes it's best to be honest, otherwise you will only pit yourself." Mu Yukong advised as he tossed something up and down. It was rectangular in shape and was made out of some jade like material.

 

Seeing it, Liu Fengying froze for a moment. "A recording jade." She whispered, as if talking to herself. 

 

Mu Chen heard Liu Fengying's murmur and understood what Mu Yukong was trying to do. He had recorded Liu Fengying's previous actions, and was using it to blackmail. Mu Chen was angry and was tempted to curse at Mu Yukong, but he controlled his anger.

 

"Then now...you should be willing to face your punishment?" Mu Yukong asked as he played with the recording jade in his hand.

 

Liu Fengying didn't speak. She realised she had fallen in a trap. If Mu Yukong didn't have the recording jade, their verbal confession wouldn't be enough to convict her. Even if there were dozens of people, verbal accusations without evidence was useless.

 

But with this piece of recording jade, everything was different. The rules of the city were rather strict, they had been set by the Ming Dynasty. So the punishment couldn't be avoided.

 

Liu Fengying wasn't afraid of the punishment. Given her status, the punishment would not be severe. At most she would be forced to face the wall for a few days. However, that wasn't the real issue. Normally, there wasn't even a need to consider such a situation.

 

Unfortunately, the Ming Dynasty Envoy was arriving today. If she was punished at this time, she would lose her chance to enter the selection and by extension, the secret realm. Entering such a realm was an opportunity of a life-time. If she lost such an opportunity, she would be thrown behind on the cultivation road by her peers. The other Sects and Families would not let go of this opportunity to suppress their Liu Clan. Unless the Liu Clan made compromises, they would never let Liu Fengying participate. Her being punished would negatively affect Liu Clan's reputation.

 

Liu Fengying stared at the jade, wishing she could just burn it with her glare.

 

"Miss Liu, could it be...you trying to get rid of the evidence?" Mu Yukong narrowed his eyes. 

 

"I have no such intentions." Liu Fengying snorted and clenched her fists in anger. But she didn't try to grab or destroy the recording jade. She couldn't be sure if there was someone else recording this, as well. Moreover, she could not suppress Mu Yukong. Trying to grab the jade would only give them opportunity to gather more evidence.

 

Another reason was Mu Chen had just signalled her not to worry. Although she didn't know how Mu Chen could resolve this situation, she trusted him.

 

"Of course, if Miss Liu wants to avoid the punishment-I can help." Mu Yukong made an offer.

 

"You will help?" Liu Fengying frowned and looked at Mu Yukong in suspicion.

 

"Hahaha...Miss Liu doesn't need to be so nervous. As you might know, my Big Brother values talents. Especially, beautiful ones. As long as you join our camp and become Big Brother's woman...everything will be simple." Mu Yukong said as if he was making the most generous offer.

 

"Join your camp? Become your brother's woman? Are you retarded?" Liu Fengying found the idea so ridiculous, that she even forgot that she was being blackmailed.

 

Mu Chen, who was listening, was even more angry. Not only was he angry, he also felt disgusted with Mu Yukong. This bastard was now helping others dig his corner.

 

Although, Liu Fengying cursed him, Mu Yukong didn't seem to care. "Miss Liu, you should consider the offer seriously. My Big Brother is a dragon among men, a phoenix in the sky. This place is too small to hold a giant such as my Big Brother. If not for your talent and beauty, Big Brother wouldn't even consider accepting you as his concubine..." As he spoke of his Big Brother, the reverence in his eyes was evident.

 

"Are you done?" Liu Fengying interrupted Mu Yukong's rant.

 

Mu Yukong was taken aback. He didn't expect Liu Fengying would interrupt him, but he quickly recovered.

 

"Miss Liu, you should consider...do you really want to miss the opportunity to enter the secret realm? If you miss it, it will be a great loss..." Mu Yukong was still patient.

 

Liu Fengying became silent once again. She didn't want to lose the opportunity to enter the secret realm. But she also didn't want to compromise. Especially, the terms were unacceptable.

 

"Is there even a need for her to choose?" At this time, Mu Chen slowly came next to Liu Fengying and embraced her by her waist with his hand. He grabbed her hand and gave it a light squeeze. Feeling his warmth, Liu Fengying immediately felt relaxed.

 

"Mu Chen?" Mu Yukong was shocked to see Mu Chen. He didn't expect to see Mu Chen here and thought he was still hiding away from the public. Upon seeing Mu Chen, his eyes flickered with some complicated emotions, but it was quickly replaced with disgust and an air of superiority.

 

"Aren't you going to greet your 'Big Brother'?" Mu Chen mocked with his eyebrow raised. Unbeknownst to him, his satus as the 'Big Brother' had long since been substituted for someone else by Mu Yukong.

