Chapter 42 Hey! Kid, stop right there!
After that, he finished his meal in silence.
Jiang Bai called the waiter over to pay the bill. Then he stood up, went downstairs, and walked out of the restaurant.
Jiang Bai did not linger in Nuoding City.
He followed the road he had come by to leave the city.
Several miles outside the city, he found a secluded clearing in the woods and summoned the Wind Dragon.
"Let’s go. Fly north."
The Wind Dragon spread its azure wings, carrying him as it soared into the sky.
Nuoding City rapidly shrank beneath his feet, eventually becoming a faint gray dot on the horizon.
Jiang Bai glanced back in that direction, his gaze calm and undisturbed.
Two and a half hours later.
On the main road outside the eastern gate of Nuoding City, a young girl wearing a white veil approached.
She looked to be about twelve or thirteen, tall and slender, wearing a well-tailored white martial attire with silver trim on the lapels and cuffs.
Her golden hair was tied into a neat high ponytail at the back of her head, swaying gently with her steps.
The veil covered most of her face, revealing only a pair of alluring crimson eyes.
The girl stood outside the city gate, looking up at the not-so-tall city walls. A flicker of curiosity and excitement passed through her heterochromatic eyes.
Then, she took a deep breath and stepped into Nuoding City.
This was the first time she had entered a human city in human form.
Everything was so novel, so vibrant.
Jiang Lier slowed her pace, walking aimlessly down the street.
But soon, she frowned.
She closed her eyes, sensing carefully.
"He’s gone—" she murmured to herself, a trace of barely perceptible disappointment in her tone.
Jiang Lier pouted, but quickly rallied her spirits. Since she was here, she might as well enjoy exploring this human city.
As she walked, she stopped in front of a stall selling sugar figurines.
The stall owner was an old man in his fifties, holding a small copper spoon as he drew a sugar figurine on a smooth marble slab.
Golden syrup slowly flowed from the spoon, swiftly outlining a vividly lifelike bird under the old man’s deft movements.
Jiang Lier watched, utterly captivated.
"Young Miss, what kind of sugar figurine would you like?" Having finished one, the old man looked up and saw Jiang Lier standing before his stall. His eyes lit up as he greeted her warmly.
Jiang Lier snapped out of her trance, thought for a moment, then pointed to a dragon-shaped sample on the stall. "Draw me one shaped like a Dragon! Make it—imposing!"
"Alright! Just a moment!" the old man replied cheerfully, scooping another spoonful of syrup and beginning to draw on the slab.
His movements were very practiced.
The syrup flowed, outlined, and piled up. Soon, a ferocious and majestic sugar Dragon appeared on the stone slab.
The old man gently pried up the sugar Dragon with a small spatula, stuck it onto a thin bamboo skewer, and handed it to Jiang Lier.
"Young Miss, your sugar Dragon. Five bronze coins!"
Jiang Lier took the sugar Dragon, looking at the crystal-clear, sun-glinting artwork with eyes full of delight.
She took a gold coin from the storage spirit tool at her waist and casually placed it into the wooden cash box on the stall.
"I don’t have any bronze coins. Keep the change."
The old man was stunned.
A gold coin!
"Th—this is too much! Young Miss, I—"
The old man tried to say something, but Jiang Lier had already turned and walked away with the sugar Dragon. As she walked, she lifted her veil and carefully licked the Dragon’s tail.
"Mmm—"
Sweetness spread on her tongue, carrying the unique caramelized aroma of malt sugar.
Jiang Lier narrowed her eyes, revealing a satisfied smile.
Not bad at all!
Human things were quite tasty.
She continued strolling aimlessly while taking small bites of the sugar Dragon.
Just then, a boy who looked only six or seven years old came walking from around the corner of the street ahead.
The child wasn’t tall, wearing a blue academy uniform, walking hurriedly with his head down as if troubled by something.
Jiang Lier normally wouldn’t pay attention to such an ordinary human child.
But for some reason, when her gaze fell upon the child, a sudden, inexplicable feeling surged in her heart—disgust?
Even a faint impulse to give him a beating.
This feeling came without reason, yet it was so intense. Like an animal’s instinctive wariness upon encountering a natural predator, or like some kind of warning from fate itself.
Jiang Lier stopped walking, her eyes fixed tightly on the boy who was getting closer.
This person was precisely Tang San.
The fire in Yu Xiaogang’s office earlier, although extinguished promptly, had severely burned multiple areas of Yu Xiaogang’s skin.
The healing-type teacher at Notting Academy only had two-ring cultivation; the effects of his Spirit Ability were limited. He could only temporarily alleviate the pain, not achieve rapid recovery.
As Yu Xiaogang’s Disciple, Tang San naturally couldn’t just stand by.
In his previous life, he was a Disciple of the Tang Sect, not only proficient in poison arts but also quite accomplished in pharmacology.
So, he had gone to the city’s pharmacy to fetch several packets of medicinal herbs for treating burns, planning to brew them for his teacher to apply.
As he walked, he suddenly felt a gaze firmly locked onto him.
Tang San instinctively looked up and saw a golden-haired, heterochromatic girl standing a few steps ahead.
The girl was very beautiful, the prettiest girl he had seen in both his lives, but the look in her eyes as she stared at him was—very unfriendly.
"Hey! Kid, stop!"
A clear, pleasant voice rang out, carrying a somewhat commanding tone.
Tang San was taken aback. He looked left and right, confirmed there were no other "kids" around, then pointed uncertainly at himself. "—Me?"
Jiang Lier nodded. Holding the now-bare bamboo skewer in her right hand, she pointed it at him. "You!"
"Young Miss, may I ask what you want?" Tang San frowned. He was in a hurry to get back and brew medicine for his teacher and didn’t want any complications.
Jiang Lier tilted her head, a flash of cunning glinting in her crimson eyes. "Nothing much. I just want to beat you up!"
"Wh—"
Before the word finished, Jiang Lier had already moved!
Her speed was astonishing!
Even though the distance was three or four steps, in the blink of an eye, her figure had already appeared right in front of Tang San!
That fair, slender, seemingly non-threatening fist shot straight towards Tang San’s face!
Tang San’s pupils contracted sharply!
In that split second, his body instinctively leaned back while his hands rose to block.
But Jiang Lier’s speed was too fast! So fast his reaction couldn’t keep up!
*Thump!*
A solid punch landed squarely on Tang San’s left cheek.
The immense force of the impact sent him staggering back two steps, stars dancing before his eyes and a ringing in his ears.
Before he could steady himself, the second, third, fourth punches—came in rapid succession!
*Thump! Thump!*
A few more dull thuds.
Tang San was completely dazed.
He barely managed to open his eyes and saw the girl’s beautiful face, now close at hand, clearly expressing ’I just want to hit you’.
Then, just as he reacted, using Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track to create distance and prepare to counterattack, Jiang Lier had already withdrawn her hands, turned around, and like a startled rabbit, quickly ran far away.
The entire process, from throwing punches to running away, took only a few breaths.
Several passersby on the street were dumbfounded. By the time they reacted, Jiang Lier had already vanished around the street corner.
Tang San stood there, his left cheek swollen, his right cheek stinging with heat, and his chin so sore he could barely open his mouth.
He blankly touched his cheek, then looked at the empty street corner. Fury ’whooshed’ up inside him!
"Damn it!" He was so angry his eyes turned red, breathing heavily like an ox, his voice somewhat slurred due to his swollen cheeks. "In broad daylight, to be so—unreasonable!"