Chapter 9

"Look at that little wench, she even found a pretty boy to help her out!" "That boy looks weak, I bet he’s just a kept man for that little lady." "Little lady, why don’t you just give in to us? Don’t look at that pretty boy; we are the real men who can carry horses on our shoulders, and we are the ones you can rely on!" The few burly men spouted filthy words.

As for Ding Yi, he had long been ignored.

"Shut up!" At this moment, a loud shout came from behind the burly men. They staggered to the sides as a towering man with a square face, thick eyebrows, and fierce eyes stepped forward. It was early spring, and he had his chest exposed, showing his bulging muscles that seemed to strain against his short shirt. He was about to speak when he saw Ding Yi, his face turned cold, and he hesitated for a moment before finally bowing to Ding Yi, "Is Scholar Ding here? Please step into the city, we rough men have some matters to settle here."

Ding Yi smiled and asked, "Do you recognize me? What is your surname?"

"My surname is Lei," the big man replied with perfect manners.

The burly men immediately started to clamor, "Ding, you don’t know who you’re dealing with! Lei Daxia is the head of Feng Family’s Escort Agency! He’s known as Iron Pagoda Lei Jiutian in the martial world!" "Scholar Ding? I know! He’s late today, and I heard that Young Master Feng gathered people to go to the Ding family. If we had gone earlier, we could have earned some rewards!" "Scholar Ding, get lost! If you don’t, I’ll tear you apart!" These men were much more rude and aggressive than the so-called Lei Daxia.

Lei Jiutian, however, remained polite, "The conflict between Scholar and the young master is not my concern. I admire scholars very much. Today, I have some martial matters to settle, so please step aside, Scholar."

"Sure!" Ding Yi agreed readily.

Xiao Xianglian, the naturally naive girl, didn’t find anything amiss and even said to Ding Yi, "After I deal with these scoundrels, I’ll come find you!"

Ding Yi brushed his blue robe and smiled, "Alright, I’ll go first. Farewell, please stay here."

After Ding Yi left, the burly men asked Lei Jiutian, "Brother Lei, why be so polite to that scholar? Now the Ding family is like a rat in the street, everyone is out to get them..." "Exactly, what kind of scholar is he? If it were before, it might have been different, but now, who cares about him?" "Showing him respect is like showing respect to that old dog at the city gate!"

"Quiet down," Lei Jiutian had authority over these men, and they all shut up when he spoke, "Killing Scholar Ding would be like squashing an ant. The Ding family is indeed in a bad position, but so what? Scholar Ding has an official title, and the Ding family is wealthy. If we leave the city together and something happens to him, we’ll all be implicated. Why provoke him?"

The burly men nodded, agreeing that Lei Daxia was right. Killing Scholar Ding would be easy, but it wasn’t necessary to create unnecessary trouble.

"Hey! You scoundrels, if you dare to hurt a single hair on Brother Ding, I’ll make sure you regret it!" Xiao Xianglian brandished her trident and said to the burly men and Lei Jiutian.

"Miss, hand over that brocade box, and we’ll let the matter of you injuring my two brothers go," Lei Jiutian stopped the burly men from cursing, knowing that in the martial world, old hands are more cautious. This wasn’t a matter of life and death, so there was no need to make unnecessary enemies.

"Hmph, I already returned it to that old man and escorted him out of Baoding!" Xiao Xianglian said proudly to Lei Jiutian.

Lei Jiutian raised his arms to stop the burly men from rushing forward and asked, "Which direction did the old man go?"

"You scoundrels, after failing to rob him, you still want to chase him?" Xiao Xianglian’s trident crossed left and right, but she waved it at Lei Jiutian, "First, ask if my trident agrees!"

This wasn’t a storytelling session or a modern martial arts novel. In the martial world, the rules were simple: the sharpest blade, the strongest horse, and the most men won. In this secluded place, not a bustling market, would anyone really fight one-on-one?

In a blink, Xiao Xianglian had stabbed one man, but she was kicked in the back and flew far away. Lei Jiutian stood like an iron tower, his hands behind his back, and he said, "Leave him alive!"

