A Dish Best Served Cold (The Man In Rage)

Chapter 129 Pointing a Sword at Ye Fan

The victor becomes king; the vanquished the bandit!

And only the victors live on in people's memories.

But right now, Li Er actually wanted him to be the one to face Wu He-Rong first. Just so he could sap

Wu He-Rong's strength and prepare the stage for Ye Fan's entrance.

He was the inheritor of the Taiji Fist and the headmaster of a school. And yet, they had relegated him to

the role of foil for some youngster.

He would have to exert all of his strength in the fight and then give away the prize to someone else. To

a person like Xing He, such a humiliation was too much to bear.

"That's right, brother. Have you gotten the order mixed up?"

"My teacher is a revered figure in the wushu community. Everyone out there knows who he is. What

worth does this brat have? How could you ask my teacher to act as his foil?"

Finally, Li Xue-Qi lost her patience and lashed out at her brother in a fit of righteous fury.

"Shut your mouth!"

"You silly girl! Your behaviour is getting more and more outrageous! How dare you call Mr. Chu a brat?"

"Do you know? If Mr. Chu wants to, he can kill you as easily as he kills a chicken!"

Li Er blew his top as well and rebuked his sister angrily.

"Don't open your mouth again unless you want me to kick you out."

"I allowed you to attend this banquet because I wanted you to gain some experience. You are not here

to cause trouble!"

Li Er's anger overwhelmed Li Xue-Qi completely.

Her face turned pale and she dared not speak another word. But, inwardly, she was still disdainful of Ye

Fan.

She could not understand why her brother was treating a youngster her age with such respect. What

merits did he have?

No matter how powerful he was, there was no way he could be stronger than her teacher.

After all, wushu was not something that could be mastered overnight. To unleash its full power, one

would need to keep training over a long period of time.

Even if this Mr. Chu had started learning martial arts in his mother's womb, it was still impossible for

him to accumulate more training time than her teacher.

After rebuking his sister, Li Er turned to Xing He again and said placatingly: "Headmaster Xing He, I

know you are a revered person in the pugilistic community. But this decision was made by Chen Ao of

Jiangdong, Lei San of Jingzhou and the other leaders of our province. So I hope you will act

magnanimously and place the interests of Jiangdong above yourself. Please do not make things

difficult for me."

Li Er spoke heavily as he tried to persuade Xing He.

But the elderly Taiji master was not one to give up easily. He stood up and said coldly, "Alright. Master

Er, I will not make things difficult for you.”

"Since the leaders of Jiangdong do not believe in me, then let me have a duel with this young man

today."

"How about it, young man? Do you dare to accept my challenge?"

"If I lose, I am willing to become your foil!”

"But if you lose, you will give up your place in the finale to someone more worthy."

Xing He's voice was vigorous and, as he stared at Ye Fan, his aura turned intimidating. At this moment,

the zeal to do battle was evident on the old man's

face.

"Well~" Li Er found himself hesitating.

Undoubtedly, Xing He's challenge fit in exactly with Li Er's wishes.

The Jiangdong leaders had suddenly added Xing He's name to the lineup because they were worried

that Wu He-Rong might be too strong an opponent for Ye Fan.

After all, from the very beginning, they had only seen Ye Fan in action once. Therefore they were still

unsure if his victory then had been due to luck or ability.

Now that Xing He had issued his challenge, would it not be a good opportunity to gauge Ye Fan's

ability?

And so, Li Er turned to Ye Fan and whispered: ''Mr. Chu, headmaster Xing He is determined to fight

you. What do you want to do?"

Ye Fan did not reply right away. He took a sip of tea and chuckled. "Headmaster Xing He, you are a

successor of the Taiji Fist, a wushu grandmaster and the headmaster of a martial art school. To an

ordinary person, these titles are certainly impressive."

"But these things that you take pride in are just fool's gold to me. Your martial art style only looks strong

on the outside but is feeble on the inside. You may be able to use it to scare people, but it is completely

useless in a real fight."

"I bet you can't even take a single punch from the Boxing King, Huo Dun. As for your proposed duel

with me, do you think you are worthy enough?"

"What insolence!"

"You arrogant brat!"

After Ye Fan had spoken, Xing He flew into a rage right away and a look of great anger came over his

face.

