Chapter 138: Slapping the Face in Public

That afternoon, Huang Jun's father brought Huang Jun to pay a visit. The man was named Huang Tianjun, a rather domineering name for a middle-aged man in his forties.

Zhuang Jin invited them in and poured tea for them.

Huang Tianjun, however, remained standing. With his hands behind his back, he said, "I am already aware of the matter. It is merely a trivial affair. Jun'er made a slight oversight, but that is only human nature and quite inevitable... People of your status and mine, why stoop to the level of a young man and needlessly lower your dignity? Let this matter rest here!"

Originally, Zhuang Jin had no intention of pressing the issue aggressively. He had simply wanted the elders behind Huang Jun to step forward, offer an apology, negotiate properly, and promise to keep Huang Jun on a tight leash so that he would behave himself during his stay in the East District. That would have been the end of it.

But now...

Huang Tianjun had arrived empty-handed, radiating an arrogant and condescending attitude. With nothing more than empty words, he expected to sweep the matter under the rug. Was this the attitude of someone coming to apologize and negotiate? It felt much more like an interrogation!

In that case, negotiation was out of the question!

The polite smile on Zhuang Jin's face vanished instantly. He looked at Huang Tianjun and said, "Indeed, there is no need to lower oneself by bickering with a junior and losing one's dignity. In that case, let us test our skills as fellow martial artists and exchange a few pointers!"

Without waiting for Huang Tianjun's consent, he moved.

Swish!

With a flicker of his figure, he was standing right in front of Huang Tianjun the next second.

Huang Tianjun had not expected Zhuang Jin to be as aggressively territorial as a stubborn baboon, ready to throw hands at the slightest disagreement. Thinking to himself that this young man had a fiery temper, a surge of anger rose in his heart, and he prepared to teach Zhuang Jin a lesson.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Every blow and stance exchanged by the two carried immense force, accompanied by a rustling whistle in the air. Between them, colliding energies eroded each other, producing a teeth-gritting, grinding sound.

Huang Jun quickly retreated, watching the two of them with a trace of anticipation in his eyes.

That morning, facing Zhuang Jin, he had dared to be angry but not speak out. In his mind, Zhuang Jin had only been putting on airs in front of him; surely he wouldn't dare act like that in front of his own father?

Earlier, when his father had brought him along and domineeringly demanded that Zhuang Jin drop the matter, it had sounded immensely satisfying. He simply hadn't expected that not only would Zhuang Jin refuse to submit meekly, but he actually dared to show defiance and proactively challenge his father to a spar. What unmitigated gall!

"We're in for a good show this time!"

From Huang Jun's perspective, his father was a veteran, established martial artist, whereas Zhuang Jin was a recent breakthrough—rumored to have been injured and resting in the East District to recuperate. Comparing the two, wouldn't his father hold every advantage? He couldn't even fathom how his father could possibly lose!

Yet, what he saw next completely shattered his expectations: his father, whom he thought could never lose, was being comprehensively suppressed by Zhuang Jin, reduced entirely to parrying blows without a shred of counterattack ability. It looked precisely like a father giving a severe thrashing to his own son...

"No, that metaphor doesn't sound quite right!"

Huang Jun shook his head vigorously, casting away that bizarre thought. The very next instant, however, his eyes widened as he witnessed an even more shocking scene.

Slap!

After a dozen-odd blows, a crisp cracking sound suddenly rang out. Huang Tianjun was struck so hard he staggered sideways; his hair-binding crown fell off, leaving his hair disheveled and his appearance thoroughly wretched, while a distinct palm print burned red across his cheek.

"Father!" Huang Jun forgot his shock and rushed forward to support his dad.

"I..."

Huang Tianjun shook his head, his mind completely dazed. It took him a full several seconds to process what had just happened. He had actually... been slapped across the face?!

Everyone knew that in street brawls people avoided hitting the face, and in ordinary martial arts spars, points were awarded with restraint. Yet he had been slapped across the face?! Zhuang Jin actually dared to hit him in the face?!

Why wouldn't he dare?

Not only had Zhuang Jin struck him, but he was also continuing to mock him.

Standing with his hands behind his back and looking down from above, Zhuang Jin said indifferently, "It was merely a trivial matter, so why the expression, Protector Huang? Exchanging martial arts pointers and getting one's face swollen—isn't that just human nature and quite inevitable? Why must Protector Huang stoop to the level of a young man like me and needlessly lower your dignity?"

