Chapter 24: Chapter 22 Protect Your Uncle_1
The Hundred Peaks Sect boasted more than one market, with Permanent Happiness City being the closest to it. Aside from the famous Precious Cauldron Pavilion for Alchemy and the Heavenly Craft Pavilion for Artifact Refining, the most notorious establishment was Tongbao Gambling House.
Unlike the Precious Cauldron Pavilion and Heavenly Craft Pavilion, which had high entry barriers, Tongbao Gambling House welcomed not just disciples from each peak of the Hundred Peaks Sect but also the mortals living within the sect, allowing them to try their luck at gambling.
It could be said that Tongbao Gambling House was the most egalitarian place within the Hundred Peaks Sect, where there were neither immortals nor mortals, only gamblers.
As long as your luck in gambling was good, a mortal could win so much that a cultivator would not have a single piece of underwear left.
Because of the prosperity of Tongbao Gambling House, the related pawnshop industry also set up shop within the gambling house.
Cao Zhen had just walked into the gambling house with his four disciples, immediately attracting the attention of the majority of gamblers, who usually focused solely on the gambling tables and not on anything else.
The garments of a Peak Master! A Peak Master from the Hundred Peaks Sect had appeared in the gambling house!
Although the crowd was accustomed to seeing cultivators, they had hardly ever seen a Peak Master, let alone witnessed one appearing in a gambling house.
"Peak Master, is there anything I can do for you?" An attendant in the gambling house quickly came forward, nodding and bowing, ready to serve.
Cao Zhen was about to ask for the location of the pawnshop inside the gambling establishment, but he was interrupted by a high-pitched voice from the crowd, tinged with a provocative tone.
"Yo! Isn't this the Peak Master of Four Treasures Peak, Cao Zhen?"
The voice captured everyone's attention, and they turned to see a young man speaking, whose handsome features were complemented by a pair of sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes. Dressed in a white long robe, he exuded an otherworldly aura of a celestial being, with the characters "Starshine" on his collar revealing he was a disciple from Starshine Peak.
Some immediately recognized the person as the Second Disciple of Starshine Peak, Nie Jinlong!
Four Treasures Peak? The respect in the eyes of the gamblers instantly diminished.
The regulars of the gambling house were all aware of the betting odds tied to the Peak Master of Four Treasures Peak, and naturally, they were curious about this particular Peak Master.
Cao Zhen struggled to recall the memory but found he did not know the identity of the other party. He then noticed the sign for Predestined Pawnshop not far behind the man, and promptly made his way there.
Seeing Cao Zhen heading straight forward, towards the young man from Starshine Peak, the crowd immediately parted ways for him.
Nie Jinlong did not expect Cao Zhen to come charging towards him so directly. He had always been confident that his cultivation base was far superior to that of his opponent, and had never bothered to take him seriously. However, Cao Zhen's sudden, aggressive approach left him frozen in place, unsure of what to do.
Although his cultivation base was low, he was still a Peak Master, after all!
The Hundred Peaks Sect was a place that respected rules, and a Peak Master represented the noble status of the sect. If the other party did not kill him but merely slapped him or something of the sort, it could be seen as a lesson on behalf of his elders.
Should it escalate to that point, the only way to salvage his reputation would be for his own Peak Master or an elder from his household to seek redress.
Even if an elder were to reclaim his honor afterward, the fact remained that he would have been struck first.
Nie Jinlong did not fancy being slapped in public before a large crowd, as he wouldn't be able to retaliate, only subject to the other person's whims.
Watching Cao Zhen closing in, Nie Jinlong panicked!
What should he do? Admit fault? Or stubbornly resist to the end? Nie Jinlong dared not meet Cao Zhen's gaze and instinctively lowered his head, looking toward the ground.
"Don't block the way," Cao Zhen pushed Nie Jinlong aside without giving him as much as a second glance and headed straight for Predestined Pawnshop. He said to the disciples following him, "You all hurry up."
