Chapter 20: Conflict and Invitation

Hu---

Hey kid up ahead, dodge!

A low, resonant male voice reached Su Chen's ears. Su Chen turned his head to look at the source of the voice.

A big man about five feet tall rode a startled large horse charging straight at him.

Su Chen's body had been passively tempered by Spiritual Qi, gaining considerable strengthening in all aspects.

He merely made a light sidestep and easily dodged the charging startled horse.

After charging several dozen zhang, the man managed to calm the startled horse and then leisurely stopped in place.

Seeing Su Chen dodge the startled horse, the man wiped sweat from his forehead and his face showed relief.

Then the man seemed to think of something, rode his horse toward Su Chen and shouted loudly: 'Kid, you don't want to live? Walking in the middle of the road is forgivable, but I've been yelling for so long and you still didn't dodge—are you deaf?'

Su Chen felt he was at fault; he had been lost in thought, which caused him to unknowingly walk to the middle of the road.

However, the big man also bore responsibility for not controlling his horse well.

At this moment, hearing the big man still speak rudely to him, a flicker of displeasure appeared in Su Chen's eyes.

Suddenly, he came up with a plan, showed a fearful expression, and stepped back a few steps.

He pointed to his own ears, then to his own mouth.

Then he kept making 'ah ah ah' sounds without saying a word, while waving his hands wildly.

Seeing this, the big man first stared, then his face showed guilt.

He hastily dismounted, clasped his fists toward Su Chen, and said: 'Sorry, I didn't know you couldn't hear...'

Su Chen saw that the man meant no harm, and the hint of killing intent in his heart vanished completely. He had just been testing the man; if the man had continued to be rude, Su Chen wouldn't mind eliminating this menace.

As the man apologized, Su Chen looked behind and saw a convoy of several hundred people rushing rapidly toward his direction.

The few men at the front each held different weapons, their eyes fixed on Su Chen filled with vigilance.

After the convoy met up with the man, it slowly stopped. Su Chen had no interest in them, so he ignored them and lifted his foot to continue forward.

At that moment, a man ahead poked his head to speak with someone in the convoy; seeing Su Chen preparing to leave, a soft voice reached his ears.

'Sir, please wait a moment; we are at fault. If you don't mind, we can offer you some compensation.'

In a carriage at the center of the convoy, a beautiful woman in a light blue robe lifted the curtain and shouted at Su Chen.

Su Chen instinctively waved his hand without turning his head.

Having just made that gesture, Su Chen sensed something was off, tried to pull his hand back, but it was already too late.

The man driving the fierce horse, seeing this, froze for a moment.

'Good kid, you dare trick me?' The man immediately reacted, rolled up his sleeves and charged to teach Su Chen a lesson.

However, fortunately he was timely stopped by another companion.

Hearing those words, Su Chen turned and replied coldly: 'You failed to control the horse, it almost hit me, and now you're rude to me again—are you looking to die?'

Su Chen didn't want to waste time here; his cultivation surged, a powerful aura burst forth, startling everyone present, who began trembling uncontrollably.

This is the suppression of spirit over mundane, a suppression of realm.

Everyone present was shocked to the extreme; the big man also widened his eyes, with cold sweat dripping down.

He suddenly recalled the instant Su Chen effortlessly dodged the startled horse, secretly regretting provoking a murderous star, and immediately regarded Su Chen as an unparalleled master.

At the moment Su Chen's aura erupted, he heard the infant's wailing from the carriage,

He immediately restrained his aura, ignored them, and continued walking forward.

The blue-robed woman was first startled, then her eyes shifted, and she leapt directly down from the carriage.

Just as she stepped down, she walked up to the big man and said sternly: 'Zhao San, still not apologizing to the sir?'

At the same time, with light steps she quickly caught up to Su Chen and said: 'Sir, I see we're heading the same way; we can give you a ride as an apology.'

Su Chen's thoughts raced; he turned to look at Zhao San, who was apologizing to him, and gave a slight nod.

Seeing Su Chen agree, the blue-robed woman's face lit up with joy. She hurried to the second carriage, lifted its curtain, and said something to those inside.

'Sis, who has such great ability to let me, the young master, make room for him?' The youth, somewhat unwilling, stepped out from another carriage, shoved aside a big man trying to support him, and complained dissatisfiedly.

Seeing him step out, everyone nearby except the woman and Su Chen lowered their heads and involuntarily retreated a few steps.

This youth had red lips and white teeth, wore a white robe, resembling the woman by about fifty percent, but his gaze held no one, an arrogant and overbearing demeanor that utterly ruined his bearing.

Just after stepping down from the carriage, he saw Su Chen walking side by side with his sister Mu Ling, and instantly understood.

Ignoring Mu Ling's gaze urging him to stop, he walked up to Su Chen, pointed at his nose, turned to Mu Ling and said: 'Sis, you had me get off the carriage to ride a horse just to make room for this kid? Sis, you wouldn't have taken a liking to this kid, would you?'

While speaking, he carefully sized up Su Chen a few times and then said: 'This kid isn't much to look at either—he's not as handsome as me!'

Mu Ling hadn't had time to stop him when she saw her brother spouting nonsense, and she instantly grew angry, though she didn't know how to explain.

She turned her head to look at Su Chen, saw his expression unchanged, confirmed he wasn't angry, and then relaxed.

She glared at the youth; the overbearing boy, under that stare, had the words on the tip of his tongue forcibly stopped, then obediently walked forward, saying nothing more.

Mu Ling walked up to Su Chen, clasped her fists, using the martial world's salute, and said apologetically: 'That's my younger brother Mu Feng; he's still young, spoiled at home, I hope sir won't mind.'

After saying that, she thought of something and continued: 'I haven't introduced myself; I am Mu Ling, may I ask your esteemed name, sir?'

Su Chen returned the salute, smiling: 'I have met Miss Mu, I am Su Chen.'

The woman stared, unable for a long time to think of anyone in the martial world whose offspring or disciple was named Su Chen; she therefore concluded that Su Chen distrusted them and was merely using a random alias.

Thinking this over, she carefully considered, her clear water-like phoenix eyes flashing a hint of worry, and she probed again: 'Sir, where do you intend to go? What are you planning to do?'

Su Chen saw her worry, but could not reveal his identity outright, so his expression turned a bit colder as he said: 'Luoxian Town, to visit relatives.'

Having said that, he didn't wait for Mu Ling to ask again, but said: 'Aren't we setting off yet?'

Mu Ling was about to speak, but she swallowed her words. She smiled and invited Su Chen into the carriage; then, under her direction, the convoy continued forward.

Meanwhile, Mu Ling looked at the dozens of men around her and gave them a glance.

Instantly, those few men, as if understanding tacitly, moved somewhat toward Su Chen's carriage, vaguely forming a flanking position.

Mu Ling invited Su Chen to travel together, naturally she also had her own plans.

Because she bore the important mission of protecting the Beichen Kingdom's prince, and seeing that Beichen Kingdom was at hand, Su Chen suddenly appeared, and his aura was astonishing.

Therefore Mu Ling suspected Su Chen might be that rebellious person, which is why she invited him to travel together.

This gave them a great advantage: they could monitor Su Chen's movements at any time; otherwise, an expert lurking in the shadows would be too dangerous.

She also dared not let others sit in the carriage with Su Chen, for that would easily become Su Chen's leverage.