Chapter 126 Dagger

Chapter 126: The Dagger

Cheng Ge’s eyes flew wide open. He spun around in a 360-degree spin, barely dodging the figure that came crashing at him.

Patting his chest, he quickly took a bite of the Guanghan cake to calm his nerves.

But the heavens were stubborn – no sooner had he dodged one than another came.

How did that song go? “One wave hasn’t settled, yet another wave comes surging in.”

Amid the vast crowd, a storm raged. One wave hadn’t even passed when another swept through…

Well, anyway… it was… pretty sudden.

Cheng Ge lay on the ground, the wing-like flaps of his Black Gauze Hat trembling like someone with Parkinson’s tremor.

He slowly opened his eyes to see two pieces of Guanghan cake rolling across the ground a few times before spinning to a stop right next to his hand.

Cheng Ge blinked. Hmm… picking them up and blowing the dust off might still make them edible.

After all, this stuff was crazy expensive—it wouldn’t do to waste it.

But the next second, a wolf-fang-studded leather boot came down with a squish right on top of the cake.

The pale yellow filling squirted out in front of Cheng Ge’s very eyes.

Cheng Ge: Alright, guess I can’t eat it now.

With a heavy sigh, his heart felt a little dead inside as he did a kip-up.

Yet before he could steady himself, like a scene from an old movie rewinding, another person came hurtling toward him.

Cheng Ge: “…Honestly, this is getting annoying.”

“Hahaha!!!” The air was filled with jeers and jabbering he couldn’t understand.

Cheng Ge dodged to the side, reached out, grabbed the collar of the man crashing toward him, and with a firm yank, steadied him.

“The men of Great Zhou are just like this pastry—soft as women.”

Cheng Ge turned his head to glare at the group, his gaze turned sharp.

Five men in leather vests—Beidi men—loomed over him.

The leader had a scar running across the bridge of his nose.

“What are you looking at?” the scarred man sneered, grinding the pastry remains under his toe. “Did I say something wrong?”

His eyes roamed over Cheng Ge as he reached out to tug at his hat's wing flap.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk… rosy cheeks and jade-like skin, a slender waist and shapely hips—you don't actually have balls, do you?”

Leaning in, the man’s breath, reeking of mutton, puffed onto Cheng Ge’s face.

“What? Is the little lady from Zhou getting angry?”

“Hahaha!!!” The other four burst into laughter, loud and grating.

They slapped their thighs in agreement.

“I think so. Why don’t we drag him back to the inn right now, pull down his pants, and have a good look? Let us see the prowess of a Great Zhou man!”

The Beidi men kept laughing. The surrounding townsfolk murmured among themselves, anger barely concealed in their eyes.

Cheng Ge narrowed his eyes, fixing his gaze on the men.

They paid him no mind; one even dared to reach out and touch Cheng Ge’s right cheek.

Suddenly, Cheng Ge moved.

He was so fast that his actions left afterimages. His left hand clamped onto the scarred man’s wrist like a steel vise, while his right hand swung in a full arc for a resounding slap.

“Smack!” The sharp crack made the shop awnings along the street sway.

The scarred man was knocked to the ground, two bloody teeth arcing through the air.

“Do I owe you face?!”

The slap was so fierce that half of the Beidi warrior’s face instantly swelled up, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.

Silence fell, terrifyingly still. Even the street vendors’ cries stopped dead.

“You… you dare hit me?!” The Beidi man covered his face, glaring at Cheng Ge with fury. “I’m part of the envoy!”

Cheng Ge planted his foot in the man’s knee pit, the pressure threatening to crush the bone to dust.

He slowly pulled out a handkerchief to wipe his hand, tilting his head with a cold smirk. “So what?”

Reaching up, he took off his dusty Black Gauze Hat, gently brushed the dust off, and put it back on—the flaps still trembling.

The gesture should have looked funny, but the chill radiating from him at that moment made everyone hold their breath.

“M-Milord…” the rescued townsman stammered, “they are the Beidi envoy…”

“Ha… laughable.” Cheng Ge cut him off, scanning the Beidi warriors.

He spread his hands to the townsman and retorted, “Aren’t they exactly the ones I’m hitting?”

Just then, one Beidi man from the side, his face livid, suddenly drew his curved blade. “You Zhou scum are asking for death!”

Cheng Ge didn’t dodge or flinch. Instead, he stepped forward, the hem of his official robe fluttering without wind.

He struck the man’s wrist, and as the man winced in pain, Cheng Ge smoothly snatched the dagger away.

The Beidi man, alarmed, raised his fist and hurled a full-force punch toward Cheng Ge’s face.

But Cheng Ge was unhurried. He sidestepped easily, evading the blow.

Then, with a swift motion, he swung the dagger in his hand, a cold glint slicing the air.

“Rip!” The Beidi man’s trousers split open from the middle, revealing underpants embroidered with a wolf head.

Cheng Ge glanced at it briefly and sneered, “Still not as fierce as your stinky breath.”

The Beidi man, still gripping his weapon, his face turning red then white with fury, his arm began to tremble.

Cheng Ge twirled the confiscated dagger in a perfect flourish, the steel catching his half-smile as he tapped the flat of the blade against the man’s cheek.

The other two Beidi men didn’t hesitate and lunged at him.

Cheng Ge flicked his wrist, and the curved knife in his hand flew out.

With a "clang!", it embedded directly into the wooden pole between the two men, leaving only the handle exposed, stark and bare.

Cheng Ge turned around, the corners of his eyes slightly raised as he looked at the two men, an innocent look on his face.

Lips red, teeth white, eyes like stars, just like a blood-stained Manjusaka flower.

"Pay up," Cheng Ge said in a sickeningly sweet tone, bending down to reach out to the scar-faced man.

Scarface: "..."

"Hmph... No money, but I've got a life if you want it!" His voice was exceptionally spirited.

"Fine!" Without another word, Cheng Ge gave him a few more slaps, turning his face even redder.

The surrounding villagers, upon seeing this, hurriedly stepped back several paces, grimacing in pain.

"Ugh... stop..." Scarface squinted, mumbling incoherently, his head buzzing.

"I... I have banknotes in my chest," Scarface finally compromised, otherwise he'd really be dead.

As they say in the Great Zhou: "A wise man adapts to circumstances."

A gentleman can wait ten years for revenge; we've got plenty of time! Let's see how long this kid can stay arrogant!

Cheng Ge had no idea what was going through his head, and reached into his chest.

"Tsk... I said, can't you guys be a little cleaner? These clothes are caked with grime, don't they stink!"

"That Western man's smell... you... don't understand."

Cheng Ge: "..."

Cheng Ge pinched his nose, and sure enough, he felt several banknotes. Just as he was about to withdraw his hand, he touched a hard dagger.

Without thinking, he pulled it out as well. When he got a clear look at it, his eyes lit up.

I'm rich! I'm rich!

The dagger in his hand was clearly no ordinary item. The guard was set with a thumb-sized sapphire, surrounded by tiny emeralds arranged in the shape of the Big Dipper.

At the end of the hilt was a round pearl, wrapped in gold filigree with a lotus design. With a gentle shake, the pearl shimmered, as if moonlight had condensed upon it.

Slowly drawing the blade from the sheath, he saw near the spine of the blade three Northern Di characters he couldn't understand. From the looks of it, they should be a person's name.

"You can't have this! This is Wuliji's!" Scarface panicked, and he reached out to snatch it back.

But the moment he finished speaking, Cheng Ge slapped him unconscious.

"I don't care whose it is, now it's mine! If he's got the guts, tell him to come and get it!"

"A little love to power up... Ow ow ow!!!"