9 Never Heard of That Before (II)

Xueying was stuck at this point. The men blocking her weren't leaving or advancing, leaving her hopelessly stuck in the middle. At some point, these men would have to realize that she was just sitting there on the floor because she couldn't do anything, not because she was being considerate of them. By that time, they would definitely beat her up— or even kill her.

She was the princess of Danyan! All her pride and honor could not be demolished simply because she gave this chubby man— Liu Dayuan— a slap. She wouldn't allow that!

Xueying decided that there was nothing left for her to do. Who knows? Maybe she really had extreme strength and could defeat all of these people within the second. It was her last resort, but seeing that she couldn't do anything at all, it was her best option.

She stood up, keeping on her nonchalant attitude while dusting her robes off. The men, including Liu Dayuan, warily backed away a step, eyeing her nervously. Her arm raised, and the men flinched, standing in a defensive position and preparing themselves for whatever was to come.

Yet at the moment that Xueying was going to test out her theory of superior strength, she faltered, seeing someone standing in the front of the alleyway. The figure was only a black shadow to her, but it was enough to tell that it was a person, perhaps a man in his late twenties or early thirties based on his build.

Her mind thought back to the previous plan she had of waiting for a passerby to help her. Perhaps it would be a better choice to use the man.

"Teacher!" Xueying's expression changed, morphing into an eager but respectful expression, waving her hand in the direction of the figure.

Instantly, the group around her spun around apprehensively, staring at the person she called 'teacher'. Taking advantage of the moment, Xueying quickly slipped in between the space of one of the men and the alley's wall, dashing in the direction of the figure. None of the men in the group tried to stop her.

"Teacher! These men said that they were trying to teach me a lesson when I haven't even done anything to them!" Xueying grinned at her 'teacher' while observing him, noticing that up close, he had sharp, sculpted features— a man who was handsome enough by her definition. His clothes, a hooded cloak covering his robes, also seemed like they were made of fine material, certainly worthy enough to be her 'teacher' like Tutor Zhang or the hundreds of other tutors her father had tried to get her to study under.

She expected the man, who was, in her expectations, just a passerby, to be bewildered and confused. Playing out her plan in her thoughts, Xueying decided that during the moment the cloaked man processed her words, she would escape and run to the palace. Meanwhile, the group of men wouldn't be able to catch up to her if they decided to teach her 'teacher' a lesson before chasing her. It was a flawed plan, but Xueying thought that it sounded good in her mind. Besides, it was the only thing that she could do in a situation like this.

Except, instead of her expectations, the man turned to her, patting her head affectionately as if they really had a relationship of student and teacher.

"These men tried to teach a disciple of mine a lesson? How great do they believe they are?" The man glanced over to the group of men. "Their martial art skills don't even seem that high. As your teacher, does that mean that I need to show them what it really means to teach people a lesson?"

Seeing the man smiling down at her, Xueying blinked. It was her turn to be dumbfounded. She didn't remember ever calling this man her teacher except for just now. Why did he act like they were truly in such a relationship? And so confidently, at that? Who even was he?

"You're the little brat's teacher?" From the side, Liu Dayuan spoke up, and Xueying turned to him. "Well then, you should understand the policy of 'eye for an eye'. That kid—"

Before his words even finished, Xueying caught the motion of the hooded man's wrist flicking, and the next second, there was a loud sound of some sort of collision. With horror, Xueying witnessed the body of Liu Dayuan being tossed against the left wall of the alley, the sheer force of his body hitting the stone creating a small crater while a few stone pebbles tumbled down. The next second, Liu Dayuan sagged down on the floor, his head dropping with a loud 'thud' on the floor.

"Now, now, I'm having a conversation with my precious disciple. Small fleas like you have no right to interrupt us."

The hooded man spun his wrist, and the group of men following Liu Dayuan, kneeled simultaneously, their knees dropping to the floor all at once. It looked as if something— just something— controlled their actions. The faces of the men were all strained unwillingly, but as much as they struggled, some sort of stone grip kept them in the degrading kneeling position.

"If you do not wish to end up like that example over there, let me finish my conversation with my disciple." Waving his hand carelessly, the man turned back to Xueying, a gentle yet frightening smile on his face. "Now then, dear disciple, what do you say? Do I need to show them what a true lesson is like?"