Chapter 4597 — A Provocation

Lu Bianren froze for a moment. He had already noticed that arrogant bully Ma Dangfeng a while ago, and had deliberately steered clear of him simply to avoid trouble—only to have this creature call him to a halt all the same.

He would have liked nothing better than to ignore the man, but he had no intention of letting his momentum falter before this bastard. Besides, the fellow had deliberately named him aloud in that humiliating fashion, with all those Azure Cloud Pavilion disciples passing to and fro watching; to play the deaf-mute and slink off like a turtle retreating into its shell would be beneath contempt.

He turned around and regarded Ma Dangfeng with a placid expression, his face as smooth as an old well unstirred by any ripple, betraying not the faintest trace of anger or pleasure. Even bystanders with no stake in the matter could not help but marvel: this Lu Bianren was indeed a mild and cultivated gentleman, a man of measured temper.

Yet in Ma Dangfeng's eyes, this display was nothing but cut-and-dried cowardice. He curled his lip in disdain and said, "Where's that precious Wei Zhao of yours? Has he come back from the dead yet? When he does, tell him to come see me at once!"

"No." Lu Bianren's tone remained as calm as an old well. He knew that in a clash with this Ma Dangfeng, his own strength would only leave him at a disadvantage; since he plainly could not afford to provoke the man, he must not let fury cloud his judgment—otherwise he would only make things worse.

"No? Damn it, still no? How long has he been gone now, and he's still not back?" Ma Dangfeng knitted his brows and drew the words out in cold mockery: "Ohh... don't tell me he got wind that I mean to make trouble for him, and knowing full well his own strength falls short, got so scared of dying at my hands that he's turned into a turtle and doesn't dare come back? Hahahaha!"

Lu Bianren's expression shifted ever so slightly. He did not care how Ma Dangfeng mocked him—none of it need weigh on his mind at all. But to have the man so brazenly make a fool of Wei Zhao right in front of him, that he could not let pass unruffled.

After all, Wei Zhao was not merely his friend; he owed the man his life. To stand by at such a moment would be an act of faithlessness—and there was nothing Lu Bianren could endure, save deeds devoid of fellow-feeling and honor.

"Junior Brother Lin is a genius disciple acknowledged by all, and even Pavilion Master Shangguan of the Skyward Pavilion speaks highly of him. Before you have faced and defeated him in person, I would advise Your Excellency to think before you speak—otherwise what you insult is not only Junior Brother Lin, but Pavilion Master Shangguan as well!" said Lu Bianren, his face darkening.

"Oh? Looks like I've stepped on a raw nerve. Tsk tsk. And here I thought a coward like you would never stiffen his spine in his whole life!" Ma Dangfeng only grew more excited. In a flash he darted up to Lu Bianren and seized him by the throat. "You say I insulted Pavilion Master Shangguan? Fine, then tell me just what I insulted him over—over his poor judgment in people, mistaking a piece of trash for a genius?"

It would have been better had no one brought up Shangguan Tianxia at all, for the moment someone did, Ma Dangfeng was certain to bristle as though a scar had been torn open before his very face. He too had been a dazzling new king at the inner sect grand tournament, yet Shangguan Tianxia had favored only that damned Wei Zhao, and looked right past him—a Nascent Soul newcomer of greater strength. Was the old brute's head full of water or what!

Ma Dangfeng had been in a foul mood to begin with today; the real reason he had gone out of his way to call Lu Bianren to a halt was simply to seize the chance to pick a quarrel and vent some nameless wrath. Now that Lu Bianren had jabbed him straight in the scar, a man of his temper could hardly be expected not to erupt on the spot.

For all his formidable strength, and for all that he seemed to be the man of the hour of late, Ma Dangfeng's circumstances were nowhere near as glorious as outsiders imagined—especially before the likes of Xu Lingchong and his crowd, where he was as wretched and stifled as could be.

As the lowest-ranked among them, he dared not defy a single word from Xu Lingchong or, for that matter, any of the others; all he could do was obey meekly.

And this time in particular, Xu Lingchong had saddled him with an utterly rotten task, so that he had been stewing in a bellyful of rage already. For Lu Bianren to cross his path at precisely this moment was nothing other than a ready-made punching bag delivered to his hand!

Of course, willful as Ma Dangfeng's conduct might appear, this time he had another purpose beyond simply picking a fight with Lu Bianren to blow off steam—and that purpose was the very task Xu Lingchong had just assigned him.

Every disciple, upon entering the inner sect, was required to undertake trial missions at regular intervals. This time Xu Lingchong's order to Ma Dangfeng was to take on a trial mission somewhere near South Island, and use the opportunity to thoroughly investigate Wei Zhao's movements.

When the order had first come down, Ma Dangfeng had nearly gone mad, and only with a great effort had he kept himself from turning on the spot. Mother of hell—here he was, a top-tier new king in his own right, and he was to travel ten thousand li to South Island on a mission? Was his brain waterlogged or what?

Unfortunately, Ma Dangfeng might be the top new king whom all the stars of the Azure Cloud Pavilion gathered round to honor, but before the likes of Xu Lingchong and his crowd he did not count for a fart. Never mind turning on them to their faces—let him so much as grumble behind their backs, and the moment word got out he would be dead without even a place to be buried. Lend Ma Dangfeng a hundred gallbladders and he still would not dare risk it.

To have to travel ten thousand li to South Island in person, all to investigate the whereabouts of a Wei Zhao whose life or death was unknown—such a rotten business would sour anyone's mood, and anyone in his shoes would be cursing up a storm.

Xu Lingchong knew as well that the business was something of an imposition, but he had no choice: Wei Zhao had gone so thoroughly to ground of late that even the mysterious figure could not discover his whereabouts, and so the matter had fallen to Xu Lingchong—who, plainly enough, was not about to suffer the hardship himself. Ma Dangfeng, the freshly minted top new king, had without question become the most suitable man for the job.

With a bellyful of rage and nowhere to vent it, Ma Dangfeng gripped Lu Bianren by the throat with one hand. Had there not been so many Azure Cloud Pavilion disciples around pointing and whispering, he might even have been minded to throttle the life out of Lu Bianren on the spot to relieve the fury in his heart.

Held aloft by the neck in Ma Dangfeng's single hand, Lu Bianren was in as wretched a state as could be: unable to catch his breath, his face had already swelled to the color of a pork liver!

He struggled with all his might, yet could not break free in the slightest; the man's hand felt as though cast from iron, and do what he would, it did not budge an inch.

There was no help for it—the gap in their strength was simply too vast, and he had been caught by the throat before he could even react. Unless Ma Dangfeng chose to let go, the standoff could only end with Lu Bianren's throat crushed or, failing that, with him suffocating to death; and from the look of Ma Dangfeng, the man had not the least intention of loosening his grip.

In Ma Dangfeng's eyes Lu Bianren might be a gutless fellow with no real strength, but in the Azure Cloud Pavilion he was, after all, a disciple of some modest renown! (To be continued...)