"And what if he is a devil? That doesn't matter, he deserves death for not even feeling shame for what he said! Our kingdom is being insulted, and he only thinks about Her Highness the Princess's beauty, and he doesn't even know what she's going through at this moment! She was summoned from her fiefdom this morning to be informed of this news!" said the old man, quickening his steps and grabbing Xiao Ping by his shirt, lifting him high in the air. The old man showed astonishing strength for his age.
James stopped and looked at Xiao Ping dangling in the air, ready to intervene at any moment if old Herbert lost his sanity and control and tried to kill Xiao Ping! He couldn't let that happen!
"Do you know what the sons of the kingdom will feel when news of this truce with its conditions spreads? Do you know the shame they will feel for their country's situation, and how they will be forced to give up their wives or daughters? Do you know that feeling of helplessness?" old Herbert continued hurling words at Xiao Ping's face.
Xiao Ping looked with cold nerves at the face of old Herbert, filled with wrinkles, with a prominent vein on his forehead.
"What has this kingdom done for me to defend it?" Xiao Ping's cold voice echoed in the store room, making James's face remain serious.
"What has it done for you? It has given you everything!" replied old Herbert, not noticing the cold tone of Xiao Ping.
"Heheheheheheh, everything you say? You should open your eyes!" said Xiao Ping before looking into old Herbert's eyes behind his glasses, then added: "This kingdom has given me nothing but poverty, humiliation, and suffering. Imagine being rejected by everyone around you just because you live alone, imagine suffering unbearable pain as soon as you wake up from sleep! And this and much more happened to me just today? And can you imagine how much I've lived this for 18 years!"
'I didn't know Ping suffered so much in his life, and I never saw him show this side today!' James analyzed in his mind.
"But that doesn't mean you should hate the kingdom!" replied old Herbert before saying: "You don't know how many sacrifices the kingdom makes for you every day!"
"Shut up! You and this kingdom of yours! Why don't you go and defend it! Instead of sitting in this wretched store, shedding useless tears or complaining, go and die like a man!" Xiao Ping shouted in Herbert's face before continuing: "I do not acknowledge a kingdom that didn't even provide me with a living wage, I don't care what happens to it or its people who laugh and curse me wherever I go! Let me go now if you don't want to lose your arm, old man, or have an early death!" said Xiao Ping as energy began to flow through his body, and with just a thought, it began to gather into a ball of threads in his right hand.
"Stop!" James shouted after hearing that, looking at that ball of energy gathering around Xiao Ping's hand. 'But what does Ping mean by giving him an early death?.. Is there something about old Herbert that I don't know? Yes, talking about it, he was breathing with difficulty! And also, his level seems low? I don't know what happened to him, could it be... I must stop them.' He thought as he ran towards them.
"You too are just a traitor! And you deserve death for that!" shouted old Herbert as his high pressure began to bear down on Xiao Ping's body dangling in the air.
"Even if I die today, I'll drag you down with me!" replied Xiao Ping as the silver threads grew larger and larger in his hand; they were larger than that ball he had made earlier above one of the people from the crowd chasing the Princess, but it was easily stopped by one of the Princess's mysterious guards. And he continued in a devilish voice: "I have nothing to lose, but you do! Aren't you afraid of making her sad?"
"You! How do you know my granddaughter!" said old Herbert as he slightly loosened his pressure, giving Xiao Ping an opportunity.
'This is a chance to get rid of this old man!' Xiao Ping directed the ball of threads towards the left side of the old man, and it would have hit him if James hadn't grabbed Xiao Ping's arm at the last moment, preventing him from hitting old Herbert.
"What!?" The old man regained his senses and let go of Xiao Ping, retreating backward, leaving only James in front of Xiao Ping.
"James! Why are you ruining the fun? It was a good thing that was about to happen!" he said as his lips curled into a devilish smile.
"What fun? Do you mean when you were about to kill old Herbert moments ago?" replied James, holding Xiao Ping's arm tightly, looking at that ball that was the size of half an adult human with cautious expressions. 'This technique! It's not listed in any sequence at all, it's an aberrant technique!'
"Huh? No, it's impossible for this novice to kill me!" old Herbert spoke, looking cautiously at James and Xiao Ping!
"No, it's real! I don't think I'd come out unscathed if I were hit by this blow directly!.." replied James and said: "Please step back until I calm down my partner!"
The old man inclined his head and stayed back while watching them. 'Damn it! My level has dropped due to the injury! This is truly pathetic.' Old Herbert mocked himself.
"I don't know what you're talking about! This is just a technique I created today!" replied Xiao Ping coldly and made the threads in his hand disperse and disappear.
"What? You created it?!" James shouted while still holding Xiao Ping's arm, never letting go.
"Yes! I invented it today! And... forget it, let go of my hand!" Xiao Ping tried to make James let go of his hand but couldn't.
"No... I won't let go of your hand!" replied James.
"Then you are aberrant as I expected!" Xiao Ping replied sarcastically.
"No, I'm not!" James denied Xiao Ping's words.
'He created it today? But when did this boy become an ability holder? He seems like a novice... perhaps today? No, that can't be, this person is in the second layer, I think.' Old Herbert thought before saying: "You! Answer my question, how do you know my daughter?!"
"Why wouldn't I know a girl who will become a concubine for a foreigner from another kingdom?! One must know the insects and reject them!" said Xiao Ping in a provocative manner.
"I will kill you!" shouted the old man before waving in the air, creating a spatial tear, and entering it.
"Huh? Where did he go?!" Xiao Ping wondered, and this was the first time he saw the abilities of a sequence other than the organization member's sequence and his own.
'His trace has disappeared, no... his presence in the world has vanished.' Xiao Ping muttered before he received a vision of old Herbert striking him from above his head.
Quickly, he placed one hand on the ground (the other was held by James), before delivering a kick upwards with his foot. He wasn't afraid his hat would fall because it was firmly fixed on his head!
'Did he predict his exit point? No, it's beyond that?' James was surprised and decided to let them fight a little before stopping them, not realizing he was still holding Xiao Ping's arm.
Bam! The sound of Xiao Ping's shoe heel colliding with the old man's hand echoed, causing the old man to exit that spatial tear, coughing up blood profusely from his mouth!
Upon seeing that, James let go of Xiao Ping's arm and gently laid old Herbert on the ground before turning and saying: "Ping! Did you do something strange to him? He is at the second level of the Cosmic Structure Bearer path! It's impossible for him to be affected by your blows due to the level difference! And also experience, but why do I see him coughing blood?" 'No, there really is something wrong with old Herbert! His level really is lower than before!'
"I didn't do anything! I defended myself, and also, you were holding my arm and prevented me from dodging, so I adopted the tactic of counter-attack as the best defense! As for his coughing blood, why don't you ask him, he suffers from a malignant disease in his lungs, liver, and heart!"
"Is this true?!" James turned towards old Herbert's face, his eyes wide open; at that moment, James continued in a trembling voice: "Please! Please, Mr. Herbert, deny what he said! Say you're fine and not suffering from anything! Please!"
Old Herbert ignored James's pleas and looked at Xiao Ping, saying while blood came out of his mouth: "Tell me how you know my granddaughter!"
"As I told you before, how could I not remember the face of a concu—" Xiao Ping wanted to provoke old Herbert more, but James's voice interrupted him.
"Ping! Stop this!" James shouted while helping old Herbert up before saying: "Is what you said true?! I mean about Mr. Herbert's condition?!"
"100% sure, and also, he doesn't have much time left to live in this wretched world." Xiao Ping looked mockingly at old Herbert with a devilish smile forming on his lips.
...
End of Chapter ~ To be continued.