The burly men agreed. Xiao Xianglian, who had fallen behind a tree, was suddenly pulled away by someone in blue, who dragged her into the forest.

Originally, despite hiding his name, Ding Yi’s father was known to be a significant figure in the martial world, so Lei Jiutian didn’t want to harm Ding Yi. The old master of the Feng family had repeatedly warned not to provoke Uncle Zhong of the Ding family. But now, with Ding Yi’s persistent纠缠, Lei Jiutian had no more hesitation:

"Take care of Scholar Ding."

How long is a day?

Ding Yi, dragging the naturally naive Xiao Xianglian, ran through the forest, and this question floated in his mind.

This day, from midnight to now, had only passed half, yet he had experienced so many strange events. What was even more frustrating was the depression these events brought. Ding Yi was not the type to accept things passively; a fire burned in his heart.

Perhaps this wasn’t his familiar era, and he couldn’t even determine the exact year.

But he would live his life in his own way.

This was why, when he discovered he was being followed, he didn’t go to the government office or a crowded street.

He was fed up.

"Brother! Why are we running? We must eliminate evil thoroughly... those bad people..." For Xiao Xianglian, who wasn’t used to long-distance running, her physical condition was much better than Ding Yi’s current body. She could sprint faster than him for short distances. But without knowing how to regulate her breathing, after about 700 to 800 steps, she started to pant.

"Don’t call me brother," Ding Yi said, spitting out a word with each left footstep.

No matter how weak this body was, with his previous experience in cross-country running and breath control, Ding Yi was confident he could run 3,000 steps without any problems. He didn’t need to look back to know the distance of the pursuers, as their heavy breathing, from the initial frantic chase and cursing, was already as loud as a bellows.

They almost caught up to Ding Yi, and at one point, the leading burly man’s knife almost touched Ding Yi’s back. But now they were falling behind, and their cursing was becoming intermittent. Ding Yi also noticed Xiao Xianglian’s breathing becoming more ragged, and he had to use more strength to drag her along.

After running about 1,500 steps, with no more righteous declarations from Xiao Xianglian and no more vulgar curses from the burly men, it seemed the world was filled only with their heavy breathing. Ding Yi spoke, "Give me the trident," still spitting out a word with each left footstep. Xiao Xianglian, on the verge of suffocation, didn’t think much and handed the trident to Ding Yi, feeling it was too heavy to carry.

Ding Yi then let go of her hand and said, "I’m a scholar."

"Wow, so impressive! Brother, you’re a scholar!" The term "naturally naive" truly suited her.

"You’re a heroine."

"Yes, yes!"

"You’re good at fighting, I’m leaving."

"Okay!"

Ding Yi, holding the two tridents, increased his speed and turned into the forest on the left. In a few breaths, Xiao Xianglian lost sight of him.

Without Ding Yi’s pull, Xiao Xianglian stopped, leaning against a tree and gasping for breath and dry heaving. She muttered, "Oh, my dear mother, I’m running to death! Thank goodness that silly brother finally left!" As she gradually regulated her breathing, she looked up and saw the burly men, who were also leaning against trees and holding their knees, a few dozen steps away.

Without a weapon, she had no choice but to run forward, turning the martial conflict into a long-distance race.

Iron Pagoda Lei Jiutian didn’t follow the burly men, as a famous martial hero, it would be too embarrassing to be out of breath. Besides, the opponents weren’t formidable: "You two idiots, go around to the left!" After stopping, Lei Daxia quickly regained his composure and directed the burly men to flank Xiao Xianglian, hoping to end the long-distance race.

If they faced each other, Lei Jiutian was confident he could break three of Xiao Xianglian’s ribs with one move. As for the unremarkable scholar Ding Yi, Lei Jiutian cursed, "This scholar is like a rabbit! He runs so fast! But you can run away, but you can’t hide. I’ll send someone to take care of you tonight..."

The only difficulty with Ding Yi was whether to act. Once the decision was made, it wasn’t worth Lei Daxia’s effort. He never considered taking action himself; any of his companions could handle it. Killing a dog required a bun with poison, but for Ding Yi, even a bun wasn’t necessary.

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