13 Strings & Blings

In such a golden age of martial arts of the Desert Flame Tribe; while these youths might not have been bullied in such a miserable way like Min Hong, but they were also frequently sneered at and suffered from cold and indifferent treatment.

Thus, it was no surprise that people who suffered from similar torments would end up banding to form a clique.

As for the group greeting Min Hong, they were especially glad to see him as it had been a long time since they last saw each other.

"Haha, you guys came here pretty early." Min Hong cheerfully greeted. With the success of the Jade Primal Dragon Body, his mood had greatly improved from his formerly depressed self.

"Ah ha. Brother Long, I heard you put up a huge display of awesome power and defeated Li Hao. Such news truly left us in awe of you. Don't tell me that you can actually cultivate now?" A skinny snotty boy enviously asked.

Originally, they were all the same level as Min Hong; however, now that they were now hearing that Min Hong could defeat a 3 Star Skin Refining expert, they couldn't help but grown a sprout of jealousy beneath their shock.

"Hehe, it was just luck. But most recently, I did learn a new Divine Technique." Unwilling to want dwell on the subject, Min Hong covertly brought up a new mysterious topic.

"Divine Technique? What's that?" Sure enough, the group instantly became distracted by new topic of discussion.

"Hehe, this little brother recently obtained a rare clairvoyance book, and after painstakingly reading this book, I learned quite a few things," Min Hong complacently gloated.

"Clairvoyance technique? Isn't that just what the fortune tellers on the streets use to scam people?"

"Not quite. With what I learned from this clairvoyance technique, I saw that Mu Cheng's face had a dark omen of misfortune on it, and it was only then that I decided to duel with him. And as for the result… hehe." Min Hong chuckled and stopped there.

The boys were initially skeptical about Min Hong's story, however, one of them suddenly cleared their doubts as he exclaimed;

"It seems to be true! I heard that Mu Cheng seemed to have been bewitched that day, and that he had just been turned down by a girl before he was defeated by brother Hong. "

The details of Min Hong and Mu Cheng's battle were known to everyone, but there were many people who felt that Mu Cheng's defeat was quite mysterious. Nowadays, there was a great deal of discussion over Min Hong's methods.

"Hehe, brother Hong, since you are proficient in reading faces, can you help take a look at me and tell me why my fiancée always avoids me? Why won't she agree to see me?" One boy asked with a frustrated sigh.

"No problem. Come, come, let's all pick a suitable place to sit first; huddling up in such a manner is getting somewhat weird."

Nodding with serious expression, the group quickly flocked after Min Hong toward a table in the corner; a table already decorated with assorted refreshments.

Pointing at the desserts plated on the table, Min Hong chuckled as he urged the boys; "Let's all eat a piece."

"Sure. Hmm. Okay." The boys replied and didn't bother to stand on courtesy anymore as they all took a piece.

Though they did as told, the boys couldn't help but eat their deserts with bewildered expressions.

"How's the taste?"

"Very good."

"Hmm."

"Let's eat another piece?"

"Okay."

The frustrated fiancé once again picked up a piece and took a bite. However, upon taking a single bite, his face suddenly brightened, as if he had an eureka moment.

He respectfully turned towards Min Hong and revered; "Many thanks for brother Hong's advice. This little brother understands now. I was being too greedy and brother Hong was reminding me that people need to be content with their situation, right?"

Hearing this, the rest of the group couldn't help but stare at Min Hong in admiration. Who would have thought that Min Hong had the profound skills to use some small desserts to bestow enlightenment?

However, Min Hong simply chuckled and shook his head with a sigh;

"Wrong. What I wanted to remind you of is that you're already so fat, and yet you're still eating this much. Soon you might be unable to fit through the door. By then, your fiancée wouldn't need to avoid you anymore.

The fact that she hasn't left you yet is already a feat of endurance that is beyond even me. With a body shape like yours, no sane woman would want to sleep close to you.

What if you roll over and crush her in her sleep?"

The fatty's face reddened in embarrassment; he appraised himself and realized he was only five foot in height, with a five foot long stomach circumference. Apparently, he had always thought he only fattened up a little bit.

"Fatty Po, don't waste brother Hong's precious time; hurry up and go lose some weight. Big bro Hong; hehe, how about you take a shot at reading my face?" Another slender boy respectfully asked, rubbing his palms as he put on his best smile.

"Oh, you? Hmmm... Let's see..." Min Hong put on a very serious expression as he gazed deeply at boy for a long while, squinting, nodding, or even sighing at random intervals.

"Your face ordains that before you are thirty, you will be destitute and frustrated..."

Hearing this, the slender boy suddenly paled in horror; however Min Hong's next words gave him some hope;

"...but the good thing is that after you are thirty…"

That boy instantly became jubilant as he said; "Is it possible that I can suddenly rise in my cultivation?"

