Young Master Wang's face, originally twisted with malice, triumph, contempt, and disgust, froze as soon as his subordinate uttered those words.
His expression became as changeable as the seasons, at times flushed, then pale, then dark again, as if he were a Sichuan opera face-changing performer, which made him look particularly ridiculous.
What the hell, we were just talking about Xiang Mantang battling for power in Dragon King Hall, too preoccupied to manage their own affairs, and now he decides to swing by for a visit!
Young Master Wang felt so angry he almost vomited blood.
But quickly, he suppressed the fear and anger churning inside him and hurriedly said to his subordinate, "Go out and tell him I am under the weather and not fit to receive visitors, ask him to come back another day."
"This..."
Upon hearing Young Master Wang's words, the subordinate's expression wavered with hesitation and reluctance, not daring to agree immediately.
After all, the Tiance True Dragon of the Dragon King Hall— even here beneath the skies of Capital City, where the emperor resides, was a figure of high authority. If he wanted to visit the Wang Family, even the Family Head, Wang Changge, would have to drop everything and hurry back to receive him.
And there was Young Master Wang, a third generation Wang Family Member, trying to tell him to come back another time. If Xiang Mantang were to sense anything amiss, it could very well be planting seeds of disaster for the Wang Family!
And most importantly, the reason the subordinate looked so flustered when he came in to notify Young Master Wang wasn't due to the terrifying status of Xiang Mantang, that left him panic-stricken...
It was because Xiang Mantang didn't bother to wait for notification; he had simply barged in!
Which meant, Xiang Mantang was about to enter.
Sure enough,
as the subordinate was preparing to explain the situation to Young Master Wang,
"Oh? Under the weather, to come back another day? But from what I see, you don't look too ill. Or maybe, since I know a little bit of the Qihuang Technique, would you like me to check on you?"
Xiang Mantang's chilling voice suddenly rose just outside the room.
"Ah?!"
Upon hearing Xiang Mantang's voice, Young Master Wang couldn't help but shiver uncontrollably.
He then glared at his subordinate, so filled with rage he wished he could tear him to pieces!
Dammit, this was setting him up. The man was already making himself at home and here was his subordinate, dawdling about with his message, letting Xiang Mantang hear any hint of avoidance!
There was no time for Young Master Wang to react, as the entryway resounded with a series of crisp footsteps.
"Dadada..."
Soon, under Young Master Wang's gaze—full of terror and helplessness—Xiang Mantang, draped in a black fox-fur overcoat and wearing military boots, strode in.
"Dragon... Dragon King..." Young Master Wang, looking at Xiang Mantang, forced an uglier smile than a cry, "What wind has blown you to our door? Are you here for my father? I'll call him straight away..."
As he spoke, Young Master Wang reached for his pocket, only to realize in a flash that he had smashed his cell phone just moments ago. A fine sweat broke out on his forehead, and he hurriedly explained, "Sorry, sorry, the phone's broken, I'll go to my room to get..."
"No need!"
Xiang Mantang's emotionless voice interrupted, freezing Young Master Wang in his tracks.
Tense and rigid, Young Master Wang then turned back to offer a woeful smile, somewhat at a loss.
Xiang Mantang slowly walked toward him, saying, "I'll call your father later to inform him to come over, but before that, since your hands seems quite shaky, let me have a look at them!"
"Don't..." Before Young Master Wang could finish his refusal, he saw a black shadow flash before his eyes.
Then, he realized that his wrist was now in the hands of Xiang Mantang.
Next, as Xiang Mantang held his wrist, he flashed a dazzling smile with gleaming teeth, which sent a disturbing chill through Young Master Wang. Just as a sense of foreboding rose in him, Xiang Mantang applied force to his hand!
"Crack crack crack..."
"Ah!!"
The first sound was the noise of Young Master Wang's tendons and bones being displaced.
The latter, like the squeal of a slaughtered pig, was naturally Young Master Wang's scream of agony.
Xiang Mantang listened to Young Master Wang's howls indifferently and continued to apply the Bone Shattering Hand technique!
In the end, after Xiang Mantang had gone over Young Master Wang's entire body with the Bone Shattering Hand, he nonchalantly released his grip.
"Hehe..."
Young Master Wang lay prostrate on the ground, his body constantly spasming and twitching, his expression one of unbearable pain. His clothes were long soaked with cold sweat, and before long, the marble floor was also smeared with a puddle of his sweat right where he lay!
Xiang Mantang looked down at Young Master Wang writhing in the puddle like a leech and repeatedly apologized, "Oh dear, I'm so sorry, Young Master Wang. It seems my medical skills are still no match for my senior brother's. It's truly embarrassing for you."
Though his tone was full of apology, if Young Master Wang had looked up, he would have seen that Xiang Mantang's expression was icy cold, with no sign of an actual apology.
With his eyes glazing over, Young Master Wang gasped for breath while lying on the ground, completely unable to lift his head to look at Xiang Mantang's face or listen to what he was saying.
He felt that death would be preferable to living at this moment; he would rather die than continue to endure such excruciating torment.
Seeing this, Xiang Mantang lost interest in toying with him. He stepped directly on Young Master Wang's head and then took out his cellphone to call Wang Changge.
"Beep beep beep..."
The call connected quickly.
Wang Changge's voice, tinged with panic and reverence, answered, "Hello, Dragon King?"
Xiang Mantang felt somewhat helpless; he didn't consider himself the Tiance True Dragon of the Dragon King Hall, but these people seemed to have decided Mu Jinyu was beyond saving and that he was the new Tiance True Dragon. They kept calling him Dragon King, which irritated him...
Xiang Mantang said, "Stop calling me Dragon King. I'm already at your Wang Family's place. Have your people arrived yet?"
Xiang Mantang knew that even though Young Master Wang hadn't called Wang Changge, and his own call to Wang Changge had just been made, Wang Changge must have already received the message that he was coming.
After all, he had made his way there without any attempt to hide, and the numerous members of the Wang Family, upon seeing him arrive, must have secretly called Wang Changge already.
"I'll be there shortly, Dragon King. Please wait a moment..." Wang Changge said.
"Fine, I'll wait for you. One minute, one finger," Xiang Mantang replied indifferently.
"This..." Wang Changge still wanted to ask what Xiang Mantang meant, but Xiang Mantang had already hung up the phone.
Afterward, Xiang Mantang casually sat down, picked up a fruit knife from the coffee table, and began to peel an apple for himself.
He was quick, peeling the apple in just over ten seconds. Then he munched on the apple, timing the minutes, all the while fiddling with the fruit knife in his hand.
A minute had passed.
Wang Changge had still not arrived.
Impatience showed on Xiang Mantang's face, followed by a swift cut.
In the puddle in front of Young Master Wang, a splash of red quickly spread, accompanied by a severed finger.
However, Young Master Wang, already tormented to his limits and still feeling the effects of the Bone Shattering Hand, barely registered the pain of losing a finger.
Instead, he became stubbornly silent, not making a sound.
In the following minutes,
Xiang Mantang would casually help Young Master Wang lose a finger every minute until after ten minutes had passed, Wang Changge hurried over, and Xiang Mantang stopped the act of cutting off toes.
"Finally back, huh?" Xiang Mantang said to Wang Changge with a raised eyebrow and a smile, as if greeting a good friend.