Nine-layer armor-breaking

Chapter 10 Provocation
"No need to ask, I'm here."

The crowd dispersed to both sides, leaving a passage through which seven or eight men walked out. They were tall and strong, the older ones were around thirty years old, and the younger ones were only around twenty years old.

The leader was wearing a dark blue robe with a circular pattern. He was tall and strong, but he looked like a scholar and seemed to be very gentle and refined.

The sentence just now came from his mouth.

The young man with a scholarly appearance waved his hand, and several people behind him walked over to the burly man injured by Jiang Xuan and helped him up.

The burly man was held by two people, standing tremblingly aside, his eyes clearly avoiding the young man with a scholarly appearance.

As soon as he appeared on the stage, the young man with a scholarly appearance almost took control of the situation.

Obviously, he is the leader of the mercenary group.

A young man with the appearance of a scholar walked into Yu Ji Clothing Store and looked at the store owner and Jiang Xuan with a rather kind look.

"Old Yu, how is business?" The young man with a scholarly look greeted the clothing store owner like an old friend, his tone very enthusiastic.

The owner of the clothing store naturally knew the identity of the young man with the appearance of a scholar. He felt something was wrong, but his body was shaking slightly and he couldn't speak.

"Wei..."

The shop owner was about to struggle to squeeze out a word when he was interrupted by a scholarly-looking young man: "My name is Wei Li, and I'm the leader of the mercenary group. You must be the young man with two guns who injured my brother, right?"

Wei Li had a kind face. The clothing store owner, Lao Yu, silently took a few steps back and stood diagonally behind Jiang Xuan in an awkward posture of embarrassment and fear, and simply stopped talking.

Although the clothing store owner had seen Jiang Xuan's skills, he still gasped when he saw the mercenary leader Wei Li and his men appear in the street.

In his opinion, Yuji Clothing Store was completely finished.

What he had to think about now was how to escape the beating from the mercenary group.

Seven years ago, Wei Li came here as a dismissed disciple of the government martial arts school and had a conflict with the local tyrant, a second-level Heavenly Rank warrior.

The so-called conflict is actually a struggle for the management rights of the street market. This street market originally appeared because of the large number of passers-by, so it was naturally not paid attention to by the government and has always been out of the government's control.

This territory, which is not paid attention to by the government but is also a place with booming business, naturally became a piece of "fat meat" that various forces competed for.

Wei Li took a fancy to this piece of "fat meat". If he wanted to eat it, he had to fight with the local tyrant.

The merchants in the street market all understood this truth, and the facts also told them that such disputes might occur repeatedly, but the winner this time was Wei Li, and the battle scene between Wei Li and the local tyrant was indeed too bloody.

Compared with the previous local tyrants, the business owners are more afraid of Wei Li, but they also believe that Wei Li is a better manager than the previous managers.

Wei Li charges merchants ever-higher protection fees, and this has intensified in recent years, but he appears to be very kind to the local residents.

The residents did not care about the merchants' thoughts. They only saw how good Wei Li was to them. Over time, some young people among the residents became Wei Li's subordinates, and then the current mercenary group appeared.

Under the management of the Wei Li Mercenary Group, this place is actually in good order.

However, this year, the mercenary group suddenly began to collect protection fees from merchants repeatedly, and the fees exceeded the profits of each store, leaving the merchants miserable.

However, Wei Li has been operating here for many years, and most of the members of the mercenary group are children of nearby residents. It is extremely difficult to shake Wei Li's management in a short period of time.

"Are you the leader of the mercenary group?" Jiang Xuan thrust his spear forward, sizing Wei Li up and down. "Yes, it's me. Since you know my mercenary group, why did you interfere in its affairs and attack my brothers so ruthlessly?" Wei Li frowned slightly.

"Your men have affected my business and are trying to steal my weapons. Can't I fight them?" Jiang Xuan challenged Wei Li.

"We can fight, but the mercenary group has been taking care of this place for many years, so naturally there are rules for the mercenary group here. If you want to touch anyone from my mercenary group, you have to ask me, Wei Li, first, otherwise I, Wei Li, will ask you." Wei Li's face began to show a hint of displeasure, and his tone became much tougher.

"Just ask whatever you want to ask. Stop nagging and talking too much!" Jiang Xuan refused to give in.

Wei Li's face had turned extremely ugly. The boss behind Jiang Xuan was so scared that he broke out in a cold sweat. Now he no longer had any illusions about avoiding being beaten. His only wish was not to be beaten to death by the mercenaries.

Having been operating here for many years, Wei Li wasn't one to be easily swayed by provocation. He softened his expression and said, "Young man, you're much younger than the rest of my group. I understand that young people have a tendency to get angry. However, since a member of my mercenary group was injured by you, I naturally have to stand up for him. Otherwise, how can I continue to be the group leader?"

"Okay, I wonder how Captain Wei is going to stand up for his brothers?" Jiang Xuan didn't look at Wei Li directly, but just looked at the black spear in his hand boredly.

"My mercenary group doesn't use force to bully others. How about this, little brother, I'll have a competition with you and we can make a bet. Are you interested?"

Seeing that Jiang Xuan had fallen into his plan, Wei Li's expression began to soften again.

"How to bet?" Jiang Xuan asked.

"It's simple. I'll have a duel with you, little brother, and we'll stop when the time is right. If you win, the mercenary group will not pursue the matter, and we'll waive all future management fees for this clothing store. If you lose, you'll have to hand over your two spears and kowtow to apologize to my injured brother."

Wei Li thought for a moment and added, "In addition, the mercenary group will burn this clothing store to the ground."

After Wei Li finished speaking, he looked at Jiang Xuan very proudly.

"Okay." Jiang Xuan agreed very readily, which was somewhat beyond Wei Li's expectations.

Jiang Xuan walked out the door, gun in hand. After a few steps, he suddenly remembered something and turned back. He walked up to the stunned clothing store owner, Old Yu, and patted Old Yu's shoulder confidently: "Fifteen taels, not a cent less. Oh, by the way, make the sleeves more beautiful!"

At this moment, the clothing store owner Lao Yu was not so scared that he couldn't speak, but rather so angry at Jiang Xuan that he couldn't speak.

On the street in front of Yu's Clothing Store, two men stood, their eyes locked in a distance. One of them carried two spears, the other a long-handled sword at his waist. They were Jiang Xuan and Wei Li.

Jiang Xuan slammed his black spear into the ground and shouted to Wei Li, "I'm Jiang Xuan, and I've just entered the third level of the Heavenly Stage. What's your level?"

Wei Li was both surprised and delighted upon hearing this. He was surprised that the young man before him had already reached the Heavenly Stage at such a young age, but he was delighted that the competition was about strength, not potential or aptitude. He said slowly, "I am at the fifth level of the Heavenly Stage."

"Captain Wei is indeed quite powerful. Jiang Xuan is willing to let Captain Wei make the first move."

Wei Li drew his sword and said rather arrogantly, "Since it is Brother Jiang's request, I will not refuse."

As he spoke, Wei Li, holding the sword, turned into a shadow and quickly approached Jiang Xuan at an extremely fast speed.

"Ding!"

The long sword and the long spear collided, making a crisp sound that echoed in the streets.

"Too slow!" Jiang Xuan shouted as the sword and spear clashed.

(End of this chapter)