The two Wild Bull Brothers were the type with well-developed limbs and simple minds.

Their strength was impressive, their bodies incredibly tough, their courage and raw power off the charts — but unfortunately, their brains were packed with muscle too.

The Windstill national ruler never showed himself; an invasion of this level probably wasn’t enough to stir him. Instead, nearly ten Sky-rank experts came rushing over at the news and surrounded the Wild Bull Brothers for a thorough beating. The buildings on several nearby streets were flattened to rubble, and a number of mercenaries and starving refugees who couldn’t get out of the way in time were killed or maimed in the clash between the two sides. In the end, a white-bearded old fox-clan man stepped out and proposed relocating the fight outside the city to avoid harming the innocent… and what left classmate Yue Yang utterly dumbfounded was that the Wild Bull Brothers actually agreed to the suggestion.

“Since you two are the Freedom Queen’s personal attendants, following that beautiful and kind woman in her lifelong struggle for the people, everything you do is meant to rescue the suffering, disaster-stricken refugees of the entire Tianhua Domain. I wonder — great as you both are, did you happen to notice how many innocent civilians you accidentally harmed just now? If the fighting continues, more innocents are sure to be hurt. And if the Freedom Queen were to learn that you cost so many lives in the name of saving her, how heartbroken she would be!” That was how the white-bearded old fox-clan man opened his persuasion.

“You have to hand over the person, or we’re not leaving.” The elder of the Wild Bull Brothers actually did stop his hands. Fortunately, dull as he was, he still clung to his principles — the Freedom Queen still had to be saved.

“Don’t make me hit you anymore, I really don’t want to hurt anyone — hurry up and let the Freedom Queen go.” The younger of the Wild Bull Brothers answered meekly.

In truth, his strength was the greater of the two.

And his strikes were the more violent.

It was almost as if he couldn’t fully control the power inside his own body.

The white-bearded old fox-clan man seized the moment to propose that both sides duel fairly outside the city — whoever won would get the Freedom Queen.

The muscle-brained Wild Bull Brothers happily agreed, and watching this “negotiation,” Yue Yang nearly toppled over onto the floor. Truly, there was no cure for stupidity. Once they got outside the city, the odds of the other side fighting fair were nil! It was precisely because they were inside the city, and afraid a mass assault would cause even greater losses, that the enemy had heaped on the flattery — and who would have thought these two idiots would swallow it whole?

Ming Rihao was secretly shaking his head too.

With subordinates like these around her, it would be a miracle if the Freedom Queen weren’t captured!

One might say that the Freedom Queen holding out this long before being taken was already remarkable… Then again, if not for muddle-headed fellows like the Wild Bull Brothers, who would ever follow the Freedom Queen in such a “great” undertaking as rescuing the disaster-stricken refugees of the whole Tianhua Domain?

In less than half an hour, the two Wild Bull Brothers, drenched in blood, were escorted in under guard.

Both were bound heavily with Dragon-Binding Chains and Blood-Tear Ghost Shackles.

Loaded into a prison cart.

Besides being beaten black and blue all over, their skin had been smeared with some kind of weakening toxin that steadily leached away the Wild Bull Brothers’ strength, leaving them unable to resist.

“You’re all frauds, the filthiest maggots in the world, you’re bloodsucking green-headed flies! If you’ve got the guts, unbind us brothers and fight us again! Cowardly cur-thieves with no shame — you’ll all die a rotten death! Villains like you, one day a god will descend upon the Tianhua Domain and punish you severely!” The elder Wild Bull Brother, furious, cursed and railed the entire way.

“Boo-hoo, boo-hoo-hoo-hoo…” The younger Wild Bull Brother wept in aggrieved misery, more heartbroken than a little girl whose lollipop had been snatched away by a bad man.

“Curse louder, louder still — hahaha, what music to my ears!” The white-bearded old fox-clan man was smug with delight.

“Damn it all!”

The nearly ten Sky-rank experts who’d handled the assault, however, wore expressions nowhere near as pleased as the old fox-clan man’s.

Even though it had been a completely unfair gang-up and a shameless ambush, to their surprise, this pair of Wild Bull Brothers — stupid beyond description — possessed strength far beyond anything they’d imagined. Nine against two, with a successful sneak attack and the advantage of higher rank, and yet every one of them still walked away wounded. Worse, after they’d finally subdued the elder brother, the seemingly timid younger one flew into a berserk rage and instantly cut down one of their companions. Had they not used the elder as leverage to force his surrender, they might not even have been able to take down that raging younger brother.

What should have been an easy fight had instead left them battered and disgraced, nearly ending in defeat.

Just what kind of monsters were these Wild Bull Brothers?!

