Chapter 42: Who Is Unconvinced?
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The hall was spacious, with a length and width of 6o feet and a height of 20 feet. There were eight chairs inside, four on the left and four on the right, and a plaque hanging at the top with the words ‘Azure Dragon Hall’.
Against the wall was an altar with more than ten memorial tablets, and there was a new memorial tablet with the name of his foster father, Pei Yuanfeng.
In front of the altar was a long spear. The body of the spear was covered in fine scratches. It was obvious that it was an old spear that had experienced a lot in Jianghu.
At this moment, there were already people sitting in the eight chairs. Dressed in luxurious clothes, the five men and three women had solemn expressions. They all turned their gazes to the door in unison.
?!
Ye Jingtang was thinking about something eye-opening in the basement when he suddenly saw this imposing and formal hall and the eight solemn-looking elders. He was stunned.
Although he didn’t know what was going on, he immediately restrained his emotions and put on a grave expression. He stood behind Pei Xiangjun and observed the situation.
As Pei Xiangjun appeared, the eight helm masters in the underground hall stood up and bowed. “Pavilion Lord!”
“No need for formalities.” Pei Xiangjun’s aura changed completely. She displayed the aura that a female sect master should have and sat in the main seat of the Azure Dragon Hall unhurriedly.
Ye Jingtang was a little confused, but from the details of the name and memorial tablets, he could roughly tell where this place was—the main hall of the Red Flower Pavilion.
Ye Jingtang wasn’t very surprised by this. Ever since the day the Red God of Wealth had looked for him, he had been suspicious. Now, he had confirmed his guess.
So, that bamboo hat person was really Third Lady…
No wonder the Red Flower Pavilion is in such a miserable state…
Ye Jingtang couldn’t ask. He silently went to the back of Pei Xiangjun’s chair and stood behind her while sizing up the people sitting here.
The eight helm masters sitting in the Azure Dragon Hall had different expressions after Ye Jingtang appeared. The three female helm masters’ eyes were full of astonishment.
Li Sanwen and the men were scrutinizing him.
Pei Xiangjun didn’t introduce their background to Ye Jingtang because he was very smart and could understand the current situation.
Seating in the main seat of the Azure Dragon Hall, she glanced at the eight helm masters on her left and right. “This is Ye Jingtang, the foster son of my second brother, Pei Yuanfeng. Last month, Second Brother passed away and sent him to the capital with his assets. I’ve already told you that with his character and ability, he can be entrusted with heavy responsibilities. Therefore, I want him to be the young master. Do you have any objections?1
Wang Ren said, “The Red Flower Pavilion isn’t the small Heavenly Water Bridge outside, and our opponents aren’t idlers like Yang Guan…”
Pei Xiangjun raised her hand to interrupt him and looked at Ye Jingtang. “Jingtang, are you confident?”
Ye Jingtang was still at a loss. He didn’t know who was who, but his answer to Pei Xiangjun’s question was straightforward. “The Pei family is my foster father’s family. Third Lady has treated me generously and given me a high salary. If anything happens, i will naturally do my best to protect the family. As for the Pei family’s businesses, it doesn’t make any difference to me whether they’re located in Heavenly Water Bridge or spread all over the world.”
Pei Xiangjun was very satisfied with these words, but Li Sanwen frowned. “A newborn calf doesn’t know the immensity of heaven and earth. Now, the entire Jianghu is making things difficult for the Red Flower Pavilion! You have to look at your own ability to keep your word. How can we believe you with merely empty words?”
Ye Jingtang felt that the old man’s words were thorny, so he calmly replied, “I’m not a member of the Pei family. Helping the Pei family is just out of friendship. If you don’t believe me, I will still do what I should do. If you believe me, I won’t agree to what 1 shouldn’t do.”
Of the eight helm masters, some frowned and some nodded. They looked at each other and seemed to be discussing something.
When Ye Jingtang saw these people talking and ignoring Third Lady, lacking the minimum respect for their ‘boss’, he frowned secretly.
