Chapter 36 Brothers
From the bustling Dunerk Port and down Oak Street, there were seven intersections, each block holding a small flower garden at their center, before opening into the lush and verdant Black Beech Hill, which was the oldest residential area in Dunerk. The streets here were s.p.a.cious and neat, and although they were wet, not the slightest amount of snow was visible.
This area was occupied by the wealthy, and their colossal, ancient houses were closely guarded on all sides. Advancing down the street was a traditionally decorated carriage. It exuded a subtle ancient and luxurious aura, and the pure, white steeds were top-quality horses.
Lin Qi led Enzo on a stroll along the main street towards Black Beech Hill. Standing on the Black Beech Hill, one could look down upon the whole Dunerk Port and Gulf, but not anyone would be able to approach the hilltop residences of the wealthy and respectable.
Both of Enzo's eyes turned red from looking at those horses pulling the carriage. They were of pure bloodline that were worth at least one thousand gold coins each. These horses should be galloping on a battlefield, yet here, these rich families used them to pull carriages!
Lin Qi discovered Enzo's peculiar glance, then curled his lips into a sneer and said, "Oh, there's nothing to be done. During the Land Island War, these people could only use donkeys to pull their carriages. But now, any family that doesn't raise seven to eight purebred horses wouldn't be able to raise their heads."
Lightly sighing, Lin Qi shook his head and said, "They're all rich people, Enzo. The people here are all rich! You know, when I was little, I went around this big street extorting merely the children's pocket money, and I could've gotten dozens of gold coins every time!"
After neatly going towards the gutter on the roadside to spit some saliva, Lin Qi looked up at the sky with incomparable nostalgia, deeply sighed, and said, "Flouris.h.i.+ng childhood years! It's too bad such good days didn't stay for long, and I was suddenly sent to Borali!"
Just when Lin Qi was sighing with myriad emotions, an exquisite, pure-white carriage decorated with ivory stopped next to the two people. The yarn curtain covering the carriage window was raised, revealing a rather good-looking young girl gaping in surprise.
"Lin Qi? Is that you, Lin Qi?"
Lin Qi looked at that young girl in surprise. He complacently shot a glance at Enzo, then heartily laughed towards that nearby carriage. "Well, dear miss, I apologize. You still recognize me, but pardon me, I haven't come home for so long that I must ask what this young lady's name is?"
That young lady's face blanched, then she ferociously stamped her foot. The carriage driver hastily clucked, hurrying the two horses pulling the carriage to flee. A terrified and uncertain voice could faintly be heard from inside the carriage. "G.o.d, that little scoundrel really has come back. I have to quickly tell everyone to be sure not to go out these next few days. G.o.d, why didn't he die at Borali?"
Enzo hugged his belly while laughing very loudly. Lin Qi's expression was gloomy as he looked at the carriage fleeing in panic, gnashed his teeth, and whispered, "I remember this woman! Fine, because her big brother wasn't willing to obediently give me the protection fee, I smashed his head and pushed her into the sewer. But apart from this, what else did I do to her? Just because of this, did she have to go so far as to flee?"
Enzo took pleasure in Lin Qi's misfortune as he folded both of his hands in front of his chest, smiled happily, and said, "Boss, if you dunk her into the sewer now, she would rather die. You don't understand that to young girls, their appearances are very important. This beautiful, young lady absolutely won't let you push her into the sewer again!"
Lin Qi angrily glared at Enzo. "Are you saying that I don't understand women?"
Enzo raised his eyebrows as he snickered and said, "Do you? Ah, boss, I'm very curious, what have you accomplished growing up?"
Grinning, Lin Qi suddenly remembered that he wasn't Enzo's match regarding this issue, so he simply shut his mouth. He rejoiced in his heart, however. Fortunately for him, Yu Lian wasn't here with them. Otherwise, he would definitely be attacked by both of their poisonous tongues until he felt that dying was better than living. Of course, Lin Qi consoled himself in his heart. His so called preserving his purity was actually him being absolutely opposed to spending even one copper coin on those tavern maids!
No matter how beautiful they were, how could they be lovelier than glittering crowing and sparkling chirping? Even mere copper coins were way lovelier than women. Twisting his mouth, Lin Qi sighed, lost in thought. Women? Was he lacking any troubles from women?
While walking along the neat Gooseberry Avenue, a house that occupied an enormous area appeared in front of the two people. The bricks of the house wall were black and covered with old vines. The front gate was made of metal and decorated with a mesh of exquisite tulip and grape vines entangled together. Standing in front of this gate were several conversing people.
Lin Qi's expression became gloomy. His gaze subconsciously fell on an individual with a radiant face and fiery-red, long hair within the crowd. That youth's figure was tall, his face handsome, skin fair and clear, and his fiery-red hair gave him an astonis.h.i.+ng charm. He appeared to be 20 or so years old, at most 25 years.
