Ryan Cooper ran his hand over the wounds on his body, wincing in pain. Suddenly, he touched the swollen bruise on his face and couldn’t help but cry out miserably, “Oh heavens, wuwu... My charming, handsome face—enough to make Pan An and Song Yu feel inferior—has actually been beaten like this. Wuwu... You three damn moons are just too hateful, I’m going to teach you a good lesson.” With that, he staggered toward the three people lying on the ground.

The three brothers of the The Carter Family had also recovered a bit and slowly got up. When Ryan Cooper looked at their faces, he suddenly felt balanced inside, even a little guilty.

The eldest, Henry Carter, with his “glorious battle record” and “expressionless face,” had a face swollen like a pig’s head. The second, Andrew Carter, could truly be called “hideous”—he was almost unrecognizable, probably already numb in the face. The third, Samuel Carter, was a bit better, about the same as Ryan Cooper, with only a single bruise marring his handsome cheek.

Henry Carter mumbled unclearly, “Dudu—Daitian, you bastard (egg), aiyo, it hurts so much.” He grimaced, holding his swollen cheek.

Andrew Carter also slurred, “Dudu—Baitan, I’m not done (with you), what do you think we should do?”

Samuel Carter wore a pained expression, “Brother-in-law, you really hurt me.”

Ryan Cooper put on a “fawning smile,” “Hehe, it was an accident, an accident.” No matter how you looked at this guy with the wicked grin, he didn’t look like it was an accident. “Hehe, I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience I’ve caused you; I deeply respect your heroic performance just now; and for your losses, I offer a token of my sincerity.” In truth, he was feeling extremely pleased inside.

Henry Carter said, “Your ‘sincerity’ is crap, what’s the use?”

“Please accept this with a smile, it’s a family heirloom, a top-quality jade stone.”

Andrew Carter said, “Accept it? Accept your head. Get lost, that broken stone from your family is pitch black, who would want it? Back when your grandpa first came to Changfeng Town, he tricked my grandpa with it, tried to sell it at the jade shop over a dozen times and got thrown out every time.”

“Boom!”

All the hooligans burst out laughing.

Ryan Cooper said, “We’re all brothers here. Honestly, when I hit you, it hurt me more than you. How about this, when we get back to town, I’ll treat everyone—every single person here. What do you say?”

“Great, Boss Baitian is really loyal!”

Ryan Cooper truly had “leadership skills”—in the blink of an eye, he had launched a “people’s war.” The weak protests of the The Carter Brothers were instantly drowned out by the thunderous cheers of the hooligans.

“Brothers, let’s head home!” Ryan Cooper took the lead, walking out of the woods, with everyone following close behind.

The group noisily made their way back. At the very front, Ryan Cooper suddenly stopped in his tracks. “Stop, quiet.” Everyone immediately halted. Not far ahead, two groups of people stood facing each other, each holding gleaming swords and knives—undoubtedly, deadly weapons. Everyone was startled. The small town was usually peaceful, with hardly any troublemakers, especially in this forest, which was practically a sanctuary. Why were there so many villains here today?

Fortunately, it was early summer, with weeds everywhere and trees lush and leafy, the forest thick and green. Otherwise, the group might have been discovered by those villains.

“Everyone be careful, don’t make a sound. Up ahead are probably some so-called ‘jianghu scoundrels’ fighting it out. We’ll stay here and not go over, so we don’t get into trouble.” Ryan Cooper said gravely.

At this moment, the three brothers of the The Carter Family squeezed out from among the hooligans and stood side by side with Ryan Cooper.

There were about fifty or sixty people on both sides, and a few leaders in the middle seemed to be arguing about something.

“John Smith, don’t push your luck... I’ve had enough of you...”

“Matthew Clark, who’s the one pushing their luck? ... I invited Miss Thompson to our Smith Manor as a guest, why did you...”

Because of the distance, the voices came in snatches and were hard to make out.

A woman’s voice said, “Thank you both for your kind intentions... I have urgent matters... another day...”

Even though they couldn’t hear clearly, everyone got the gist.

“Damn, turns out it’s just two spoiled brats fighting over a girl. What a letdown—I thought it was two gangs of experts about to duel. Damn it.” Henry Carter said in frustration.

Samuel Carter grinned, “Brother-in-law, why don’t we go over too, see what that girl looks like, and bring her back for you as a wife.”

As soon as he finished, he regretted it deeply, remembering that for the past year, his “brother-in-law” had never stopped missing his sister, Emily Carter.

There wasn’t the slightest trace of annoyance on Ryan Cooper’s face.

“Damn it, what are you thinking? Do I, Ryan Cooper, look like that kind of person?”

“You do,” all the hooligans replied in unison.

“...” Ryan Cooper was speechless.

Chapter 9: Peerless Beauty

Ryan Cooper said, “You brats obviously just want to go see a beauty, but you have to come up with such a lame excuse. But don’t even think about it. Those people are definitely real experts—we can’t afford to mess with them.”

Henry Carter also looked grave. “Those people’s skills might be on par with ours, but the murderous aura they carry is terrifyingly strong.”