56 Return to Huang City (3)

"...what happened?...", asked the veiled women incredulously. She was terrified and wanted nothing more than to just run away from this horrible place.

The man named Shi disengaged from his fight with Mina when he saw his companion's headless corpse. Clearly, they had messed with the wrong group of people this time so he didn't want to continue this fight lest he ended up dead without knowing how.

Mina didn't pursue the man and just went back to Kai's side. She looked at Kai with awe, wondering what exactly he had done to defeat that man without even moving.

Kai on the other hand was just as shocked as everyone else. "Why do their heads keep exploding?, this is kind of gross..." Kai thought as he twirled a copper coin around his fingers which were hidden under his robe.

All Kai did before was super-enhance his thumb before flicking a copper coin at the man through the gap in his robe. He thought it would at least knock him out, but didn't think that the force of the coin would be strong enough to penetrate his skull.

"I really need to practice holding back...anyway, I'll call this unofficial skill [Pay-to-Win Coin Flick]", Kai thought as he saw the group of guards slowly backing away from him.

"Well, I did warn you...Now then, would you care to talk?", Kai asked nonchalantly as he put his hands behind his back and walked towards the veiled woman.

The man named Shi quickly dropped to his knees while standing in front of her. "Sir, we apologize for antagonizing you. This is Qin Weiwei, who is related to the current head of the Qin Clan. The Qin family have three members who are part of the Twin-Lions Sect within this generation"

The man quickly tried to show their backings to dissuade Kai from further violence. The Qin family of Huang City had many business dealings thanks to they were quite rich and influential, but what made them cultivation nobles was that their family line was started by a powerful Internal Cultivator.

The Qins had continuously produced gifted cultivators throughout their existence. Not many families could boast about having three members of one generation in a large sect such as the Twin-Lions Sect. This had allowed the Qin family to rise above the other lesser-noble cultivation families and entered them into the top 20 families of Huang City.

Kai knew what the man was trying to do by mentioning his backings, and it worked to some level. On one hand, Kai had indeed become more cautious after hearing their backings, but on the other hand, he felt annoyed that they started trouble with him and were now trying to hide behind their connections.

"You have a strong backing?, Good!. That means you will be able to properly compensate me for my pain and suffering. Let's head back to Huang City together and discuss the compensation terms with your family..."

The guards paled when they heard this. Under normal circumstances, most people would back down when they heard the Qin family name, but this man was bold enough to go demand for compensation at the family's door!. Either he was extremely ignorant or quite capable.

"Does he have a strong backing as well?...considering his strength, it's very likely..." Shi thought as he stared at Kai with fear. Shi was not always the type to start fights with random people, but after years of serving the Qin family, he ended up being overly confident. This region was small and there were relatively few [Grade-4] body cultivators so he knew all their faces and would never mistakenly offend one of them. As for the thought of Kai being an internal cultivator?, that had never crossed his mind. The Internal cultivators he knew of were too proud and would never stay in a place such as this or ride such a shabby-looking wagon.

The reason Kai hadn't backed down was that he clearly remembered them saying that the veiled girl was only related to the head of the clan. She was not the daughter or next in line, meaning even if he did kill her, they would probably just sweep it under the rug once they found out that he was an internal cultivator.

Considering his current strength, they would have to think twice about offending him and turning him into an enemy. But Kai wouldn't kill her. In fact, this had actually come at the perfect time. He was currently strapped for cash when this cash cow suddenly fell onto his lap. He would milk this situation for all it was worth.

Kai pushed the man named Shi away and motioned to grab the veiled girl. Her maid-servant dropped to the ground and made room for Kai, clearly terrified by his presence. Kai moved past them and grabbed picked the veiled girl up before she could run away. He slung her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, then walked back to his group. None of the guards were brave enough to stop him and could only watch as their Lady was taken away. He said he wanted compensation so he likely wouldn't hurt her...

Shi tried to stop him but when his eyes met with Kai's, he felt all the strength draining out of his body and fell back to the ground.

"Let's finish our meal, we'll head out tomorrow morning at first light", Kai calmly said to his group as he walked back into the Inn with the girl kicking and screaming on his shoulder.

"Shi!, what are you doing!, help me!"

The guards carefully followed Kai back into the Inn but didn't dare to make any moves against him or his people. None of them had figured out how he made their companion's head explode and just the thought of that scene made them break out into a cold sweat.

They also remembered how the silver-haired girl in their group was able to fight their leader and had even gained the advantage. Had they not interrupted the fight, who knows how it would have ended. This group was clearly too dangerous so they could only quietly curse their lady for making them offend such a terrifying group.

Kai got back to their table threw the veiled girl on the floor. He asked Mina to take care of her since she was making a ruckus. Mina expertly tied her entire body and then shoved a rag in her mouth to muffled her screams.

Kai had worried that she would try to run away so he decided to keep her with him. She was a walking pile of gold and Kai wouldn't let her get away easily. As for the guards, Kai didn't care what they did. He doubted that the Qin family would pay much for their return and he didn't know if he could capture them all, so he just let them do whatever.

Mina, Ryu, and Old Lao were once again surprised by Kai. Even when faced with a noble cultivation family, he still didn't back down and instead asked for fair compensation. Old Lao was especially impressed. He had dealt a lot with noble cultivation families and knew that they only respected the strong.

Had he backed down from this confrontation, they would have likely sent assassins after him at a later date, but now that he was displaying his strength openly, other forces opposed to the Qin family would take note. If the Qin family were hostile towards Kai, those other forces would likely secretly support Kai in his battle against the Qin just to weaken them. His deceleration of power as well as being the one who was wronged first worked heavily against the Qin family, giving Kai all the right cards in this exchange.

"My lord is indeed far-thinking..." Old Lao murmured with a smile as he watched the veiled girl squirming like a worm underneath the table. They had dinner and retired for the night. Kai didn't sleep a wink that night as he kept watch to make sure his golden ticket didn't run away.

The next morning, Kai threw the veiled girl into their wagon and headed back to Huang City with his party. The guards carefully followed them in their own carriages from a relatively safe distance.