Chapter 50: Now, Where Do I Sit?

Lei Heng simply could not hold onto the three-pronged spiked spear in his hands!

Although he was reputed to possess superhuman arm strength, that was only relative.

As for exactly how much strength Ren Yuan had in both arms, even Ren Yuan himself was not entirely sure at this moment.

Yet he figured that aside from Lu the Master who could uproot a weeping willow with his bare hands, probably no one else could surpass him in pure physical might.

After all, the heavy stone grinding mill that Wu Song played with near Shi En's place in the original text weighed about the same as what he himself used to play with right after transmigrating and before taking a master.

With the three-pronged spiked spear weighing eighty-one catties combined with the force of Ren Yuan's deliberate throw, Lei Heng had no way of holding onto it!

An invisible surge of force assaulted him from his hands, violently crashing through all the bones and joints in Lei Heng's limbs. His face instantly flushed crimson, and his legs nearly buckled beneath him.

"Look, I told you that you wouldn't be able to hold it. I might as well take it back myself!"

Ren Yuan reached out, grabbed the shaft of the weapon, and pulled it back with a forceful tug. Lei Heng was utterly powerless to resist and had no choice but to let go!

This left Lei Heng quite appalled.

Setting martial arts aside for a moment, with just this kind of strength, if someone were to wield this blade and hack down with full force, how could anyone possibly block it?

Lei Heng suddenly felt that today's Feast at Goose Gate might actually run into trouble.

"Heavenly King, since I see no one in your noble estate capable of holding our weapons for us, let us not trouble others. I shall take it myself, how does that sound?"

Facing Ren Yuan's somewhat aggressive and overbearing momentum, Chao Gai had no choice but to back down.

He had to back down, because all those little tricks he had originally prepared to make Ren Yuan lose face had completely failed.

He could only follow Ren Yuan's words to find a way out for himself.

"Very well, then you may hold them yourselves. Come, don't just stand here, please come right in!"

Everyone followed Chao Gai into the main banquet hall of the day. It was a square-shaped hall with screens and curtains hung on three sides. Long tables had already been set up in the four cardinal directions of east, west, south, and north, adorned with wine cups, bowls, chopsticks, fruits, and vegetables. Two dark-complexioned, burly men were already seated in one of the designated areas.

The center of the banquet hall was an open space, suggesting that some sort of performance would be staged there shortly.

"Military Advisor Wu, how are these seating arrangements supposed to work?"

Seeing this setup, Ren Yuan understood the situation in his heart.

He roughly guessed what little tricks Wu Yong was about to play next.

"Reporting to the Zhaozhu, the Baozheng and this humble person will sit facing east, while the Baozheng's two trusted sworn brothers will attend and keep us company from the south. As for the Zhaozhu, you will sit facing north, with your two sworn brothers accompanying you from the west."

Wu Yong waved his folding fan, speaking with great eloquence, and pointed at the two dark-faced men, claiming they were Chao Gai's trusted brothers.

"Indeed, hehe. Wu Yong, Wu Yong, do you really take me for an ignorant brute?"

As soon as Ren Yuan heard this, he knew Wu Yong was simply trying to disgust and provoke them.

Weren't these exact seating arrangements the ones from the Feast at Goose Gate between Xiang Yu and Liu Bang?

What, did Wu Yong think that the people of Mount Liang were unread? That they were all illiterate?

"Zhaozhu Ren, please take your seat."

Chao Gai and Wu Yong were the first to walk over and take their seats, meaning their side of the seating arrangement was now complete.

"Brother, is there something wrong with these seats?"

Guanghui was the first to sense that something was amiss with the seating, though he couldn't quite figure out what the problem was.

"Back at the Feast at Goose Gate, Xiang Yu sat in Chao Gai's position. The seat Wu Yong assigned to me belongs to Liu Bang."

Ren Yuan stated bluntly.

"What Xiang Yu or Liu Bang? What is the Brother talking about?"

Mi Zeng was somewhat puzzled. Coming from a hunter's background, he knew very little about formal banquet seating protocols.

Guanghui lowered his voice and briefly explained the whole backstory to Mi Zeng. This lovable, simple-minded fellow instantly flared up with anger!

"Chao Gai! You are pushing people too far!"

Carrying his battleaxe, Mi Zeng strode to the center of the courtyard and drove his axe straight into the ground with a loud *thud*.

"Who are you! How dare you make such a din!"

Chao Gai had just sat down and hadn't even poured himself a cup of wine yet when he was roared at by Mi Zeng, stirring up anger in his own heart as well.

Yet when it came to sheer loudness and voice projection, how could he possibly compete with Mi Zeng?

"Hmph! I am Mi Zeng of Mount Liang! Of all the people under my Brother's command, I am the most worthless one!"

"Chao Gai! You truly disgrace the title of Heavenly King Who Lifts Towers! To actually assign such a humble, subservient seat to my Brother! My Brother is the lord of a stronghold after all, and his status is no lower than yours!"

"Yet ever since we stepped through the gates of your estate today, one troublesome and messy thing after another has never stopped! First dismounting, then confiscating our weapons, and now this lowly seat!"

