Chapter 169

Chapter 169: The Aggressor Fears the Reckless

If the other party had been more polite, if they could have put aside their pride right now, or even if they had not spoken a word, Lou Yun might have complied with Xu Yangteng’s intention and stepped aside, after all it’s better to avoid trouble than face it, better to have no trouble at all!

However, that middle-aged man’s actions thoroughly enraged Lou Yun. Just because he hadn’t moved aside, even though he had been waiting patiently in line, while they were the ones breaking the rules by forcing their way in—now this man was holding a Dagger to his throat, as if to say that if Lou Yun dared to utter another refusal, the Dagger would plunge through his throat without hesitation!

A glint of coldness flashed in Lou Yun’s eyes, and his expression grew increasingly frosty. He didn’t even glance at the Dagger at his throat, only staring fixedly at the middle-aged man with his eyes, he said word by word: "You—try—stabbing—down—give—it—a—try!"

The middle-aged man clearly hadn’t expected Lou Yun’s temper to be this stubborn, so he froze, and the Dagger naturally didn’t actually descend.

As the saying goes, the soft fear the firm, the firm fear the aggressive, and the aggressive fear the reckless!

This was a perfect illustration of that phrase right now. That aggressive middle-aged man faced Lou Yun, who seemed utterly reckless, and he grew genuinely afraid. What’s more, he wondered what gave Lou Yun such boldness to defy him, for everyone knew his identity—every skilled weapon maker here, except the beginners without rank!

If Lou Yun knew his identity yet dared to speak with such an attitude, it must mean Lou Yun had a stronger backing than him!

And indeed that was true. No matter what backing this middle-aged man had, it couldn’t compare to Lou Yun, whom Beichen Ming, the highest-grade skilled weapon maker on the Spirit Weapon Star, was determined to adopt as his godson!

But Lou Yun never relied on others as his backing at any time. His way of dealing with people varied only according to their attitude—respect bred respect, but if someone despised him, then sorry, they could test just who was tougher!

While both sides were locked in a stalemate, neither willing to yield, suddenly a voice came from inside the sedan chair: "Fan Zhong, why aren’t we moving?"

Fan Zhong’s Dagger remained pressed against Lou Yun’s throat, but he at once responded in an extremely deferential tone: "Master, a person is blocking the path, refusing to let us pass."

"Oh?" The person inside the sedan chair sounded clearly astonished: "Who dares to be so bold as to block my way?"

Fan Zhong hurriedly asked Lou Yun: "Hey, boy, what’s your name?"

Lou Yun was hardly going to obediently answer his question. Hearing this, he gave a cold sneer: "If you want to know my name, let your master come and ask. As for you, you aren’t worthy!"

After spending some time with Leng Cangqiong, Lou Yun had picked up a bit of his sworn older brother’s haughty and eccentric temper. Now, with just a careless comment, he was enough to infuriate someone halfway to death.

Yet the more stubborn he was, the less Fan Zhong knew what to do. Deep down, he truly wished to ram the Dagger through Lou Yun’s throat and be done with it, but he dreaded that Lou Yun might have some powerful backing he wasn’t aware of—if so, it would cost him his petty life later!

But if he didn’t stab, Lou Yun’s attitude and tone were maddening him beyond bearing. Plus, with so many onlookers witnessing this, if he lowered the Dagger now, it would mean defeat against Lou Yun. From then on, he could forget about surviving in the skilled weapon maker community!

Lou Yun spoke very loudly, so the person in the sedan chair naturally heard him, once more sounding quite startled: "Oh? Quite the audacious fellow! Fine, I shall ask you personally today. What is your name? Which family or sect do you belong to?"

Before Lou Yun could decide whether to answer him or not, he suddenly heard a voice calling from afar: "Senior Fan, Senior Fan!"

That voice made Lou Yun frown slightly, for he found it familiar again. When he looked in its direction, he couldn’t help but let a sneer curve his lips. Far off, a large, round figure was speeding over on a flying fan, extremely fast indeed.

Short Winter Melon!

Lou Yun had originally thought he should have arrived long ago, yet here he was, even later than Lou Yun.

But of course, Lou Yun had no intention of greeting Short Winter Melon. Instead, he watched with amusement to see what he might do upon showing up at this moment.

Short Winter Melon zipped over to the sedan chair, dismounted, shot a deeply conflicted glance at Lou Yun, and then leaned close to the sedan curtain, murmuring in an inaudibly low voice for a few moments.

Even though Short Winter Melon’s voice was quiet, it failed to escape Lou Yun’s exceptional hearing.

