“No! “My dad is Birch! We represent Arcadia in Uleania. You can’t kill me!” With Aiden having thoughts about silencing him, Draig was horrified. Draig was young. He had a lot to live for. For once, he felt fear. Aiden looked malicious. “Idiot! We are only killing you because your father is Birch, and your family holds influence in Uleania. “Mr. Tenby, you can be with your loved one in the afterlife. “Heck, you get your wish to spend eternity with her.” Aiden crackled, delighted by the control over another’s life. Over the past couple of days, he went from acting superior to groveling at Reiko’s feet. The rollercoaster-like shift in his mental state got him twisted. Waving his arm in annoyance, Aiden said to Ali, “Do it and get out of here. Don’t wait until Kaze gets here.”Ali pulled the sword out of Draig’s leg. She cleaned her blade with a silk cloth while gesturing toward Aiden with a smile. She said, “Please indulge as you wish, Mr. Krad. We will ensure you
What was going on? The Ryokanians executed their plan covertly with Reiko planning every detail. According to their plan, they would leak the information to Kaze. However, their business in Emerald Bull Palace would be over before Kaze could get there. Kaze would only come across Snow’s body. However, Snow was not dead yet, and the Ryokanians had not evacuated. Yet, Kaze had arrived. Even the best-laid plans could go awry. Reiko accounted for everything but one thing. Snow was absolutely loyal to Kaze. Even though she decided to come alone to Emerald Bull Palace and was told not to tell anyone, she left a note. The note saved her life. It seemed like fate had a hand in this. Ali looked Kaze dead in the eye and snickered. “Kaze, huh? Do you think you have everything under control? “We are only bait for Ms. Hara. The intention is to get you here. “I’m guessing that the security isn’t very tight at Bronze Sparrow right now. “It’s a shame that the signal is ja
“You bunch of idiots have some nerve to run amok here in my place. “Die!” Juan flicked his stick, and steel wires spread out, striking the four women between the eyes. They breathed their last. “Spare me, sir!” The young practitioner, who brought Snow to the place, peed his pants as Juan ditched his kind heart to be a mass murderer. Dropping to his knees, the young practitioner begged for mercy. “You deserve to die for colluding with the enemy.” Juan shot another round of steel wires. The wires snagged around the young practitioner’s neck and strangled him to death. The public watched in disbelief as Juan walked ahead to shield Kaze. No one expected the usually friendly owner of Emerald Bull Palace to be so horrifying. His decorative stick turned out to be a weapon. Ali, Aiden, and Draig were dumbstruck. “Not bad.” Kaze nodded in approval. Due to his decision to go to Juan upon arrival in Emerald Bull Palace, Kaze was able to find the remote courtyard in ti
Ali wanted to put the incident behind her, but Aiden wanted more. Aiden tried to solicit Juan to kill Kaze. Kaze smiled and said indifferently, “Is my life worth that much, Juan?” Lying on the floor, Draig shouted, “No, Mr. Kawasky! I am Draig Tenby. My father is Birch, a famous martial artist in Uleania. You’ve met me before.“Kill the Ryokanian woman and Aiden Krad. I’ll make it worth your while!” Draig was not dumb. Though he did not like Kaze, he was certain he and Kaze were allies. If Kaze was dead, Snow would die too. To cover up the truth, Aiden and the others would silence Draig. “Hahaha.” Juan looked at Aiden and Ali before uttering indignantly, “Do you think you can bribe me? “I hate morons like you. “Just because you belong to the Krads, you think you have the right to kill in Emerald Bull Palace. “Do I look like I need money? “I’m committed to the law, the righteous justice of the world. “I should start with you.” Juan waved his stick righte
The Refined Blade Slash was never about grace. The attack came on fast and strong. Even Kaze had to admit that Ali was impressive. She could execute the cut with precision. The speed was to die for. Still, she could not beat Albert, who had been through war and back. Before Ali’s sword could reach Albert’s throat, he stepped aside, and Ali missed. Albert struck back, and then came a clang. The blade cut through the air. It was quite a stunt. Ali was in disbelief. She could not dodge the attack. “Gash!” Blood shot out of her throat. Ali’s head rolled off her body. Her head was covered in dust and blood. It was an immediate elimination. That was all there was to the Haras’ servant and highly skilled practitioner of the Refined Blade. “Eek!” Gasps filled the quiet air. Aiden, blood staining his face, was dumbfounded. One minute ago, Ali was alive and well. Now, she was a headless corpse. It was quite a blow to Aiden. He started trembling. “A
Aiden could feel as if his guts were spilling out while retching. Juan and Albert watched in silence. Draig played dead. While feeling vindicated, he felt a mix of emotions. Kaze sure was daring to attack anybody. It took a moment for Aiden to catch his breath. He picked his head up with a struggle and hissed through clenched teeth, “You have gone too far, Kaze! I have done nothing. What do you want from me?” “You have done nothing?” Kaze came closer to him and said chillingly, “I came because you have done nothing. “Do you think I have no idea what you intended to do to Snow?” Aiden said angrily, “It was just an intention. I have done nothing, haven’t I? Even the cops have to work based on evidence.” “The cops?” Kaze grinned. “Fine. I can drop that for now. Let’s talk about what you have done to me in the past few days. We can get it all out today.” Aiden grimaced without a peep. He was fully aware of his behavior. “Why aren’t you saying anything now?” Ka
