In the place that Liu Li could not see, two young men were confronting each other in the midair in flames.
They were Han Te and Li Jialing.
Li Jialing’s face was hidden below the golden hair, but even the golden hair that was fluttering in the wind could not cover his indifference and mockery. He said casually, “Han Te, if you keep on pestering me like this, it will make people doubt if you have transitioned and that you are even interested in men now.”
“Cut the crap!”
Blushing, Han Te pointed at Li Jialing’s nose and shrieked, “Golden-haired boy, just admit it. Have you been with Liu Li a lot, harassing her every day?”
Without raising his eyes, Li Jialing said coldly, “Does it have anything to do with you?”
“Stop dodging and just answer my question!”
Han Te burst into fury. “Liu Li has grown up together with me since childhood. I have never regarded her as a junior sister but as my own biological sister. I will never allow anyone to harm her! A young master from an extravagant noble family like you can’t be anything good. You must be dallying and philandering with her! I will not allow such a thing to happen. So, listen up, stay away from Liu Li in the future!”
“Did my ears just deceive me?”
Li Jialing finally raised his head slightly, but it was contempt that was beaming out of his golden eyes. “As the greatest playboy yourself, you have the audacity of accusing me of tricking and seducing women? Just mind your own business with your ‘big sisters’. Are you even qualified to meddle between Liu Li and me?”
“I promised Liu Li’s father that I would take good care of her no matter what!”
Blushing, Han Te tried to defend himself. “You do not belong in the same world at all. You cannot bring happiness to her. So, just stop messing around with her!”
“First of all, there is nothing between her and me at all. We were just training with Brother Yao together.”
Li Jialing narrowed his eyes, with the golden hair on his back rising. Wickedness suddenly beamed out of his eyes as he said with a cold smile, “Secondly, a scumbag like you is utterly unqualified to say the bulls*it like ‘protect her and bring her happiness’. Are you not the person who really hurt and devastated her in the past month?
“You are also interfering with her regular friend-making under the excuse of protecting her? Hehe. You are just satisfying your own boring possessiveness. You’re only angry because the girl that has been following you is taken by somebody else.
“You are truly a sucker, Han Te. You have so many ‘big sisters’ whom you flirt with every day, and you never care about Liu Li’s feelings or tend to her daily life. But as it turns out, the moment she finds a regular friend that is me and talks to me once in a while, you can’t take it anymore and jump out in a hurry?”
Han Te was rendered speechless by what Li Jialing said. Stunned for a long time, he raised his voice and shouted, “Cut the crap. Are you leaving Liu Li or not?”
“What can you do if I don’t? Who do you think you are to stand between Liu Li and me?”
The wickedness in Li Jialing’s eyes was more and more intense. “Leaving aside the fact that we are just regular friends, and there is no such thing as me leaving her, even if we were really together, should it be your concern at all?”
“Ah-ha!”
His eyes popping out, Han Te waved his hands and shouted, “You’ve finally revealed your evil intentions and dropped your disguise of ‘regular friend’. You are admitting that you want more from Liu Li, aren’t you? No, I will not allow someone like you to tarnish Liu Li!”
Tilting his head, Li Jialing thought for a moment and replied, “…’Tarnish’, as in how you ‘tarnished’ your big sisters?”
“That’s totally different!”
Han Te’s face was so red that his nostrils were almost spurting blood. “Liu Li is different from them!”
“I’m different from you, too. I think with my upper half body, unlike certain automatic cannons that will fire at any hole—my apologies, certain rapid automatic cannons.”
Li Jialing said, one word after another, “So, just rest assured. Even if Liu Li and I were really together, I would certainly make her the happiest woman in the entire universe.”
“You—”
The moment he pictured Liu Li with another man, Han Te felt that he was struck by a lightning, and Liu Li was suddenly broken away from the shackle of “biological sister”.
His face immediately turned pale. Finding such a scene utterly unacceptable, he demanded, “You can’t be together. You absolutely can’t. You can’t bring happiness to Liu Li. Li Jialing, I’ve seen through you. I can see the real you deep in your bones. You are a cold and heartless man who does not care about personal feelings. What you pursue after is… something higher, deeper, and greater. For that, you can abandon everything, including your love!”
“Just like what I said, it’s not your business.”
Li Jialing smiled. The cruelty deep inside him that was inherited from Li Linghai gradually bloomed. He was like a big cat looking at a mouse when he said unhurriedly, “Did you know? I thought to be Liu Li’s regular friend only, but I’ve changed my mind. Now that I think about it, Liu Li has such a miserable life as such a lovely girl. Not only was she born on the horrible Land of Sins, but she also has a crazy and stupid big brother whom she grew up with. Tsk, tsk, tsk. Are you planning to cage her forever to prevent her from getting in touch with men of her age?
