There were still three days before the Martial Arts Convention, but Green Wheat Town was already buzzing with activity.
Martial artists and martial arts enthusiasts came flocking in from all over the country, and even the world, just to watch and join in the excitement of this quadrennial event.
This year’s Martial Arts Convention, in particular, was more popular than ever. A master who had secluded himself to live in the mountains would be making an appearance to avenge his disciples’ deaths. This further piqued the curiosity of many people.
At this moment, an old man was walking down the street in Green Wheat Town. He looked nondescript and was probably a long-established master of martial arts.
All the inns and hotels in Green Wheat Town were fully booked. The owners of these establishments were so happy that they were grinning from ear to ear. They wished that there could be a Martial Arts Convention every day.
Meanwhile, a Land Rover slowly came to a stop right outside Yuelai Hotel. A man and a woman came out of the car.
These two young people were dressed to the nines and had proud, arrogant expressions on their faces. The man lifted his head to take a look at the hotel. He sighed dejectedly with some disdain.
“Let’s just forget it. We’ve been looking around for more than half of the day. This hotel is the best we’ve seen yet, and it’s relatively classy. We’ll have to make do with this.”
The girl was quite pretty. The only flaw was that her expression was cold and arrogant. When she heard what the man had to say, she frowned unhappily but then reluctantly nodded her head.
“Alright, brother. I wasn’t expecting to find any good hotels in this shabby town anyway.”
These two people were both from the provincial capital. They were siblings. The man’s name was Shi Hao and the woman’s name was Shi Zhuli.
They were in Green Wheat Town to take part in the Martial Arts Convention.
Since young, Shi Hao had been learning internal martial arts from a famous master. Now, he had achieved an extremely profound cultivation in martial arts.
Shi Zhuli was not too bad herself. Her Wing Chun cultivation was considered to be the best among the women, and she was just a step short of stepping into the Realm of Patriarch.
The siblings walked into the main hall of the hotel, and it so happened that Xue Lan was on duty. When she saw that there were guests, she went up to greet them.
“What is the best suite you have here?” Shi Zhuli said coldly, without any formalities. “We’ll take two of them!”
Xue Lan shook her head apologetically. “I’m sorry, there’s only the standard suite available now. And there’s only one left.”
Shi Hao took a closer look at Xue Lan, and his eyes lit up immediately.
He never thought that in the middle of such a poor and remote backwater town, there would be such a beautiful and elegant woman.
Shi Zhuli was disgruntled when she heard what Xue Lan had to say. “Money is not an issue,” she said arrogantly. “We must have the best suites. Just get them ready for us.”
Xue Lan was about to say something when Song Yi came over to help with the matter. “Sir. Madam. Our rooms are full right now,” he said. “It’s not a matter of money, as you can see…”
“I don’t care what method you guys use,” Shi Zhuli interrupted coldly. “Just go and prepare my room for me now, otherwise… I’ll destroy your hotel!”
The Shi family was regarded as one of the most distinguished families in the provincial capital. Shi Zhuli had been pampered and spoiled since childhood, so the way she acted and behaved always came across as being extremely arrogant and domineering.
Song Yi’s smile was slowly starting to fade away. “I’m sorry my dear, but I’m afraid what you’re asking is… not very nice.”
Shi Hao just laughed pompously. “Didn’t you hear what my sister said? If the rooms are full then get some of them to leave. We want to stay in this hotel, so it’s up to you to make sure that it happens.”
The security guards of Yuelai Hotel saw that a situation was brewing and came around in case things got out of hand.
Shi Hao wore an arrogant look on his face and did not seem to be the least bit bothered.
He had made the journey all the way to Green Wheat Town with the intention of making his way on to the Heroes Ranking List. He was filled with great ambition.
And he was confident that he had the capability to achieve this.
In the provincial capital, he had fought in many underground ring battles. He remained undefeated and currently held the title of the King of Ring Fighters of Jingnan.
Because of this, he was not afraid of the security guards that had surrounded him. They were not even worthy of his attention.
Just as the atmosphere was getting tense, another convoy of cars, which were all black Audis, drove up to the hotel. After the cars came to a stop outside the doorstep of the hotel, a group of people stepped out of the cars.
After they entered the hall, Xue Lan’s eyes lit up as she hurriedly went to greet them. “Brother An,” she said happily.
The group of people was made up of Xue An, Tan Xiaoyu and Hua Tingting.