Yue Yang headed downstairs and gave Ming Rihao a wave, signaling that they should each mind their own business and split up. Ming Rihao was speechless — my dear young master, even if you want to stir up trouble, now isn’t the time, is it? You said nothing while the two bulls were still fighting, and now that they’ve already been captured, what good does going out there do?

Besides, fellows with skulls this stuffed with muscle — even if you rescued them, what use would they be beyond two extra rice-buckets?

However exasperating it was, he didn’t stop Yue Yang.

Let the kid do whatever he wanted…

Ming Rihao pretended not to notice and quietly slipped away from the other side, wanting no part of this mess.

“Well now, if it isn’t my very own Big Dummy and Little Dummy! How’d you two get yourselves caught? What did I tell you? Big Dummy, back then I, your young master, told you to watch the gate and take good care of your little brother — do nothing else, just keep an eye on the entrance — and that would be enough. But no, you had to go running all over the place with your brother, and got yourselves nabbed as runaway slaves! You’ve been grossly derelict in your duty and made your young master furious. I’ve decided to disown you. Apologize to your young master this instant, or I’ll thrash the both of you myself.” Classmate Yue Yang blocked the prison cart and scolded the Wild Bull Brothers relentlessly, as though these two were the gate guards of his own household.

“What’s going on here?” The white-bearded old fox-clan man was baffled. It did look convincing — but why had no one ever heard that these two brothers were gate guards?

“No idea!” The eight surviving Sky-rank warriors exchanged bewildered glances too.

“Little brother, do you know him?” The elder Wild Bull Brother was painfully slow to react, and only after a long while managed to squeeze out: “We were never gate guards, were we? Little brother, were you ever a gate guard?”

“N-no, never.” The younger Wild Bull Brother was completely at a loss himself right then.

“This is all a misunderstanding…” Gold-Tooth happened to come out to welcome the escort procession, and the sight of classmate Yue Yang blocking the way scared him half to death. An old hand like him could see at a glance that this Titan Young Lord’s sense of justice had run wild and he meant to rescue these two stupid bulls — but the young lord clearly didn’t stop to consider where he was, or what a moment this was. Of course, a young noble like the Titan Young Lord, unconnected to any of this and born to a prestigious house, was not someone Gold-Tooth could afford to ignore. Whatever happened, there must be no fight — otherwise it would be tantamount to shoving this Titan Young Lord into open opposition against the Windstill national ruler.

“A misunderstanding?” The white-bearded old fox-clan man began to catch on.

“What misunderstanding — I say he’s one of the rebels!” One Sky-rank expert was already in a foul mood, because the Sky-rank warrior who’d died was his friend. Though he didn’t know the newcomer’s background, one look told him the only person stepping forward to speak up for this kid was a low-level steward, and he immediately sneered.

“Gold-Tooth, what on earth is going on?” The head steward, hurrying over from a distance, was an old man thin as a bamboo pole.

“It’s like this, actually — this is the Titan Young Lord, the young and talented chairman of the Titan Chamber of Commerce, scion of a distinguished house. He’s come this time, with all due respect and sincerity, to congratulate Lady Zhiguang on her birthday… The Titan Young Lord is brimming with a sense of justice, and he also has quite the sense of humor — he loves joking around with everyone.” Gold-Tooth hurriedly reported to the head steward, while slipping in a few roundabout words to excuse the trouble-making classmate Yue Yang.

“So it was a joke! Hahaha — come, come, Titan Young Lord, please join these illustrious warriors and enter the ruler’s manor. Our gracious and hospitable ruler has laid out a banquet and dispatched his subordinate to come and welcome you all. Today we have defeated the enemy — we ought to revel to our hearts’ content, and none shall leave sober!” Hearing this, the head steward hastened to take up the thread; he had no wish for any fresh complications now. Based on his subordinate Gold-Tooth’s words, this smooth, all-sides-pleasing head steward understood completely what was going on: this was simply a pampered young master spoiled by his clan, who couldn’t stand the sight of nearly ten Sky-rank warriors using such despicable, underhanded means against the Wild Bull Brothers, and so had stepped forward to play the champion of justice.

“This joke isn’t the least bit funny!” The white-bearded old fox-clan man let out a hollow laugh, smiling with his lips but not his eyes.

“The way I see it, this is no joke at all!” The Sky-rank warrior who’d earlier spoken up to frame the kid still refused to let go.

“Heh, why don’t we just haul this kid in too? Even if he’s not one of the rebels, I doubt he’s entirely unconnected to them.” One Sky-rank warrior who’d taken a dislike to Ming Rihao recognized Yue Yang — realizing this was the rich young fop who’d called out to “Tianhao” the day before — and decided to make an example of him, if only to give the other side a taste of humiliation!