 

"Big Brother? A trash like you is not even qualified to be my subordinate…" Mu Yukong spat his words as if he had accidently eaten some disgusting fly. Then he ignored Mu Chen and turned to Liu Fengying.

 

"Miss Liu...you should be careful when choosing your friends. Trash like him are not even qualified to change the shoes of cultivators like us. You should make a choice-join our camp, otherwise, sooner or later, you will be swept aside alongside with this trash." Mu Yukong said with a hint of jealousy in his eyes. The intimate actions between Mu Chen and Liu Fengying hadn't gone unnoticed by Mu Yukong.

 

"Fengying, relax! Let me handle him." Mu Chen felt Fengying's anger rise, so he squeezed her hand to calm her.

 

"Hey! This 'Big Brother' of yours...does he have a name?" Mu Chen asked as he left Liu Fengying's side and slowly walked outside the booth. 

 

"Do you think you are worthy of hearing it?" Mu Yukong sneered in contempt.

 

Mu Chen stopped a few feet in front of Mu Yukong and looked around. There were several of his cronies who were behind him, though they were standing a bit farther away making him the leader. Looked like Mu Yukong had established his own little force, under his Big Brother's banner. However, he didn't see Liu Dong. He seemed to have ran away.

 

"Is there any need to be so nasty? We are from the same family. Moreover, I had always thought of you as a friend. I don't recall I've ever mistreated you…" Mu Chen shrugged as a distant look appeared in his eyes and he gave a sigh.

 

Mu Chen wasn't really eager to know the identity of this 'Big Brother' from Mu Yukong's mouth. Liu Fengying must already know who it was. He was just talking to distract Mu Yukong and lower his guard.

 

Hearing Mu Chen's words, Mu Yukong felt very uncomfortable. Indeed just like he had said, Mu Chen had never mistreated him. The reason he was being so nasty was just to hide his own sense of inferiority. He had always been jealous of Mu Chen. He was jealous of his looks, his talent and his luck with women. Even someone like Liu Fengying was so infatuated with him, she was willing to stick with him even when he was a cripple. 

 

"If you beg, maybe I will tel–" Mu Yukong began to talk. 

 

But just as Mu Yukong opened his mouth, Mu Chen made his move and kicked him between his legs. 

 

"Aaaaarghh!" Mu Yukong howled as he fell on his knees grabbing his crotch and rolling on the floor with his legs curled.

 

Mu Yukong didn't expect Mu Chen attacking him at all. In his impression, Mu Chen who had lost his cultivation posed no danger. So he was caught off guard. In normal circumstances, he would still have been able to react. But his divine sense was locked onto Liu Fengying because he thought it would be her who might make a move.

 

These past several months Mu Chen had been training his body and his level of physical fitness was already beyond that of average humans. His speed of attack was very fast. Without using his divine sense, Mu Yukong didn't have the ability to predict and dodge his attack based on just the reaction speed of his physical body.

 

Seeing Mu Yukong kicked in his groin, his companions immediately distanced themselves from Mu Chen as they prepared to attack him. Seeing this, Liu Fengying immediately flashed next to Mu Chen to protect him.

 

"I would not be stupid to use magic arts. The rules apply not just to us, but you guys as well." Mu Chen said in a light tone.

 

Mu Chen's reminder immediately made the crowd hesitate. Moreover, there was also Liu Fengying next to him. The strongest person among them was Mu Yukong, who was curled up in pain on the floor. Others were not a match for Liu Fengying even if they combined their strength.

 

Mu Chen ignored the crowd as he knelt beside Mu Yukong who was moaning under pain in a fetal position. He picked up the recording jade that had slipped out of Mu Yukong's hand and pocketed it.

 

"Do you know why I kicked you?" Mu Chen asked Mu Yukong whose face had turned pale. His voice was flat and cold, one couldn't detect any sign of anger.

 

"Mu...Chen...bastard...you...damn!" Mu Yukong gasped in a low voice. His voice was filled with raw hate. Mu Chen's kick really took a toll on him. His family jewels had been completely crushed and the pain he felt was nerve-wracking. Right now, all he could do was revolve his spiritual qi to alleviate the pain.

 

Mu Chen stood up and stamped on Mu Yukong's groin causing him to scream again. Amidst the screams, curses were also mixed.

 

"What did you say? Could you speak a bit louder?" Mu Chen picked his ear as if he couldn't hear Mu Yukong's cursing and increased the pressure. The enmity was already set, so he didn't mind torturing him a bit more.

 

Mu Yukong no longer had the luxury of cursing and could only scream and wail under the pain. Hearing his screams, the group of people who had come with him, felt chills down their spines.

 

Mu Yukong's screams grew louder and began to attract the attention of people within other booths. Soon many people began to gather to see what was happening.