Chapter 2: No Hesitation

The midday sun was scorching the ground, with only the shadows of nearby trees providing some form of relief, and there wasn't even the slightest breeze.

The forest resembled a glistening wave of green, but it was clear that the leaves were lacking their usual exuberance under the scorching heat.

They were waiting for some wind, some cloud cover, or even the cool embrace of the night to provide them with some modicum of relief.

In contrast, the two men in the forest were currently looking far more vigorous and alert.

It was as if they were seeing a mountain of gold that was there for the taking, and more and more aspiring warriors that were passing through began to spectate the unfolding situation from afar.

Is someone getting robbed?

Everyone was curious to see how the person in the carriage was going to respond to the situation.

***

Fang Che cleared his throat, and Ye Meng hurriedly rushed over to lift the curtain of the carriage.

A black leather boot with intricate golden embroidery emerged from the carriage before treading onto the ground.

After that came a head of exuberant black hair bound by a golden headband that gleamed under the sun. The headband possessed roughly the same circumference as a goose egg, a testament to the impressive volume of hair that was being held in place.Slid through the headband was a purple jade hairpin for a stabilizing effect, and the hairpin was giving off a faint purple glow.

What followed the head of black hair was a handsome face with a pair of eyebrows that resembled miniature swords, beneath which were eyes that seemed to contain galaxies of stars set into a face that looked as if it had been chiseled out of flawless jade.

Coupled with those exuberant eyes was a pronounced nose and a pair of thin lips that were set into a graceful smile, revealing two rows of gleaming white teeth.

There was a lock of hair tucked behind his ear, trailing down in an elegant manner onto his wide shoulders, which tapered down to a thin and athletic waist.

To round out the frame was a pair of well-built arms and long and powerful legs. All of these components combined created a man who possessed elegant grace and masculine charm in equal measure.

Fang Che took three steps forward in a composed and elegant manner.The golden embroidery on his cloak rippled like waves as he walked, refracting the light of the sun from different angles as they moved, making it appear as if he were carrying a constellation of stars on his back.

Just his emergence from the carriage alone was enough to impress all of the spectating bystanders, and even Ye Meng couldn't help but be momentarily entranced.

All of a sudden, she felt like perhaps it wasn't that much of a travesty to be verbally abused by someone like this, particularly when all of his verbal abuse was providing her with invaluable guidance.

***

The two men were momentarily stunned into silence by Fang Che's flair and presence.

"How can I help you?" Fang Che asked.

The leader of the two men finally snapped back to his senses, and a sense of fury that was fueled by envy welled up in his heart as he compared his own physical appearance to Fang Che's.

"Fang Che! Do you know who I am?"

Fang Che raised a hand, and Ye Meng immediately placed a pristine, white handkerchief onto it.

He elegantly wiped his own hands as he asked in a disinterested manner, "Who are you?"

"I'm Su Yue's uncle!" the hideous man declared with malice and greed in his eyes. "I heard that you're looking after my nephew's estate in his stead, so I've come here to see you."

"And what is it that you want from me?" Fang Che asked with a smile.

"What else could I possibly want? I'm here to claim my poor nephew's estate so I can look after it for him."

"So you're here for money," Fang Che concluded.

"That's right!" the man declared in a justified manner.

"How much do you want?" Fang Che asked as he clasped his hands behind his back.

"At least one million taels of silver to start!"

Fang Che was rather amused to hear this.

The Su Clan's estate encompassed hundreds of millions of taels of silver, as well as countless gold vouchers and other precious items, so one million taels of silver was nothing.

This man had most likely hatched this plot to extort Fang Che of some of this wealth. He didn't dare to make his move too close to Green Wave City, nor did he dare to enter the Myriad Spirit Forest, so he had chosen to spring his trap here, indicating that he was not a very capable warrior.

Hence, he was most likely serving as a pawn for someone else.

With that in mind, he said, "I am holding Brother Su's estate, but if you want it, then you'll have to provide something to prove that you really are Brother Su's uncle. Otherwise, I would be doing a disservice to Brother Su if I just gave out his wealth to anyone that asked for it. If you want the money, then come and take it!"

Before the man had a chance to reply, Fang Che lunged forward, and the sound of a sword leaving its scabbard rang out alongside a flash of metallic light.

The light had already reached the man's throat, while the sword had already been sheathed.

𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

A horrified look appeared on the man's face.

This was the first of the Seven Blood Spirit Swords, Crimson Quick Draw!

The two men both fell face-first onto the ground, each with a red line across their throat, but there was no blood flowing out.

The tip of Fang Che's sword had severed their windpipe, while one streak of sword qi had shredded the souls in their minds, and a second streak had destroyed their organs and dantians.

With just a single draw of his sword, he had slain the two men in both body and soul!

The two streaks of sword qi had still been wreaking havoc in their bodies even as Fang Che sheathed his sword.

All of the bystanders, both near and far, had been stunned into silence.

He raised his head slightly to look up at the bright sun through narrowed eyes, then scanned his gaze over the surrounding crowd of bystanders as he said, "I don't know which one of you orchestrated this terrible act, but I can understand your motives. Everyone wants money and glory in this world, so I'm not surprised that you would try to plot against me. However, let me give you a piece of advice: you need to be alive for money to be of value to you!"

Most of the nearby bystanders were aspiring warriors of Green Wave City, and all of them were astonished by what they had just witnessed.

They were both stunned by his power and his decisiveness and readiness to kill.

What sword technique had he just used?

None of the bystanders' expressions exposed them to be the mastermind behind all of this.

"I know that someone must've instructed those two idiots to come and confront me, and I know that it's one of you, but I have no interest in finding out who. Someone who would do this just for a quick buck isn't worthy of my attention, particularly when you didn't even dare to make a move while I was in Green Wave City. Whoever you are, I suggest you stick to your day job because you're really not cut out for this."

Among the bystanders was a white-robed young man, and he smiled as he said, "I agree, Brother Fang, I also look down on such unscrupulous people."

He cupped his fist in a salute as he continued, "My name is Kang Zijian, and I hope to see you at the academy in the future."

"Brother Kang," Fang Che greeted as he returned the salute.

Standing beside Kang Zijian was another young man, who appeared rather hesitant, but ultimately decided to step forward as he declared, "I am Wei Zihao of Green Wave City. Don't take it to heart, Brother Fang. There are plenty of pitiful clowns in this world. If something like this happens again, I would be honored to fight alongside you."

Wei Zihao was a prodigy of the Wei Clan, another one of the four ninth-tier clans of Green Wave City.

Fang Che took a glance at Wei Zihao, then smiled as he said, "That's true, I would only be sinking to their level if I allowed them to bother me."

Several more young men stepped forward to introduce themselves, and they all had a very positive first impression of Fang Che.

He was decisive and merciless against those who wronged him, yet was polite and displayed perfect etiquette to others, instantly making him a crowd favorite.

Thus, Fang Che made a bunch of new friends.

They worked together to bury the two bodies, then split up and resumed their journeys.

The academy didn't allow aspiring warriors to travel together, and everyone had to reach the academy through their own power.

***

Ye Meng was rather perplexed.

In her eyes, it was clear that the mastermind was among that group of young men, so why hadn't Fang Che pursued the matter further? Was he really content with just killing those two pawns? He didn't seem like such a generous person.

Concealed within the dense greenery to the left was Fan Tiantiao, and he was also quite puzzled by Fang Che's decision.

His experience told him that Wei Zihao was very suspicious, and that there was a very good chance he was the mastermind.

Furthermore, even though the two men had been instantly killed, they seemed to have decent cultivation bases. Even if they weren't Warrior Masters, they had to have at least been high-rank Warriors.

Of course, that was nothing in Fang Tiantiao's eyes, but it should've theoretically been enough to take care of Fang Che.

Whoever was behind this, they had to have been surprised by how easily Fang Che was able to dispatch his assailants.

Why didn't they send someone more powerful? Are they just trying to test Fang Che? And why did Fang Che not look into the matter further?

Meanwhile, on the right side of the road, there was someone else also observing the scene within the forest.

It was Qian Sanjiang, and he was just as befuddled as Fan Tiantiao.

He was really quick to kill those two, but why did he leave it at that? Wei Zihao is clearly suspicious, so why didn't he investigate further? What's the point in just killing those two? The one pulling the strings is still at large, so there could still be more trouble to come.

On top of that, he's also exposed his own cultivation base, so whoever's plotting against him will have a good idea of who to send next time. This all seems very unwise. Is it just a lapse in judgment, or is he planning something?