Duanmu Furong's voice was clear and crisp as she looked up at Fourth Lu, though her face was pale and her voice trembled slightly.
"Oh, look at you, playing the hero," Fourth Lu stopped what he was doing and looked Duanmu Furong up and down, as if he had just seen something quite amusing.
Duanmu Furong glared at Fourth Lu with bright eyes, offering no reply.
Fourth Lu simply ignored her glaring gaze.
After sizing her up for a few seconds, Fourth Lu suddenly flashed a grin and reached out to grab Duanmu Furong.
It all happened in a split second.
Fourth Lu's hand reached right in front of Duanmu Furong's chest.
Duanmu Furong watched as his large, eagle-claw-like hand lunged toward her. She had nowhere to back away to, nowhere to hide.
Fourth Lu's hand was a mere inch away from her chest. In the blink of an eye, he would have grabbed her as easily as catching a little chick. To him, Duanmu Furong was practically a piece of fat meat right at his lips.
Unless she could grow wings...
Duanmu Furong only saw a figure flash through the air, feet kicking squarely into Fourth Lu's chest. Fourth Lu stumbled backward four or five steps before steadying himself. He never expected that just as victory was within his grasp, a young man would suddenly appear out of nowhere to ruin everything! Fourth Lu wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with his right hand and glared at the young man.
The young man looked to be only twenty-two or twenty-three, expressionless, dressed in a slightly cyan robe with a dark cyan brocade belt at his waist. His glossy black hair was tied with a dark cyan ribbon and draped neatly over his shoulders. With his upright posture, fair skin, and handsome, delicate features, even Fourth Lu found him strikingly good-looking.
It was Ning Zhen.
Just a moment ago, Fourth Lu's hand had only brushed against Duanmu Furong's clothes without actually grabbing her. Swayed by the force of Fourth Lu's movement, her body wobbled, and she looked as though she was about to fall right into his arms.
By then, Ning Zhen had already steadied himself. Seeing that she was about to fall, he moved with lightning speed, instantly reaching her side and catching her firmly with a long stretch of his arm. Duanmu Furong ended up leaning sideways right into Ning Zhen's embrace. Not expecting her to collapse directly against him, Ning Zhen raised an eyebrow slightly, his expression darkening a fraction as he looked down at her. Having endured extreme tension just moments before, Duanmu Furong felt her spirit give way at his sudden arrival. With her eyes tightly closed, all her strength drained from her body, her legs turned to jelly, and she fainted. Her slightly rounded face wasn't unpleasant to look at.
Hong Yue had also seen that Duanmu Furong was about to fall and rushed forward to help, but compared to Ning Zhen, she was simply too slow. Hong Yue could only watch as Duanmu Furong tumbled into Ning Zhen's arms.
Having suffered a blow, Fourth Lu was now furious with embarrassment. He was deeply reluctant to let go of what was almost his. He figured Ning Zhen had merely caught him off guard with a sudden strike, and probably wasn't all that formidable.
"Young man, you'd better stick to reading your classics. Let go of that girl, and I'll be the bigger man and let you pass!" Fourth Lu's tone remained insolent and arrogant.
"And if I refuse?" Ning Zhen raised an eyebrow.
"Then you won't be leaving here in one piece today!" Fourth Lu bellowed at the top of his lungs.
"To openly harass respectable women in broad daylight, and still act so brazen!" To think there were such shameless wretches in the world. Displeased, Ning Zhen nevertheless kept his face impassoned.
"If you won't toast, you'll be made to drink a forfeit! Take this!" Fourth Lu roared, drawing a dagger he kept with him and lunging straight for Ning Zhen's face.
Ning Zhen swerved his upper body to dodge the blade.
He missed.
Fourth Lu pulled the dagger back halfway, then redirected it to stab at Ning Zhen's chest.
Ning Zhen reached out and grasped Fourth Lu's wrist with blinding speed. Applying a little force to his grip, he released it after a series of sharp cracking sounds.
Before Fourth Lu even realized what had happened, his wrist was broken.
The dagger clattered to the ground, and Fourth Lu let out a shrieking wail.
Howling continuously, he had completely lost his previous arrogance.
Ning Zhen had originally had no intention of harming anyone, but the other party had pushed him too far.
Fourth Lu was simply no match for Ning Zhen.
Eldest Lu and Third Lu had been standing not far behind Fourth Lu all along, watching him suffer defeat after defeat. Exchanging a glance and communicating in silence, the two men rushed at Ning Zhen together. With Fourth Lu's wrist broken, Eldest Lu and Third Lu were burning with rage.
Duanmu Furong was still in Ning Zhen's arms.
Wielding a jade flute, Ning Zhen danced it up and down, tapping and poking at Eldest Lu and Third Lu. In moments, both men were sprawled on the ground, their necks crooked to one side, holding themselves with their hands as they groaned and writhed in agonizing distortion, utterly drained of strength.
Yet Ning Zhen stood ramrod straight, completely calm and composed.
He didn't even spare the Lu Brothers a glance.
Ning Zhen looked down at Duanmu Furong, who was clearly still badly frightened.
Ning Zhen had originally been on his way home when he heard the commotion on the road and stepped in to check. Dealing with the Lu Brothers had been a trivial matter of a few moves, and saving Duanmu Furong and Hong Yue had merely been a casual impulse.
However, the young woman collapsed in his arms couldn't just be tossed aside here, which presented a real problem.
Hong Yue was so terrified she had cowered more than a zhang behind Ning Zhen. Barely the time it takes to drink a cup of tea had passed. Hong Yue stared in disbelief, scarcely believing the danger had completely passed. But who was this refined young gentleman who had suddenly appeared to save her and Miss Duanmu?
Even though the Lu Brothers were sprawled on the ground groaning in agony, in Hong Yue's eyes, Ning Zhen was the picture of elegance.
Fourth Lu looked at Eldest Lu and Third Lu writhing in agony on the ground and felt a pang of remorse—he was the one who had dragged his two brothers down. With that thought, he picked up the dropped dagger and lunged at Ning Zhen once more.
Seeing this, Hong Yue screamed, "Young master, watch out!"
Fourth Lu was already close with the dagger in hand. Because of his injuries, his teeth were clenched, his eyes bulged with rage, and his expression was twisted; his speed and coordination were severely compromised compared to before.
Ning Zhen had already seen him coming. His brow furrowed sharply, his expression darkening, he reached out and grabbed Fourth Lu's wrist, applying a bit of force until the dagger clattered to the ground. Yanking Fourth Lu to his side, Ning Zhen sent him stumbling sideways, then raised a foot and kicked him squarely in the knee. Fourth Lu curled into a ball of agony, unable to get back up.
He distinctly remembered hearing someone shout earlier. Ning Zhen recalled that there had been two women, with the one who had fainted in his arms having shielded the other. It seemed the one who shouted "Young master, watch out!" just now must have been the woman who had been protected.
Ning Zhen looked around and spotted Hong Yue, who was cowering behind him in fear. Being a man of few words to begin with, speaking to women alone made him feel even more awkward. Moreover, women were naturally delicate, and Hong Yue's terrified state only heightened that sense of fragility, leaving Ning Zhen momentarily at a loss for how to speak to her.
What a troublesome nuisance he had brought upon himself. At this rate, these two terrified women probably wouldn't even know how to walk home.
Ning Zhen thought of Mo Xian whom he had encountered previously. Do women going out today never check the almanac?