Chapter 36

When everything returned to its original calm, Ye Yu slowly opened his eyes and saw Guo Xiaotian standing safely in the hall. The tense expression on his face finally relaxed a bit.

Rolling his wheelchair through the mountain of blades formed by eight people, he glanced at Guo Xiaotian, whose arm was bleeding, and then his face turned slightly dark as he said, "Chief Li, can we consider the first challenge passed?"

Li Ping'er walked down the steps with a dark face, took a few steps to Guo Xiaotian, and saw that his clothes were cut in several places, but his skin was unharmed.

She naturally did not believe that her subordinates were incompetent, so she tore open Guo Xiaotian's shirt along the cuts. As the sound of tearing fabric echoed, a metal armor was revealed to everyone's eyes.

This armor was not the armor worn by soldiers, but a very soft vest.

Li Dayin, sitting on the tiger-skin chair, immediately flew into a rage upon seeing this item. He took a few steps down the steps, pointed at Ye Yu, and angrily shouted, "You, Ye Yu, actually deceived me! It seems you came prepared. Do you think your life is too long? Bring him!..."

"Chief Li, the rules were set by you, and my request was also approved by you! Besides, you didn't say that my brother couldn't wear a soft armor to cross the mountain of blades!"

"Hmph! But you broke the rules!"

Upon hearing this, Ye Yu coldly smiled, "Rules? You changed the mountain of fire to a mountain of oil. This was your precedent! Besides, I came specifically to exchange the ransom for a person, not to be treated like a bandit. Are you going to talk about rules with me?"

Li Dayin was even more furious upon hearing this, thinking that he was the one at fault. He took a short knife from the nearby rack, pointed at Ye Yu, and cursed, "Damn it, what I say is the rule, and I'll cut you to pieces right now!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Dayin swung the knife at Ye Yu. Guo Xiaotian, seeing this, quickly moved to protect Ye Yu, turning his body to shield him. He raised his left hand to block Li Dayin's right arm holding the knife and then clenched his right hand into a fist, striking Li Dayin's chest.

Li Dayin, who had been a bandit for years, was not without skill. Seeing Guo Xiaotian's swift movements, he knew the punch would be powerful. He made the knife spin in his hand, reversed the grip, and slashed at Guo Xiaotian's arm.

This reverse slash startled Guo Xiaotian, and he quickly retracted his punch, using the momentum to block Li Dayin's knife.

Seeing that the spinning knife did not take down Guo Xiaotian, Li Dayin immediately swung a few more times, but Guo Xiaotian blocked them all.

In just a moment, the two had exchanged two moves, and then they each took two steps back to stop.

"Good skills!" Li Dayin stood with the knife, staring straight at Guo Xiaotian.

Guo Xiaotian, now sweating on his forehead, remained calm and said, "You're not bad either!"

Suddenly, Li Dayin's right wrist moved, and the short knife glinted with a cold light. However, to everyone's surprise, Li Dayin did not attack but instead sneered, "You're no match for me!"

"After five moves, I will surely lose!" Guo Xiaotian's voice was calm, without any pretense.

"Those who can dodge my two moves are few. You are already quite remarkable!"

Li Dayin appreciated Guo Xiaotian's honesty and then looked at him, his face dirty with sweat, and frowned, asking, "Why do I feel like I've seen you before?"

"Um..."

"Hmph! Brother, he's the one who fled from the martial arts competition stage!"

Li Ping'er, who had been silent, now glared at Guo Xiaotian with eyes full of anger, as if she could burn him to ashes.

Li Dayin, upon hearing this, his extinguished anger flared up again. He glared at Guo Xiaotian and gritted his teeth, "So it's you, you little brat, really choosing the path of hell when the path of heaven is open!"

Ye Yu, watching everything, thought it was time to resolve this misunderstanding, or the two issues would become intertwined and hard to resolve!

So he said, "Regarding the matter between Xiaotian and your gang, Xiaotian has explained the details to me. It was just a misunderstanding, I hope Chief Li won't take it to heart!"

"Misunderstanding!? This little brat stripped my sister's clothes, and you call that a misunderstanding? If I strip Su Yueyun's clothes and ravage her a hundred times, and then say it's a misunderstanding, would that be it?"

...

Li Dayin's unfiltered curses made everyone present stunned. They tried to suppress their urge to laugh, looking at each other without speaking.

Guo Xiaotian, who had been calm, now felt embarrassed and lowered his head. Ye Yu was first shocked by Li Dayin's frankness and then found it hard to believe that the quiet and reserved Guo Xiaotian could do such an outrageous thing.

He never thought that the taciturn Guo Xiaotian could do something so bizarre.

