Chapter 54: Learn Your Manners

Chapter 54: Learn Your Manners Xu Tao got curious and turned to their back. By the entrance, he could see a parade of a few cars coming in. At the lead, a dark green sports car in bad taste, revving the engine as if the driver wanted to make his engine explode. Behind it, black cars of roughly the same make, plain but tough-looking, scrambled to fill all spare space behind the green car. They continued onwards, rushing to where Xu Tao and Henrietta were standing... continuing forward... without stopping! "...!" Henrietta panicked for a moment, taking a step back, her face paling. She recognized that car. But Xu Tao patted her shoulder gently. "M-Master...?!" she gasped, about to pull him to safety, but— "Heh, a scaredy-cat as always, huh, Henrietta?" —the green car swerved, sliding to a stop with its side just inches away from Xu Tao. From within, a man wearing a three-piece suit came out. His bright yellow hair was styled simply, swept back with a single lock popping up at the front. His sharp red eyes glanced at Henrietta hidden behind Xu Tao, curving upwards as if enjoying her scared, disgusted look. He lightly pulled at his red checkered tie, freeing the topmost button to seemingly freshen up. "Looks like you’re still as useless as ever, hah!" The man scoffed, not even trying to hide his disdain toward Henrietta. "Hmm?" But Xu Tao stared at the man curiously, tilting his head, before turning to Henrietta and asking. "Who’s this rooster guy, your acquaintance?" "PFFF!" "W-Who are you calling a rooster, you bastard!" Due to the sudden jab, Henrietta almost failed to hold back a laugh, placing a hand over her mouth. She was trembling like a newborn foal, trying hard not to let out a sound. "Hmm?" But Xu Tao didn’t really intend to start a joke; he was just telling things as he saw them. "The fuck is wrong with you?" But the rooster didn’t look amused at all. He turned to the cars behind him, toward the guys wearing all black like he was, and commanded. "You guys, take this clueless dumbass away! Wrap him up in cement and drop him in the middle of the ocean or something!" "Yes, sir." A flat, but powerful answer returned as the men in black began to move. They were approaching, planning to grab Xu Tao. "And for you, my little sister... Until when are you going to hide behind that loser’s back, huh?" the man cackled derisively. "Come here, kneel before me, like you always do!" "..." Xu Tao originally didn’t want to intervene as it was seemingly a private interaction between Henrietta and the rooster man. But his words weren’t something he’d let slide. "You... are asking my disciple to kneel before someone else but her master?" he asked, voice cold, but boiling in anger. "You twerp, I’ll give you the chance to take back your words now. Do it, and I’ll be benevolent enough to spare you." "HUUUUH?" But even with Xu Tao’s warnings, the man didn’t seem intent on following. "Do you know who you’re ordering around? I’m Carlos Campbell, the first son and rightful heir of the Campbell family! I’m not someone who should even be compared to Bronze Tier trash like that woman!" He stuffed both his hands inside his pockets as he stepped forward, inspecting Xu Tao’s face closely from below, trying to look intimidating. "And you? You think you have the right to talk to me, bastard? Know your place!" He extended a hand, tapping Xu Tao’s cheek lightly. "I’m not someone you can handle! I’m an expert at the Gold Level! Unlike that trash, I’m unmatched! Nobody in the world can take me on! Hahahaha!" "...You think so?" Xu Tao sighed, catching the man’s hand that was tapping his cheek. "Then your world must be in quite a deep well, too small to even talk about." "The fuck are you—?!" The man tried to hit Xu Tao in anger. He tried to pull his arm. But to his surprise, he couldn’t... It was as if his hand was buried into the face of a thousand-ton metal block! "Let me go, you bastard! Fuck...!" But no matter how he struggled, how he tried to pull his hands, or hit Xu Tao’s legs, body, or chest—his arm was never released. "This level of strength... Golden Core Stage? Not even worth talking about." Xu Tao sighed, before slightly putting strength into his hand. CRACK! "...!" A loud echo rang, making everyone present gasp in shock. After all, they instinctively understood what it was that they heard—the sound of bones in Carlos’s