Li Guanqi pushed through the crowd and saw several tall, burly youths with Li Sheng'an pinned beneath their feet.
Li Guanqi frowned at once, unaware of what had started this.
In his impression, Li Sheng'an was a shrewd person. Compared to others, he seemed more like a pushover who played the nice guy to a fault.
The reason Li Guanqi considered him shrewd went back to how he had felt during their very first meeting. Lin Dong might not have realized why Li Sheng'an had approached the two of them back then, but Li Guanqi knew full well. Had the mountain-ascending talismans held by the two of them not burned down so little, Li Sheng'an likely would never have come over to show goodwill.
Now, Li Sheng'an lay on the ground with blood all over his mouth, while a stocky youth held him pinned firmly beneath a boot on his chest.
Brandishing the jade plaque in his hand, the youth sneered, "Shouldn't you have paid respects to me with an easy task like this first? Huh? Why do you never learn?"
Lying on the ground, Li Sheng'an showed no anger despite the strange looks from the onlookers around them. Instead, his bloodied face broke into an obsequious smile. "I'm sorry, Senior Brother Wang. I didn't know you wanted to take on a mission these past two days. If I'd known, I would've snatched it for you myself. Why should you have had to lift a finger?"
The youth addressed as Senior Brother Wang lifted his foot and burst out laughing. Leaning down, he slapped Li Sheng'an across the face repeatedly.
The slaps snapped loudly, making the flesh on Li Sheng'an's face tremble, yet the smile on his face didn't fade in the slightest.
Watching Li Sheng'an act this way, Li Guanqi showed little emotion on his face, not even making a sound.
Right then, however, Li Sheng'an looked up and spotted Li Guanqi.
The moment he saw Li Guanqi, his eyes dimmed at once.
Having his humiliation witnessed by someone close to him left him wanting to crawl into a hole.
Following Li Sheng'an's gaze, the onlookers also noticed the youth with pure-white eyes.
A buzz of murmurs broke out at once.
"Hiss... Isn't that Li Guanqi from Tianlei Peak?"
The disciple called Senior Brother Wang turned around and happened to see Li Guanqi.
His expression shifted rapidly through several shades. With a hint of trepidation, he bowed and called out, "Senior Brother Li."
Seeing that Li Guanqi said nothing, Wang Dachun quickly gestured to his companions to withdraw. Before leaving, he did not forget to bow and offer the mission plaque to Li Guanqi.
Li Guanqi gave a cold scoff. "The thing is yours. Why give it to me?"
Wang Dachun glanced at Li Sheng'an, who hesitated on the ground as if wanting to speak, and couldn't figure out what was going on between them. Still, he had no desire to give up the mission in his hand, so he simply put it away and hurried off.
The surrounding onlookers dispersed as well.
Passing by the two, the crowd scattered until only Li Sheng'an on the ground and Li Guanqi standing beside him remained.
A bitter smile touched the corner of Li Sheng'an's mouth as he murmured, "Why didn't you take that mission? That's already the third mission Wang Dachun has stolen from me."
Li Guanqi stepped over and slowly crouched down beside Li Sheng'an.
Looking at him with pure-white eyes devoid of any emotional ripple, Li Guanqi asked, "Are you complaining?"
A flash of anger finally showed on Li Sheng'an's face.
"Yes! I am complaining! I don't have anything left anyway—can't I even complain a little in front of a friend?!"
Yet Li Guanqi offered no sympathy, replying bluntly, "No."
The plump youth stared blankly, then demanded, "Why?!"
Li Guanqi slowly stood up, looked down at him sideways, and asked, "What right do you have?"
Lying on the ground, Li Sheng'an froze, baffled as to why Li Guanqi would ask what right he had to complain.
Li Guanqi continued, "Haven't you long since decided to be a harmless pushover? If you've already resigned yourself to playing the nice guy, then what right do you have to complain? You ought to take being walked over as a blessing. When someone knocks your teeth out, you should swallow them with your blood and beam right back at them! Isn't that the path of survival you chose for yourself? Since it was your own choice, what right do you have to complain about it to others?"
Those calm words detonated like peals of thunder in Li Sheng'an's mind!
The shock left him frozen stiff, unable to utter a single word.
As Li Guanqi walked toward the Mission Pavilion, he added, "If you want to keep playing the nice guy, then keep lying right there. Don't ever get up. Swallow your grievances alone and endure it in silence. But if you're sick and tired of this, then stand up and reason with him with your fists. The only one who can help you isn't me—it's yourself."
Leaving those words behind, Li Guanqi turned and walked away.
Li Sheng'an, slumped on the ground, saw his expression shift several times before he silently rose to his feet and walked off.
Meanwhile, Li Guanqi accepted a fairly decent mission inside the Mission Pavilion.
It was a mission to investigate the appearance of a fierce ghost in a town. The reward was quite generous—a full fifty sect contribution points. With sect contribution points converting to spirit stones at a one-to-two ratio, completing this single task would yield nearly a hundred spirit stones.
The point reward was so high precisely because three prior attempts had ended in failure.
Yet when Li Guanqi walked out of the Mission Pavilion, a murmur of commotion gradually met his ears.
A bloodied, plump youth stood ramrod straight right at the entrance of the Mission Pavilion.
Li Sheng'an's nose was broken, his eye sockets swollen and red, and his lips split open in several places.
When he saw Li Guanqi emerge, he grinned broadly and brandished the mission jade plaque in his hand.
A slight curve formed at the corner of Li Guanqi's mouth, softening into a smile. He patted Li Sheng'an on the shoulder.
Li Guanqi then made a trip to the Treasure Pavilion. After trading his points for a few inscribed talismans, he took his sword and descended the mountain.
His destination was Xingyun Town, located in the southern region under Great Xia Sword Sect's jurisdiction.
Generations of the town's people had made a living by weaving and dyeing cloth, and dyehouses lined its streets. Recently, for reasons unknown, many of the town's men had met untimely, violent deaths, throwing the populace into panic. Traveling merchants no longer dared visit. After learning of the situation, the Great Xia Sword Sect assessed the threat level and issued this mission.
This was Li Guanqi's first time leaving the mountain to take on a mission, and a flicker of excitement stirred in his heart. After all, he had never encountered a ghost before, and he was genuinely curious about what one looked like. Was it truly invisible and intangible, just as folktales claimed?
Li Guanqi wasted no time along the road, heading straight for Xingyun Town.
A distance of a hundred li; even now, it would take him a day and a night on foot.
Chapter 33