Chapter 269 - 268: Making an Enemy

Chapter 269: Chapter 268: Making an Enemy

"How about we have the stall owner paint another one as compensation?" Zhu Ge said.

Zhu Ge disdained taking things by force or deception.

"Paint another?" The young man sneered. "One painting takes three months. I can’t wait that long."

The old man also shook his head. "The artistic conception of this painting isn’t something that can be reproduced on command. I have my heart set on this particular piece. I don’t want any others."

Zhu Ge smiled. "Then how about this? You both make one bid, and the highest bidder wins. The extra money can be given to the other party as compensation."

The young man and the old man glanced at each other and both nodded.

"I’ll offer one gold coin," the young man said.

"Two," the old man said, his expression unchanged.

"Three!"

"Five."

"Ten!" The young man gritted his teeth. "I’ll pay ten gold coins!"

The old man was silent for a moment, then shook his head. "I don’t have that much money."

He glanced at the young man. "The painting is yours."

With that, he turned and left, his departing figure looking quite carefree.

The young man smugly took the painting. Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly noticed Liu Jianjian beside Zhu Ge.

After her transformation, Liu Jianjian looked like a seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl. She wore a viridian dress and her long hair flowed over her shoulders. While not a nation-toppling beauty, she was still pretty and charming.

The young man’s eyes lingered on her for a moment before turning to Zhu Ge.

"Brother, you’re not from around here, are you?" the young man asked.

"From Red River Prefecture," Zhu Ge said nonchalantly.

"Red River Prefecture?" The young man sneered. "That Barbaric Land? What are you doing in Lijiang City?"

"Just passing through." Zhu Ge didn’t want to say more. He took Liu Jianjian’s hand and prepared to leave.

’He wasn’t afraid of trouble, he just found it incredibly annoying.’

Zhu Ge just wanted to stroll through the market; he didn’t want to get mixed up with such riff-raff.

But the young man blocked their path. "Wait. I see this young lady by your side is quite fine. Why not have her join me for a cup of tea? My treat."

Liu Jianjian’s expression changed. "Who do you think you are? Why should I have tea with you?"

The young man’s face darkened. "Don’t be shameless."

The two attendants behind him immediately took a step forward, releasing their First Realm Cultivation, their aura imposing.

Zhu Ge didn’t move.

He just looked at the young man calmly and said, "Tell your men to back down, and I can pretend nothing happened."

"Who do you think you are?" the young man sneered. "In Lijiang City, no one has ever dared to speak to me like this. Do you know who my father is?"

"I don’t know. And I don’t want to know." Zhu Ge shook his head.

’His good mood was completely ruined.’

"My father is the president of the Lijiang City Chamber of Commerce!" The young man puffed out his chest. "Half the shops in all of Lijiang City belong to my family! If an outsider like you offends me, don’t even think about leaving Lijiang City alive!"

The surrounding onlookers all backed away, clearly not wanting to get involved.

Someone even whispered a word of advice to Zhu Ge, "Young man, just apologize. His father really is someone you don’t want to cross."

Zhu Ge didn’t apologize. He just looked at the young man and said calmly, "I’ll say it one more time. Tell your men to back down."

’Zhu Ge felt his mood sour, but he still didn’t want to start trouble.’

’After all, he quite wanted this Dongba Painting.’

’He’d just wanted to acquire it through a different, more amicable transaction.’

’He hadn’t expected the young man to reveal his ugly side before anything even happened.’

At that moment, the young man flew into a rage.

"Get him!" With a wave of his hand, the two attendants lunged at Zhu Ge, one from the left and one from the right, their fists and feet whistling through the air.

"Sigh..." Zhu Ge shook his head, then lightly stomped his foot.

BOOM—

The ground shook, and an invisible shockwave spread out from under his feet.

The two attendants were thrown into the air by the shockwave and slammed onto the ground, unable to get up for a good while.

The people around them gasped and retreated further.

"A... a M-M-Martial Artist?" The young man’s face was ashen as he pointed at Zhu Ge. "You... you dare hit my men?"

"Your men made the first move," Zhu Ge said nonchalantly.

"You just wait! You just wait!" The young man turned and fled, not even bothering to grab the painting.

Zhu Ge bent down and picked up the painting, *Snowy Mountain, Roaring Tiger*. He glanced at it, then handed it to the stall owner. "I’ll hold on to this for him. When he comes looking for me, I’ll return it to him."

The stall owner took the painting, nodding repeatedly. "Young Master, you should leave quickly. His father is truly not someone to be trifled with. In Lijiang City, his power and influence are immense."

"No rush." Zhu Ge smiled. "I’d like to look around some more."

He stopped in front of the stall and looked at the other paintings and calligraphy hanging on the wall. "Proprietor, did you paint all of these?"

The stall owner nodded. "All of them. My ancestors were Dongba Priests, and they passed down some painting techniques and runes. I’m not very accomplished, so I can only rely on this to make a living."

"How much for this one?" Zhu Ge asked, pointing to a Dongba Rune on the wall.

"That’s a rune, not a painting," the stall owner said. "Dongba Runes can ward off evil and avert disaster, but they must be written with Spiritual Ink to work. I used ordinary ink for this one, so it’s just for decoration."

"I’ll take it." Zhu Ge took out a few silver coins and handed them to the stall owner.

The stall owner was taken aback. "Young Master, this rune isn’t worth much."

"I’ll be the judge of what it’s worth." Zhu Ge took the rune and turned to continue browsing.

’This Dongba Painting could be kept to comprehend ’Potential’; it was an exceptionally rare masterpiece.’

Liu Jianjian followed beside him and asked in a low voice, "Master, will that bad guy bring people back for revenge?"

"He will," Zhu Ge said. "That’s why I’m waiting for him."

Liu Jianjian nodded, seeming to only half-understand. "It’s a bit like those people who go fishing."

Zhu Ge glanced at her with a smile. "That’s called letting him take the bait."

Sure enough, before long, a commotion was heard from the end of the street.

A dozen or so people poured out from around the corner, led by that same young man.

Following behind him was a burly, middle-aged man dressed in a brocade robe with a jade-inlaid belt, dripping with jewels and pearls.

Behind the middle-aged man were seven or eight thugs, all burly and brawny, holding clubs in their hands.

"Father, that’s him!" the young man pointed at Zhu Ge, gritting his teeth.

The middle-aged man walked up to Zhu Ge, looked him up and down, then cupped his fist. "I am Li Wancai, President of the Lijiang City Chamber of Commerce. I wonder how my son might have offended you, Young Master? Please, enlighten me."

Zhu Ge glanced at him. "He tried to take my companion and had his men attack me."

Li Wancai frowned and turned to the young man. "Is that true?"

The young man lowered his head and said nothing.

Li Wancai was silent for a moment, then turned back to Zhu Ge and cupped his fist again. "My son was rude and has offended you, Young Master. I apologize on his behalf."

Zhu Ge raised an eyebrow. "Apologize?"

’He had assumed this would be the classic escalation: you beat the son, and the father comes for revenge. But instead, he was just going to fold immediately?’

Li Wancai took out a money pouch and offered it to Zhu Ge. "Here are fifty gold coins, as a token of our apology. Please accept them, Young Master."

The surrounding onlookers gasped. Fifty gold coins—that was a huge sum of money!

Zhu Ge didn’t take it. He just looked at Li Wancai calmly and said, "You and your son will slap your own faces. This will be your only warning."

Li Wancai’s expression changed.

He had run rampant in Lijiang City for many years, and no one had ever dared to speak to him like this.

But there was something about the faint, almost imperceptible aura of the young man before him that made his blood run cold.