wrist getting ground to dust. "A-AAAAAGH!" Like a delayed impact, pain assaulted his senses, sending him into a wild roar of pain. He cried tears as he fell to his knees, right hand holding his now-limp left hand. "F-FUCKER...! YOU DARE...!" But as if he was possessed by the devil himself, he didn’t stop. "ALL OF YOU! KILL HIM! CUT THIS BASTARD INTO A THOUSAND FUCKING STRIPS...!" "M-Master..." Henrietta, seeing all the large guys, numbering in the dozens, rush them, felt genuinely scared. Instinctively, she grabbed the hem of Xu Tao’s robe, as if reflexively relying on him. Uriel, still absent—likely still on her shift—was fortunate to miss the chaos unfolding. "Protect the Young Lady!" But of course, the nearby guards didn’t stay quiet either. Seeing that the other side was intent on injuring Henrietta’s "Master," and it didn’t seem they would stop at just that—they moved. A brawl spread instantly, chaotic and bloody. But there’s one thing that should be mentioned. The guards of Henrietta’s mansion were only at the 6th to 8th stage of Body Refinement. On the other hand, the men that the rooster boy brought were all at the 10th Stage, with a few even reaching the 1st Stage of Qi Gathering. Henrietta gritted her teeth. Her forces were clearly outmatched. "This... is bad." She watched helplessly as her men were overpowered one by one. "At this rate, my men will lose...!" But Xu Tao didn’t move, just watching the fight before him like an unrelated observer. He watched all their movements, the martial techniques they used, the way they circulated their Qi, and their special physique. ’These guys are dead serious, putting their lives on the line...’ Xu Tao frowned. ’But... Why are all of them fighting like kids?’ Their punches, their kicks—their martial arts? He couldn’t even dare call it that. It was so immature it didn’t even amount to anything. In his eyes, it was as if a drunk master wrote down techniques but then removed every other letter on the scroll to make it incomprehensible. Not only that, but none of them were making use of their Qi properly. At that point, even Uriel was better. The technique she tried to use, although Xu Tao thwarted it, was one that properly used her Qi, a proper circulation, and a proper technique. ’It was too much of me to assume her level as the average, then... Uriel must’ve been an elite.’ He nodded, convinced. "Master...!" But Henrietta’s worried cry brought him back to his senses. "Ah, right..." Xu Tao sighed, pulling his hands before him and— CLAP! —putting them together. A simple action, one that anyone could replicate. It wasn’t anywhere near the exaggerated hands and feet movements of the guards around him that looked like they’d make a mistake one in every three tries. "Alright, kids. That’s enough." His words carried no intimidation at all. But everyone came to a standstill. As if the space around them became hardened concrete. Nobody could move a finger! "We’re civilized people, let’s talk this out. No need to draw blood, is there?" He then casually waved his hands. The next moment, Henrietta’s guards were all moved to their previous spot—before a faint light covered their bodies, healing their injuries in a flash. On the other side, however, a dark shadow seemingly swept across their formation. After that, one by one, they started falling to their knees or straight to the ground, breathing heavily as if they were forced to run a thousand miles. "This...!" Of course, Henrietta was familiar with the latter. It was the same technique—albeit a stronger version—that he used on her and Uriel before! Everyone from the enemy side fell down. Not a single one remained standing. Xu Tao, seeing that his job was done, turned his head to the mastermind and casually stepped over—he was just three steps away, after all. "And you, rooste—I mean, Carlos, was it?" he asked. "You’re willing to talk this out, right?" No, he didn’t just ask, he also released a condensed killing intent, pointing straight ahead. "...!" The poor man, bathed in a focused, intimidating aura... foamed at the mouth as he fainted. Xu Tao blinked. "Well... I suppose not." He turned toward the fallen guards with a smile. "Then perhaps you’d prefer to return at a later time—with a proper request for a meeting?" His smile... would definitely visit the guards later in their dreams. A nightmare that would haunt them for the rest of their lives.