Chapter 390: A Dragon Can't Repress a Snake

"Shuang'er!" Yongning cried.

The others looked on as well, stunned to see the empire's Holy Maiden coming out in the people's defense.

Then they turned eager.

After the High Priest's death, the Holy Maiden had become the apple of the empire's eye. They'd go as far as charging into the Quanrong delegation if it meant defending her.

Something the Quanrong were not privy to, evident by Zha Lahan's mockery, "Missie, are you out for a quick death? Hasn't your emperor taught you how to receive guests? You'll now butt into another's problems, even Quanrong's delegation?"

"If you call yourselves guests, just act like one. I've never seen a guest as outrageous as you!" Yun Shuang stood tall and bold.

Zha Lahan glared then cackled, "What a charmer you are. As for falling in with the customs here, it will depend on the host. I'm going to take those two for my mount as a snack. What's the host going to do about it?"

Zha Lahan shouted and the beast roared in its pounce on the old man and child.

"No!"

Yun Shuang shot a palm at the beast's skull. Zha Lahan merely snickered and released his aura.

Bang!

Yun Shuang rebounded as if hitting a wall.

"Ha-ha-ha, a Profound Heaven girl dares to interfere? I wonder what gave you the gall?" Zha Lahan cackled.

Yun Shuang's heart was beating frantically. Watching the old man and child becoming the spiritual beast's dinner about to be engulfed by those fangs, she teared up.

[Have mercy on my people, for they are suffering so...]

The old man and child closed their eyes, knowing their end was inescapable, waiting for the jaws of death to close on them.

The Quanrong woman shouted, "Zha Lahan, stop this instant!"

Too little, too late. Zha Lahan turned a deaf ear to her orders, having gone drunk on power.

The people sighed with a shake of their heads.

This was the fate that awaited any common man's stumble upon the Quanrong delegation. With it being a matter concerning the future relations between the two nations, how many people would dare to step in to solve this mess?

Holy Maiden was one, albeit weak...

Under everyone's gazes, the fangs inched closer and closer on their meal. The aura had the old man and child unable to even breathe.

Pff!

With a groan, the savage aura withdrew and the spiritual beast halted mid-charge with its maw open. Only the stench kept coming.

Zha Lahan was shocked.

And the audience was shocked, regaining their hope, "Who was it?"

The old man and child were still waiting for death, but the beast was running late, making them crack open their eyes to watch the stunning spectacle.

The savage beast's huge body was stopped by a red hand. What stood before them was a youth with white hair.

They knew who he was. Everyone did after the fiasco outside the Imperial Palace.

The savage no one in Tianyu messed with, Zhuo Fan, had arrived...

"How is that possible?!"

The calm Quanrong now cried out. Zha Lahan's eyes flashed with a thirst for battle.

[Tianyu has someone capable of holding back a 5th-level spiritual beast with one hand?]

The agitated lads on the second floor rested easy now, sitting back to enjoy the show with one leg over the other.

Once Zhuo Fan stepped up, everything became a foregone conclusion.

And all thanks to Zhuo Fan's harsh, cruel and heavy-handed lessons.

Xie Tianshang was grumbling, "What a hypocrite. He says he washes his hands of this matter yet here he is jumping right in."

"Ha-ha-ha, isn't it great though? He's the only one who dares to butt in such an affair. Brother Xie, don't mind it." Long Xingyun laughed.

The others bobbed their heads in total agreement.

It begged the question though, would the dragon come out on top, or the snake?(StarReader: a Chinese saying meaning that one was above the law. The snake I mean.)

Zhuo Fan paid no attention to the savage glints. He merely glanced at the old man and child, "What are you looking at? Do you still want to get eaten?"

The old man darted away with the kid in his arms, expressing his gratitude, "Thank you, Steward Zhuo. I will never forget this..."

"What arrogance!"

Zha Lahan barked, holding the beast by the mane, causing it to roar as well. It thrashed around trying to escape from Zhuo Fan's grip.

Zhuo Fan was using the Qilin arm, proving its efforts were in vain.

Zhuo Fan snorted and flicked.

To the audience's shock, the 5th-level spiritual beast slammed into the ground like a ton of bricks, knocked out cold.

Zha Lahan took to the air, outraged. [A mere flick knocked a 5th-level spiritual beast unconscious? Who is this guy?]

[I've never heard of anyone like that in Tianyu!]

The Quanrong delegation was just as stunned.

"Steward Zhuo's might is boundless!"

It started with a shout and then it turned into a roar as more voices joined in, throwing their fists in the air, "Steward Zhuo, Steward Zhuo..."

The shouts came in waves, rumbling across the sky!

The Quanrong delegation looked around in shock and then focussed at Zhuo Fan.

[A steward has such power? How come we've never heard of such an outrageous being in Tianyu? His fame is great as well. The people practically love him.]

[Blast it! What is the intelligence department even doing? An expert like this that every common man knows about yet we've gotten no wind of? They're all nothing but two-bit rejects!]

Ignoring it all, Zhuo Fan strode over to Yun Shuang. She had put on a wide smile, being relieved for the people's safety. At some point, her heart knew that as long as Zhuo Fan was around, everything will be a-ok.

Zhuo Fan was the one who gave her such a sense of security.

"Steward Zhuo!"

Yongning squeezed in with Yan Fu through the crowd, running at them. She bowed, "Forgive me, Steward Zhuo, for our tardiness in buying the goods you asked for. Please don't blame us. We are mere servants, nothing in your eyes, but we are hardworking. Someone blocked our path!"

Zhuo Fan noticed her wink and laughed.

[This girl hasn't been around me for long, yet she has developed quite the flair for the dramatic!]

The Quanrong delegation was overwhelmed.

[Say what? That lady just now and the new kid are only errand boys?]

Everyone from Quanrong felt a chill.

[Mommy, which house is bursting at the seams to have a Profound Heaven expert doing errands? Weren't Profound Heaven experts supposed to be clan elders in Tianyu?]

Gulping, the Quanrong looked at them in fear.

[If a servant's requirements are at least the Profound Heaven Stage, then what about their elders, Clan Head, and even Venerables?]

[More importantly, how many clans like these are there in Tianyu?]

They all knew Tianyu was a hidden den of monsters, but this was ridiculous!

[No, how is that hidden? Even the common man knows their outstanding blue blood!]

[God damn you Hu Lianchai! How the hell did you perform your investigation?]

The Quanrong glared at the last rider on the 5th level spiritual beasts, a thin middle-aged man.

The guy was bewildered as well, lowering his head in shame. [When did Tianyu whip out a fresh batch of clan members?]

[Or are they... bluffing?]

But a glance at Zhuo Fan had him sighing instead, losing all nerve.

Zhuo Fan was a 3rd layer of Profound Heaven expert but a hand of his trashed a 5th-level spiritual beast. Not even Zha Lahan could do that.

[For a freak like that to be a steward and the clan to have Profound Heaven experts as servants may not be such an oddity.]

The Quanrong looked at Zhuo Fan's group with solemn gazes, with all their arrogance washed away.

The younger generation on the second floor felt their cheeks twitching in tandem.

[Zhuo Fan is the worst influence. He is pushing them deeper on the path of violence!]