Chapter 73 Peril of Zi Qiong
"Everyone, my patience has run out. Bring those women from Zi Qiong over here, we'll go one by one!" Su Ziming ordered his followers.
Zi Qiong and Siyu, overhearing the crowd's comments, turned pale. However, they refused to believe that Ling Fan would stand them up; something must have detained him.
But the few girls behind them didn't think so; they weren't close with Ling Fan. Who knew if he would show up?
At that moment, over ten of Lei Ming's experts had approached the girls. "Young Master Su has invited you. Wise up and don't force us to get rough. You can't hide."
"Su Ziming, what exactly do you want? If you have the guts, come at me. Don't trouble the people of Zi Qiong!" Su Qiong stepped forward to shield them.
A chill crossed Su Ziming's face. "You think I wouldn't dare do anything to you? Zhao Yin, teach her a lesson!"
Following Su Ziming's order, a man stepped forward from Lei Ming's team; his sharp, thin face looked sleazy.
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"Young Master Su, how should I teach her a lesson? Should I cripple her? She seems to be related to you," Zhao Yin said with a sinister laugh.
Zi Qiong and Siyu's faces changed instantly upon seeing him. Zhao Yin, ranked fifth in strength at the Lei Ming Martial Arts Pavilion and with a Late Body Tempering Stage of cultivation, was also ranked sixty-second on the campus top-100 list. They were no match for him.
"Just don't kill her; let her learn her lesson," Su Ziming said lightly.
Zhao Yin revealed a sly grin. "Teaching a lesson is easy."
He immediately pulled out a sharp dagger, twirling it in his hand as though it were a piece of art.
"Prepare yourself. I'm not one to pity the fairer sex; I prefer to tear beautiful things apart to appreciate them!" Zhao Yin sneered, lunging at Su Qiong with his dagger.
Alarmed, Su Qiong hastily drew a short sword from her person and met him head-on. Siyu moved to help, but as soon as she did, the men from Lei Ming intervened.
Su Ziming coldly glanced at Siyu. "Keep her in check for me; she's truly an eyesore!"
He didn't fear the Zhou Family, but after all, Binzhou wasn't Su Family territory. A strong dragon does not suppress local snakes; he didn't want Siyu causing unnecessary trouble.
Siyu was restrained by two of Lei Ming's experts and could only watch anxiously as Su Qiong desperately parried blow after blow.
"Su Ziming, I assure you there will be regrets, your entire Lei Ming Martial Arts Pavilion will regret this!" Siyu shouted angrily.
At that moment, Su Qiong exclaimed in shock as Zhao Yin's dagger left a bloody cut on her face.
Everyone knows how important appearance is to a woman, yet Zhao Yin had cruelly slashed a girl's face.
"You..." Su Qiong's complexion turned ashen, her hand trembling as she held her short sword.
"Have another go!" Zhao Yin laughed wickedly, attacking again.
The spectators below fell silent. Su Qiong was the sole female founder of a Martial Arts Pavilion at the academy, and the idol of countless male students.
Seeing Su Qiong humiliated weighed heavy on their hearts, but the academy was cruel; they couldn't intervene, only watch helplessly.
Su Qiong was no match for Zhao Yin and quickly sustained a second and third cut on her face.
Su Ziming watched indifferently from the side while the people of Lei Ming Martial Arts Pavilion were unmoved, snickering throughout.
Zi Qiong and the other girls were pale with helplessness, while the male students below felt suppressed.
"Damn it, where is that fool Ling Fan? He's supposed to be so powerful, but he's letting a woman suffer on stage, truly a disgrace to us men!" Finally, someone couldn't stand it anymore and burst out swearing.
While no one dared to offend the people from Lei Ming Martial Arts Pavilion, they didn't hesitate to vent all their resentment and anger towards Ling Fan, the one who provoked the trouble and let Su Qiong suffer.
"Leaders of Lei Ming, could you please hold back and not target Su Qiong? Just beat up that bastard Ling Fan until he's like a dog!" Suddenly someone in the crowd cried out with a plea.
