Brother Cheng was not like Ma Xu; he was a skilled martial artist, so he naturally noticed Zhang Xiaohua’s movement. Moreover, the people from the Pill Division had already told him earlier that Zhang Xiaohua had some strength. Therefore, the moment Zhang Xiaohua raised his hand, he immediately reacted, lifting his own arm to block.

Who would have thought that Zhang Xiaohua paid no attention to his movement at all? His palm remained unchanged, still swinging straight toward him. Brother Cheng was delighted—seeing Zhang Xiaohua tall and thin, how could he possibly have greater strength than himself? Unfortunately, the instant his arm touched Zhang Xiaohua’s hand, a tremendous and incomparable force immediately surged over. With simple ease, it pushed his arm aside, and before he could make any other move, that hand had already slapped toward his mouth.

“Aiyo!” Brother Cheng was horrified. If that force struck solidly, wouldn’t half his face be sent flying? Yet in his panic, Zhang Xiaohua’s palm struck squarely across his mouth.

Brother Cheng heard a crisp sound, yet he did not feel much pain in his mouth. Involuntarily, he covered his mouth with his free hand. At that moment, his mouth was completely numb. Feeling something inside, he opened his mouth and spat it out. With several dull clinks, several yellow-white teeth fell to the ground. Immediately afterward, a stream of blood flowed out from between the fingers covering his mouth!

Zhang Xiaohua snorted, reached out, and took back the gold leaves that Brother Cheng had just been holding. He weighed them in his hand and said: “Brother Cheng truly has skill. This must be what they call practice makes perfect. It should be about fifty taels of gold. You heard others say it earlier—this young master is most fair. If you make me eat, then I’ll make you eat. Even half a bite more is not allowed. Since you took my gold, I’ll have you return my gold. I won’t take even half a tael extra. Just now, you personally said you took fifty taels of gold, so you must return me fifty taels of gold. Not a single tael less!”

Brother Cheng covered his mouth. By now, the numbness had passed, and it gradually began to ache sharply. Moreover, he had lost several teeth, and the blood kept flowing down continuously, even staining the front of his clothes red. He pointed at Zhang Xiaohua with one hand and said through his wind-leaking mouth: “You… you actually dare to toy with me? Do you not want to live anymore?”

Then he looked at the somewhat timid yet still clamoring crowd from the Pill Division beside him and shouted: “Brothers, look—this tender grass from the Herb Division actually dares to bully our Pill Division…”

When the people of the Pill Division heard this, some of them had already stood up and were about to walk over. Brother Cheng was about to say more, but Zhang Xiaohua frowned and glanced toward the doorway. Without anyone seeing how he made the move, his right foot suddenly shot out, kicking squarely into Brother Cheng’s chest. The kick instantly forced Brother Cheng’s words back into his throat, and his sturdy body, following Zhang Xiaohua’s kick, flew straight toward the not-too-distant doorway like a paper kite.

As the kick went out, Zhang Xiaohua said calmly: “This fellow is truly noisy. His teeth have already fallen out, yet he’s still this boring. Heh heh—does anyone else not want their teeth to stay in their mouth?”

While speaking, his face was directed toward the people of the Pill Division.

The people of the Pill Division watched the human-shaped kite fly up. Those who were running stopped; those who were about to step forward did not dare to move; those who had just stood up immediately sat down again.

Brother Cheng was not like Ma Xu, a bully who only picked on newcomers. His martial strength was well known on Tianmu Peak; at least within this dining hall, no one could match him. That was also the reason he had been so arrogant the moment he entered the hall.

And at this moment, the people of the Herb Division—who just a moment ago had been uneasy, afraid that after the Pill Division beat Zhang Xiaohua they might come to settle accounts with them—now had their eyes shining. Setting everything else aside, although this newly arrived kid showed no respect for seniors and had even forced Brother Ma to eat phlegm, he was still a brother of the Herb Division after all. Instantly, as they looked at Zhang Xiaohua’s back, they felt a bit closer.

Meanwhile, Brother Cheng, who was flying toward the door, was just about to crash into the wooden doors of the hall. At that moment, the tightly closed doors suddenly opened with a whoosh, and a tall figure walked in. Seeing that a collision was about to happen, the figure raised a hand and struck precisely at Brother Cheng’s waist, neutralizing the force of Zhang Xiaohua’s flying kick. Only then did Brother Cheng fall to the ground.

After landing, Brother Cheng’s face had already turned red from holding his breath. Only then did he let out a long breath, his complexion easing somewhat. Turning around to look at the dark-faced, bearded man, his expression somewhat awkward, he cupped his hands and said: “Boss Chen, many thanks.”

It was precisely the leading figure of the Herb Division on Tianmu Peak—Chen Fengxiao.

Chen Fengxiao looked at Brother Cheng’s miserable appearance. By now his face was already swollen, and his mouth was swelling toward something like a pig’s snout, with blood still trickling from the corner of his lips. Chen Fengxiao frowned and said: “Cheng Shi, what exactly happened to you?”

When Chen Fengxiao asked, Cheng Shi’s eyes rolled, and he said: “Boss Chen has come at just the right time. Your Herb Division received someone today who doesn’t follow the rules. I saw him bullying the seniors and merely said a couple of words, intending to teach him how to behave—hm, especially how to behave as a member of the Herb Division of Tianmu Peak—and I was beaten into this state. If Boss Chen won’t stand up for me, heh heh, then I’ll have to ask our Wu Dalang(Eldest Brother) to step forward and support me.”

As he spoke, he gave a look to someone from the Pill Division beside him. That person understood and immediately lifted his leg to head outside.

Chen Fengxiao knew that the man was going to inform Wu Zhouxu. However, since the man belonged to the Pill Division, it might not work even if he tried to stop him, so he simply pretended not to notice.