It was true that Ali died at the hands of Albert. Still, Draig was only injured because Ali snuck up on him. Draig did not think Albert was strong. The only reason Kaze and Albert could turn the situation in their favor was due to Juan’s timely help. Furrowing his brows, Albert approached Draig and kicked him in the face. Draig passed out right away.“Make him leave.” Albert waved at Juan. While others may not know Albert, Juan, the chairman of the Riverbank Feng Shui Society, had been a fixture in the city’s high society for years. Juan knew who Albert was. After nodding at Albert, Juan grabbed Draig and took off. “I’ll leave everything to you, my mentor. I’ll be back to clean the place up,” Juan told Kaze with a smile before leaving.“You’re a mentor to Juan?” Despite the pain, Aiden was stunned.Kaze constantly surprised Aiden. Here Aiden had another newfound understanding of him. “Bam!” Wasting no breath, Kaze walked to the steps and knocked Aiden against a
Gritting his teeth, Aiden said, “Stop your demands, Kaze. You scammed me out of ten billion dollars at the auction. I’m still trying to recover some money. I can’t give you more than I have offered.” “Hm… Now that you mentioned…” Kaze said with a smile, “You bought the Golden Toad for ten billion dollars, so you believe the gem is worth that much. “I think ten billion dollars is a good price for your life.” Taken aback, Aiden said, “What are you trying to say?” “It’s simple, really.” Kaze said with an amused look, “I want the Golden Toad, and you keep your life in return. How does that sound?” “No! Dream on!” Aiden shouted in rage. He would never give up the Golden Toad to Kaze. If the Krads were to find that Aiden spent ten billion dollars to acquire the Golden Toad, only for Kaze to reclaim it, Sean would kill him. Aiden would never live it down. The Golden Toad was linked to his future within the family and his career. Aiden could not possibly hand the Golden T
“Ugh!” The searing pain on Draig’s back felt like a bolt of lightning coursing through his body. It felt as if bones had shattered. He fell onto the ground with a heavy thud. Huh? The crowd was astonished. No one expected Juan to hit Draig. To their surprise, as the son of the grandmaster of Uleania, Draig could not even last one hit from Juan. He collapsed to the ground and could not get up. A single thought appeared in everyone’s mind while looking at him—weak! He was ridiculously weak, to the point that he could not even take one hit! “W-What? How did this happen?” Cyan looked at Draig on the ground with widened eyes filled with disbelief. She felt like her beliefs were crumbling. A moment ago, Draig bragged that he could take responsibility for everything, yet he was struck down by Juan with just one hit. He did not even stand a chance! Reality made his words sound like a joke. “Master Juan, what is the meaning of this?” Draig recovered his composure and
Juan was displeased by Draig’s pretentious manner. All his disciples clenched their fists and teeth, infuriated by Draig’s arrogant words, hoping that they could teach him a lesson. Draig might be physically powerful but they, too, were trained martial artists and they had the advantage of numbers. They were not afraid of him. One word from their master and they would all jump on Draig to rip him apart. Looking at how “responsible” Draig was, stepping up to deal with the matter, Cyan somehow felt bad for him. She looked at Kaze once more, who wore a nonchalant look as if he was not part of the situation. Her eyes at him filled with anger and contempt. She stepped up and humbly said, “Master Juan, I saw what happened. I think I should speak up for Draig. “It’s not Draig, it’s Kaze. The security guards and your disciples, it was all Kaze! Draig claimed that he did it because he was trying to protect me and Snow, but I believe Master Juan is a fair and just person. You shoul
“Master, that guy is being completely disrespectful of you…” The monks and the others knelt before Juan, crying and complaining about what Kaze had done to them. Seeing his disciples kneel in front of the public, speaking in an embarrassing way, Juan’s expression turned ashen. He wished he could slap them off the face of the earth to save himself from the humiliation. However, his reaction looked like anger to the others instead of embarrassment. His reaction made the atmosphere even more stiff and tense. No one dared to interrupt or make a noise, afraid of suffering the master’s wrath. Cyan carefully looked at Draig, hoping that he could step up and mitigate the problem. Otherwise, once Juan flew into a rage, punishing Kaze alone might not solve the problem. After all, the monks made it clear that Cyan and the others were with Kaze, so there was no way they could escape anymore. Draig looked at Kaze who remained calm and confident and Snow who was expressionless. He