But this youth's left eye seemed to have suffered an extremely serious wound judging from the black leather eyepatch firmly covering it. His right eye was nevertheless deep, dark-purple and full of attractive force. One could well imagine if his left eye was good, he would be a very handsome, very attractive youngster.
Lin Qi's expression was strange. His mouth twitched as he looked at that red-haired youth.
Enzo was sharply aware of Lin Qi's strangeness. His hand tightly gripped his sword hilt as he asked in a low voice, "Boss, who is he?"
Lin Qi shrugged his shoulders and unhurriedly said, "Him? He's Arthur, my father's foster son, and nominally my elder brother. He's also the reason I left the lovely Dunerk to go to Borali."
Lightly sighing, Lin Qi narrowed his eyes, his gaze as sharp as the tip of a sword. "Because . . . because that left eye of his was dug out by my own hands."
Enzo looked at Lin Qi in astonishment. It'd been three years since he'd returned home from Dunerk, which meant that three years ago, Lin Qi had personally dug out his father's foster son's eyeball. The Lin Qi at that time was only 15 years old, right? At just 15 years old, how much anger, how much ruthless intention, could make him dig out the eyeball of such a handsome youth like Arthur?
"Truly a pity. I originally was prepared to dig both of his eyes out before tossing him into the sea to feed the fish. It was a pity that my father came too soon!"
Helplessly shrugging his shoulders, Lin Qi walked towards the house in large strides. He laughed very loudly and said, "Well, dear Arthur, you wretched b.a.s.t.a.r.d, you're actually still alive? That d.a.m.ned eyeball of yours, has it sprouted anew?"
Arthur, who'd been cheerfully talking with the people around him, had a sudden change in expression. He gritted his teeth and looked over with a green complexion.
Enzo's expression was solemn. His right hand firmly held his sword hilt as he followed closely behind Lin Qi.
Chapter 37 Drawing the Sword
Arthur, who was originally cheerfully talking, looked at Lin Qi with an ashen complexion, a gleam of hatred flickering inside his single eye. He didn't say a word, merely looking at Lin Qi with clenched fists. A limestone tile under his feet suddenly cracked open, several thin fissures radiating outwards.
A middle-aged man stood next to Arthur, his hair dishevelled and filthy as if he hadn't cleaned himself for several months. He stepped forward with large strides and shouted in a stern voice, "A b.a.s.t.a.r.d from out of nowhere actually dares to talk to young master Arthur like that? Kneel down and apologize, or else!"
The middle-aged man not only had filthy hair, the clothes he was wearing were also tattered. Cobwebs and moss were caught on them. Even a corpse in a garbage heap was better off than him. A strange odor emanated from him, making people standing several meters away feel sick from a small whiff. No one knew how he managed to become so disgusting.
Lin Qi didn't heed this man and merely strode towards Arthur. The last bit of that bottle of Magic Fierce Medicine was circulating in Lin Qi's bone marrow and muscles, distributing the last bit medicinal efficacy. Lin Qi silently utilized the secret arts handed down in his family to condense battle qi, making the aura all over his body seethe like flowing water. It mixed with the rolling, warm current from the Magic Fierce Medicine and washed over his whole body.
As he walked forward, deep and powerful sound of bone joints popping could distinctly be heard from within Lin Qi's body. He inhaled deeply, the powerful strength all over his body seething in tandem, and when he exhaled, it was just like the breath of a gigantic dragon, puffing out continuously for several meters.
Arthur groaned in a low voice, "Lin Qi, you've come back?"
Subconsciously stroking his left eye that was covered with an eye-patch, Arthur's body violently trembled. His complexion was ashen, his face covered with a layer of thick killing intent that couldn't be concealed. But like a flash, his killing intent disappeared, and he suddenly showed a brilliant smile like a blooming flower. Red hair, purple eyes, and his extremely handsome face, together with his smile, was as if Apollo himself from the legends suddenly descended to the mortal world.
Looking at Arthur's smile, the aggressive men around him simultaneously loosened their grips on their sword hilts. They looked at Lin Qi in astonishment, not knowing where Lin Qi got the guts to actually dare to talk to the eldest son of the Black Tiger Family like that.
Only that middle-aged man, with his filthy hair and tattered clothes, walked up to Lin Qi. He didn't grow eyes in the back of his head, and so he couldn't see the strange change in Arthur's expression. He shouted emotionally, "Young master Arthur, today is my first day serving you. Let me use this boy's blood to express my loyalty to you!"