“Honored guests, please don’t be angry, this really is a misunderstanding…” Gold-Tooth hurriedly bowed and apologized on Yue Yang’s behalf; he couldn’t let the other side pin the charge on him for real.

“And what if I say it isn’t a misunderstanding?” The Sky-rank expert hostile to Ming Rihao possessed the strength of a third-tier Sky-rank; he was the one who had single-handedly captured the elder Wild Bull Brother. If Yue Yang hadn’t called out to Ming Rihao the day before, he wouldn’t have targeted him like this. Now he’d decided to make his move on the kid first — and even if he couldn’t take him down, he’d at least leave him battered and disgraced, making “Tianhao,” the disguised Ming Rihao, lose face in front of the group.

“This—?” Gold-Tooth didn’t dare say a word.

A third-tier Sky-rank expert was not someone he could afford to provoke.

But he still stood firmly at Yue Yang’s side — after all, the clan behind this young master was the truly formidable one. Better to offend a Sky-rank than to abandon him at a moment like this; otherwise, a fence-sitter like himself would be as good as dead!

The head steward was about to open his mouth to mediate, but the overbearing Sky-rank expert let out a cold snort: “Steward Ye, this is between him and me!”

A flash of anger streaked through the depths of the head steward’s eyes.

Powerful as the man was, he was still a guest — and yet he wouldn’t even grant the host the least bit of face, insisting on kicking up a fuss.

But Steward Ye had seen enough of the world; he kept his joys and angers off his face. Confronting the domineering pressure of the Sky-rank warrior, he merely said mildly: “Very well, this old servant will wait right here. Not only is our ruler hospitable, he has always been magnanimous. If an honored guest has private business to attend to, this steward should naturally step aside. Titan Young Lord, it isn’t that this old servant is being discourteous — it’s simply that I cannot give others a handle to use against us. This old servant offers his apologies in advance.”

On the surface he offended neither party, yet in secret he still leaned ever so slightly toward Yue Yang’s side.

After all, the other side had swept aside his face outright, whereas this Yue Yang — a young noble of a prestigious house — was an honored guest his own subordinate had painstakingly courted back.

“Steward Ye, no need to worry. When a dog barks, you just knock its teeth out — then it’ll naturally shut up.” Yue Yang laughed heartily. His wildly arrogant, utterly domineering manner made the whole scene’s atmosphere freeze, and sent a chill through the hearts of the many who’d hoped to watch a good show.

By the looks of it, this kid was not one to be trifled with.

The Sky-rank expert who’d opened his mouth to provoke was secretly groaning inside, too.

Damn it — the people this Tianhao fellow knew clearly weren’t as simple as some spoiled playboy. If there really was a powerful clan behind him, then he’d be the one at a disadvantage.

What frustrated him most was that the provocation had already been made, everyone was watching the spectacle, and there was no taking it back now. The only course left was to grit his teeth and press on hard, then wait for a suitable moment to see whether he could back down and defuse things.

“Bold indeed! Who are you, to be so insolent?” The Sky-rank expert feigned fury, fishing for Yue Yang’s background.

“A man like you isn’t even qualified to question me… Guards! Drag this fellow away, beat him half to death, then tell him who your young master is!” Classmate Yue Yang snapped his fingers — but only Fengji and Keen-Eye Jinyun leapt out. Wiping away a heavy sweat, Fengji reported: “Reporting, young master — Captain Zhongguan went out shopping and isn’t back yet. If you want someone beaten, it’ll have to be the two of us scout-thieves who do it.”

“Huh?” Everyone was stunned. This — this had to be a joke, right? Just those two little thieves, taking on a Sky-rank expert? The man could blow one breath and send them flying into the sky!

“Hahahaha! Is this some kind of clown farce you’re putting on? Hahahaha!”

The Sky-rank expert secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Good — it turned out he’d run into a genuine playboy after all, all mouth and no real substance.

He laughed wildly for a good while, and was just about to step forward, slap the two thieves flying with a few blows, and give this fop one more scare so he’d never dare be arrogant again — when, before his body had even moved, he sensed someone behind him. And not just one… at least three people, who had somehow crept in unnoticed and were poised to strike in a coordinated ambush.

Damn — these guards had been there the whole time. A moment ago they’d only feigned weakness on purpose, to lull him into carelessness.

He’d walked right into the trap.

“Is this really so funny? Go on, laugh some more — why aren’t you laughing now? Keep on grinning like a fool!” A cold voice rang out, and the Sky-rank expert, his body seizing up, listened to it with sweat streaming down his face.

(End of Chapter 936)