Chapter 64: Problem Solving

Chapter 64: Problem Solving

Sen studied the group of noble brats for a moment. He let his senses extend just enough to get a read on them. They were all cultivators, but all of them were also still in the qi condensing stage. He frowned a touch at that. Shouldn’t they be farther along, he wondered. Then, he let it go. It didn’t matter if they should be farther along or not. They were where they were, and that was middle qi condensing at best. While Sen knew better than to disregard numbers, he wasn’t sure why they thought giving him a hard time would prove a good plan. Did they think he wouldn’t fight back just because they came in a group? Sen focused. Deal with the most immediate problem first. He turned to Zhang Muchen.

“You should go ahead. I’ll catch up with you there.”

The older servant looked like he very much wanted to take that order, but he said. “I should inform Mistress Lu.”

“No, don’t bother her with this. There’s nothing she can do. This is a cultivator matter. As I said, go on ahead. I’ll catch up when I can.”

The man gave Sen a deeply grateful look, a very hasty bow, and then vanished. Sen turned his attention back to the waiting noble brats. They glared at him, while he just looked at them with an impassive face. Apparently unable to bear the silence, the Mayor’s son took a step forward, sticking out his chest like he thought it made him look impressive.

“Nothing to say?” demanded the mayor’s son.

“About what?” Sen asked, feeling perplexed.

The mayor’s son pointed his finger at Sen as if to accuse him of something. Then, it finally seemed to dawn on the man that all he had done was yell two words at Sen. While the fool tried to think of something to say, Sen wondered how they’d tracked him down so fast. He had spent a while in with Grandmother Lu, but not that long. He wondered if it was the guard at the gate. That made the most sense. They could have been under orders or been bribed to tell the mayor or the mayor’s son if Sen ever came back. Sen decided that it probably didn’t matter. It wasn’t like he was going to go and kill the man.

“It’s time for you to pay for sticking your nose into the business of your betters.”

Sen was swiftly growing tired of the posturing fool. “Then, perhaps you should go tell my betters that I’m here.”

Whatever the idiot had been expecting, that wasn’t it, because he stumbled over his words for several seconds. “I meant me!”

“Really? So, you came here to challenge me to a duel?”

“A duel? I don’t duel street trash.”

“Ah. So, you came here with all your friends to prove you’re a coward. Very well. Get on with it, then.”

Sen accessed his storage ring and brought out his spear. If he was going to fight with seven people, he might as well enjoy a reach advantage. The sight of the spear seemed to give the group pause, which Sen took full advantage of. By the time any of them recovered enough to move, Sen had covered most of the distance between him and them. The mayor’s son stepped back, his eyes going wide, and jerked a dao free from its scabbard. He started to say something as he pointed the sword at Sen.

“Striking Serpent-,” was as far as he got.

Sen infused the spearhead with metal qi and brought it down on the dao. The spear barely registered any resistance as it sheared the dao off at the hilt. It also broke whatever technique the mayor’s son was trying to enact. Sen didn’t wait to see what the backlash did. He spun away, casually catching the injured man across the side of the head with the butt end of the spear. Sen felt he’d been a little slow on the attack, but none of the lackeys had really reacted yet. Two of them were staring down at the mayor’s son with their jaws hanging open. Another had managed to pull a jian free, but they couldn’t take their eyes off the two pieces of dao on the ground. Two more had apparently remembered urgent business elsewhere because they were slowly backing away from the fight. Sen kept half an eye on the last one, the biggest of the group, while he dealt with the others.

The big man nodded and strode over to Sen. There was no art in the man’s movements. Sen saw none of the grace that he expected from years of training. The big man was simple in that he was brute force. He lifted one of his big fists and cocked it back.

“Thunderous Avalanche Strike.”

The big fist shot forward toward Sen’s face like a flesh hammer. Then, it was stopped cold by Sen’s palm. The big man grunted in what was obvious pain. Sen leaned in like he was gloating over the man’s failure.

“If I could free you, what would you do?”

“Leave,” hissed the big man. “I’d leave.”

“And do what?”

The big man looked Sen straight in the eye. “Be like you. Be a wandering cultivator.”

“How much does your family owe?”

“One thousand silver tael.”

It was a ridiculous, nigh-impossible sum for most families. Sen couldn’t even imagine how such a debt could be created in the first place, but the how didn’t matter. It was a sum that Sen could afford. It wouldn’t even be that big a blow to his theoretical personal wealth, although the value of beast cores was less predictable than gold, silver, or rice for that matter.

“Very well,” said Sen.

Then he punched the big man in the chest. The big man flew several feet back through the air before his bulk crashed into the ground. Sen watched as the big man wheezed and coughed. He let the man catch his breath before he walked over and crouched down.

“Do you have a storage treasure?” Sen asked.

The big man wheezed out something that sounded like it might be a no. Sen wasn’t surprised, but it would have made life easier if the big man did.

“Visit Grandmother Lu’s. I’ll leave you what you need there. Then, I’ll expect to meet you out there on the road somewhere. Do not make me regret this choice.”

“I won’t, senior brother.”

Sen gave the man a slight nod of acknowledgment, stood, and walked away. It wasn’t his responsibility to treat their wounds. As far as he was concerned, they were self-inflicted.This chapter made its debut appearance via N0v3lB1n.