Hearing this, Huang Jun was stunned by Zhuang Jin's sheer audacity. Having struck his father across the face, he still dared to utter such words right to his face? Was he truly trying to stir up a massive storm?

Yet something felt strangely amiss. Ah, he remembered—why did those words sound so familiar?

As a mere bystander, Huang Jun felt overwhelmed by Zhuang Jin's arrogance, let alone Huang Tianjun, the person directly involved. At this moment, half of Huang Tianjun's face was turned pale with fury—well, half his face was pale from anger and the other half was bruised from the slap, making for quite a mottled complexion.

Pointing a trembling finger at Zhuang Jin, his face contorted in ferocity as he shrieked, "Zhuang Jin, you go too far! I'm telling you, this is not over, you—"

"If I'm not mistaken, Protector Huang is planning to rally the forces behind him for revenge? For someone of Protector Huang's age, why are you still as childish as a kid, crying for your elders the moment you lose a fight?"

With his hidden thoughts exposed, Huang Tianjun felt a twinge of awkwardness, but assuming Zhuang Jin was merely frightened, he broke into a cold sneer.

"Protector Huang's state of mind leaves much to be desired! Didn't you advise me to be magnanimous at first, to have a forgiving heart and not bicker with a junior?"

Zhuang Jin's tone shifted abruptly: "That is the height of absurdity! I am only eighteen this year, yet Protector Huang went out of his way to advise me not to bicker with your son in his twenties? Then, facing an old fellow like you in his forty-something years, with skin so thick it actually hurt my hand to hit it, shouldn't I also offer a word of advice: don't bicker with a young man like me who is only eighteen?"

"Er..."

Huang Tianjun was so stunned by the remark about his "thick skin and hurting the hand" that he momentarily forgot to retort. Only then did it dawn on him that Zhuang Jin was indeed only eighteen. Because of Zhuang Jin's status, power, and achievements, it was terribly easy to overlook his actual age. Recalling his own previous lecturing words, his aged face flushed with a mixed shade of green and white—though this time, it was mostly out of sheer embarrassment.

"Besides, I merely returned to Protector Huang what you did to me. Why is Protector Huang finding it so hard to accept?"

As soon as these words dropped, both father and son froze, finally putting the pieces together: Huang Jun had framed Zhuang Jin, which was no different from giving Zhuang Jin a slap in the face. When Huang Tianjun came looking for him, not only did he offer no compensation or apology, but with empty words he expected Zhuang Jin to let it go...

To a certain extent, what Zhuang Jin had just done was of the exact same nature.

Realizing this, and knowing they had no ground to stand on, Huang Tianjun's fury dissipated by more than half. Coupled with his dread of Zhuang Jin's strength and the stinging memory of that slap, the arrogance and contempt he had brought with him were thoroughly beaten out of him. Calming down completely, he said, "This matter... was indeed my son's fault. How about this: I will cede the title deeds to ten shops, and let this matter rest?"

"If you had shown this attitude from the very beginning, I would have agreed. But now? Too late!"

Anxious, Huang Jun blurted out, "Lord Zhuang, we have already apologized and offered compensation. Our sincerity is substantial..."

Zhuang Jin gave him a cold, fleeting glance, the meaning crystal clear: when adults are talking, is there any room for you to chime in?

"Silence!"

Huang Tianjun stopped his son, gritted his teeth, and looked at Zhuang Jin. "At most, I'll add two more shops. Protector Huang, do not be too greedy..."

Zhuang Jin shook his head, utterly unmoved. "This isn't about compensation."

"Then what does Protector Zhuang want?"

"What do I want? Next month, the two of you should apply yourselves and request a transfer out of the East District," Zhuang Jin said indifferently.

"What?"

Huang Jun stared in disbelief. He had never expected that Zhuang Jin intended to drive not just him, but his father as well, out of the East District.

The anger that Huang Tianjun had managed to suppress flared up anew, burning fiercely. He sneered, "Very well, very well! It seems Protector Zhuang prefers the hard way over the easy way! But wanting to transfer our father and son out of the East District? You certainly have a big mouth! Our Huang family has been rooted in the East District for three generations..."