Chapter 4

Le You and Xiao Ai clung to each other in terror, tears streaming down their faces as they prayed for a miracle. Just as everyone thought they were done for, a flash of green light passed right through them and vanished into the ground. The green-robed man was utterly stunned. He fanned his weapon dozens more times, leaving Jing Yuan, A Xu, and the others watching in stunned disbelief.

If they hadn't witnessed this person's power to split mountains and shake rocks earlier, they'd have thought he was dangling from some invisible wire, toying with them with a laser pointer.

Seeing they were unharmed, the man in white—though unsure of the reason—let out a sigh of relief. He immediately stopped to focus his energy and expel the poison.

Realizing the green-robed man's attacks were useless against them, Le You and Xiao Ai scrambled back to their feet and hurried behind Jing Yuan and the others.

Xiao Ai, still trembling, choked out a question, "F-fatty... I mean, Brother Jing Yuan, what's going on?"

The fatty and Jing Yuan naturally had no idea either and shook their heads blankly. Seeing his attacks were completely ineffective, the green-robed man grew even more furious. He put away his green feathered fan and formed a vortex in his hand, trying to suck them toward him.

Jing Yuan and the others had already assumed defensive stances. When they saw the vortex pulling at them, everyone rolled aside to dodge. Xiao Wu, standing at the back, couldn't see clearly and reacted a step too slow, taking the hit head-on.

"Xiao Wu!" A Xu cried out in alarm. Xu Haoyue, who had rolled away too hastily and lost his glasses, heard the shout and frantically groped around. Finding them, he put them on and looked. Xiao Wu was sitting there completely unharmed, just with a messed-up hairstyle. He seemed to be in shock, though, not reacting for a long moment.

"What's happening? Wasn't that guy incredibly powerful just now?" Xu Haoyue hurriedly got up, wiping his glasses again.

Xiao Ai watched the green-robed man, who seemed on the verge of a frenzy, waving her hands to dodge the flying sand and stones. She shouted, "Yeah, what's this all about! A Xu, you read tons of novels, right? Analyze this, quick!"

A Xu rubbed his sore backside, pulling Xiao Wu to his feet. "How should I know? This isn't a novel."

"Holy crap! Is this green guy crazy, flailing around like this? These rocks really hurt!" The fatty, with his larger build, was slower to dodge and failed to avoid many of the stones.

"Hey, could it be... because we're not from this world? So except for, ouch, except for physical damage, nothing else works on us?" A Xu speculated.

Jing Yuan, the fatty, and Le You exchanged bewildered looks and replied in unison, "Is that it?" They couldn't think of any other reason. Hearing this, Xiao Ai snapped, "Who cares! Since his fancy attacks are useless, why should we just take a beating from this green freak for nothing? Don't disgrace the name of our Changwen Martial Arts Hall! Let's go beat him up!" With that, she took the lead and charged.

The green-robed man finally sensed something was wrong and frantically tried to turn and fly away. But Xu Haoyue, who had reacted and was standing nearby, grabbed his ankle and yanked him down from mid-air.

Immediately, the fatty, Xiao Ai, and the other six swarmed around him, grinning eerily. Some were even rotating their wrists. The green-robed man was utterly confused. This was the first time in his life he'd been pinned to the ground, unable to move. Gradually, a dawning understanding—and a look of sheer terror—appeared in his eyes.

Xiao Ai glanced at his pitiful state and sneered, her voice devoid of any sympathy. "Hmph! Daring to bully us? Beat him up." Then, the seven martial siblings surrounded the green-robed man, delivering a flurry of punches, kicks, throws, and pins. The green-robed man felt immensely humiliated and wanted to fight back, but all his spells were useless. Furious and unable to speak, he could only roar with an ugly, screeching sound.

By the time the seven martial siblings had vented their anger and were exhausted, they slumped down to rest. As soon as they scattered, the green-robed man hastily shrank beside a rock, leaning against it and trembling all over, his eyes filled with grievance and fear.

Meanwhile, the man in white seemed to have mostly expelled the poison. He stood up, bowed to them, and said, "Thank you, noble warriors, for your assistance in capturing this Green Lizard of the Yanchi Hall. If not for you, I might have fallen prey to its tricks today."

He was actually speaking Mandarin, much to everyone's surprise.

"What, what? Green Lizard? Not the 'lizard' lizard, right?" The fatty, as always, focused on the wrong detail.

The man in white chuckled. "Haha, precisely. This Green Lizard is transformed from a lizard. Its skills are mediocre, but its poisonous mist is quite troublesome."

"Ew!" "Yuck!" Upon hearing this, the seven of them recoiled in disgust and immediately started searching their clothes for clean fabric to wipe their hands and feet.