Chapter 2478 — The Fight for the Blue Crystal (Part One)
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
Facing Yang Qiqi stood a man in a green mask, built like a scraggly beanpole—an expert of the early Earth Rank. He was eyeing her with utter contempt: "Little girl, if you have any sense, hand the thing over. We will make a fair trade. Do not make me lose my patience!"
"Fair trade, is it? Nicely put. Never mind whether what you are offering is worth what I have—I do not wish to trade with you, and so you mean to force a sale on me. Do you really think this market runs by your word alone?" Yang Qiqi glared at the beanpole before her. "This is going too far!"
"Little girl, have you failed to grasp the situation? Inside the market, of course, no one forces a sale. But outside the market, it is fists that do the talking." The beanpole man chuckled, utterly indifferent to her fury, taking pride where he ought to have felt shame. "If your fists were bigger, you could take what I hold back from me just the same!"
"You..." Yang Qiqi's chest heaved. Furious as she was, she knew she was no match for this man. She was only a peak late-stage Mystic Rank external expert, while the man before her was already an early Earth Rank expert—and an internal expert at that. She was certainly no match for him!
In truth, from the moment he had snatched her treasure, Yang Qiqi had known she was no match for this man! A single palm wind from him had left her badly hurt. An Earth Rank expert who could unleash martial techniques was simply different—not on the same level as a Mystic Rank expert at all.
And what Yang Qiqi excelled at was merely light-body skill. Though her rank was there, she was not skilled in combat, so if it truly came to a fight, she would surely come off badly. That was why, to this moment, she had done no more than denounce him in anger, not daring to strike.
Yet no matter how weak Yang Qiqi's position, the onlookers merely watched the show. Not one person stepped forward to help. Though any clear-eyed person could see at a glance that she was being bullied, at a time like this no one was willing to invite trouble.
Wei Zhao frowned, hesitating inwardly. To help or not to help? In truth, Wei Zhao did not care to invite trouble either. He had come only to trade for what he needed, and once the trade was done he would leave—he did not wish to stir up complications.
But Yang Qiqi was, after all, an acquaintance of Wei Zhao's. Granted, the girl often repaid kindness with ingratitude, but he had seen her body, after all, and during the trials of the Ice Palace they had, in a sense, worked together.
Just as Wei Zhao hesitated, the beanpole spoke again: "What are you all staring at? Scram, all of you! Or do you mean to stick your necks out for this little girl too?"
At the beanpole's words, the onlookers instinctively backed away two steps. Clearly the beanpole carried some weight; masked though he was, someone surely knew him—or rather, he was a tyrant of the market who often pulled this sort of trick. Most people simply dared not speak their anger aloud.
And those he bullied were mostly lone soft targets; once bullied, no one would stand up for them, and the stronger experts disdained to meddle in such affairs. "Hang high and let it pass"—that was perfectly normal in the world of cultivation.
"You..." Yang Qiqi ground her teeth in fury, on the verge of tears. With great effort she had learned the location of this market's trade, signed up, and brought her precious treasure hoping to exchange it for medicine to keep Xiao Jiu's illness in check—yet before she had even entered the market, her treasure had been brazenly stolen from her!
In truth, this was her own inexperience. Fearing she would be cheated in the later trades, Yang Qiqi had taken out her treasure before entering to have others appraise it and see its worth—and thus had the beanpole fixed his eyes on her.