Yet seeing Cheng Shi’s condition, Chen Fengxiao felt both delighted and astonished. To tell the truth, on Tianmu Peak, the Herb Division was at a disadvantage. Within the Herb Division, very few people could defeat Cheng Shi. Yet this newly arrived Herb Division disciple had actually managed to injure Cheng Shi so easily. Naturally, this was exactly the capable right-hand man Chen Fengxiao had long hoped for. If used properly in the future, he could certainly gain the upper hand in future struggles with the Pill Division and no longer have to look at Wu Dalang’s face.

What astonished him was that he had never heard of such a skilled fighter in Pill Expansion Hall before. Moreover, this person had suddenly been assigned to Tianmu Peak. The purpose behind it was quite thought-provoking. Was it meant to replace him, or was it the Hall Master’s way of restraining him? Both possibilities were easy to imagine. If that were truly the case, then the authority he held on Tianmu Peak would inevitably be shared with this person. He could not help but remain on guard.

The Herb Division disciple who had gone to report to Chen Fengxiao had only seen Ma Xu being humiliated and then ran out. He had no idea about the events that followed. When Chen Fengxiao heard the report, he merely thought that Ma Xu had been bullying a newcomer and ended up encountering someone tough. After all, Ma Xu had always been a rascal, bullying the weak and fearing the strong. Chen Fengxiao had long wanted to warn him, but since Ma Xu was still one of his own men and had not committed any serious wrongdoing, it was inconvenient for him to say much. If a newcomer gave him a slight lesson, it would actually be a good thing. Thus, Chen Fengxiao had deliberately arrived a bit later.

Yet the moment he stepped through the door, Cheng Shi had already placed him in a difficult position. In the flash of that instant, Chen Fengxiao had thought through all these matters. He truly deserved his position as the leader of a mountain peak.

Looking at Zhang Xiaohua standing calmly not far away, with a faint smile whose meaning could not quite be discerned at the corner of his mouth, Chen Fengxiao was just about to speak. At that moment, Ma Xu—who had just been bullied by Zhang Xiaohua and had only barely managed to stop the bleeding from his nose—saw Chen Fengxiao enter and immediately reacted as though he had seen the sun itself. He quickly stood up from the table, rushed to Chen Fengxiao’s side, and with a thump fell to his knees, hugging Chen Fengxiao’s leg as tears and snot flowed together, loudly recounting the misery of his tragic fate.

Seeing Ma Xu cry out his grievances so recklessly—without regard for priorities, sequence, or sides—Chen Fengxiao was truly furious.

You say you were beaten, well, then you were beaten. If this person had not beaten Cheng Shi, then it would merely have been an internal matter within the Herb Division, and however it was handled would be fine. But now this lovable yet hateful little brother had even beaten Cheng Shi from the Pill Division, and his injuries were clearly far more serious than yours. That showed this brother still had a sense of the bigger picture and could distinguish between inside and outside. The situation had already risen to a conflict between the Pill Division and the Herb Division. So, Brother Ma, when facing outsiders, we must first resist them before settling internal matters. Couldn’t you at least think a little for the sake of the Herb Division? Or think of your elder brother’s face? Acting like this makes things very difficult for me!

Thus, Chen Fengxiao lowered his head and said: “Ma Xu, let go for a moment. Since your elder brother has come, I will naturally stand up for you. Wait to the side first and let me give the Pill Division an explanation, alright?”

“But, elder brother, I was the one who got beaten first!” Ma Xu still refused.

Chen Fengxiao suppressed the leg he had repeatedly wanted to lift and kick him with. He gave a signal to a clever fellow nearby. Immediately, several sensible men stepped forward and coaxed the fellow, saying: “Brother Ma, you haven’t finished your food yet. Why not finish eating first?”

Ma Xu struggled and said, “My stomach was already stuffed full by someone—what eating—”

Before he finished speaking, he was dragged aside.

Chen Fengxiao stared at Zhang Xiaohua for a while without saying anything. Seeing this, Zhang Xiaohua also remained silent, standing there with his hands clasped, his gaze turned elsewhere, showing not the slightest awareness that he should go up and flatter him.

So Chen Fengxiao piled a smile onto his face and walked forward, saying: “This little brother, I am the steward in charge of our Herb Division on Tianmu Peak. My name is Chen Fengxiao. May I ask how this little brother is addressed? Where were you previously employed? And what exactly happened just now? Please explain it clearly. The brothers of our Herb Division have always been clear about gratitude and grievances.”

Hearing this, Zhang Xiaohua withdrew his gaze from the few ants at the corner of the wall, cupped his hands, and said: “I am Ren Xiaoyao, and this is my first time coming to Tianmu Peak. As for the ins and outs of the matter and what happened, since I am the person involved, it would be better if I did not say it, lest the people of the Pill Division say that the Herb Division only listens to one side and trusts it blindly.”

These words—“we people of the Herb Division”—made Chen Fengxiao’s heart warm. He immediately understood that Zhang Xiaohua was clearly stating his stance.

Zhang Xiaohua raised his head and beckoned with his hand, saying: “Senior Brother Bai, come over and explain it to Boss Chen.”

Bai Huan was somewhat frightened. Chen Fengxiao glanced at him and said: “Bai Huan, come here and tell me about it.”

Only then did Bai Huan stand up. He walked to Chen Fengxiao’s side and, close to his ear, carefully recounted Zhang Xiaohua’s background and everything that had just happened, explaining it all in full detail.

As Chen Fengxiao listened at first, a look of astonishment immediately flashed in his eyes. As he kept listening, however, a different light gradually appeared in them. By the time Bai Huan finished speaking, Chen Fengxiao’s gaze casually swept over the gold leaves lying on the table, and a greedy glint flashed in his eyes!