The Scorpion stretched out his fingers, and gently combed through the youth’s hair, sighing, “If we do not come and drop Valley Master Wen a reminder, I am afraid that capable, impressive person will spend the rest of his life in tenderness so sweet that even immortality tempts him not. That is no good--if all heroes are this unambitious, who will unveil that hero’s true face?”

The beautiful youth squinted as though he was enjoying it greatly and nuzzled his fingers unconsciously, wanting more caresses. A few dark figures rushed into the small inn. The guests that had been unfortunately embroiled in this situation startled from their dreams, shrieks rising from all around. Suddenly, the door to a room burst open, and a sloppily-dressed, half-grown lad scrambled out from within. A Poisonous Scorpion was in close pursuit behind him.

The Scorpion watched on without interfering. Though the youth looked like a laughable mess, his steps were not the least bit in disarray, and was in fact superb qinggong. He seemed to still be groggy from sleep and had no notion of fighting back, but only scampered around, hiding, crying, “Heck, why is it this bunch of people in black again? You’re there when I fall asleep, and still there when I wake! I’ve not done anything worthy of such a grudge like digging up your ancestors!”

His voice broke on the last sound into a shriek. The Poisonous Scorpion after him had released an oxhair-thin needle. Zhang Chengling pounced face first onto the ground like a dog chowing down on mud, wriggled a few times with his bottom up like an enormous meaty maggot, and then rolled nimbly to the side, leaping to his feet. Scaling the wooden pillar to one side, he twisted, turning back, an object pinched in his hand. Flinging it vehemently at the Poisonous Scorpion behind him, he shouted, “Watch out for my needle!”

That Poisonous Scorpion arched backwards on reflex. From the moment he was born, Zhang Chengling had always been the one scammed, and now he had finally succeeded in scamming someone else under the influence of cheap tricks employed by a series of unscrupulous, shameless people such as Gu Xiang, his shifu, and more--Zhang Chengling was practically overjoyed. He clung to the wooden pillar and scooted upwards like a black bear, even explaining smugly, “Haha, you’re too dumb. My shifu taught me to fool others with this.”

A miffed voice rang out, “Nonsense, when have I taught you such low and despicable tricks?”

That poor Scorpion--when he had just realised what was going on and was about to give chase, a gust of wind struck him from behind. Before he could turn his head, it rolled off his neck onto the ground. Zhang Chengling’s laughter caught in his throat, and he stared dumbly at Wen Kexing, who had materialised out of nowhere.