"Senior Fan, this boy’s background is a bit odd. Though he’s just a beginner with no rank, he’s carrying a lot of treasures. I suspect he might belong to some major clan or grand sect. So it’s best not to provoke him now—after the forging conference starts, we can find a way to deal with him!"

Short Winter Melon’s words brought a cold chuckle to Lou Yun’s lips. Looked like he hadn’t given up on those treasures!

Upon hearing Short Winter Melon’s message, this Senior Fan grew silent for a moment before finally bursting into loud laughter: "Turns out it’s just a beginner with no rank! Your ambition to climb the ranks quickly—I can understand it, since we were all novices. Very well, I’ll give you face today. Fan Zhong, step back. We’ll just queue behind him!"

Hearing this, Fan Zhong acted like he’d received a pardon, promptly withdrawing the Dagger—yet he couldn’t resist slinging a threat: "Boy, if not for the master saying to spare you, you’d be as good as dead!" After that, he retreated to stand before the sedan chair.

Lou Yun burst out laughing at Fan Zhong’s desperate salvaging of pride—he rocked with chuckles while shaking his head—then he completely ignored Fan Zhong, turned around, and stood shoulder to shoulder with Xu Yangteng, moving forward along with the queue.

The events here were naturally observed by every other skilled weapon maker present, and like Senior Fan and Short Winter Melon, they were intensely curious about Lou Yun’s identity—who could dare confront Senior Fan like this and actually force his compromise?

In truth, Senior Fan’s motive for doing this was to discover what Lou Yun would do when they reached the valley entrance: present an invitation or follow in behind Xu Yangteng to enter.

If he produced an invitation, that would mean his background was indeed extraordinary, since only beginner skilled weapon makers from great clans or sects received invitations to the forging conference. But if he had no invitation and simply followed Xu Yangteng in, his origins would warrant suspicion.

Lou Yun and Xu Yangteng naturally spoke no further words. Though Lou Yun was very curious about Short Winter Melon and Senior Fan’s identities, since they were queuing behind him now, he couldn’t easily discuss such things, so he held back, ready to ask Xu Yangteng after entering the valley in a secluded spot.

Soon it was Lou Yun and Xu Yangteng’s turn at the front. Xu Yangteng presented his blue jade, symbolizing his status as a second-tier skilled weapon maker, along with the invitation to the guards at the entrance, while gesturing at Lou Yun: "He’s a beginner I brought along!"

The guard paid him no heed, merely scanning the jade and the invitation before waving them inside. Evidently, those two items were indeed very effective.

As Lou Yun and Xu Yangteng disappeared into the valley, Senior Fan’s unmistakably puzzled voice rose loudly: "Short Winter Melon, are you really sure this kid has some incredible background? He has no jade, no invitation. His friend here is only a second-tier skilled weapon maker—this flimsy pretext can scare you witless?"

"This!" Short Winter Melon was immediately stumped, because he honestly didn’t know Lou Yun’s real background. He’d merely surmised it based on Lou Yun’s possession of fine treasures and an otherwise respectable strength.

Not just Short Winter Melon and Senior Fan, but all the other bystander skilled weapon makers bent on unraveling Lou Yun’s true identity were completely perplexed. How could a mere beginner brought by a second-tier skilled weapon maker frighten Short Winter Melon, to the point even Senior Fan dared not cut him in line?

Senior Fan visibly soured, letting out a frigid snort: "Short Winter Melon, if he’s just an ordinary beginner skilled weapon maker, I’ll settle this score with you later!"

Hearing that, Short Winter Melon broke into an instant sweat, hurriedly bowing and scraping: "Senior Fan, please don’t rush! I don’t know his actual background, but I swear I saw him with many treasures. My life as guarantee!"

Senior Fan ignored him further as the group carried the sedan chair smoothly past the valley entrance. The two guards didn’t bother asking for their jade or invitation at all.

After Lou Yun and Xu Yangteng entered the valley, a young man beaming warmly promptly approached them: "Gentlemen, please show me your identification!"

Xu Yangteng handed over his blue jade. The young man nodded with a smile: "Understood. Please follow me!"

With that, the two trailed behind him deeper into the valley.

As they walked, Lou Yun took in the layout of the entire valley. He noticed the space was immense, dominated by a roughly 100-square-meter platform in the center of the open ground. Around the platform, the valley floor was divided into eight sections, each of varying sizes—some large, others small.

Lou Yun pondered—this division must correspond to the nine ranks of skilled weapon makers, housing each by their grade. But with nine ranks total, shouldn’t there be nine sections? Why were there only eight?