Chapter 8: The Idol Arrives

Jiaran, her face flushed, glared at Ye Xiaoxuan before standing up and saying, "Enough, I'm going home to prepare my lessons. I'll look after your money for you; if you need to use it, just ask me!"

No sooner had she left than Ye Xiaoxuan's cousin, Ye Dajun, stormed into the house, giving Ye Xiaoxuan a once-over before fixing him with a stern look. "Can you run?" he demanded.

Ye Xiaoxuan nodded blankly. With a wave of his hand, Ye Dajun said, "Go hide by the lake for a while. Chen Jiatang has called Chen Tianlei over!"

Hearing that his idol was coming, Ye Xiaoxuan was even more reluctant to leave. He asked, bewildered, "So what if he comes? Why should I run?"

Ye Dajun gave him a shove. "Last night I broke Chen Jiatang's arm. They're here for revenge today! You run, I'll hold them off!"

Ye Dajun was usually a man of few words, but he was fiercely protective of his family. Though his left arm had been crippled since childhood, he had trained his right arm to reach the level of a martial master. It was thanks to him that Chen Jiatang never dared bully the Ye family too much.

Last night, after Ye Xiaoxuan had been beaten by Chen Jiatang until he was barely clinging to life, Ye Dajun, unable to swallow the insult, went straight to settle the score with Chen Jiatang.

With the skills both men possessed, it would take at least an hour or two to determine a victor. But last night, Chen Jiatang, thinking he'd killed someone and frightened by the blood-soaked, ghoulish appearance of Ye Xiaoxuan, was shaken and afraid, nowhere near Ye Dajun's match. He ended up with a broken arm, wailing like a banshee as his son carted him into town on a tricycle.

Now Chen Jiatang had returned, bringing along his nephew—the infamous Chen Tianlei, the biggest gang leader in all of Zhuangyuan Township. Of course, Chen Tianlei would never come alone; he was accompanied by five underlings.

With his idol arriving, Ye Xiaoxuan had no intention of hiding. Besides, this whole affair had started because of him, and his father was still bedridden. With Chen Tianlei's abilities, even if he fled to the Great Immortal Lake, he'd be dragged back all the same!

Ye Xiaoxuan straightened his clothes, as if preparing to receive foreign guests, even spraying some gel onto his hair. He turned to Ye Dajun, urging, "Come on, let's go greet them at the door!" With that, he dashed out ahead.

Ye Dajun stood stunned for a long moment before shouting after him, "You fool, they're here to cause you trouble!"

Chen Tianlei and his men marched down the village's only concrete road in grand fashion, all sporting bleached hair, tattoos, chains, and earrings.

Idols truly stood apart from the crowd! The gold chain around Chen Tianlei's neck was as thick as a finger and nearly reached his belly; though to Ye Xiaoxuan, it looked suspiciously like the leash used for the village dog…

At the sight of Ye Xiaoxuan, Chen Jiatang, walking behind Chen Tianlei, stared wide-eyed and shouted as if he'd seen a ghost, "You're not dead?!"

Ye Xiaoxuan spat at him and cursed, "If I were dead, you wouldn't be standing here!" He turned to Chen Tianlei, pulled out a cigarette, and offered it with a grin, "Brother Tianlei, what brings you here today…?"

They were all from the same township; Ye Xiaoxuan often came to the market in town and had seen Chen Tianlei before, though the latter had never noticed him. Chen Tianlei didn't bother accepting his cigarette, probably looking down on its quality, and instead took a Gold Great Immortal—worth over thirty yuan a pack—from one of his men. Another underling immediately lit it for him.

"We're not here to make trouble," Chen Tianlei scoffed, eyeing Ye Dajun's guarded stance with disdain. He took a drag, blew a smoke ring at the sky, and said slowly, "My uncle's arm was broken by you. Just give me five thousand, and we'll call it even. We're all neighbors; I don't want to make things hard for you."

Ye Xiaoxuan protested, "But wasn't it the village chief who hit me first…" Chen Tianlei didn't even look at him, replying impatiently, "I don't waste words with trash. I just want to take the money and leave. I've got other things to do in town."

Damn it, he didn't consider Ye Xiaoxuan a person at all! Judging by his attitude, even speaking to Ye Dajun was a rare courtesy.

Ye Dajun, however, snorted coldly, pulled Ye Xiaoxuan behind him, and glared at Chen Tianlei. "Five thousand in compensation for him? Then how much should he pay for what he did to my brother? He nearly beat him to death—how do we settle that account?"

With a cold smile, Chen Tianlei suddenly shifted. Before Ye Xiaoxuan could react, his vision darkened as Chen Tianlei dodged around Ye Dajun and seized him by the collar!

The gap between a martial guardian and a martial master was too great; Ye Dajun didn't even have time to react before Ye Xiaoxuan was hoisted up in Chen Tianlei's hand like a chickling. Chen Tianlei's movement was astonishingly fast.

Chen Tianlei was a tall man, nearly one ninety centimeters, with a large head—hence his nickname, Big-Headed Buddha. Holding the six-foot Ye Xiaoxuan up before him, big head looming over little, they looked oddly intimate from afar, but up close it was nothing short of bizarre.

Ye Xiaoxuan's legs flailed in the air, thrashing like a fish gasping for water, but Chen Tianlei's right hand was as unyielding as iron. Realizing it was useless, Ye Xiaoxuan could only give up and hang there helplessly.

"Does he look like someone barely alive to you? Don't forget, my uncle is a martial master. This weakling isn't even a martial student—if my uncle really wanted to teach him a lesson, at the very least he'd be black and blue, right? But he's perfectly fine, while my uncle's arm is still in a sling!"

Ye Dajun and Chen Jiatang also looked at Ye Xiaoxuan with confusion. Many villagers had seen how badly he was injured the night before, yet here he was, lively as ever, not only unscathed but without so much as a scar on his forehead. It was uncanny!

Ye Xiaoxuan, meanwhile, covered his face in frustration. If you'd admired someone all your life, and one day found yourself standing face to face with your idol, it would be bad enough if they ignored you, or pretended you didn't exist. But being called trash to your face, in front of everyone? Even someone with a face as thick as iron would die of embarrassment!

Damn it! So what if you're a martial guardian? Still just a Big-Headed Buddha! I may be a nobody now, but that doesn't mean I won't surpass you one day!

Ye Xiaoxuan suddenly twisted his body, broke free from Chen Tianlei's grip, and pointed at him. "Chen Tianlei, from now on, I, Ye Xiaoxuan, will look down on you! It's only five thousand, right? I'll give it to you!"

Chen Tianlei hadn't expected this kid to break free from his grasp and was a little surprised, blaming himself for being careless. Hearing such a nobody dare challenge him in front of so many people, he was incensed and sneered, "You think I'm a beggar? It was five thousand just now; now it's ten thousand!"

Ye Dajun pulled Ye Xiaoxuan behind him, clenched his fists, and ground out, "Not a single cent. If you want it, come and take it! If you want to get inside, you'll have to step over me first!"