He pondered for a moment and recalled the situation of the Red Flower Pavilion. The pavilion lord was not strong enough, the forces of Jianghu were eyeing the pavilion covetously, and the various halls were restless…
Then he looked at the delicate Third Lady beside him. She indeed didn’t look like someone who could bear shouldering the burden. He thought for a moment and asked, “Third Lady, did you bring me here today to show my ability and gain the recognition of everyone here?”
As soon as he said this, the eight helm masters turned around.
Pei Xiangjun was waiting for Li Sanwen to come out and find fault with Ye Jingtang so that she could prove Ye Jingtang’s potential. “Yes, something like that.”
Ye Jingtang nodded slightly, walked in front of Third Lady, and looked at the helm masters. “Then, let’s do it directly. Do you want to test me one by one, or do you want to do it together?”
?!
The eight sitting helm masters were stunned when they heard the arrogant tone of ‘I want to beat all eight of you’.
Pei Xiangjun widened her almond-shaped eyes and hurriedly stopped him. “Jingtang, don’t be impolite!”
Ye Jingtang raised his hand slightly and continued, “Third Lady has given me a salary and asked me to be the young master. Since I’ve taken the money, I have to do things well. If you think there’s a problem with Third Lady’s arrangements, you can stand up and raise it. If 1 can’t refute it, I’ll leave myself.”
Whoosh!
Li Sanwen was already dissatisfied with Pei Xiangjun’s decision. Seeing that this kid had no respect at all, he was furious. He immediately slapped the armrest and stood up.
But suddenly…!
Clang!
A saber light flashed in the underground hall!
Ye Jingtang unsheathed the three-foot-long silver blade at his waist, bringing with it a cold half-moon glow.
The shrill sound of the saber sent chills down the spines of the nine people sitting in the hall!
Li Sanwen was not an ordinary person. Seeing this, his eyes were horrified as he retreated in panic.
But the Eight-Steps Frenzied Blade was ferociously attacking first to suppress the opponent.
Although Ye Jingtang had only comprehended it for a few days, he thoroughly knew it by heart. She Long had had to block it in a hurry. How could an immaterial helm master receive it?
The blade flashed past and went straight for Li Sanwen, who had just left his chair.
As expected, when Li Sanwen raised his hand, there was already a hole cut open in the clothes of his chest.
Fortunately, before the silver blade could touch Li Sanwen’s robe, a jet-black spear reached out from behind to block the saber.
Clang!
The crisp sound of metal colliding rang out.
If it were before, this spear could have knocked Ye Jingtang’s saber away.
But this time, it was different. The powerful and heavy spear shaft couldn’t stop the saber in Ye Jingtang’s hand. It was raised by three inches, and the spear shaft directly collided with Li Sanwen’s chest.
Bam!
Clatter!
Li Sanwen flew back, knocked over the chair, and fell to the floor.
The other seven helm masters were all horrified. They stood up and backed away a few steps, looking as if they were facing a formidable enemy.
Li Sanwen didn’t even care about the pain in his chest. His face was pale as he got up and ran behind Pei Xiangjun as if he had seen a ghost.
After the saber light flashed, the Azure Dragon Hall instantly froze.
Pei Xiangjun never expected that Ye Jingtang’s martial arts skills would become so outrageous after not seeing him for a few days.
It was also at this moment that she understood why She Long’s arm had been cut by Ye Jingtang.
“What are you doing? Old Li is an elder…”
“I only recognize Third Lady and don’t know anyone else.”
“We’re all family. You just need to show us your skills. Why were you so heavy-handed?”
“I’m a martial artist, not an actor! If someone tries to test my strength, I have to let them know.”
Pei Xiangjun felt that Ye Jingtang was serious and didn’t say anything.
Ye Jingtang pointed the tip of his saber at the floor and looked at the helm masters. “Everyone, who else wants to test my strength?”
As soon as he said this, the eight stunned helm masters finally reacted. They looked at each other in dismay and silence.
The first time they met, he had taken them down a notch. He was definitely unhappy with the helm masters sitting here.
But the strength displayed by Ye Jingtang’s saber move already had the elegance of a Grandmaster. Wouldn’t it be courting death for them, the helm masters, to test his strength?