“Master Juan is here!” Right after Cyan’s words subsided, Juan and his group of followers finally arrived. Juan wore a white religious attire. Albeit a straight face, he looked like a deity from heaven. Kaze remained calm and steady on the spot, saying nothing. He wanted to see how Juan would handle the situation and provide a satisfying explanation. Likewise, Draig remained silent. It was not that he was also waiting for an explanation from Juan—he was merely waiting for Juan to speak to him first so that he could maintain his appearance. Not only the two of them, but the others remained silent as well. In fact, most of them lowered their voices, some dared not even take heavy breaths, as they waited for Juan to handle the matter. Juan must have been aware of what happened earlier. Kaze was practically insulting Emerald Bull Palace. Even with Juan at the scene, the security guards, almost thirty of them, were still on their knees. The bigger the commotion, the more
Draig looked at Kaze scornfully, like he was an idiot out of place. “Kaze Lee, you are really a fool. You’ve gotten so used to bragging your way out of things. Master Juan had stepped in to deal with the Ryokanians and you assumed he was here to help you, trying to be your support? “The other funny thing is, you think that allows you to cause a scene here in Emerald Bull Palace? Where’s your brain? What makes you think you have the right?” He continued to mock Kaze, airing his grievances while at it. He even raised his voice because Albert was not around. “Is that so?” Kaze looked at Draig, who had returned to his boastful and arrogant self. He slightly shook his head and scoffed. Draig pursed his lips and said, “Am I wrong, Kaze? For Snow’s sake, I’ll give you one last piece of advice. “You should know your place and limits. Had I not held back the Ryokanians and Master Juan stepped in to deal with them, what would have happened to Snow? Have you thought about that? “A
They had no idea how Juan got the news so quickly and was able to gather a group of followers to the scene. Usually, such trivial matters would not even reach Juan at all as he was a busy and elusive man. Even within the Emerald Bull Palace, he rarely appeared in front of his followers or the worshippers. As the master of his art, he maintained a veil of mystery around him. However, it was not a question that they could answer. They only knew that Juan had come to do them justice. Kaze wiped his hands without even looking and said, “Don’t worry. I am not running away, I don’t need to. The Emerald Bull Palace and Juan will have to give me an explanation about this.” Since Juan had begged to be his disciple a while ago, Kaze had agreed to take him in, even if just nominally. Therefore, as a disciple, Juan must act like one in front of his master. Juan might be respectful and act humbly in front of Kaze but he should not allow his own disciples to bully others. Kaze did no
Looking at the astonishing scene, Cyan’s lips twitched, her eyes burned with flames of anger. She shouted, “Kaze, did you not hear what I just said? Are you deaf? You’ve already knocked out the security guards and now you are doing this to them? Do you know that they are Master Juan’s disciples? One of them is also Master Juan’s nephew! “How dare you! You are going to pay for it! If Master Juan finds out about this, this is going to get nasty!” Cyan was so upset that she wanted to slap Kaze in the face. The other worshippers already noticed the commotion and started to gather around them. When they saw Kaze teach the arrogant security guards a lesson, they felt a surge of satisfaction and relief. Emerald Bull Palace was huge and had a lot of parking spots, yet it was the biggest place of worship in Riverbank and a famous one among the worshippers. Therefore, the security guards took advantage of their positions by issuing unnecessary fines, harassing female visitors, and
Without looking at Cyan, Snow kept her face straight and her mouth shut. At first, Snow thought of telling Kaze to ignore these people. There was no need to make a big deal out of things. However, the security guards took things far, and Snow did not want to waste her breath anymore. Sometimes, it was best to fight fire with fire. The security officers and three monks needed to be taught a lesson. Cyan was furious that Snow paid her no heed. She uttered exasperatedly, “Can you handle the fallout, Kaze?” “Why can’t I?” without looking back, Kaze replied indifferently. He stepped on the young monk’s face, and the latter shrieked in agony. Everybody was dumbfounded. Kaze’s cruelty and audacity knew no bounds. Dozens of security officers on the floor stayed down. Since Kaze did not care that one of the monks was Juan’s nephew, he would have no qualms about killing the rest of them too. “Get up and keep your back straight on your knees, or I’ll break your arm.” K
During her last visit to Emerald Bull Palace, Cyan witnessed Jude and Alfonso chatting happily with Juan. Jude, Alfonso, and Juan were of a social standing beyond Cyan. Cyan’s family made their livelihood through the Viper’s Den South River State Branch. Alfonso was the former deputy chief and the longest-serving veteran. It was only right to suck up to a powerful figure like Juan. To think Kaze would start trouble on a foreign turf, disturb the peace at Emerald Bull Palace, and hurt the employees. Kaze was playing with fire.Cyan shouted frantically, “Kaze, stop! Stop right now!” Losing the fear, the three young monks looked smug and looked at Kaze in defiance. The monk in the middle sneered. “The lady is right. Juan is my uncle.“I dare you to hit us.“You won’t be walking out of here alive.“If you know any better, you should apologize to us on your knees and pay us eight to ten million dollars in medical fees. I might be happy to let you off the hook. “Otherwise