"Chao Gai! We of Mount Liang are not afraid of your East Creek Village! Nor are we afraid of a mere Baozheng! Wasn't that Baozheng of West Creek Village arrogant? Now the grass on his grave is already two meters tall! Would you like to taste that feeling as well?"

Mi Zeng's skill at hurling insults was truly exceptional. With a rapid-fire string of words, he managed to make Chao Gai's face flush with rage!

"Outrageous wretch!"

Chao Gai raised his wine cup, intending to smash it to the ground as a signal.

"Amitabha, Heavenly King Chao, what is the meaning of this? Throwing a cup as a signal? Are you trying to say there are ambushed swordsmen and axemen hidden here?"

"You were the one who invited my Brother here today, yet you still set an ambush of axemen? Chao Gai, you truly make people despise you!"

Guanghui, brandishing his dragon-and-tiger solid copper cudgel, stood guard beside Ren Yuan, his mouth spouting words of devastating psychological impact.

"Damn your mothers! What are the pair of you bastards yapping about?"

The words of Guanghui and Mi Zeng infuriated the two dark-skinned brutes on the other side. One of them instantly leaped to his feet, drew the pair of broadaxes at his waist, and cursed directly at Mi Zeng:

"You big black oaf! Shut your trap this instant! You're already as black as a crow, yet you're still caw-cawing and making a racket here."

"If you babble nonsense again, this lord will hack you to death with a single axe!"

Mi Zeng paused, looked at the man, and then looked down at himself. Instantly, fury erupted within him:

"You black scoundrel! Why don't you take a piss and look at your own reflection! How dare you call me black? What, you use axes too, do you? Good, then let me test your mettle!"

Having said that, without waiting for any reaction from Ren Yuan, Mi Zeng brandished his mountain-opening axe and charged straight in!

Having been up on the mountain for so long without contributing a single merit while the stronghold granted him a high position and arranged medical care for his aging mother, Mi Zeng had long been eager to win glory!

Now that this black scoundrel had delivered himself to his doorstep, how could he possibly pass up the chance to fight?

As for Li Kui, he had grown quite accustomed to cursing at people lately. Furthermore, because others always found him ferocious and dared not provoke him, it fostered a delusion in Li Kui that he was "undefeated under heaven."

Seeing that Mi Zeng actually dared to talk back to him, Li Kui instantly felt he had lost face. Screaming wildly, he vaulted over the dining tables and lunged at Mi Zeng with his broadaxes swinging!

The two dark-faced giants thus engaged in a fierce brawl in the open courtyard in the middle. After exchanging two or three blows, Mi Zeng realized that the dark fellow before him possessed nothing more than brute strength; his twin axes had absolutely no system or technique to them and were merely being swung around chaotically. At that realization, confidence settled in his heart.

After trading another couple of blows, seeing that this black brute had essentially exhausted every trick he had, Mi Zeng stopped holding back. With a mighty roar, he executed a supreme maneuver. In a single clash, he knocked Li Kui's right-hand broadaxe flying! Following up immediately with a horizontal slash, he severed the man's remaining left-hand axe as well!

With his weapons reduced to nothing but a bare handle in his hand, fury surged through the black brute!

He had wielded broadaxes for so many years! This was the very first time he had lost both axes from his grip!

Throwing the gripping shaft aside in disgust, he let out a strange, blood-curdling howl and rushed forward to engage Mi Zeng in bare-handed grappling!

Seeing this, Mi Zeng retracted his axe, reversed the shaft, and spotting a flaw exposed in the man's lower stance, delivered a sweeping strike that sent the black brute sprawling heavily to the ground in a clumsy tumble!

Immediately pressing his advantage, Mi Zeng brought his axe down, pinning it right against the black ruffian's neck, and shouted:

"What is your name, you black rascal? You were acting so arrogant just now, yet you only have this little bit of skill?"

"Black brute! Release my brother Li Kui this instant!"

Liu唐 on the other side truly had not expected Li Kui to be defeated in just five or six exchanges. By the time he recovered his wits and raised his broad-bladed saber to come to the rescue, Li Kui had already been knocked flat by Mi Zeng!

"Release him? In your dreams! This lord is going to hack off this dog's head right now and use it as a footstool for my Brother!"

Mi Zeng was not afraid of Liu Tang in the least. Exerting strength in his arms, he pressed the blade of his axe even closer to Li Kui's exposed skin!

"You dare!"

Liu Tang brandished his broad-bladed saber, but could only fret with burning anxiety!

"Stop! Everyone stop! Stop right now!"

Wu Yong panicked at this point. This was completely wrong! This was nothing like what he had planned! How could this Mount Liang chieftain be so terrifyingly strong?

"Stop? Heheheh."

Ren Yuan chuckled. He signaled for Mi Zeng to maintain his position, then turned his gaze toward Chao Gai and asked:

"Heavenly King—ah, no, Baozheng Chao, you've seen it too. My brother here has somewhat of a fiery temper."

"So, I'd like to ask you: right now, exactly where am I supposed to sit?"