Austin was in no hurry. He ambled along to cherish the verdant scenery around him.
As he passed by a thick emerald-hued bush, a figure in pink flashed past him to swiftly dive and take cover behind the dense foliage.
Behind him, Raymond was close on the heels of Austin as he scrambled to ambush Austin with his gang. About half an hour later, Raymond was watching from afar to see Austin still unhurried and leisurely strolling about. With a diabolical plan cooking in his mind, Raymond flashed a wicked smile.
"Hurry up. Walk faster and go ahead so that you can take that guy by surprise," Raymond ordered bossily. As soon as he waved his hand, all his men obediently got into two groups and parted their ways to follow two different paths into the forest.
Dozens of men sneaked through the closely packed trees, scurrying at a fast pace, in order to reach the ghat in time. Some moments later, they had finally caught up with Austin and then, overtook him.
Austin heard the leaves rustle around him. His lips curled into a wry smile as he murmured to himself, "Finally! You caught up with me. It's good that I didn't have to waste much time in waiting for you."
This was the part of the ghat where the trees became sparse and the overarching sky was all too visible. On that naked patch, Austin paused as if to rest for a while.
Raymond's men by then were walking some distance ahead of Austin. They all had a plan, which they were only too eager to put in motion. They started to position themselves strategically at a treacherous ghat lying in wait for Austin.
As minutes ticked by and it clocked to about half an hour, they began to fidget, wondering why they hadn't seen Austin in a long period of time.
'Did this guy spot something out of turn and go back?' Raymond spoke sotto voce. An idea struck him and so he promptly barked an instruction, "one of you go and take a look at what on earth is that guy up to."
Again, minutes passed by and all waited mouse-like for the dispatched man to get back. On his return, he reported, "Sir, he was resting on an exposed stretch of the forest. He was simply lying there and staring at the sky."
"Why wait here? Go. Let's walk back then!"
Raymond ordered again. He was unwilling to waste any more time in waiting, as he was getting impatient to see Austin cruelly tortured.
At his end, Austin retrieved a small cloth bag from his space ring and then, further pulled out an array flag from the bag.
"Well, this is the chance to see how mighty this Four-sided and Eight Trigrams Array is."
After Fanny's grandfather had gifted this Four-sided and Eigh
nd, Raymond's face twitched.
Every time he thought about Austin knocking him down unconscious in plain view, right in front of the Lotus Tavern, anger crawled under his skin.
Of course, it happened long ago but the humiliation and hatred were still fresh in Raymond's mind. They nagged and tortured his soul, questioning his standing.
Ever since Raymond was a little kid, he had gotten everything he ever wanted. Being the only grandson of a top elder of the Flaming Sun Valley sect, it was only natural that he was spoiled. But now with time, he had grown into a rather selfish and unrestrained adult. Raymond was now so conceited that he believed himself to be the Alpha to the whole mankind.
Backed by his grandfather's great power, Raymond had never been humiliated like this.
But now, this guy had the gall to disgrace him and on top of that, stand brazenly in front of him.
There was not even a hint of panic shown by Austin. Rather, he stared right back at Raymond and smiled his filthy smug smile at him.
"Ooh? How weird! I remember that I have bashed your nose into minced meat when we met last. Well, how was it possible that now another nose has grown on your face?"
Austin teased Raymond with feigned surprise, ogling at his nose.
Raymond was infuriated by Austin's mocking theatrical act. Infuriated by Austin's feigned and teasing manner, Raymond's anger burst like a volcano.
"Ah!"
Just when Raymond was about to react…
Austin flicked something on his feet and then pretended to have gotten a realization.
"Oho, I've got it. Your nose is fake. You have stuck a fake nose on your face! Hehehe. Please, tell me, which master made this nose for you? How skillful he is! The nose seems totally real!"