In an instant, all the onlooking boys joined in, pleading, "Please show mercy, leaders of Lei Ming, and beat the crap out of Ling Fan, the coward..."
The crowd's roars ebbed and flowed in unison, with a clear one-sided denunciation of Ling Fan, imploring the leaders of Lei Ming Martial Arts Pavilion to give Ling Fan a rough lesson later on.
Xu Miaotong and her best friend Jiayi were utterly dumbfounded by the scene, Zhou Siyu was stunned, and the people of Zi Qiong looked at each other in disbelief.
Su Ziming had not expected Su Qiong to have such high standing among the ordinary boys in the school; continuing like this might incite public anger. These people, out of fear of Lei Ming's reputation, dared not speak up, so they vented all their anger on Ling Fan instead.
Su Ziming chuckled inwardly; this was good. That idiot hadn't even shown his face yet and was already reviled by everyone. Who else would die if not him?
He immediately instructed Zhao Yin, "A little lesson will do!"
Zhao Yin, also surprised by the crowd's reaction, understood and with a flying kick, sent Su Qiong flying before turning back to join the ranks.
Su Ziming was not ready to end it there; he pointed at the five Zi Qiong girls excluding Zhou Siyu, saying indifferently, "You now have two choices. First, leave Zi Qiong Martial Arts Pavilion immediately, or second, let me slash your faces like your leader. Make your choice now and don't say I didn't give you a chance!"
The crowd below fell silent once again. Today, Zi Qiong was inevitably facing a crisis, and the instigator, Ling Fan, had yet to appear.
The girls looked terrified, unsure of what to do, and they cast their gaze towards Su Qiong, who was lying on the ground not far away, her face covered in blood.
From the look of it, Su Qiong was probably disfigured. Even if she recovered, she might still bear scars.
"Come on, you choose first!" Su Ziming pointed casually at one of the girls.
The girl he pointed out trembled, her heart filled with turmoil.
"I'm giving you three seconds to decide. I don't have much patience!" Su Ziming said impatiently.
Unable to withstand the pressure of disfigurement, the girl immediately bowed deeply to Su Qiong, not far away, "President, I'm sorry, I can only choose to leave!"
After speaking, she lowered her head and quickly left the crowd.
Su Qiong struggled to stand up, her complexion pale again. She understood the feelings of her club members and didn't blame them; Su Ziming was just too cruel. No girl could face the pain of disfigurement and neither could she.
Su Ziming approved of the girl's decision and nodded, "Next, the second one!"
Without exception, after a moment of struggle, the second girl also apologized to Su Qiong and disappeared into the crowd.
When it came to the third girl, an unexpected scene unfolded. "I will not leave Zi Qiong, go ahead and do it!"n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om
This moment moved Su Qiong to tears. The girl, Bai Xin, was one of the earliest members of Zi Qiong. Coming from a poor family, Su Qiong had helped her a lot. Indeed, every member of Zi Qiong had benefitted from her kindness, but Bai Xin was more grateful than others.
"Bai Xin, you should leave. After today, Zi Qiong will no longer exist!" Su Qiong said through clenched teeth.
She did not want to drag these members down. With her own strength so weak that she couldn't even protect her subordinates, she truly had no right to establish a martial arts pavilion or to act as the president.
"Sister Qiong, you don't need to persuade me. I remember all your kindness. It's just a few cuts, nothing grand. One should not forget their roots!" Bai Xin said, glancing at the remaining two girls.
The two girls hung their heads in silence, then looked up decisively, "Sister Qiong, we won't leave either!"
"Heh, so loyal, very well. Zhao Yin, satisfy them!" Su Ziming coldly commanded.
Bai Xin's complexion turned pale, yet her resolve did not waver as she stood firmly in her place.
"If you dare touch a single hair on them, I guarantee that the next second, I will make sure you have no place to be buried!" Suddenly from outside the crowd, a cold, indifferent voice emerged, as chilling as a harsh winter wind, making everyone's heart unconsciously shiver.