Chapter 439 - 411
CRASH! CLATTER!
A few tables outside the main entrance were knocked over as a crowd of people swarmed in. Their faces were filled with panic, their clothes disheveled, and they were clearly running for their lives.
In a corner, Cao Biansheng had just picked up a morsel of food with his chopsticks. Hearing the commotion, he glanced up.
He instinctively reached for his waist. His blade wasn’t there.
Some of the people who rushed in were surprised. They had lived in Bianzhou City their whole lives, yet they had never known such a grand and opulent restaurant existed within its walls.
But the soldier-bandits were in hot pursuit, and in their haste, they had no time for such thoughts. Their only concern was to escape with their lives.
"Quick, stop them!" Liu San shot to his feet, a mix of shock and anger on his face. ’This restaurant is the Lord’s property! If these hooligans destroy it, how will I ever explain myself to him!’
Before Liu San could even rally anyone, the other patrons began to rise to their feet as they saw the intruders.
However, this was a restaurant located within the President’s Home, so almost no one was carrying a weapon. They were all bare-handed.
"Whoa, can’t even have a meal without stumbling into a story event?" Jin Hao’s eyes lit up from his corner on the first floor, and he stood up with the others.
He casually grabbed the long bench he was sitting on. ’No weapon, no problem,’ he thought. ’I’ve awakened Weapon Master. Anything can be a weapon.’
Seeing the first wave of intruders scattering in chaos, some even trying to flee upstairs, Cao Biansheng roared, "Everyone, halt! Move again, and you die!"
In that instant, not only the civilians who had burst in but also the pursuing soldier-bandits froze in their tracks.
A roar had just exploded in their ears, making them feel as if they were being targeted by an incredibly ferocious beast.
"Hunting Team! All of you, with me." Cao Biansheng vaulted over the railing, leaping from the second floor to land before the crowd. He hoisted a long bench onto his shoulder and swaggered forward.
Over thirty people quickly gathered behind him.
"Tch! Cough up your valuables for me!" a brawny man at the head of the group of thugs sneered.
"Oh? Think you’re some kind of hero with that bench? I was killing men on the battlefield when you were still pissing the bed! You glare at me again, and I’ll gouge your damn eyes out."
Despite being outnumbered, the soldier-hooligans showed no fear. They wore armor and carried weapons. What could a group of bare-handed civilians do, even if they were ten times their number?
Cao Biansheng smiled at their words. He strode forward, his pace quickening.
Three Long Spears thrust toward him. Cao Biansheng hurled the bench. The two men at the front were instantly knocked to the ground. He caught the third man’s Long Spear with his left hand and yanked, forcefully dragging the man—spear and all—right in front of him. Then, he swung his right hand in a wide arc and slapped the man hard across the face!
SMACK!
The slap was deafeningly crisp.
The man’s face instantly turned beet-red and began to swell before their eyes.
"You were going to gouge out my eyes?"
SMACK!
A few teeth went flying.
"Get him! The bastard’s too damn arrogant."
Enraged, the nearest soldier-bandits roared and thrust their spears.
Cao Biansheng took half a step back, swept his right arm around, and clamped all four Long Spears under his arm. The soldiers desperately tried to pull them back, their faces turning red with exertion, but the spears wouldn’t budge an inch.
"UP... YOU... GO!!!"
With a furious roar, Cao Biansheng lifted all four men off their feet.
Then, he slammed them violently onto the floor. The four men collapsed into a tangled, miserable heap, their wails echoing through the hall.
The remaining thugs stared in disbelief. ’What in the world did this guy eat growing up?’ they wondered. ’His strength is monstrous.’
In all their years, they had seen fierce generals on the battlefield, men who were called a match for ten thousand, but none were this outrageous. This was inhuman.
They suspected that their entire group combined wouldn’t be enough to take on this one man.
"Well, I’ll be damned," an old man in a long gown muttered, peeking out from under a table and clicking his tongue. "That slap sent his teeth flying!"
"Incredible. He must be stronger than a tiger."
The civilians who had fled inside earlier were overcome with awe.
The classmates eating with Cao Biansheng cursed in unison. "Holy shit, he’s really putting on a show today."
"This damn Extraordinary realm is just too much. It’s inhuman."
Jin Hao’s eyes shone, his breathing quickening. ’So this is what it means to be Extraordinary!’
’I want to become Extraordinary, too!’
"What’s all the commotion? I could hear the racket from a mile away. Is dinner always this exciting here?" A calm, unhurried voice drifted from the entrance.
Everyone turned to see Qin Ziwen stroll in, his hands clasped behind his back. His eyes swept over the thugs writhing on the floor.
The moment they saw Qin Ziwen, the few thugs closest to the door exchanged a look and lunged.
"President, look out!"
"My lord, be careful! These are transmigrated soldier-bandits."
Qin Ziwen took a half-step back and to the side, effortlessly evading their attacks.
With a casual flick of his wrist, he caught several of the Long Spears in his palm. Then, with a gentle twist, he snapped them as if they were toothpicks.
Cao Biansheng lunged forward, plunging into the knot of soldiers. In a flurry of fists and feet, he took down the remaining thugs in seconds.
One of the thugs, pinned to the floor, yelled, "Our Marshal is the Heaven-Reaching Grand General! He commands the armies of Taiping, Huangzhou, and Donglin! We’ve already invaded Bianzhou, and there’s an army of a hundred thousand in the city! You’d better let us go peacefully!"
"Shut up!"
A nearby squad leader cursed the man. Then, he turned to Qin Ziwen with a sycophantic smile. "Brave warrior, our Marshal Xue has the greatest admiration for fierce fighters like yourselves. Your martial skills are superb. If you’re willing to join our grand army, Marshal Xue will surely place you in high esteem and you’ll be able to protect your families. You may be powerful, but you must have families, right? Once the army takes the city, gaining the Marshal’s favor will guarantee their safety. It’s a certainty."
"The Heaven-Reaching Grand General..." Qin Ziwen sneered. "How many Extraordinaries does this Marshal Xue of yours have?"
"Huh?" A flicker of confusion crossed the squad leader’s eyes.
"I don’t care about any of that. What I do care about is that you burst in here, overturned my tables and chairs, and disturbed my guests. Now, it is your Marshal Xue who owes me an explanation!"
Qin Ziwen looked at the captured bandits. "Which one of you is in charge?"
The squad leader who had just been speaking raised his hand. "I am."
"Good. Go and tell your Marshal Xue that I’ll be waiting for him here. Tell him to come and make amends."
The squad leader stared, dumbfounded, as if looking at a lunatic.
’If I repeat that to Marshal Xue verbatim,’ he thought, ’I’ll be skinned alive on the spot.’
But he didn’t dare offend Qin Ziwen either, so he could only lower his head and say, "Yes, sir."
"Get lost."
The squad leader scrambled to his feet and practically fell over himself as he fled.
After the man left, Qin Ziwen beckoned to Liu San. "Go get Mogu, Red Hare, and Beak... on second thought, just Mogu and Red Hare. Don’t call for Beaked Eagle."
He had considered summoning Beaked Eagle as well, but then he thought about the powerful gales it kicked up. ’A few laps around the restaurant,’ he mused, ’and I’d have to redecorate the entire place.’
A few moments later, Mogu and Red Hare ambled in together.
When the captured soldier-bandits saw Mogu stooping to fit through the restaurant doorway, their bodies began to tremble, and they cried out, "Monster!"
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