Chapter 31: The Duel (Please Keep Reading)
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Luo Xiu dragged Leila back toward the house.
According to Dave, their home had been occupied by the daughter of a viscount.
When they arrived, they happened to see an elegantly dressed, curly-haired girl standing in front of the house, ordering a short, elderly woman about.
The girl had curly golden hair and wore a fluffy cake skirt. She was currently screaming furiously at the old woman before her:
“Didn’t I tell you, you damned old hag, that I didn’t want my tea scalding hot?!”
The girl’s lips were red and swollen, clearly burned by the tea, and she was trembling with rage.
“These past few days, I told you to put cotton pillows on the bed, but you used linen ones! I told you not to add sugar to my afternoon tea, and you put in three spoonfuls! I told you to cut down all those ugly green plants by the entrance, and you didn’t do that either!”
“You wretched old hag are doing this on purpose!!!”
Faced with the girl’s abuse, the short old woman merely lowered her head and said nothing, as though ignoring the girl’s reprimands.
There was a faint bruise at the corner of her mouth.
When the old woman failed to react, the girl grew even angrier. She turned to a flat-headed man in adventurer’s clothing standing beside her and sneered.
“Cyril, slap her twenty times. Teach the old hag a lesson.”
“Yes.”
The man called Cyril rolled his wrist and slowly walked toward the old woman.
She remained motionless, looking entirely resigned to whatever fate awaited her.
Cyril raised his hand high, a vicious glint flashing in his eyes.
Just as his palm was about to descend, a hand reached out from the side and seized him by the wrist.
Luo Xiu smiled.
“There’s no need to lay hands on an old woman, is there?”
Cyril’s expression darkened. He suddenly exerted force with his arm, trying to break free.
Feeling the strength in Cyril’s arm, Luo Xiu smiled faintly and released him.
Cyril violently shook his wrist and pulled free.
He looked at Luo Xiu with utter disdain.
After all, he was a swordsman who specialized in swordsmanship, yet he had escaped Luo Xiu’s grip with ease. Clearly, Luo Xiu’s strength was nothing special.
Cyril rubbed the spot where Luo Xiu had held him, his gaze filled with undisguised murderous intent.
How dare this man lay hands on him? He was simply asking to die.
The girl, meanwhile, stared blankly at Luo Xiu, who had appeared from nowhere. For a moment, she was dazzled by his handsome features.
But when she noticed his crude clothing and realized that he was merely a commoner, her anger flared.
“Who are you? How dare you touch my servant!”
Luo Xiu smiled.
“I’m the former resident of this house. It was mine to begin with.”
“He is not!”
An old, trembling voice suddenly rang out.
Everyone turned to look. It was the short old woman, who had not spoken a word until now.
She raised her head, looked straight at the girl, and slowly said:
“I don’t know him. He is merely an unrelated outsider.”
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Luo Xiu smiled.
He took a piece of parchment from the pouch at his waist and waved it.
“Of course I am. This is the rental agreement between me and Mrs. Aurelis. It’s perfectly clear.”
Aurelis was the elegant name of the short old woman beside him.
Before she could say another word, Luo Xiu put the parchment away and smiled.
“So, will you return my house to me now?”
The girl grew more and more furious as Luo Xiu repeatedly called the place his house. She roared:
“Cyril, deal with him!!!”
“Yes.”
Cyril gave a sinister smile.
“You pretty-faced bastard. How dare you grab me.”
Leila took a step forward beside Luo Xiu.
She was furious and ready to teach this rude man a lesson for insulting her master and attempting to strike Grandma Aurelis.
But Luo Xiu caught her and shook his head with a smile.
Beating someone up was far more satisfying when he did it himself.
Besides, Leila was still young and did not fully understand certain rules and procedures.
Luo Xiu reached into his magic pouch and pulled out a scrap of cloth, then flung it at Cyril.
The cloth flew toward him at incredible speed. Cyril failed to dodge, and the yellowed scrap smacked directly into his face.
Luo Xiu smiled.
“According to the Noble Law of the Orc Kingdom, commoners may not attack nobles, but they may challenge a noble to a formal duel.”