It was only when Nie Jinlong was shoved aside that he realized he had been ignored! The other party hadn't heard his provocation at all! They hadn't even seen him!
At that moment, Nie Jinlong suddenly felt it would have been better if the other party had charged at him and slapped him in the face!
While Nie Jinlong was still immersed in the humiliation of being ignored, he suddenly felt someone push his shoulder and then a cold and pleasant female voice said, "Don't be in the way..."
What's going on? Nie Jinlong turned his head to see it was Yan Yourong who was speaking to him—the woman who had received his love letter back in the Taoist Institution for Immortal Cultivation and had thrown it directly into the trash!
"You..." Nie Jinlong was about to explode when he heard another woman's voice.
"Don't block the way..."
This time it was Ling Xi! Nie Jinlong hadn't yet found his footing when he was shoved again, this time by Little Bei Yan and Xiang Ziyu.
Once, twice, three times, four times! Nie Jinlong finally lost it, reaching out to grab Xiang Ziyu's collar, only to hear another "don't block the way" from behind him.
"That's enough! Screw your mother!" Nie Jinlong roared as he turned back to shove the person trying to push past him, only to feel his palm hit a plump mountain of flesh, and the feel of the cloth told him it was a very high-quality garment.
As the tactile feedback from his hand returned, Nie Jinlong finally realized the identity of the person he was pushing!
Garb of the Hundred Peaks Sect's Law Enforcement Team! A Hundred Peaks Sect's Law Enforcer!
Beichen Ying's face turned shades of purple and white, as he had only joined the crowd out of curiosity to see Cao Zhen taking on a disciple, only to be shoved by a Starshine Peak disciple who also cursed at his mother.
If word of this got out, how would he ever stand in the Hundred Peaks Sect again? How could he mix in the Immortal Cultivation world?
There were not a few disciples from the Hundred Peaks Sect in the gambling house, all of whom were staring blankly at Nie Jinlong, internally praising his guts with a thumbs up.
The bustling casino suddenly fell so quiet you could hear a pin drop!
Cao Zhen also noticed something was off by now, curiously looking back at Beichen Ying while Little Bei Yan quickly briefed him on what had just happened.
"Law Enforcer Lord... I... I didn't mean it that way..." Nie Jinlong felt the frigid and oppressive aura emanating from Beichen Ying in his fury, trying to stammer out an explanation, but found himself almost unable to open his mouth from the pressure.
"Screw your great uncle! Get lost!" Beichen Ying, burning with anger, kicked Nie Jinlong, sending him flying out of the gambling house.
Everyone seeing this knew that even if the Sect's Law Enforcement Team arrived, they couldn't fault Beichen Ying; after all, Nie Jinlong, as a mere disciple under a Peak, had cursed at an Elder's mother. As long as he wasn't killed or crippled, there would be no problem.
Nie Jinlong rolled out of the gambling house, feeling his internal organs might split apart from the kick. While he cursed his attacker in every way internally, he still bowed repeatedly to Beichen Ying inside the gambling house, saying, "Elder, it's my fault, all my fault."
Beichen Ying, in a rush to see Cao Zhen mortgaging a disciple, knew he couldn't really kill a disciple of Starshine Peak and decided it wasn't worth any further trouble now that he had vented his anger.
Nie Jinlong watched Beichen Ying's retreating figure, feeling the malice fill his chest once more. His resentful eyes locked onto Cao Zhen's back, beyond BeiChen Ying.
If it weren't for Cao Zhen, he wouldn't have encountered the Law Enforcer of the Immortal Palace Sect! Without encountering the Law Enforcer, he would not have been beaten! Nor would he have lost face!
"Cao Zhen, we shall see about this tomorrow," Nie Jinlong, clutching his stomach, quickly left the gambling house, making up his mind to speak to his senior brother and master when he returned to Starshine Peak. They from Four Treasures Peak didn't give us face at Starshine Peak! They even called in outside help to beat someone up!