"Elder Xiahou?"
When they saw Elder Xiahou, many people's expressions changed drastically — especially those who were on Chu Feng's side, who were terrified beyond measure.
They thought to themselves that this was truly a case of fearing something and having it come to pass. What they had feared was Chu Feng angering the head elder of the Forging Department. And now, just as Chu Feng was beating Liu Bingqi, Elder Xiahou had to appear — wasn't this getting caught red-handed?
At this moment, almost everyone felt that Chu Feng was about to face a great disaster. After all, a head elder was no ordinary existence — if he wanted to punish Chu Feng, he could find a hundred reasons. One could say he could deal with whomever he pleased.
"Chu Feng, keep hitting him! Beat him to death — I'll take responsibility." However, what no one expected was that after Elder Xiahou appeared, he didn't punish Chu Feng. Instead, he told Chu Feng to continue beating Liu Bingqi, and his attitude was so amiable, without the slightest hint of anger — this truly left everyone dumbfounded.
"Elder, you..." But if anyone was confused, it was Liu Bingqi. As a member of the Forging Department, when he saw Elder Xiahou appear, he truly felt that his savior had arrived, that Chu Feng was about to suffer terribly, and that all the humiliation he had endured would be repaid tenfold. But what the hell was happening now? His own head elder, instead of helping him, was telling someone else to beat him up. In that instant, Liu Bingqi's mind completely unraveled.
"Liu Bingqi, when your skills proved inferior, you resorted to intimidation. You've truly disgraced our Forging Department."
"Chu Feng, keep hitting him! A disciple like this simply doesn't deserve to stay in our Forging Department. If it were up to me — if I were the one who recruited him — I would have expelled him from the Forging Department right now."
Elder Xiahou treated Liu Bingqi with utter fury, yet treated Chu Feng with extraordinary warmth. Such a stark contrast truly stunned everyone.
What was going on? This defied all logic. Why wasn't Elder Xiahou helping Liu Bingqi, but instead was so favorably disposed toward Chu Feng, an outsider?
"Elder, it's not that I'm deliberately making things difficult for Liu Bingqi. It's just that he came to our Asura Department to cause trouble, tried to beat our members, and was shouting about tearing our department apart. As the head of the Asura Department, I had no choice but to discipline him."
In truth, Chu Feng was also completely confused by the situation. He couldn't even be sure whether Elder Xiahou truly wanted to help him or was putting on an act. To be safe, he withdrew the oppressive pressure that had been suppressing Liu Bingqi and the others, wanting to end it right there.
"Sigh, young friend Chu Feng, this Liu Bingqi is incompetent and deserves punishment. You did well beating him — you just didn't hit hard enough. You should rough him up a bit more."
"Actually, I came here today with another matter to discuss. I wonder if young friend Chu Feng might agree?" Elder Xiahou asked with a beaming smile.
"What matter might that be?" Chu Feng asked.
"I would like to invite young friend Chu Feng to join our Forging Department. Would you be willing?" Elder Xiahou continued.
"What? This..." When Elder Xiahou said those words, everyone was once again shocked. And now, the reason why Elder Xiahou had been helping Chu Feng instead of Liu Bingqi was finally clear. It turned out that from the very beginning, he had come for Chu Feng — he was here to invite Chu Feng to join the Forging Department.
Hearing this, everyone else could accept it, but Liu Bingqi's face immediately turned green. He had already feuded with Chu Feng — if Chu Feng joined the Forging Department, how could things possibly end well for him? Deep in his heart, he desperately didn't want Chu Feng to join the Forging Department. But as a mere disciple, he had no voice, and could only watch helplessly as Elder Xiahou invited Chu Feng.
"Old monster, this is truly dishonorable of you! You clearly made a bet with me that as long as Chu Feng defeated Lei Yao, you wouldn't invite Chu Feng. Why are you going back on your word today?"
However, at that moment, an enraged voice suddenly rang out. At the same time, a figure descended from the sky, landing opposite Elder Xiahou — it was none other than Elder Wei.