Looking at Guo Xiaotian's embarrassed expression and recalling the dirt on his face, Ye Yu understood the situation.

At first, Ye Yu thought Guo Xiaotian had smeared his face with mud to avoid the impact of his escape from Qingfeng Gang on today's visit. Now, it seemed that Guo Xiaotian had done it to cover up his past.

Recalling how Guo Xiaotian had been preoccupied during the journey, everything now made sense...

"Is this true?" Ye Yu asked Guo Xiaotian in a cold tone.

"Master, actually... this..." Guo Xiaotian stammered for a long time but couldn't explain himself, instead looking委屈 and innocent.

Ye Yu glared at Guo Xiaotian and then bowed to the Li siblings, saying, "I believe in my brother's character. Even if he did something improper to your sister, it was probably unintentional! Why should we, as martial artists, hold grudges?"

"Hmph! Easy to say, but how can my sister marry anyone after her reputation is damaged?" Li Dayin ignored his sister's signals, making Li Ping'er stomp her feet in anger.

Ye Yu observed the expressions of the Li siblings and thought, "Your sister is almost twenty and still hasn't found a husband, which shows she's a problem. You still have the nerve to talk about reputation? Without it, she might not find a husband anyway."

Of course, Ye Yu could only think this to himself. Out loud, he said, "Yes, Chief Li, you have a point. However, I have a solution that benefits both sides. Would you consider it?"

"Oh? Let's hear it!"

"Since my brother and your sister have a connection, why don't we arrange a marriage between them? This would be a beautiful match, wouldn't it?"

Ye Yu's words stunned the Li siblings and Guo Xiaotian. Guo Xiaotian stammered again, unable to speak.

Li Ping'er, though still angry, unexpectedly huffed and turned away, saying nothing.

"Based on what?" Li Dayin sneered.

"Do you think my brother is not good enough for your sister?"

Ye Yu cleared his throat and continued, "In terms of martial skills, in Qingfeng Gang, no one can match him except Chief Li! In terms of appearance, he is handsome. As for status, I don't need to say more!"

"So what? I just don't like it!"

Although Li Dayin agreed with Ye Yu's points, he was not a fool. He could hear the hidden meaning in Ye Yu's words. Clearly, Ye Yu looked down on them as bandits. In Ye Yu's eyes, bandits were worse than servants, which Li Dayin could not tolerate.

"Since the brothers of Qingfeng Gang know about your sister and my brother, the entire Green Forest Gang will also know. Then, no one will want to marry your sister. With your status, Chief Li, which decent young man would marry your sister? If you force a marriage, it would make your sister... you know!"

"You!... What you say is not without reason!"

Ye Yu's reasoning made Li Dayin realize the truth. Although he liked robbing and taking women, he couldn't force a marriage for his sister. That would be too degrading and show that no one wanted her. He patted his forehead and said, "That's true, but my sister must agree!"

"I agree!" As soon as Li Dayin finished speaking, Li Ping'er eagerly agreed.

"I disagree!" Li Ping'er's words stunned everyone, but Guo Xiaotian's firm refusal was even more shocking.

Ye Yu saw that the two were in perfect unison, the woman agreeing readily and the man rejecting directly. For a moment, Li Dayin and Ye Yu felt redundant.

Li Ping'er, hearing Guo Xiaotian's rejection, lost control and pointed at him, threatening, "What did you say? Say it again!"

"I... I..." Guo Xiaotian stepped back, showing his poor communication skills again.

"Miss Ping'er, let's talk calmly! Let me persuade my brother!"

From Li Ping'er's expression, Ye Yu could see that she had feelings for Guo Xiaotian.

As for what had happened between them, he didn't know, but he thought that if he could help them, it would ease the tension.

However, he didn't expect her to be so fierce, lacking any gentle or refined qualities. No wonder Guo Xiaotian didn't want to agree to the marriage.

After Li Ping'er stepped back, Ye Yu whispered to Guo Xiaotian, "Xiaotian, no matter how wronged you feel, you must agree to this marriage today!"

"But they are bandits..."

"So what? The emperor is also a bandit, but who calls the emperor a bandit? You stripped the girl's clothes, and now you deny it? Besides, if you don't agree, we might not get out of here alive..."

"Then I will follow Master's arrangement!" Ye Yu's words left Guo Xiaotian speechless. He knew their current situation, especially after facing Li Dayin, was dangerous.

Since both parties had no objections, this small incident was resolved.

However, the rule of the mountain of blades and the cauldron of oil was not canceled because of the marriage. The second challenge, the cauldron of oil, still awaited Ye Yu.

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