“Such a life seems too poignant. It appears to me that the helpless, tortured girl is in dire need of a handsome, gentle, and comforting golden-haired prince to save her from the despair!”
Han Te was dumbfounded for a long time. “What… golden-haired prince? You are not talking about yourself, are you?”
“Of course I am.”
Li Jialing shook his head of flying golden hair and said, “I will be Liu Li’s savior. Is there a problem?”
“There certainly is!”
Han Te yelled, “You narcissist! You think you are a ‘savior’? Damn it. You are even more haughty than I am. You are a pervert!”
“Hehe, whatever you say, I’m going to save Liu Li. The person she should be leaving is not me but you. She should be as far away from her sucker brother as possible, and the further she is, the happier she will be!”
Li Jialing’s lips curled. “All in all, I will not let Liu Li return to the dark life where everything was controlled by you. Before, she didn’t have a choice, but she has me now. I am her savior, I am her star, and I am her light of hope! You are no longer needed here, Han Te. Just get lost and play with your ‘big sisters’!”
“A*shole!”
The electric arcs on Han Te’s iron arm glowed brighter and brighter. The young man from the Land of Sins bellowed, “You are pushing me into this. Since you are being utterly unreasonable, let’s decide to whom Liu Li will belong in the most straightforward way!”
“You are…”
Li Jialing’s eyes were deep. “… asking to be killed!”
“Ahhhhh!”
Han Te roared and charged at Li Jialing in a streak of brilliance.
Of course, only one tenth of a second later, he was blown backward in exactly the same way, only three times faster with a head as swollen as that of a pig.
“Ignoring the giant difference in our capabilities in the past…”
With his right hand behind his back, Li Jialing had blown Han Te away with only the left arm. He said unconcernedly, “Let’s just talk about the one month after we came to the Blue Sky Market. While I trained myself hard, you were having a good time with your big sisters. What can you use to defeat me, Han Te?”
Han Te was so humiliated that blood was almost shooting out of his eyes. He shrieked and charged forward again. Without any suspense, he was blown back again for a second time.
A third time, a fourth time, a fifth time… It was still the case for the tenth time.
After ten rounds, there was not any part of Han Te’s skin that was still intact. He was like a sponge that was fully saturated with water, utterly losing the shape of a human being.
But his eyes that had been squeezed into tiny gaps were as stubborn as before!
“I’ve had enough fun.”
Li Jialing yawned and said, “The result will be the same even if you come for another hundred rounds. Why do you have to humiliate yourself? You know as clearly as I do that you are absolutely no match for me.”
“It’s true that… I am no match for you right now!”
Han Te’s blue-and-black face was stained with thick blood. He was so ashamed that he was almost tearing a hole in the air to hide himself in. However, clinging to his dignity, he stood straight before Li Jialing and pointed at the young lion, shouting, “However, listen close. Don’t laugh at a young man when he is still poor! If you think you are capable, just give me ten years, and I will certainly become unimaginably strong after training, before I come back and blow up your head! I dare you to a deal of ten years! Let’s have another match ten years later!”
Li Jialing was dumbfounded, as if he were intimidated by the daunting vibe Han Te suddenly unleashed. Then…
Shua!
Li Jialing opened his fingers and released his spiritual energy, grabbing Han Te by his neck remotely and dragging the guy to his front.
“I’m sorry. I’ve been misunderstanding you, Han Te.”
Li Jialing said solemnly, “I thought that you were simply arrogant; it was not until this moment that I realized that you were not. You are just a pure moron. Let me ask you, why on earth would I make a deal of ten years with you and give you ten years to train yourself so that you can blow up my head after you come back when I have such a great advantage right now?”
“Well, well—”
Han Te struggled hard. “How can you do this? Where are your morals?”
“I am Li Yao’s brother.”
Li Jialing asked back, “Do you think I care about morals?”
“… Then just kill me!”
Han Te was both infuriated and embarrassed, but he could not erase the stubbornness in his bones. “After all, the people of the Land of Sins are born to be the toys for the young masters of noble families like you to kill. You can kill me, but I will not give in or surrender!”
“I’ve been tolerating you for a long time, Han Te.”
Li Jialing’s narrowed eyes were like two gold daggers. “Do you really think I dare not kill you?”
“Then bring it on!”
Veins protruded on Han Te’s forehead. “A man can be executed but must not be insulted. Life for the people of the Land of Sins is exactly death, of which we are absolutely not scared. So just bring it on!”
“You—”
Faced with the scoundrel, Li Jialing was somewhat caught in a dilemma.
Right then, an earsplitting sound echoed from behind them. It was the sound of a storm of bullets coming close!