"No..." Min Hong slaughtered his hope.

"...After you are thirty you will slowly become accustomed to your situation and will no longer be frustrated," added Min Hong.

"…"

The group couldn't help but to erupt in a peal of laughter. However, just as they were laughing, they suddenly saw two bitter eyes lock onto their position, causing the rest of the laughter to get stuck in their throats.

Min Hong was the first to sense the gaze, but he had initially decided to pay it no attention; that was until it drowsed his friends' laughter.

Turning around, the boys saw Mu Cheng glaring daggers at them, causing them to pale in fright. Seeing this, Min Hong decided to defuse their fright, so he called out;

"Senior Mu Cheng, it's nice to see you moving around now. 

Congratulations on recovering from your external wounds, hope your internal injuries are taking similar strides?" Min Hong asked, seeming deeply concerned.

Mu Cheng almost choked on his own breath as his face twitched and went red in fury.

That day, Mu Cheng's face had almost been permanently disfigured by Min Hong, and he had been stretched home.

His Mu family had to hurriedly asked for the help of a master physician and forked out an extremely heart rending sum of gold coins to help him recover.

Having money was truly good; in such a short time, he had already returned to a point where he looked as good as normal.

But now that Min Hong was bringing up the subject once again, Mu Cheng's groin area started to throb as if experiencing PTSD.

Sensing what was happening to him, Mu Cheng couldn't help but think back to Min Hong's kick that had almost turned him into a semi-eunuch. It wasn't until they had stretched him home and healed by the physician that he notice that he was missing one of his crown jewels.

When his family noticed this, they hurriedly sent a search party rushing back to the martial arena to locate it; however, by that time they arrived, the arena had already been cleaned. Worst of all, it was reported that someone had spotted something being taken away by a wild dog.

When Mu Cheng woke up and heard this news, he almost joined his late ancestors after experiencing a sudden spike in blood pressure.

Nonetheless, it had been confirmed that there was no way to fix the problem; there was simply no way for them to fix what he had lost.

What had always been two would now forever be one. Although such loss won't tilt his gait, the loss of the symmetry still did a number on his confidence and mental fortitude.

Thus, seeing Min Hong recap the situation, Mu Cheng's expression couldn't help but grow exceedingly ugly.

Glaring daggers at Min Hong, he spat out through gritted teeth; "Min Hong, you son of a bitch. I challenge you to a life and death duel! Do you dare to accept?"

Min Hong's amused expression suddenly vanished, to be replaced with a steely flat face. Being called in such a way was exceedingly insulting, especially when his mother was also included in the equation.

It was really becoming a case of someone not knowing how to value their life. As far as Min Hong was concerned, if such a person was looking for someone to free them of the worries of mortals, then he didn't mind making an exception to help them out.

"Quintuple the original stakes." Min Hong kept it brief.

To him, since Mu Cheng was really looking to die, then he wanted to wring out as much benefit as he could out of the idiot. Although they were fellow tribesmen, Mu Cheng's death would be an extremely trifling matter, and he wouldn't lose a sleep over it, even if he was the one who did it.

"Fine! No matter how high you make the stakes, I, Mu Cheng, will match it." Mu Cheng sneered in his mind, thinking; only the living can spend money.

He was under the impression that he had simply been too careless the last time, and Min Hong had been lucky enough to be able to capitalize on it; hence his loss.

Now however, he would definitely not make the same mistake, so the fight would definitely not go the same way as it did back then. 

Furthermore, this time was different; he had declared another life-or-death duel.

One of the rules of the life and death duels of the martial arena states that;

If both party are declaring a duel for the first time; though one would not be held responsible for killing the other with a blow- should the other admit defeat, then one was no longer permitted to continue attacking the other.

However, if the both party declare a dwell for the second time, then the moment they step onto the stage, it is equivalent to them putting their lives on the line, thus, even if the other admitted defeat, it would be up to the victor to do as he pleased with the loser's life.

"Alright, tomorrow, at half past noon, we will meet on the life and death stage." Mu Cheng laughed coldly as he stared at Min Hong like he was looking at a walking corpse.

Min Hong on the other hand, simply sneered coldly. His rage had long tipped past its boiling point and was now icy cold.

In that moment, he decided that it was time for him to kill the chicken to warn the monkeys.

However, upon seeing Mu Cheng leave, he couldn't help but chuckle coldly as he called out once again; "Mu Cheng! Be careful to stay balanced while walking; don't trip."

Mu Cheng, who had already turned to leave suddenly stiffened; his face contorted as he inferred the hidden meaning within Min Hong's words.

Taking a deep breath, he acted like he hadn't heard anything as he slowly walked to a different part of the literature hall. However, Min Hong's words pierced him like a hot knife through butter; now, every time he lifted his leg, it would trigger some PTSD.

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.