Cui Bei

The afternoon passed uneventfully. Without realizing it, the sky had already darkened a bit as it indicated nightfall. Bai Ming's mother and a lot of women who had left the village had already returned.

At the entrance of the village, a large group of people were gathered here looking very intimidating. These were the grown men and a couple of young men who were preparing to go deep into the mountains.

Bai Ming was among the young boys who were waiting with a bow in hand and an axe hanging on his left hip. Many of them appeared to be older than him except for the two boys standing beside him.

The two on his side were his close friends, Wu Zhengyi and Li Tian. Li Tian seemed to have a cold exterior, appearing to be wise and calculative. On the other hand, Wu Zhengyi appeared to have a pleasant and cheerful atmosphere around him. He kept looking around him with interest as if everything around him was some sort of new discovery.

Some of the older men looked at them and couldn't help but laugh as they were reminded of their younger selves in the past. The three under scrutiny of these gazes didn't find the situation bothersome however, it didn't seem like everyone found their presence pleasant as a young man who looked to be older than the trio by at least two years approached them.

As he walked, Cui Bei gave off an imposing appearance and presence as if he were the most important figure present at this moment. Although Duoli village was remote, it still had its own cherished young lords.

In the village, the Cui family was one of the most prestigious families. Its reputation was in no way inferior to the Li and Qing family. Even some of the older men seemed to have a respectful stance.

Bai Ming took all this sight in, seeing that he and his friends were the target of Cui Bei's approach. He also took to a respectful approach and cupped his hands to Cui Bei in a greeting gesture. Although the other two didn't like this, they also took on a respectful stance, after even in such a small village, this is how society worked.

Cui Bei stopped in front of the three and took their greetings, relishing in the feeling of superiority. Of course, none of this was shown openly. On the outside, he assumed a humble posture. Although he didn't have a good impression of Bai Ming, he was quite scheming and patient.

Even though he had a humble appearance, his minions following him knew for a fact that he was desperately holding down the excitement he had greatly anticipated just as they were.

"Little brother doesn't need to be so polite; after all, this is a gathering of brave men. It wouldn't be right if the ladies were to see this"

Cui Bei said as he hurriedly put a helping hand to Bai Ming.

"No, of course not, it's not a problem at all,"

Bai Ming accepted his help but still kept the smile that was on his face. He might not have the brightest mind, but even he could tell when he is being mocked.

The surrounding men didn't seem too interested in intervening as they could also see that Cui Bei was targeting Bai Ming.

The reason was plain for most who knew of the whereabouts of the young lord of the Cui family.

The things men would do for women.

Many thought to themselves as they found Bai Ming to be unfortunate. In their eyes, Bai Ming looked to be a small ant facing a tiger.

Which village didn't have tales and rumours?

There were already talks circulating about how the young lord of the Cui family has been pursuing the young lady of the Li family. Some had already assumed that they were already in a relationship, but judging by the scene they were looking at now, they were already having an understanding of the real situation.

Some had already started whispering to each other, but bit by bit, the pieces of information were being gathered as if to solve a puzzle.

Many had never seen Cui Bei openly confronting a commoner like this so they already assumed to themselves that, the young lord's efforts to pursue the young lady were unsuccessful and he was now taking it out on Bai Ming.

Even so, some still found it confusing that the young lord would choose to target Bai Ming of all the people present. Too most of them, he was simply too inconspicuous to be noticed.

Could it be that he picked up a treasure?

It was already common to say that even the most innocent man could be found guilty cause of a treasure.

However, as the discussions kept on, many began to finally understand.

"Listen here, it appears the young lady of the Li family had taken a liking to that little fellow."

"Ohh,"

"Hmph, are you cracking a joke old swindler?"

It was indeed unbelievable.

"How could the young lady of the noble Li family take a liking to him."

"No, you're wrong. It is that fellow who has been actively hindering the young lord in his pursuits."

After hearing this, many found it true and reasonable.

Even Bai Ming could hear some of the silent whispers that weren't exactly silent. He couldn't tell who had said it, but he found the situation too complicated. He was just a common village boy and didn't know of any sort of schemes.

Nor did he know how to quell such a situation.

However, Li Tian heard all this and found it annoying.

To most people, this seemed to be just gossip, but he could clearly see that this whole scene had been engineered by Cui Bei.

Whilst all of it was happening, he had been taking special note to Cui Bei and noticed the faint upward arc that seemed to form on his lips and his humble act. It seemed comical. He took a glance at Bai Ming and could see that he was lost for words.

This kind of thing was already too heavy for him.

However, Li Tian didn't act because he thought to himself that this is probably just a prelude and the main coordinator of all this going to act soon.

As he kept glancing at Cui Bei, sure enough, the faint arc on his mouth took a downward turn and became more noticeable as if he was truly displeased by something.

He turned to the crowd and spoke as if he was suddenly possessed with a righteous spirit.

"Fellows, please don't slander this little brother. We are all men here, and as the saying goes, matters of the heart are decided upon by fate. "

Even though everyone heard this, none of them believed any of it. What a joke, even though some were not the most literate even they could clearly see this was an act but no one dared to tear off the young lord's face"

After all, which of them had not done any bad deed in the name of righteousness, much less undermining a fellow all to impress beauties.

If some of their bad deeds were to be unearthed, some of them would have to spend endless nights explaining to the village law officers.

The surrounding people then turned their attention off of them and acted as if they had forgotten about them.

Seeing that his goal had been accomplished, Cui Bei turned to Bai Ming and offered some apologies before taking a stand at the very front of the village gate.

A figure appeared from behind the group following Cui Bei. A man who looked to be much taller than him approached him and whispered to him.

"Young lord, has the bug been planted?"

Cui Bei didn't turn his head and simply nodded as a sharp glint appeared in his eye whilst glancing at Bai Ming.

None of the people present noticed anything out of the ordinary, not even Li Tian or Wu Zhengyi. A small insect had slowly crawled its way into Bai Ming's clothing without anyone noticing.

Wu Zhengyi eyed Bai Ming as if he was some sort of idol.

Bai Ming felt awkward being stared at like this.

"Brother Ming, even though we're both commoners, your achievements are simply too high level"

Bai Ming didn't know what to say as he gave a wry smile.

Li Tian looked at the two and thought to himself.

Achievements?

Yes, this is indeed a noteworthy thing.

High level?

Yes, no one would ever have the guts to be entangled with big families like the Cui or Li family, especially for beauty.

Even if he were to dissuade Bai Ming into avoiding Cui Bei, he knew it would all be pointless as they had already seen just now. It was clear that Cui Bei would surely come to find trouble with him.

Meanwhile, everyone had forgotten about all that had happened. It was only a short while later when some vague figures people appeared in the distance that everyone looked back into the village and straightened up.