It must be said that Zhuo Feng was truly eloquent, and his ability to control the situation was extraordinary. With just a few words, he not only defused his previous awkwardness but also portrayed himself as someone who understood the bigger picture. In contrast, Kang Zhengqi became the impulsive one who only knew how to show off his inflated vanity and lacked perspective.
This was something Kang Zhengqi simply could not endure. Furious, he instantly rushed in front of Zhuo Feng and roared, "Zhuo Feng! You hypocrite! Do you dare to have a fair duel with me!"
Zhuo Feng remained unmoved, merely shaking his head and sighing, looking every bit the well-bred young lord. Holding his wine cup, he then looked towards Lan Feier not far away and said, "Fei'er, Kang Zhengqi is from your Wind-Cloud Branch. I hope you can talk some sense into him."
Lan Feier might not have understood why Gu Qingfeng had stumbled at the time, but she was certain it wasn't because he was intimidated by Kang Zhengqi's Ninefold Flowing Color. She had noticed Kang Zhengqi constantly boasting about it and had tried to advise him, but it was useless. Moreover, she knew full well that if she bluntly told Kang Zhengqi he was no match for Gu Qingfeng, it would likely backfire, and Kang Zhengqi wouldn't believe her anyway.
"Fei'er, this is a matter between me and Zhuo Feng. I hope you won't interfere!"
Lan Feier was also very helpless. The most crucial point was that she currently had no mood to bother with these matters.
Just then, a childish voice chimed in.
"Really, I don't know what you two are competing for here," Hmm?
The crowd looked over in the direction of the voice and found that the speaker was a little girl with a bob haircut sitting next to Lan Feier.
Many people knew her. Her name was Xia Pan'er, and because she was the sole direct disciple of the Jiangzhu Patriarch, she was widely recognized. It was said the little girl was born with the innate ability to communicate with any spirit beast. When she was ten, a young noble from the Nine Blossoms Alliance offended her, and the little girl summoned tens of thousands of spirit beasts, scaring that young noble half to death on the spot.
"Little girl! What did you say!" Kang Zhengqi was in a rage, and even towards a twelve-year-old like Xia Pan'er, his demeanor was fierce.
"I said... what's the point of you two competing?"
Xia Pan'er ate a spirit fruit, looking at the two of them with a very annoyed and disdainful expression. "One is vain to the extreme, and the other is hypocritical to the extreme... You two are six of one and half a dozen of the other..." Everyone knew Xia Pan'er was always quirky and mischievous, but they never expected her to be so bold. And what did she mean, one vain to the extreme? The other hypocritical to the extreme? Was she talking about Kang Zhengqi and Zhuo Feng?
"Pan'er, you..." Lan Feier and Shui Yunruo both knew the little girl, and their relationship was quite good. Otherwise, when they saw Xia Pan'er enter with the Jiangzhu Mountain disciples earlier, they wouldn't have invited the little girl to sit with them. What truly surprised them was why Xia Pan'er would call Kang Zhengqi vain and Zhuo Feng hypocritical. They could understand calling Kang Zhengqi vain, but where did Zhuo Feng's hypocrisy come from?
"Little girl, considering your youth and ignorance, I don't want to argue with you, but I advise you to watch your words!" Kang Zhengqi's tone was unfriendly as he said sternly.
"Hmph!" Xia Pan'er snorted disdainfully, rolling her eyes. "Originally, I didn't want to say anything either. But ever since arriving in the garden, I've only heard you bragging, going on and on about how you used your Ninefold Flowing Color Nature's Might to intimidate that nouveau riche so much he couldn't even stand steady. I wasn't there at the time, so I don't know if what you said is true or false. Even if it is true, it was just the nouveau riche deliberately letting you off, not wanting to bother with you."
"Deliberately letting me off? Not wanting to bother with me? That nouveau riche surnamed Gu? Hahahaha!" Kang Zhengqi laughed uproariously as if he had heard the funniest joke in the world, his laughter wild.
"I really don't know what you have to be so proud of." Xia Pan'er rolled her eyes again and added, "Moreover, I can tell you with absolute certainty, you are no match for that nouveau riche at all. If the nouveau riche wanted to, killing you would be simpler than squashing an ant."
"Kill me? Simpler than killing an ant? Little girl, are you joking with me?"
"Joking? This young lady has no mood to joke with you." Xia Pan'er stood up, crossing her arms, and asked very seriously, "If you don't believe me, you can ask Zhuo Feng. He tried everything he had and still couldn't move a single hair on that nouveau riche. And you think your measly Ninefold Flowing Color can intimidate him? How laughable!"
Xia Pan'er's voice wasn't loud, but everyone in the entire venue heard it clearly. They even wondered if they had misheard.
Zhuo Feng tried everything and couldn't harm a single hair on the nouveau riche?
Really? Impossible!
The crowd looked at Zhuo Feng. At this moment, Zhuo Feng was no longer as calm and composed as before. His handsome face alternated between green and pale, looking utterly terrible. He stared fixedly at Xia Pan'er, his eyes filled with shock and confusion.
"What are you looking at? Dare you say it's not true?"
Zhuo Feng secretly took a deep breath, calming his flustered heart, and said with feigned composure, "Miss Pan'er, I don't know where you heard such rumors. I have never fought with that nouveau riche surnamed Gu. Earlier in the pavilion, it was only out of respect for Old Master Shi Tong that I chose not to make an issue of it."
"I say, Young Lord Zhuo, aren't you being too hypocritical? Dare you repeat that in the pavilion, you really didn't act out of respect for Old Master Shi Tong? Do you dare?"
Faced with Xia Pan'er's pressing questions, Zhuo Feng was extremely tense. He stared at Xia Pan'er, his heart filled with doubt. He nodded and said, "I can repeat it. It was indeed out of respect for Old Master Shi Tong that I didn't act."
"Young Lord Zhuo, compared to Young Lord Kang's vanity, your hypocrisy is simply... simply astounding to me!"
"Miss Pan'er, I don't understand what you mean."
Zhuo Feng didn't know what this little girl in front of him actually knew. Perhaps due to a guilty conscience, his words carried a slight threat. "Moreover, I advise you not to speak recklessly, otherwise... even if your master is the Jiangzhu Patriarch, it won't protect you."
"Oh! You dare to threaten me? Do you really think I, your auntie, was scared into growing up? Hmph! Originally, I wanted to save you some face and not expose you. But now it seems there's really no need. Since you claim you didn't act out of respect for Old Master Shi Tong, then do you dare answer a few questions for me?"
"Oh? What wouldn't I dare?"
"Good! Then I ask you, how did you get injured in the Black-Raven Secret Realm?"
"I've said before, I was injured by Buddha Breath. If you don't believe me, you can ask Miss Ye Rou. She was there that day and was also injured by Buddha Breath."