"Huh?" Xiao Mei blinked in confusion, looking adorable.
"It's okay, forget about it. How about I buy you tons of sweets later?" Ash smiled gently, attempting to change the topic.
"Really?" Xiao Mei quickly grew excited, forgetting her confusion momentarily. Yet, her excitement faded as she remembered something else, asking with a slightly sad expression, "But what about the rice and flour?"
"I'll buy everything for you, so you won't need to worry about them anymore because I'm extremely rich, you kno—"
Before Ash could finish his sentence, someone appeared near the gate and asked. "Young Master Ming, what's happening here? Why did you crush the token when you're already at the gate?"
"Guardian Hu, capture them for me! They dared to disrespect the Qiu family." Qiu Ming shouted and pointed his fingers at Ash and the others.
Guardian Hu, who was a buff middle-aged man, suddenly frowned when he heard it. Because, since the moment he arrived here, he had already guessed the situation roughly based on the dead horses and the stance between two parties.
"This..." Guardian Hu hesitated briefly, then asked cautiously, "Could there be some misunderstanding between you two?"
"Misunderstanding?" Ash raised an eyebrow and sneered. "If you call a situation where a clown arrogantly demands you to move aside, and you simply defend yourself, a misunderstanding, then yes, there's a misunderstanding."
'Fuck, I knew it. This bastard must have been up to no good.' Guardian Hu cursed in his heart.
Cough!
Guardian Hu coughed awkwardly and asked, "Pardon my rudeness, but may I know your origins?"
"Why? Are you trying to check if there's a powerful faction backing me? No need to worry since I don't have a strong background," Ash chuckled with a mocking smile, then continued. "So, if you want to make a move, just do it. I'm too busy to waste time on your nonsense."
"Smash his head into the ground," Ash waved his hand casually.
Li Jian instantly vanished, reappearing beside Qiu Ming, gripping his head firmly, and slamming it brutally into the ground.
Boom!
"Don't!" Guardian Hu shouted urgently, but he was too late. Li Jian had already struck Qiu Ming's head with immense force, cracking his skull and creating a crater.
Ash laughed heartily as he walked slowly toward Li Jian and Qiu Ming. "Now, how should we punish you for your arrogance? Perhaps cutting off an arm as a warning?"
"Let me go this instant! Do you even know who you're dealing with?" Qiu Ming screamed furiously, clenching his fists so tightly that his nails pierced his palms, drawing blood.
"I'm the future core disciple of the Skyfire Sect and the young master of the Qiu—"
Ash interrupted him mockingly, "Who cares if you're a core disciple of some top sect or the heir of a big family?" He emphasized his contempt by tapping Qiu Ming's cheek with his boot.
Guardian Hu frowned deeply when he saw that, then he took out the same white token that Qiu Ming used to summon him and crushed it instantly.
"See? Nobody cares about you. Do you know why?" Ash teased, repeatedly tapping Qiu Ming's face with his boot.
"It's because you're just a worthless scumbag everyone despises."
When Qiu Ming heard it, he couldn't contain his emotion and made a move as his left hand moved at an extremely fast speed that Ash was barely able to react to.
Unfortunately for him, Li Jian was right beside him, and such a move was not worth mentioning since the disparity between their strength was just too big that it was a stupid decision to make a move in the first place.
Li Jian merely reacted by flicking his pinky finger, releasing a sword energy that instantly cut off Qui Ming's wrist when he was about to grab Ash's foot.
"ARRGGHHHHH!" Qiu Ming screamed in agony, immediately stopping the bleeding by pressing an acupoint on his shoulder.
"What's going on here?" Another middle-aged man appeared beside Guardian Hu and asked.
The middle-aged man stood tall with short hair and a tidy beard. He wore simple white robes and carried a sword sheathed at his waist. His calm gaze and steady posture reflected calm authority.
After listening to Guardian Hu, the middle-aged man frowned deeply as he stared at Li Jian.
"Anyone uninvolved should leave immediately!" His authoritative voice echoed around them.
However, before they could leave, Ash simply said. "Stop!"
After pausing for a second, he continued. "Kill anyone who dares leave."
"Sir, what do you mean by this?" The middle-aged man deepened his frown.
"Nothing much. I just want witnesses to spread the news of what happened here," Ash explained nonchalantly, waving his hand.
"..."
"..."
"..."
Everyone was left speechless by Ash's response, as they had thought that he was a ruthless person who intended to kill everyone to leave no one as a witness.
"Sir, Isn't that already more than enough as a punishment for his wrongdoing?" The middle-aged man asked in a deep voice because this matter might get so out of hand that even he couldn't take the responsibility for it.
"What? If someone tried to kill you, would you just forgive them easily?" Ash chuckled, then continued with a sneer. "It's good that I only want to teach him a lesson, or else…"
The middle-aged man seemed to think about it for a second before taking out a white token and contacting someone.
A few seconds later, while Ash was teasing Qiu Ming as he tapped his feet on his cheek and mocking him, an old man appeared beside the middle-aged man and instantly looked at Li Jian without saying anything.
"That's the ancestor of the Bai family—a Half-Saint Rank expert!" Someone in the crowd blurted out when they saw the appearance of the old man.