Chapter 1508: Chapter 1506: You Must Pay for What You Said!

The guy was overjoyed!

He grinned from ear to ear, heart pounding with excitement.

He’d thought Lan Zhengqing might curse him out, maybe even slap him twice across the face. So he was only trying it out on a whim—he simply couldn’t stand Qiu Xi’s stupidity anymore.

Even if the odds were one in ten million, he still wanted to give it a shot.

Who knew what might happen if you tried?

Just like now!

Lan Zhengqing actually said it was a good idea—that meant he agreed with him!

Which meant Lan Zhengqing was willing to back him to become Commander of the Ice Cicada Sect!

How could he not be thrilled? He almost jumped three feet high!

And.

Out of the corner of his eye he caught the crowd’s faces—some angry, some jealous, some envious... all those expressions made him float with pride. In his head, the first thing he’d do once he became Commander of the Ice Cicada Sect was slaughter every last bastard who’d ever glared at him!

Even though he wasn’t Commander of the Ice Cicada Sect yet, he was already lifting his chin in arrogance, looking down at everyone with a superior gaze.

He looked exactly like a Commander of the Ice Cicada Sect.

Arrogant to the extreme!

"What the hell is that guy doing, running over to suck up to Young Master now."

"Sigh... this guy really is... I’ve got nothing to say..."

"Son of a bitch, he’s dead sooner or later!"

"The more I look at him the more he pisses me off, I wanna take a swing!"

"Kicking people when they’re down, what a piece of shit."

"You lot can stop with the envy and sour grapes. He fought for this himself. You’re this bitter at him—don’t you all want to be Commander too? So why aren’t you stepping up?"

Everyone was talking at once, opinions clashing, almost breaking into a full-on argument.

"Enough, enough!"

That shifty-eyed rat actually put on a Commander’s airs, waved at everyone, and glared.

"Young Master is still here, what the hell are you yelling about?! Shut your mouths, or don’t blame me for being rude!"

After barking at the crowd viciously, he turned around and instantly flipped his expression; facing Lan Zhengqing, he put on a fawning, groveling face.

"Young Master, this bunch just lacks discipline. I shout at them twice and they don’t dare talk anymore."

"Mm..."

"Then, about me being Commander, when do you think would be a good time for me to take office?"

Lan Zhengqing shot him a cold glance, eyes sharp as blades, chilling to the bone. He arched a brow and smiled. "You’ve really thought it through, you want to be Commander?"

"Of course! I think about it day in, day out, I’m going crazy from thinking about it. I really can’t stand the way Qiu Xi does things, I don’t think she deserves to be Commander. Young Master, I swear, I can definitely do better than her! Please, you have to believe me!"

"Believe? Of course I believe you. Someone without any real skill would never主动 come to me asking to be Commander." Lan Zhengqing answered with a smile.

But for some reason, that smile made people’s skin crawl.

It didn’t feel like encouragement or approval; it felt like mockery.

There was even a hidden blade in that faint smile.

However.

The impatient, power-hungry fool had already lost all sense of judgment. He took Lan Zhengqing’s smile as an ordinary one, with no special meaning. Or rather, he simply didn’t have the perception to see anything deeper.

So.

His face was still plastered with a grin, happily imagining himself about to become Commander of the Ice Cicada Sect.

But in reality, he was about to plunge into the Abyss.

The others present had already sensed that something was wrong with Lan Zhengqing’s smile, and their arguing and cursing gradually died down.

The room fell into dead silence.

Only when the pressure settled thick in the air did that guy finally feel that something was off.

He kept grinning, glancing at the crowd behind him and then at Lan Zhengqing in front of him, a vague dread rising in his heart.

His little life was going to end here.

Gulp.

He swallowed hard, forced a stiff smile, still trying to curry favor with Lan Zhengqing.

"Young Master, I..."

Before he could speak, Lan Zhengqing cut him off like never before.

Up until now, Lan Zhengqing had always waited for him to finish whatever he wanted to say, never interrupting. But now he couldn’t be bothered anymore.

"You wanting to be Commander isn’t wrong."

"Y-yes... yes..." The guy’s face went ashen, that bad feeling growing stronger and stronger, his legs already trembling.

"But if you want to be Commander, you can’t be so short-sighted, bringing it up at a time like this. Coming directly to me like this is unreasonable. You should’ve thought about challenging Qiu Xi, defeating her, and then gaining everyone’s approval—only then could you become Commander of the Ice Cicada Sect. Otherwise, why would I choose you? Choose a Commander who can’t convince anyone? Wouldn’t that just make trouble for myself?"

"..." The guy was speechless, like he’d gone mute, staring with his mouth hanging open.

"Besides, while I do appreciate your courage, I don’t agree with every word you said. Note: every single word. In my view, Qiu Xi is more suitable than you. Do you agree?"

At first he wanted to shake his head, but suddenly realized that was wrong, and hurriedly nodded instead.

"I-I’m sorry... Young Master... I... I really was..."

"It’s fine. You already stood up and made your stance clear anyway."

"I’m sorry... then I now..."

The shifty-eyed rat pointed at the crowd, meaning he knew he was out of the running and wanted to slip back into the masses, pretending nothing had happened.

But.

Lan Zhengqing naturally wouldn’t allow that.

With someone like this around, it’s a rat dropping spoiling the whole pot of soup. He would never allow a walking time bomb to exist inside the Ice Cicada Sect.

What he needed was absolute stability.

No one could be allowed to challenge Qiu Xi’s or his own authority.

Even though Qiu Xi had just embarrassed him in public, she was still the best candidate for Commander of the Ice Cicada Sect.

He had never wavered on that point.

"You still want to go back?" Lan Zhengqing said with a cold sneer.

"Ah?" The guy was stunned, his face instantly turning the color of iron.

"But you have to pay the price for what you said."

Before he could react, a terrifying pressure from Lan Zhengqing slammed into him.

One punch!

Boom!

It crashed down hard on the guy’s head!

He flew backward, carving a deep trench across the floor.

And.

As he slid, his smashed head exploded—brains spraying everywhere!

Then the explosion spread from his head down through his entire body, every part of him detonating violently. Flesh and blood flew, the scene gruesome and horrifying to the extreme!

By the time he finally stopped, he’d been blown to dust, not even bones left.

On the ground there was nothing but emptiness, and a lingering mist of blood!

Everyone stared in shock, not expecting Lan Zhengqing to actually strike a blow at a commoner.

This was lowering himself!

But they also all understood that Lan Zhengqing had done it to uphold Qiu Xi’s authority.

From that alone, it was clear—

The person Lan Zhengqing trusted most was still Qiu Xi.

No one should even think about shaking Qiu Xi’s position in the Ice Cicada Sect!

This guy had just served as the best, and also the worst, example for everyone!

"Well? Anyone else not convinced by Qiu Xi, who wants to be Commander of the Ice Cicada Sect?" Lan Zhengqing smiled as he looked over the crowd.

Everyone was scared out of their wits, frantically shaking their heads. Who would dare bring that up again? You’d have to be insane!