Lin Qi didn't pay any attention to this middle-aged man. He continued walking towards Arthur in large strides with a sneer on his face and said, "Oh, not bad, Arthur. You actually started gathering henchmen? This is the thug you recently recruited? Is it possible you are lacking copper coins? Can't you clean him up a bit first and then bring him back? Remember, this is the family's ancestral house. For someone like this to appear here, it will make the family lose face!"
Casting a sidelong glance at the middle-aged man, Lin Qi ridiculed him. "A stray dog is cleaner than him!"
The anger in the middle-aged man's heart had already acc.u.mulated to the limit. He roared in rage, suddenly pulled his sword out, and swung it at Lin Qi's neck. Different from the sharp sword Enzo usually used, the middle-aged man used a commonly seen, medium-sized broad sword. The edge of the sword was two fingers wide, one meter or so long, with only the first one-third of the sword possessing a sharp edge. Looking at the faint blood-red color seeping through the sword's clear tip, it was obvious that it had already spilled the blood of many.
The sword rose, the tip covered with a layer of thin, red light. This middle-aged man was obviously a Man Knight.
Enzo, who closely followed behind Lin Qi, similarly pulled out his sword and the blade a.s.sumed an arris form. His one and a third meter-long sword glowed with a layer of deep-red battle qi. Enzo implemented the fencing moves taught by the Army Academy, sweeping past Lin Qi's side just like a gale. In a flash, he had already stabbed seven times in the middle-aged man's direction.
Seven, red-colored sword tips tore through the cold air and the winds, and ten snowflakes the size of a child's palm were crushed in front of the sword tip.
That middle-aged man, even in his wildest dreams, didn't expect that the one who stood behind Lin Qi this whole time was actually such an extraordinary swordsman. Enzo's battle qi was more powerful than his, his physical strength and young muscles were greater than his, and Enzo's reaction speed was a lot faster than his. Seven sword tips rapidly closed in on his body. The middle-aged man spared no effort in las.h.i.+ng his sword back, slanting it in a downward chop.
The two swords collided with each other. Six blood-red sword tips vanished, while the last nimbly evaded the chop of the broad sword, brus.h.i.+ng by the blade and stabbing into the middle-aged man's left shoulder. The sharp sword that could effortlessly pierce through standard armours pierced a hole the size of a thumb in the middle-aged man's left shoulder like a hot knife cutting through b.u.t.ter. Enzo then retracted his sharp sword and seized the opportunity to kick that man's lower abdomen.
In aristocratic fencing, the feet absolutely couldn't move. But Enzo wasn't an aristocrat. He was an Army Academy student, and their objective was totally different from that of the aristocrats'; their sole objective was to use the fastest speed and the highest efficiency possible to kill the enemy.
Blood spattered everywhere. The middle-aged man initially felt pain on his shoulder, but before he was able to utter a miserable howl, Enzo's battle boots that were inlaid with iron had already ruthlessly stamped on his lower abdomen. The dull sound of the kick could be heard, and the middle-aged man's body flew up more than one meter. He spat out blood and flew upside down for more than two meters from Enzo's kick.
The broadsword was pathetically thrown very far. As the middle-aged man hugged his lower abdomen and curled up on the ground struggling and twitching, one mouthful of blood after another continuously spurted out.
Arthur's smiling face stiffened for a while, but he quickly squeezed out an even more brilliant and affectionate smile. "Lin Qi, when did you return? Why didn't you tell the family beforehand? If not, some people would've been arranged to go to the dock to welcome you!"
Regarding the middle-aged man's severe injury, Arthur didn't spare a glance, treating him as though he were a pile a garbage rather than a swordsman he'd just recruited.
Lin Qi walked up to Arthur with a gloomy expression before throwing a punch at Arthur's face. This was an all-out punch, containing Lin Qi's whole body's battle qi that he had cultivated since childhood. He spared nothing, using the brute force from his entire body, plus all the physical strength the Magic Fierce Medicine had enhanced for him. Every muscle in his whole body were firmly stretched, and he punched out without leaving behind even a shred of residual strength.
The wind whizzed from the punch, Lin Qi's fist faintly emitting tangerine-yellow light.
Arthur's expression changed. He anxiously retreated several steps, then loudly shouted, "Lin Qi, what are you doing?"
Lin Qi rapidly approached without saying a word, his fist continuing to ram towards that charming face of his while accompanied by the sound of tearing wind.
The looks of the several other men around Arthur agitatedly changed. They simultaneously pulled out their sabres, their five longswords carrying the sound of tearing wind as they stabbed towards different vital parts all over Lin Qi's body from different trajectories. It didn't matter why Arthur smiled at Lin Qi earlier. He was now a threat to Arthur's safety - and Arthur was their leader!
Five people wielding swords attacked Lin Qi. Seeing this, Enzo's expression changed, then he hastily waved his sword to welcome the attacks.
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