Chapter 82: Murdering with Words

When he heard that sentence, Xia Yuan could not help but think that the first sentence was indeed said by a sage. It was said by that sage who founded the Confucian teachings back then and was renown throughout the world. However, the second half of the sentence was not said by that sage, but rather, by a great Confucian of the previous dynasty, Mr. Shen, in his philosophical essay. Now, it was almost universally known among the children who had attended private schools in the Great Liang Dynasty.

Mr. Shen naturally could not be mentioned in the same breath with that Confucian sage. There was naturally no possibility that the two people's famous quotes could be combined too. Even children who were a few years old would not mix them up. But, this young man in black in front of them managed to combine these two sentences together.

If it was pieced together, forget it. Yet, it did not seem... out of place either.

Someone repeated the sentence under their breath, "Friends come from afar, with whips numbering dozens, drive them out of the courtyard."

As he said, he could not help laughing.

Earlier, when He Yi asked if an unwelcome guest counted as a guest, Xie Nandu said that they naturally did. So he used this to ask the girl. But before the young girl could answer, a young man dressed in black came walking in from outside, giving him a dumbfounding answer.

But thinking about this answer carefully, there was a profound meaning to it.

If they were really distinguished guests, then they would naturally be treated according to that saying about friends who came from afar.

But since they were unwelcome guests, it would naturally be that sentence that the youth in black said.

Seeing that everyone was staring at him, the young man in black looked at He Yi a little embarrassedly and said with belated realization, "I didn't study much and don't know if I remember it wrongly. Everyone, please forgive me."

He Yi's expression was ugly as he said woodenly, "Who are you?"

The arrival was naturally Chen Chao. Hearing this, he pretended not to hear it and turned to look at Xie Nandu.

Xie Nandu glanced at him and sat down without speaking. But, anyone could see that smile at the corners of her mouth.

The foreign cultivators at the banquet had ugly expressions. Someone said angrily, "You're that warden? You were absent without reason and now, you actually still dare to talk wildly!"

"What warden?" Chen Chao had a blank look.

That person said with a sneer, "What? You're actually shameless until you don't even dare to admit this?!" Yôur favorite stories at novelhall.com

Chen Chao kept a straight face as he said with a frown, "What do you mean shameless? This official is the deputy commander of the Divine Capital's Left Guard. You're looking for a warden, what does that have to do with this official?!"

There were actually not many people who knew about Chen Chao's promotion to the position of deputy commander of the Left Guard. At least, there were barely anyone present who knew about it.

"You!" That person's expression turned ugly. For a moment, he really could not think of anything to say.

All the Great Liang Dynasty cultivators present were aware of the events that had occurred by the South Lake. Seeing how Chen Chao was so unfazed at this moment, none of them were surprised. Even the Ning family's young man wore a solemn expression at this moment. Now that things had developed to the current situation, he would no longer jump out to say anything more.

"You were absent without reason, the Great Liang Dynasty really doesn't understand the rules to use a youth from the borders like you!"

A cultivator spoke indifferently.

They latched onto the facts, making it very difficult for others to argue. Except, his words held a double meaning. He seemed to be talking about Chen Chao, but in reality, they were actually condemning the entire Great Liang Dynasty together with him too.

Chen Chao sneered and retorted, "As the deputy commander of the Left Guard, it's my duty to protect the safety of the Divine Capital as well as the imperial city. You're guests from afar who refuse to be proper guests. But, we can't be impolite hosts. So, this official inconvenienced myself a little to patrol the area for you. After all, you foreign cultivators have many enemies. There may be assassins who sneaked into the imperial city at this moment to kill you cultivators. This official went to take a look for you guys to prevent you all from dying here which would be a tragedy too."

Hearing this, the faces of the foreign cultivators in the room became very ugly. Chen Chao's words were not aimed at a single cultivator, but at all of them. It naturally incurred public wrath.

"Talking nonsense! You're full of rubbish!"