He stood up from his seat and started to scream furiously at Ye Fan.

"What an arrogant brat!"

"I am fool's gold, am I?"

"I am feeble on the inside, am I?"

"Can you even block a single punch from me?"

"Can you even take a single blow from me?"

"How dare you insult me when you don't even have the guts to face me in a duel?"

Xing He slapped the table hard and rose to his full height. When he faced Ye Fan, his eyes were filled

with calm anger and his sharp words of rebuke stabbed at the young man like swords.

"I, Xing He, was born in a family of Taiji masters."

"I started practicing my stance at the age of three. And when I was six, I learned how to punch!" "When

I was ten, I could already perform the quintessence of wushu, Taiji swordplay!"

"When I was thirteen, I inherited my father's legacy and became the successor of Taiji!"

"Both Master Er and the mayor treat me as an honored guest."

"How dare an unknown brat like you look down on me?"

Xing He's angry words poured forth in a torrent and rang out eloquently at the table.

With every word he spoke, he took a step forward.

Finally, he stomped down with his right leg.

Boom-

The bluestone tile beneath his feet cracked open amidst the heavy sound of an explosion.

And a deep foot print appeared among the debris.

"I can stamp on the ground and leave my print behind. Can you?"

Bang~

As Xing He clawed at a nearby pillar, another explosion rang out. And, amidst the cloud of sawdust, a

deep claw print could be seen on the pillar.

"I can grab a pillar and leave my print behind. Can you?"

"You are just a little brat! I have honored you by eating at the same table as you."

"But instead of feeling awed and grateful, you actually dared to speak boastfully in front of me?"

"How dare you?!!!"

Within the manor, under the long pavilion, the Taiji master glared at Ye Fan with frosty-cold eyes and

rebuked the young man angrily.

As Xing He's words thundered through the surroundings, one could easily hear the pride in his voice.

The nearby female servers were all thoroughly overwhelmed by Xing He's majestic presence. Their

faces turned as white as sheet and all of them held their breath, for fear of making a sound.

But Ye Fan kept his composure in the face of Xing He's torrential fury.

Xing He's boastful words had failed to disturb the young man, and the latter remained as calm as a

millpond.

Ye Fan picked up his cup, took a sip of tea and smiled nonchalantly. This belongs to NôvelDrama.Org.

"You have said a lot, but so what?"

"You are still not worthy enough to be my opponent.”

"Master Er, let's call it a night. I still have other matters to attend to, so I will not be keeping you

company. I will take my leave now."

After he had finished speaking, Ye Fan stood up from his seat. And without waiting for Li Er's answer,

he turned around to leave.

"Young man, you must have a death wish!" After getting so disrespectfully ignored by Ye Fan, Xing He

was now thoroughly enraged. So he made a move to chase after Ye Fan to teach him a lesson.

When Li Er saw this, he stood in Xing He's way and said: "Headmaster Xing He, since Mr. Chu is afraid

to face you in battle, then please let it go. There is no need to ruin our harmonious relationship. How

about this? I will listen to your suggestion and put you in the finale act."

Clearly, Li Er had started to have doubts about Ye Fan's ability, after seeing the latter's earlier reaction.

After all, if Ye Fan was truly confident about his own ability, he would not have shied away from Xing

He's challenge.

And now, he was in a hurry to get away. Obviously, Ye Fan had gotten cold feet.

Li Er shook his head and sighed.

"It looks like Mr. Chu simply got lucky at Sheng Tian Restaurant," he muttered under his breath.

But at this moment, Li Xue-Qi, who had been quietly fuming by herself after her brother's scolding,

suddenly stood up from her seat.

"Teacher, this brat has been very rude to you. How can we let him get away so easily? I have to teach

him a painful lesson!"

"Xue-Qi, don't be rude!"

Li Er was taken aback by his sister's action, and he hurriedly stood up to stop her. But he was too late.

At this moment, Li Xue-Qi had already picked up the wooden sword she normally used for practice. A

cold light glinted in her eyes as she stepped gracefully toward Ye Fan. And then she thrusted her sword

at his back.

When the wooden sword left its scabbard, it exuded an awe-inspiring presence as it went straight for

Ye Fan!