"Let go of me. My business is none of yours." Finding someone blocking his path — and a disciple of the Greenwood Southern Forest at that — the Star-Gazing Observatory disciple's angry face twisted with displeasure. He swept his sleeve back, intending to fling Chu Feng away.
But who would have thought that Chu Feng's arm would be as unyielding as steel? Despite the disciple straining with all his might, he couldn't budge Chu Feng even a fraction.
"Let her go," Chu Feng said calmly, yet his tone carried a faint undercurrent of menace.
Moreover, at that moment, Chu Feng's grip had begun to tighten ever so slightly, sending tremendous pressure through the disciple's wrist — an almost bone-crushing sensation.
"You—"
Sensing the situation turning against him, the disciple, though unwilling, hurriedly released the little girl. With so many people watching, as a core disciple of the Star-Gazing Observatory, he had no desire to make a fool of himself in public.
At that, the little girl quickly scrambled away from the disciple and hid behind Chu Feng, her small hands clutching tightly at his clothes as if grasping a lifeline. She looked timid and pitiable.
"Do you know this girl?" someone suddenly asked. It wasn't the disciple who had grabbed her, but another Star-Gazing Observatory disciple.
The Star-Gazing Observatory had a great many people, and nearly everyone in the surrounding crowd was one of their disciples. Regardless of gender, the looks they directed at Chu Feng were uniformly hostile.
"I don't," Chu Feng shook his head. No matter how overbearing the other party's aura, he remained as calm as ever, without the slightest trace of fear on his face.
"You don't know her, then why stick your nose where it doesn't belong?" another Star-Gazing Observatory disciple barked angrily. More and more of their disciples were closing in, and from the look of things, they were preparing to overwhelm Chu Feng with sheer pressure.
"What's going on?"
Just then, a voice rang out from behind the crowd. Upon hearing it, the gathered Star-Gazing Observatory disciples quickly parted. And at that moment, Chu Feng and the others saw a graceful, almost femininely handsome young man emerging from the crowd.
The moment this person appeared, reverence surfaced on every Star-Gazing Observatory disciple's face — his identity was clearly no ordinary matter.
And Chu Feng and the others recognized him. He was Yuan Qing, the Star-Gazing Observatory's most outstanding genius disciple in recent years.
"Senior Brother Yuan Qing, this girl stole the medicine the Ancient Elves gifted me. I was trying to get it back, but this disciple from the Greenwood Southern Forest inexplicably decided to shelter her," the disciple whose pills had been snatched immediately tattled to Yuan Qing with a grievance.
"Oh?" At these words, Yuan Qing turned his gaze to Chu Feng, though the dissatisfaction in his eyes was plain to see.
"It's just some pills. I'll give you mine — no need to make things difficult for a little girl." Chu Feng knew the pills had already been eaten by the little girl, so he simply held out the three pills in his own hand.
Seeing the pills in Chu Feng's palm, the disciple's eyes lit up, and he reached out to take them. But just then, Yuan Qing suddenly seized his wrist, stopping him. He then said to Chu Feng, "She stole something, and you think returning it makes it right? Then what would be the point of laws in this world?"
"So what do you want?" Seeing that the other party refused to let it go, a flash of displeasure crossed Chu Feng's eyes. Yuan Qing might be considered a genius by others, but in Chu Feng's eyes, he was nothing special.
"What do I want? She stole from someone, and you think you're in the right?"
"Exactly! Sheltering a thief and you dare act so tough — do you think we're the Black Serpent Fortress, someone you can bully as you please?"