Li Chengfeng could not come up with a believable excuse so he had no choice but to agree to meet Huangfu Song and the rest at their quarters in Area B for the feast. Huangfu Song went back to wash up while Ji Chunhua and the rest also returned to doll up so they could be the prettiest. Li Chengfeng then ran over to Zhang Jinbao’s place.
After receiving Li Chengfeng’s request, he had been hanging around at the teleportation area wondering what his good brother’s enemy would look like. He was thinking when there was a flash of light and a person materialised. It was Zhan Qisheng.
Zhang Jinbao saw his cold expression, high-arching eyebrows, downturned mouth, fierce glare and slapped his thigh. This was the person he was looking for!
This man literally had ‘bad person’ written on his entire face!
Eager to fulfil Li Chengfeng’s request to get on the Zhan family’s good side, he immediately went forward with a fake smile. “Are you a new junior?”
Zhan Qisheng eyed him cautiously. “Who are you?”
“I am Zhang Jinbao, a senior brother here to greet you.”
Zhan Qisheng’s eyes filled with disgust. “Look at you, and you call yourself a cultivator? YOU’RE a senior?”
Zhang Jinbao was filled with rage. Brother Li was right, this person is horrid!
He had already planned to take this as an opportunity to suck up to Li Chengfeng and his mind had already started to race. His smile unchanging, he said, “What is your name, Junior Brother?”
Zhan Qisheng huffed. “Zhan Qisheng!”
What a shameless man, how dare he pose as my good brother! Thank goodness he’d reminded me about this or I would have fallen for this trick!
Zhang Jinbao smiled. “Are you Sir Zhan of the Northwest Zhan family?”
He held his nose up in their air arrogantly. “Now that you know about that, aren’t you going to lead the way?”
How dare this knockoff Zhan put on airs? Hmmph, let’s see if I kill you!
Zhang Jinbao led the way with a smile as Zhan Qisheng walked with hands behind his back, eyeing his surroundings.
He led Zhan Qisheng to an obscure path and pointed at a building hidden within the dense forest. “This will be your quarters.”
Zhan Qisheng looked around and saw a wide path that led to that building. Stone pillars lined the path and giant ancient trees made this place feel like an entirely different realm. He nodded to himself. The Spiritual Mountain Sect’s view is quite different from our family’s view.
The unsuspecting Zhan Qisheng walked towards the building while Zhan Jinbao stood at the same spot, a look of mischief in his eyes. One, two, three, four…. Twenty! Bingo!
Zhan Qisheng had stepped into the middle of the path when the ground shook and the deafening voice of an old man rang. “How dare you trespass into a forbidden area!”
Zhan Qisheng’s face fell. He was about to move when everywhere turned dark. He looked up to see a gigantic tree man swatting its palm directly at him!
Too startled to move, he thought he was going to die for sure. When he opened his eyes nervously, he realised he was trapped in a twig cage and could not move his body.
Zhang Jinbao laughed heartily. “That’ll show you to be a snob! Have fun in there!”
Zhan Qisheng could not believe that he was tricked the first moment he had stepped into Cangjin Court. Tugging at the wooden casing around him, he roared, “Do you know who I am? I’m the fourth son of the Zhan family, Zhan Qisheng! Let me go or I’ll kill your entire family!”
Zhang Jinbao clutched his chest as if he was terrified. “My entire family? That’s horrible, why would I let you out then?”
“Let me out! Or I’ll kill your entire family!”
“Tsk, my brother really was right. You’re bold to pose as a Zhan family member!”
“I AM from the Zhan family! Why would I pose as one?”
Zhang Jinbao dug his ear. “How will you prove it?”
Zhan Qisheng quickly felt for the goldfish pouch at his waist but realised it was missing. He furiously remembered the short encounter he had with Li Chengfeng and realised what had happened.
“So? You don’t have proof?” Zhang Jinbao laughed coldly. “Brother, I will not trouble you any further. The formation will deactivate in seven days and I advise you not to struggle. It will just tighten the more you struggle. If you know how to cast spells, please don’t because magic is banned here. All the magic you cast will just attack you instead.”
“Let me go and I will prove to you that I am Sir Zhan! The other guy is the fake!”
“Oh, we’ve got a new story now?” Zhang Jinbao did not like Zhan Qisheng at all. “Watch your manners, a son of the Zhan family would never be like this! Ptui, you’d be an embarrassment of the family!”
Raging, Zhan Qisheng shook the cage of twigs and vines vigorously. “I will kill you! I will kill you!” When he shook it, the cage tightened until Zhan Qisheng did not even have space to use his muscles. He did not dare shake anymore as his head was already pressed up against the tree trunk. He glared at Zhang Jinbao. “When I get out, I will skin you alive, I’ll cut your tendons and make you regret even being born!”
Zhang Jinbao spat, “I’ve heard these before! Get yourself new threats!”
Zhan Qisheng stopped talking, glaring at him with seething hatred. It was a death stare so intense Zhang Jinbao shuddered. He did not want to stay any longer so he left.
When he had just arrived back at the teleportation area, he bumped into Li Chengfeng and quickly spoke up, as if looking for praise, “Junior Zhan, I have done what you told me to!”
Li Chengfeng paused. “Huh? What?” As if recalling something, he asked carefully, “You met my… enemy?”
Zhang Jinbao was delighted with himself. “This person doesn’t look like a good person at all. I lured him into a forbidden area and he’s currently locked up in there.”
Only
Chengfeng was shocked. “Huh? Forbidden area?”
Zhang Jinbao laughed. “Yeah, there are three forbidden areas in Cangjian Court. Trespassing twenty steps inside results in a seven-day entrapment, fifty steps results in exile while a hundred steps result in death! A seven-day lockup is already a small punishment!”
Li Chengfeng was ecstatic. That was great news! But it was just seven days. Seven years would have been better!
Wait, he’s trapped?
He probed, “But what if he comes back for revenge? What then?”
“Private brawls are banned in the sect. If he challenges you, you can just find an excuse to not accept it. It won’t be embarrassing. Plus you have so many seniors helping you out, you don’t’ have to be afraid of him.”
“But I can’t hide like this forever. What if we just…” Li Chengfeng chopped his palm downwards like a knife.
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