SLAP!!!

A jarring crack reverberated amidst the clamor of the bustling cafeteria, and everything around instantly fell silent.

Du Shaojie knelt on the ground, his entire face swelling at a visibly alarming rate. The pain was so intense that his body trembled uncontrollably, yet he felt numb. He was dumbfounded—completely and utterly dumbfounded.

He, a martial artist of the Profound Level, had nearly been killed by a single slap from a filthy beggar.

Such a blow was simply too much for Du Shaojie to handle.

All along, Du Shaojie had believed that, aside from his elder brother Du Shaolong, his talent was the strongest in the entire Du Family. Moreover, his brother had said that upon his return, he would introduce him to the Asura Hall. Because of this, Du Shaojie had always believed his future was boundless. But he had never anticipated that his every fantasy would be shattered by a slap from this filthy beggar.

Suddenly, Du Shaojie remembered yesterday's incident. He had accompanied Xue Jingdong to deal with this beggar, only to be nearly kicked to death. At that time, Du Shaojie had assumed Pei Donglai had secretly helped the beggar, which was why he had dared to be so brazen in his provocation today. But now, it seemed the person who had struck him was the beggar himself. This meant the beggar was also a martial artist, and a formidable one at that.

At this realization, Du Shaojie's expression turned exceedingly ugly. Who was it that said this filthy beggar had gotten this far solely because of Pei Donglai?

Pei Yanzi was shocked by the scene. Watching the group of heirs who looked ready to devour Lin Xiao alive, her nails dug into her flesh from tension, but she was completely oblivious to the pain. What worried her more, however, was Lin Xiao.

It's all my fault. If Brother Lin wasn't trying to protect me, he wouldn't have done something like this. And now... now he's going to suffer for it. A strong sense of guilt burst forth in Pei Yanzi's heart. She wanted to say something but didn't know what.

"Damn it, you filthy beggar! How dare you hit Young Master Du? Get on your knees and apologize to him right now, or I'll mess you up!" one of the heirs yelled.

The others immediately chimed in. "Yeah, you filthy beggar! Kneel and apologize to Young Master Du, or watch what we do to you!"

"Kneel and apologize! Let Young Master Du slap you a few hundred times!"

"..."

Lin Xiao looked at the heirs before him, each seething with rage and itching to pounce on him. He simply let out a disdainful sneer.

Just then, Du Shaojie said coldly, "Shut up. We're leaving!"

The other dandies were instantly shocked. Huh? How could they not be? Du Shaojie was a scion of the Du Family, the second-largest clan in all of Jinling City. But now he was backing down to a filthy beggar?

It wasn't just them; the surrounding onlookers were also stunned. Pei Yanzi even thought she was hallucinating.

But Du Shaojie was already turning and heading for the exit. With grim expressions, the other dandies pointed a final, menacing finger at Lin Xiao before following Du Shaojie out of the cafeteria. Only then did Pei Yanzi realize she wasn't hallucinating—those rich wastrels had actually left.

Of course, Lin Xiao knew Du Shaojie was backing down. His slap had made Du Shaojie clearly understand the vast gap in their strength. If he chose to stay and fight to the bitter end, he would be the one to lose.

That being said, the kid might be a wastrel, but he's not brainless.

As for those trash-talking lackeys, Lin Xiao couldn't be bothered. We'll meet again anyway.

Outside the cafeteria, just as the other wastrels were about to speak, Du Shaojie cut them off. With a sullen expression, he said, "Not a single word of what happened today gets out. If anything about this shows up online, get it deleted immediately. Do you hear me?"

The group nodded quickly. "Young Master Du, are we just going to let it go?" one of them asked, clearly dissatisfied.

Du Shaojie sneered. "Let it go? Hmph. When have you ever known me, Du Shaojie, to be so merciful?"

The wastrels were stunned for a moment, then immediately resumed their frantic ass-kissing.

Du Shaojie, however, waved them off and dialed his father. The call connected quickly. "Dad, it wasn't Pei Donglai secretly helping that filthy beggar."

"What do you mean?" a chilling voice answered from the other end of the line, as cold as if it came straight from hell.

"That filthy beggar's cultivation is formidable. Our previous intelligence was flawed!"

"Did you fight him?" the person on the other end asked.

"Yes," Du Shaojie said gravely. "I couldn't even withstand a single move from him. Dad, I know it's shameful, but our priority should be calling my big brother back. After all, this beggar has already slaughtered several of my brothers. If we let him run wild, I'm afraid the Du Family will end up just like the Liu and Zhao Families."

"I understand. Come back for now. From this moment on, you are to go into seclusion."

"Understood!"

They hung up.

Du Shaojie glanced back at the cafeteria one last time, then sped away in his car.

Although Du Shaojie and his group were gone and the cafeteria had swiftly returned to its previous state of noisy activity, Pei Yanzi's pretty face was still pale. It was clear the girl hadn't recovered from the scare.

"Don't be afraid. They're just trash; they can't make any waves. If they dare to trouble you at school again, just call me. I'll take care of them," Lin Xiao said in a light, casual tone.

His words instantly wrapped Pei Yanzi's heart in a tremendous surge of warmth. Her beautiful eyes reddened, not with sadness, but from being deeply moved and grateful.

"Brother Lin, thank you," Pei Yanzi said, full of gratitude. "You've saved me again."

"Don't mention it. You're Pei Donglai's sister, so that makes you my sister too. It's only right that I help you."

Sis... sister?

Pei Yanzi's mood suddenly soured. Her expression darkened in that same instant.

As she lowered her head to eat, large tears, like pearls from a broken string, began to fall one after another into her bowl.

Pei Yanzi didn't want to cry, but for some reason, her chest felt unbearably tight. A suffocating feeling enveloped her, making her feel distressed in a way she had never experienced before in her entire life.

"Brother Lin, I just remembered I have something to do!"

With a trembling voice, she dropped those words and fled in a panic.

Lin Xiao, who was in the middle of eating, froze for a moment, not understanding what had just happened.

He was about to go after her, but at that exact moment, a sinister killing intent enveloped him.

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