Waking up and the first thing you see is the face of the one who took out you and your friends in seconds, who wouldn't feel frightened and become panicked?
'Cause that was exactly what the four teens felt.
Sitting up on the floor sloppily with their mouths agape as they stared at Xing Liyun in disbelief and feeling the creeping lingering fear from their last encounter.
The leader of the four snapped out of his trance quicker than his friends and he snapped, with unfounded mysterious courage, at Xing Liyun, "I wouldn't have lost so easily to you if I knew how to properly use my mana!"
Which is not true.
He was just unwilling to admit his defeat.
Even if he did know how to use his mana properly and was able to manipulate it as he wish, he would've still lost miserably to Xing Liyun. Not to mention that Xing Liyun was way more experienced in fighting and combat than the four of them combined, he did not use mana at all when facing them unlike what the leader-kid had speculated, thinking that the other party must be a professional mana user and that that's why they lost.
Not at all knowing, or even thinking, that Xing Liyun hadn't been using mana. Or rather, he refused to believe in the possibility that he lost to another person with only a measly gap between them in age without mana.
What's more, Xing Liyun had been very lenient already when he was fighting them---if it can even be deemed a fight, more like a one-sided knockout.
'Mana...?' Xing Liyun thought questioningly, puzzled by this unfamiliar word. However, he brushed that comment aside for now, opting to ask Ying about it at a later point in time. At least until after these stinking boys are dealt with.
Getting straight to business, Xing Liyun stared at the four teens still on the floor with cold, merciless eyes. Purposely trying to frighten them.
Scared wild animals are more easily tamed. And Xing Liyun needs tamed and obedient followers and not some wild dogs that will bite him at any time when his guard's down.
Maybe if he had such people to begin with, he wouldn't have entered this situation where he got transmigrated into a different world. And maybe he wouldn't've...
Nevermind.
That aside, Xing Liyun spoke coldly to the four still on the ground, "Fight again if you feel your previous loss wasn't justified."
Hearing this, Ying raised an eyebrow wondering what Xing Liyun could possibly want to do with these useless kids. Then calculating the many possibilities and thoroughly scouring through all the information he had given the other before, Ying seemed to have hit the bullseye in his mind. Though for now it was only a conjecture without confirmation, so Ying silently kept it to himself, waiting for the actual events to unfold.
Hearing such an arrogant statement infuriated the four young premature minds, causing them to temporarily forget about their hesitance toward and fear of Xing Liyun.
Jumping onto his feet, the young boy leading this gang named Robert---but his friends liked to call him Robby---rushed at Xing Liyun with the ferocity of a bitten cat.
It has to be known first that these four young boys in their teens—16 to be exact—are not weak. Nor are they inexperienced compared to the average 16 year olds.
After all, they have been living on their own without any parental support since very young. They had only themselves and each other to rely on in those tough times.
Fighting from young to now, they were bound to rack up some experience more than the average person. They could even defeat average adults that don't train in the arts of fighting or self-defense if they worked together.
This was also the reason why they were so confident when facing Xing Liyun. And why they couldn't believe their loss to someone who's a pretty face and older than them by only a few years, thinking that their opponent must be a mana user.
Punching out a fist aimed at Xing Liyun's face, he thought he would succeed since the latter was not moving an inch. He thought he was too slow to react.
Apparently the lesson from last night was not enough for this 16 year old as he was bound to be sorely disappointed. When he finally reached within 3 inches of Xing Liyun's face, his fist was stopped with no effort exerted.
He didn't even know what had happened. All he knew was that his fist was suddenly stopped and unable to be moved or retracted.
His fist had hit the palm of Xing Liyun's hand, stopping it from continuing in its path.
Given no time to react, Robby quickly found himself on the floor with no idea what had happened. Though this time he wasn't knocked out.
During this time, his three friends had jumped in and pounced at Xing Liyun, hoping to catch him off guard and fluster him with their three-person attack strategy. There is a huge difference between a one-on-one and a three-on-one attack after all.
In spite of this, Xing Liyun wasn't caught off guard at all. Even if he had to face all four of them at the same time he wouldn't be anxious.
Don't forget that they had already tried to fight against him four-on-one when they had first attempted to rob this supposed easy target named Xing Liyun, and they were sorely beaten and KOed in just mere seconds.
Their three vs one strategy might have worked if they were stronger and their opponent was weaker than all of them combined. All of which they were not and neither was Xing Liyun.
Gritting his teeth, Robby focused his mind elsewhere to ignore the throbbing pain in his body from being hit who-knows-when-and-where. He got up to his feet and dashed at Xing Liyun again, hoping it would end better this time.
Who knows, his opponent might have lower stamina than him. Was Robby's wishful thinking.
They were all too stubborn.
And this was how the whole night went. The four kids attacked again and again at Xing Liyun with Xing Liyun blocking every one of their attacks without moving from his initial position while simultaneously counter-attacking but never knocking them out. Eventually Ying got bored of watching the same process repeating itself over and over again and went to sleep.
Dreaming of the next morning...served with black-and-blue kids.
"Urgh..."
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
Groans and simultaneous sounds of something falling and colliding with the floorboard could be heard early in the morning, the sun having risen some time ago. The streets are starting to get livelier outside.
In one of the many rooms in the inn, four mentally and physically exhausted, beaten up kids laid on the floor. Chests heaving up and down, never seeming to calm. Their hearts pounding so hard it was a miracle they did not jump out of their chests.
Having been tortured for a good part of the night, they had collapsed at the break of dawn collectively. Their limbs and muscles twitching and sore.
All while Xing Liyun stood there looking fair and handsome as always, not looking at all like he had been fighting the night away with four kids without a wink of shuteye.
Meanwhile, Ying woke up when the sun shone through the window and directly onto his face.
Uncomfortable because of the warmth, he woke up with a frown. But then seeing the four poor unconscious teens, his lips arched into a smile. He might have the qualities of a schadenfreude onlooker, it appears.
"What a good morning!" Ying stretched and yawned as he got out of bed.
"Good morning, sir Cereus," Ying greeted with a light smile as he turned to face a fresh-looking Xing Liyun who had stayed up for the whole night to entertain four guests.
"Morning," Xing Liyun greeted back. He rather prefer that Ying did not add the 'sir' in his address.
As Ying continued to do his morning stretches, Xing Liyun looked at him in deep thought. Although they cannot be said to have known each other for long and Xing Liyun can't really say he completely trusts the other, for an inexplicable reason he felt like he could.
Besides, Ying has been nothing but helpful to him since the moment they met.
His instincts have never been wrong. And he does not think they would fail him now after he had entered a new world.
For now, he'll just watch and observe how trustworthy Ying truly is. To him.
"Alright! Let's go get some food and head out!" Ying exclaimed with energy and excitement. He literally skipped out the door and down the stairs...
Following behind him, Xing Liyun went along with his antics without a word. Leaving behind—or maybe forgetting—the four teens on the floor, passed out.