That cultivator turned to the Second Prince. But before he could say anything, Chen Chao smiled and said, "Of course I was bluffing you, how safe is the palace? How could there be such outlaws? It's just that if you guys were to leave the Divine Capital, you'll have to be more careful."

"Your Highness, this man is spouting unruly and insane words! If you don't apprehend him at this time, when are you waiting for?!"

What happened to your arrogance from before? Where did it go?

He Yi smiled and said, "It's just a friendly spar. We won't harm Commander Chen's life. Why decline?"

Chen Chao's expression was ugly and he turned to the Second Prince.

The Second Prince felt his gaze and was somewhat helpless too. There were such rules tonight to begin with, even it was him, he could not do anything about it either.

He Yi sighed and said, "If Commander Chen really doesn't want to, you can back out too. After all, these things have to be mutually consensual. Could it be that we can force Commander Chen?"

Everyone in the hall knew that at this moment, if Chen Chao said that he was scared and refused the challenge, he would go from being a hero in the eyes of the people of the Divine Capital to a complete coward after tonight. This kind of reversal of reputation would make it difficult for him to move around in the capital.

If he accepted the challenge and still lost, the Myriad Willow Convention would be taking place right away. How could he still have the face to participate in the Myriad Willow Convention?

This was the choice that He Yi gave Chen Chao, avenging the grudge of his selected words earlier.

Ridiculing laughter did not cease in the hall, everyone looked at Chen Chao like they were watching a show.

The youngsters from the Great Liang Dynasty did not speak. Even if they had grievances with Chen Chao, they did not want to add insult to injury at this moment. Because at this moment, Chen Chao represented the Great Liang Dynasty. If they still lacked a sense of propriety, their days would not be easy after tonight.

Chen Chao listened to the ridicules in the room and looked at everyone's reaction. He was silent for a long time before he slowly said, "I think immortal masters are mistaken."

His voice was not loud, but it just happened to drown out the ridiculing. The hall became quiet again and everyone looked at him with some doubt and some uncertainty.

He Yi asked patiently, "What misunderstanding?"

Chen Chao slowly said, "I come from the border and served as a warden in Tianqing County, protecting the border and ensuring the safety of the people of Great Liang. I spent my days in and out of the deep mountains, killing many demons. My skills are all focused on the word 'kill'. Whether is it killing people or killing demons, I'm good at them. However, when it comes to sparring, I'm really not very familiar with it. I am afraid that if we start fighting, I'll lack a sense of propriety and end up killing everyone!"

End up killing everyone...

Chen Chao said the last few words of this sentence very slowly and earnestly too, The result of this was that everyone heard him clearly.

Earlier, there was a cultivator who had said the same thing to Xie Nandu. But at that time, Chen Chao was not in the hall and should not have known about that incident. But now that he spoke like this, it was somewhat similar to what had happened before.

It even made them suspect that this young man was standing up for that girl.

"I am really afraid. After all, in Tianqing County, I've already accidentally killed a few qi refiners." Chen Chao's face was full of sincerity and his tone was sincere. He was just like Xie Nandu before. Of the duo, one could make lies sound like the truth, while the other person divulged no emotions even when mocking.

From this perspective, the two of them were really a match made in heaven.

The expression on He Yi's face had already become ugly to the extreme. The rest of the cultivators were boiling with anger, unable to contain themselves any longer.

However, Chen Chao did not pay attention to all of that. Instead, he looked at Xie Nandu and raised his eyebrows.

Xie Nandu smiled slightly and nodded her head.

Their actions only further infuriated the cultivators present.

After a moment, a cultivator spoke up, "Li Ying from Wanqing Mountain, please offer me guidance, Commander Chen!"

After being provoked repeatedly tonight, these young people could not bear it any longer. At this moment, they were already resorting to the final, and also the simplest way of regaining face.

However, Chen Chao did not look at him. Instead, he turned to He Yi and said, "Why make things so complicated? Let's just have a match between the two of us."

Looking at this young cultivator, Chen Chao smiled and said, "Don't worry, I'll try my best to restrain myself."