To have such martial arts skills at only the age of 18, there were few people like him in the entire Jianghu. If such a person with unlimited potential became the young master of the Red Flower Pavilion…
Even though this young master looked a little fierce and not easy to get along with, it was better to suffer a little inside the sect than to be bullied by the forces of Jianghu outside.
Seeing everyone hesitate, Madam Huang Zhu took the lead to step forward and cup her hands. “Young Master, good skills!”
Seeing this, the remaining helm masters also cupped their hands and bowed. Li Sanwen did the same.
Ye Jingtang sheathed his saber and retreated behind Pei Xiangjun. “I’m not interested in the Red Flower Pavilion’s businesses. I’m only standing here because my foster father’s memorial tablet is on the altar. 1 can take nothing from my foster father’s property, and it’s the same for the Pei family. When Third Lady feels that she doesn’t need my help, 1’11 leave.”
Pei Xiangjun had interacted with him for a few days and roughly knew Ye
Jingtang’s personality. She said gently, “Let’s talk about those things later.”
Ye Jingtang said no more.
Pei Xiangjun sat up straight again and looked around the hall.
The eight helm masters in front of her were much more serious than before. They were silent and sitting upright, waiting for Pei Xiangjun to speak.
“It’s almost the end of the month. In a few days, I will go to West King Town to meet the hall masters. At that time, I will bring Jingtang along and officially announce this matter. Do you think the hall masters will have any objections?”
The eight helm masters shook their heads in unison.
When they thought of how the jaws of the various hall masters would drop, they were even a little impatient.
Huang Zhu said, “At that time, the White Tiger Hall will definitely issue a challenge to you, Young Master. Don’t be too ruthless…”
After being beaten up, Li Sanwen didn’t complain much, mainly because he really couldn’t win. He said, “If you don’t strike ruthlessly, the people below won’t know what ‘rules’ are! When the old pavilion lord was around, would the Song family dare to fart? Only because the Pei family only has an orphan and a widow left do they dare to clamor…”
Wang Ren pondered for a moment. “It’s not good to hit your own family ruthlessly. The Zhou family’s birthday banquet is coming up soon. When the time comes, let the young master go over and meet the young master of the Zhou family. I want to see if the Zhou family still has the face to snatch the port business after losing in the arena.”
“Yes, it’s most suitable for the young master to go…”
Someone took the lead, and the messy to-do list of the Azure Dragon Hall came out. Several helm masters wished they could pull Ye Jingtang over to keep up appearances for them right away.
Seeing this, Pei Xiangjun raised her hand to quiet the crowd. “Jingtang learned saber skills from Second Brother, but he doesn’t know spearmanship. It’s fine if he uses a saber at the Juyi Building, but if he doesn’t know spearmanship at the Zhou family, outsiders will think that we spent money to hire a Jianghu expert to support our reputation.”
The eight helm masters thought about it and agreed. Disappointment appeared on their faces.
But something unexpected happened.
Just as Pei Xiangjun finished speaking, behind her, Ye Jingtang said, “There are so many things piled together, so 1 naturally have to do them. Third Lady, you can teach me spearmanship. 1 remember that West King Town is not far from the Water Cloud Sword Pool. Since we have to go out in a few days, we can just deal with them together and save ourselves the trouble of running back and forth.”
??
As soon as these words came out, all the helm masters raised their heads.
If they hadn’t just seen Ye Jingtang’s talent, they would have scolded, “Where did this idiot come from? Go play at the side.”
Pei Xiangjun didn’t know how to complain. She tried her best to be calm and said, “The staff for a month, the saber for a year, and the spear for a lifetime. Spearmanship can’t be mastered in two or three days. 1 know you have the intention to help the Pei family, but you can’t be anxious when it comes to practicing martial arts.”
“Could it be that the Pei family’s spear technique is very profound?”
“The spear is the king of weapons, and the spear technique once reached number seven in the world. What do you think?”
Ye Jingtang thought about it and agreed, so he didn’t say anything else…