“During a duel, a noble may designate a servant to fight in their place. The duel is to the death.”
“I hereby challenge you to a duel. Do you accept?”
Cyril pulled the cloth from his face and immediately smelled the strong stench of urine rising from it.
He glared at Luo Xiu in fury.
“What is this?!”
“I have no idea. It’s probably a goblin’s pocket cloth. I couldn’t afford gloves, and I didn’t have a handkerchief.”
Luo Xiu smiled innocently.
The moment Cyril heard that it had come from a goblin’s pocket, he hurriedly threw it to the ground.
A humiliating sense of having been toyed with filled his entire body. He took a handkerchief from his pocket, flung it to the ground with force, and roared at Luo Xiu:
“I, Cyril, accept your duel! I’ll kill you! I’ll tear you to pieces!!!”
“That’s the spirit, Cyril! Tear him apart!!!”
The curly-haired girl shouted excitedly.
This was the first duel she had ever witnessed. She looked at Luo Xiu and sneered contemptuously.
Had this fool not noticed the second-rank insignia on Cyril’s shoulder?
Cyril was also a seasoned second-rank swordsman. This idiot had been blessed with a handsome face, yet he actually dared to dream of dueling Cyril. He could wait to be torn to pieces.
The curly-haired girl’s imagination ran wild. She had even begun wondering whether, after Luo Xiu was defeated and begged for mercy, she should spare his life and take him on as a personal servant.
Luo Xiu and Cyril each walked five paces away from the agreed center point, then turned to face each other.
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Cyril drew a gleaming silver longsword from his magic pouch and smiled viciously.
“To die by my sword will be the greatest achievement of your life.”
Luo Xiu merely smiled.
“When do we begin?”
“Now—”
Cyril stared in disbelief at the fist buried in his abdomen. He never managed to finish the last word.
The punch seemed powerful enough to pierce a falling star. Memories of his entire life began flashing through his mind like a lantern show.
Nearby, the curly-haired girl’s cheering abruptly ceased.
She stared in terror at Cyril, his body bent backward at the waist and his eyes rolled white, while Luo Xiu stood before him with a smile. A bead of cold sweat slid down her forehead.
What had just happened?!
She had seen nothing clearly. The golden-haired man seemed to have appeared before Cyril in an instant, then driven a fist into his abdomen.
Luo Xiu slowly withdrew his fist and looked at Cyril, who was still frozen in the posture of having been struck.
He smiled.
“To survive a punch from me is the greatest achievement of your life.”
Indeed, he had controlled his strength and refrained from killing Cyril.
The man would probably spend the rest of his life paralyzed, or something similar. It should be more painful than death.
Luo Xiu turned toward the curly-haired girl, who had been rendered completely rigid with terror, and smiled.
“The duel is over. Are you satisfied with the result?”
The girl recovered from her terror. She was utterly frightened, but years of indulging her arrogant and overbearing nature still allowed her to force out a shout.
“This doesn’t count!!! You… you ambushed him! That’s right, you ambushed him! Cyril hadn’t even finished saying ‘begin’!!!”
Luo Xiu had expected her to argue shamelessly. He smiled slowly.
He took another yellowed scrap of cloth from his magic pouch, exerted force, and flung it at the girl.
She panicked and tried to dodge, but how could she possibly evade it with her speed?
The cloth smacked directly into her face, and the tremendous force knocked her onto the ground.
The foul stench of urine seemed to have been driven straight into her skin.
Just as she felt she was about to vomit, Luo Xiu smiled and said:
“I, Luo Xiu, hereby announce that I am challenging you to a second duel. Do you accept?”
Then he called softly:
“Leila.”
At her master’s summons, Leila, who had long been waiting impatiently, stepped forward.
Roar!!!
A colossal silver bear as large as a hill appeared before the curly-haired girl. It lowered its head toward the petrified girl, opened its enormous jaws, and let out a thunderous roar.
The giant bear’s breath, carrying a terrifying pressure, swept across the girl’s face like a gale, distorting her features.
Two seconds later, Leila stopped.
A pool of yellow liquid slowly spread from beneath the curly-haired girl’s motionless body.