Qin Yu wanted to come along as well, but she had to tend to some matters at hand for the moment. She was forced to give the event a miss.
Upon seeing Xue Lan, Xue An smiled. His twin daughters shouted in unison, “Auntie Lan!”
Song Yi also walked over and bowed very respectfully before saying, “My greetings to you, Mr. Xue!”
Song Yi and Xue Lan had left Shi Hao and his company of people to attend to this group of newcomers. Shi Hao stared angrily at Xue An. He was visibly unhappy.
Who was this man?
Why did he have such a pompous disposition?
And the women around him were all so beautiful that they might as well be competing against one another!
Shi Hao was dazzled by what he saw and could not help but feel even more discontented.
He looked at the man’s thin figure. A single punch would be enough to send this man flying away. Shi Hao assumed that this man was just an ordinary guy and not a martial artist.
But why were there so many beautiful women staying by the side of this kid?
Suddenly, Tan Xiaoyu noticed Shi Zhuli standing in the hotel lobby. She exclaimed in surprise, “Zhuli, is that you?”
Shi Zhuli was taken by surprise. It took her a few seconds before she recognized Tan Xiaoyu as well.
Tan Xiaoyu had spent some time in the provincial capital’s martial arts school, and had even shared a dormitory with Shi Zhuli. So naturally, they recognized each other.
While the relationship between the two of them was not exactly considered a close one, it was still a pleasant surprise to bump into each other here.
Shi Zhuli nodded haughtily. “Oh it’s you, Xiaoyu. And who are these people?”
“Oh, this is my father. And this here is Sister Tingting. And of course, we are here to watch this exciting event.” Tan Xiaoyu purposely left Xue An out of her introductions.
She knew that many people were out there looking for the person who had killed Yu Qing. It was better for Xue An’s identity to be known by as few people as possible.
“Oh, so it turns out that this is Director Tan of Zhenbei School of Martial Arts.” Shi Hao certainly knew of the highly reputed name of Zhenbei School of Martial Arts. But instead of showing his respects, he flippantly cupped his hands as a gesture of greeting.
“Are the rooms all prepared?” Xue An asked Song Yi.
Song Yi nodded and said, “Mr. Xue, the moment I found out that you were coming here, I made all the necessary arrangements. I have specially prepared a presidential suite so that it will be convenient for you to stay in the same room with your two daughters.”
Xue An nodded. This Song Yi was very meticulous when it came to work.
But just as he was about to go upstairs, Shi Zhuli said with a somewhat angry voice, “Didn’t you just tell me that there was no presidential suite? So why is this guy staying in one?”
This question brought an awful change in expression on Song Yi’s face.
Back in the old days, he was one of the most influential men in Middle Capital. Many big shots who held great authority and power treated him with great reverence. And yet, he was being yelled at by this girl. He felt somewhat humiliated as he could not seem to extricate himself from this embarrassing situation.
“Because he owns this place. Do you have a problem with that?” Song Yi said coldly.
Shi Zhuli was just about to say something, but in order to refrain from aggravating the matter, Tan Xiaoyu quickly interrupted. “Let’s just forget about it. We will just make arrangements for another suite to be prepared for you. That should do it!”
Shi Hao, however, shot a cold look at Xue An, who had gone upstairs.
Throughout the entire altercation, Xue An did not even look at them.
In Xue An’s opinion, these two people were not worth wasting his time on. They were not even qualified to be looked at.
But from Shi Hao’s point of view, it seemed like Xue An was afraid of him and his sister.
He was probably just a hillbilly in this poor and remote backwater town.
It must be a great coincidence that he had all these good-looking women surrounding him. Shi Hao was especially attracted to Hua Tingting. She looked like she had the ideal balance of brains and beauty, a trait that greatly influenced Shi Hao’s taste in women.
After giving it some thought, Shi Hao came to a decision.
When they finally checked into their room, Shi Hao spoke to his sister. “How is your relationship with Tan Xiaoyu?”
Shi Zhuli shrugged. “It’s just a very normal acquaintanceship.”
“Then let’s invite her out for a meal later tonight.”
Shu Zhuli was surprised to hear this. “Brother, don’t tell me you’ve taken a liking for Tan Xiaoyu?”
Shi Hao smiled arrogantly. “Oh, I just want to fool around. Her father is the director of the Zhenbei School of Martial Arts. He’s not even qualified enough to be compared to me!”