Chapter 14: Power Tussle
After acting as if nothing had happened, Mu Cheng tried to walk normally, but the more he tried to do so, the more unnatural his gait became, and this caused everyone to stare at him with strange gazes.
Eventually, he ended up waddling out of the hall, to evade the strange stares.
Though the matter had ended, or postponed; it still left a heavier air hanging in the atmosphere.
One of the boys turned to Min Hong and chided him in a friendly manner; "Brother Hong, why did you have to accept his challenge? This is the second life and death duel you're both declaring; this time, one of you will end up dying!"
"No problem. Today I read his face and noticed a dark aura of death lingering around him. With that bundling him up, he's doomed to die within two days." Min Hong replied with a chilling grin.
Min Hong's expression quickly shifted back to normal as he lowered his head and beckoned the boys to do the same.
Exchanging bewildered glances at each other, the boys eventually did as told, and it was then that Min Hong secretly whispered to them;
"There's something that I need you guys' help with."
Hearing this, Fatty Yu revealed a toothy grin as he slapped his gold card onto the table.
"Brother Hong, since you've asked, I give you my entire savings."
Min Hong was stunned. He hadn't expected that fatty Yu would actually be the first to infer his destination.
Furthermore, the round ball of flesh was currently exuding a suffocating aura of brotherhood; surely, his gold card definitely held over eighty thousand gold coins in it.
Although they were all heirs, most of them were born within an ordinary family, so they weren't considered very important to the tribe; thus, these gold coins must be an extremely large sum to Fatty Yu; and here he was throwing them into an opaque situation, like it was nothing.
Perhaps, fatty's action moved the others; or perhaps, they simply didn't want to lose face, but one after the other, they started slapping their gold cards on the table as well.
"Fine, I have sixty thousand here, take it."
"Forgive my ineptitude, Brother Long, I only have thirty thousand here."
"I have…"
Originally, Min Hong had only thought of simply borrowing ten to thirty thousand gold coins from them; a sum he already considered quite a lot; but who would have thought the boys would simply empty their pockets to help him.
"Guys; if by chance I were to die, then all your money would basically be lost." Min Hong had to doublecheck that they understood what they were getting into.
"Does brother Hong look down on us? None of us are capable of cultivating, and every day we have to suffer through other people's torments.
Brother Hong, the fact that you dare go all-out in a battle against one of them means you have the courage that none of us possess. Even if we don't have the courage to fight, we still have enough to render this little bit of help."
The moment the boys saw Min Hong agree to the second life and death declaration, they couldn't help but become excited; after all, they were all against a common enemy.
Thus, the moment Min Hong turned to them, they were already ready to steal over their mothers' dowry; however, Fatty Yu had beaten them to the punch, so they were even more anxious to do more, so as to save face.
Min Hong nodded, as the list in his heart grew over twice its size. He couldn't help but record these acts of brotherhood in his heart as he held a two hundred thousand gold card in his hand.
However, before he could begin making detailed plans on the huge sum he just received, a group of boys walked into the literature hall, and instantly, the rowdy hall suddenly went completely silent.
Min Hong didn't need to look to know who the group of boys were. His clenched fist was already trembling, and his knuckles were already turning red.
This group of boys was hovering around one certain fellow, similar to how the stars flocked around the moon: kissing ass.
The boy in question seemed to have been carved out of bronze and was really handsome. He was none other than the person who had beaten Min Hong on the martial arena to the point where he had almost died, the West Grand Family's heir, Shen Li.
Shen Li was the one of the strongest among their age group; thus, he was pretty popular.
For some mysterious reasons, Shen Li spotted Min Hong almost right away. Smiling to himself, he sauntered over, and whispered:
"Many apologies for what happened last time. I didn't expect that it would only take a single blow to make you fail to recognize your own mother."
Despite speaking self-reflecting words of regret, his face didn't have even the slightest trace of apology.
Furthermore, though he had whispered, the pin-drop silence within the hall ensured that his words reached every nook and cranny of the spacious hall.
Finally, his words were also waterlogged with liquid disdain; it was almost like a haughty, tyrannic dictator looking at a commoner.
"Don't sweat it; soon enough, I'll be sure to make you forget those located at an even higher spot on your family tree." Min Hong smilingly replied. He wasn't faking it; it was simply the only expression his brain picked for the occasion.
However, the thing was; the more genuine the smile appeared, the icier his fury crusted.
When he had awoken that day, only his mother and that old alchemist had been present. Therefore, this news must have been leaked by that old fart.
It was already obvious from Shen Li's words that the old fart was one of his underlings.
Furthermore, though, Min Hong's injury might have been dangerous, it was never a fatal or life-threatening injury.
