Tension filled the air upon Luo Qi's furious roar.
Liu Zong and Liu Heng's hearts skipped a beat. They were worried that the sects might attack them the next moment. That would be the end of them!
Jiang Ning seemed unfazed as he burst out into laughter.
"Why should I do something like that? In fact, why would I make a trip here just to make fun of you? To give you a chance to kill me?" He said boldly as he leveled a look at Luo Qi. "Since everyone here managed to become the heads of your respective sects, I suppose this part doesn't have a problem."
He pointed at his head with his finger.
A dark look appeared on Luo Qi's face instantly.
"You could start thinking about your sect's future or worry about your disciples' lives, or you could raise your voice and make a scene." Jiang Ning's words seemed to be a deliberate provocation that was aimed at Luo Qi. He wasn't pulling any punches at all. "Don't tell me you're just a figurehead?"
"What did you just say?" Luo Qi was livid. He flushed with fury as he pointed angrily at Jiang Ning. "Are you tired of living?"
The madder he got, the calmer Jiang Ning became.
Everyone could see the stark difference between them and the difference in composure placed Luo Qi in an immediate disadvantage.
It took Luo Qi a moment to realize what was going on. He flushed red, scoffed and sat down.
"Are you trying to provoke me?"
Jiang Ning smiled wordlessly.
He turned away, his eyes sweeping across the crowd before pausing on Mr Lang, who was seated in a corner and had not said a single word the entire time.
He looked like any other ordinary man, with features so unmemorable that you would be hard pressed to remember his face even if you tried your best. You wouldn't recognize him in a crowd.
Mr Lang looked up then. As their eyes met, he smiled faintly and greeted Jiang Ning with a nod.
Jiang Ning nodded as well. They were like old friends who had not seen each other for years.
"I have no reason to play you for
fools. I just want the fighting to stop. More people are going to die if the fighting continues. I don't think anyone wants that, do they?" said Jiang Ning. "I can solve the problem of the gray fog. Even if I can't, Qingshan Sect will also end up getting destroyed by it too, right?"
Everyone frowned and fell into contemplation.
Jiang Ning was right. Everything boiled down to the gray fog. It would be ideal if they could find a way to deal with that problem.
The world beyond the mountain had its appeal, but accompanying its temptation was the unknown and what one feared what one did not know.
Qingshan Sect existed for the
purposes of preventing anyone from leaving the mountain. There must be a reason forthat. Perhaps the world outside was too dangerous. Perhaps they shouldn't leave in the first place.
There were no idiots in their midst. These were hardened men who had faced the trials and tribulations of life. They were all sensible men.
"How can we believe you?" Li Xuan leveled a frosty glare at Jiang Ning. "You killed our elder and now you're asking us to trust you?"
He wasn't going to forget that and pretend that nothing had happened simply because of some sweet promise that Jiang Ning had uttered.
"You should thank me for going easy on your men. You might have lost a few more elders otherwise," Jiang Ning said assertively as he looked Li Xuan in the eye. "In fact, you might not survive if the fight continued."
Such brazen confidence!
Liu Zong and Liu Heng were stupefied.
They couldn't believe that Jiang Ning would dare utter words like this at such a moment.
Such audacity...such forcefulness!
Li Xuan trembled with fury at Jiang Ning's words but he had no words to refute the man. He knew very well that if Jiang Ning had not gone easy on them, Li Guang would have died as well. Li Guang, who was seated in a corner, flushed slightly and curled his fingers into fists silently. © 2024.
Jiang Ning had indeed gone easy on him. He would have died otherwise.
"You..."
Li Xuan trembled with rage. One of his own had been killed. Why should he thank Jiang Ning for it? What kind of logic was that?