Even the injury on his hindbrain had only appeared due to him hitting the hind of his head on a random stone lying around; yet even that wasn't too fatal. Therefore, there had basically been no point in using an expensive medicinal pill in order to treat it.
The old alchemist had clearly frightened his mother into emptying his family's coffers; an action whose end didn't match the means for someone like him, but instead served to weaken the Min Family's finances.
With their current living situation, it was like adding hail onto snow; Min Hong couldn't help but notice the plot within the plot.
"Min Hong, are you looking to die? You seem to have forgotten the pain now that your wounds have healed; it seems you need Brother Li to send you to Yama's gate once again before you can know your place?"
"That's right, a trash who's incapable of cultivating actually dares to open his foul mouth at Brother Li; he's obviously courting death."
"What an idiot. Lumping such a loser with us heirs is great injustice."
Shen Li didn't even need to speak before his goons started humidifying the entire hall with saliva, all in the name of cursing Min Hong.
"Min Hong, you might be titled an heir, but whilst yours is simply to give your family face, mines is warranted and demanded.
You are nothing but an ant staring up to me for crumbs. So, whenever I bully you, you must endure it with gratitude, otherwise, the consequences will be just like last time, and you will end up getting beat up like a rabid dog."
Shen Li berated as he pointed a finger at Min Hong's nose. However, the finger had barely arrived before Min Hong's nose bridge when the latter swiftly grabbed it and gave it a quick twist.
Crack!
Shen Li mitted a miserable shriek as his entire body trembled like a naked man during a blizzard.
As long as a person hadn't undergone their awakening, they would only be slightly stronger than the strongest earthling, thus, Shen Li's 7 Star Body Tempering Stage cultivation might have as well been nonexistent.
Min Hong gazed at the kneeling Shen Li from the bridge of his nose; the latter's face was already contorted in agony, and with a reverse psyche, he asked:
"So, you think you are above others uh? That everyone has to come groveling at your feet? Well, who's groveling now?"
The spectators were stunned speechless; though most of them hated Min Hong's guts, they also couldn't help but acknowledge the reverse psyche he was playing on Shen Li.
The latter was even in so much pain that he was unable to reply, and it wasn't until his trousers began to turn moist that his goons finally threw themselves at Min Hong.
"Bastard, hurry up and release Brother Li!" One of the boys swarming towards Min Hong hatefully bellowed.
"I promise to pummel anyone within a three-table radius from Brother Hong." A nonchalant voice suddenly floated into the hall as the shadow of a tall figure slowly crept past its entrance.
Min Hong smiled; he didn't need to look to know who it was. Who else could it be but Long Feng?
All the boys who were clowning over just a few moments ago suddenly stopped in their tracks when they saw the person who spoke.
There was even one person amongst them who had one of his foot suspended mid-air; after all, he couldn't retract it as he was barely standing at an unnatural pose, and should he place his foot down, he would intrude the three-table barrier Long Feng just set; thus, he was left hanging.
Long Feng was someone who was proud and aloof, and didn't like being pulled into any social group whatsoever, and since he was a heir with a high cultivation base and superior stature, he became a natural deterrent to ass kissers.
The hall once again went silent, allowing Shen Li's groans to float all over the place like a funeral melody.
"What are you guys doing?!" An incensed voice suddenly boomed across, dripping with righteous rebuke as an old man walked over.
Everyone's expression became much more timid and respectful when they saw this old man. He was one of the lecturers of the hall. An honest, strict and dignified Confucian scholar of few words.
"Fighting within the hall is punishable by one month's detention. So which one of you would like to water the loo?" The old man coldly snorted.
Min Hong released Shen Li's finger which was now crooked, before swiftly turning to the old man and wearing his best behaved smile;
"Teacher, you've misunderstood. We weren't fighting; we were just doing a test."
"Oh? A test hmm? What kind of test?" The old man obviously wasn't so easily hoodwinked, and thus coldly retorted with a question.
"We were testing how long the strength of one finger could hold out against five, and we were able to reach the swift conclusion that the power of teamwork and solidarity is something that cannot be stopped.
No matter how strong a finger is, it is still isolated. Its power will weaken from time to time, and only by relying on a support can it truly unleash its inner strength, making it more enduring.
This time's test allowed both Shen Li and I to gain a clear understanding of how to properly use the power of cooperation, and I believe it will have an extremely large benefit towards our future cultivation.
Brother Shen, what do you think about these benefits, hmm?" Min Hong ended his bullshit with a meaningful stare at Shen Li.
Shen Li almost blew his fuse, but realizing that he would have to water the library's loo for a month if he denied anything, he had no choice but to swallow his pride and bottle up his grievances.
Even a heir like him didn't dare break the hall's rules despite having more balls than Mu Cheng.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone