Is Ye Luo doing the right thing by acting like this?

"You!" 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Yun Liancheng looked at Ye Luo helplessly, unsure of why Ye Luo was behaving this way today. The two of them had known each other for so long, having gone through numerous experiences together, so Yun Liancheng understood Ye Luo. Ye Luo wasn’t typically this kind of person!

Ye Luo, of course, didn’t want to create conflict with Yun Liancheng at this moment, but he simply had no choice, given the Border Guard task.

Helpless, he sighed inwardly. Then, in a low voice, he lied to Yun Liancheng, saying, "Brother Yun, I’m sorry. The mentor assigned this task, challenging a division’s stronghold. But I don’t have that kind of strength, so I had to come to your Yun Division. If we’re brothers, please don’t join in, or I truly won’t be able to handle it!"

Yun Liancheng froze slightly, and after a moment, he reacted, "You, you became You Ji’s disciple?"

"Of course! Otherwise, do you think I’m bored enough to come pick trouble with you? All right, I’m off to challenge now. We’ll talk later—then I’ll treat all the bros to drinks and apologize properly. Sigh, what a miserable life!"

Ye Luo’s performance was absolutely masterful!

At this moment, Yun Liancheng wasn’t going to stop Ye Luo anymore. In fact, his expression was almost gleeful.

In Yun Liancheng’s mind, for Ye Luo to become You Ji’s disciple was definitely something worth celebrating.

So, without any further objection, he directly stepped aside and said to the others, "Guys, Ye Luo is my brother, that’s true. But today, I want you all to beat the crap out of him! Make sure you give him a thorough thrashing. Tonight, I’ll treat everyone to drinks at the Imperial Family Tavern—but he’s paying! Let’s show him the strength of our Yun Division. Don’t hold back. Break him!"

Damn!

If it weren’t for Ye Luo catching the humor in Yun Liancheng’s gaze, he’d have really thought Yun Liancheng was taking this chance to seek revenge on him.

"Got it, Brother Yun! Don’t worry, today we’re definitely going to give this kid the lesson he’s asking for!"

The Yun Division members smiled broadly upon hearing Yun Liancheng’s words.

No matter how great Princess Ling Xue was, she was still an unattainable figure. The Yun Division didn’t boast many high-ranking nobility. In fact, it was practically considered a commoner’s division. Among them, Yun Liancheng had the highest rank!

So, after their initial anger over Ye Luo’s actions, the Yun Division members no longer took him so seriously. Combined with Yun Liancheng’s words, most of their frustration had dissipated.

The Imperial Family Tavern wasn’t an ordinary establishment. In fact, it was built by the Crown Prince out of sheer boredom. Entry not only required status, but also came with exorbitant costs. Even for the Royal Academy students, a meal there would make their wallets hurt for quite some time.

Now, hearing about Yun Liancheng treating their group to drinks, and making Ye Luo foot the bill, brought sheer delight to their hearts.

Of course, Yun Liancheng had good reasons behind this. Ye Luo had once mentioned acquiring fifty thousand gold coins through less-than-legitimate means. Who else would they extort if not him?

What’s more, with just a few words and a single meal, Yun Liancheng could smooth over the friction between Ye Luo and the Yun Division members. That was undeniably a good outcome!

Ye Luo understood this in his heart. That’s what brothers are like.

Between brothers, some things need not be said aloud, and some actions aren’t just about appearances.

Back on Earth, Ye Luo trusted his brothers unconditionally.

In the Martial Realm, Ye Luo was no different!

"Swish! Swish! Swish!"

Figures began to appear on the platform—those Ye Luo had called out, every last one of them stepped up to the stage.

"Kid, you’re pretty arrogant, huh? Today, we’re going to give you a proper lesson and show you what it means to have senior disciples!"

"Yeah, after we teach this kid a lesson, we’ll make him treat us to drinks. Just thinking about it makes me excited, haha!"

One by one, they chimed in. Perhaps for anyone else, their words would have sounded like brazen provocation—after all, the context was heavy with challenge.

But Ye Luo merely glanced at them, then said calmly, "Arrogant or not, let’s find out in the fight. Enough with the nonsense. Come at me together!"

Having said that, Ye Luo made his move without hesitation.

An hour later, the platform had only one man standing—Ye Luo. As for the others, all of them had been knocked off the stage by him.

"Nice! You’re pretty strong, kid—I like you! Haha!"

One of the Yun Division disciples, sprawled on the ground, shouted cheerfully.

This naturally drew a wave of laughter from the rest.

Only at this moment did Ye Luo finally relax a little.

This time, it seemed he owed thanks to Yun Liancheng. If not for Yun Liancheng, Ye Luo probably wouldn’t have been able to complete the Border Guard task without offending anyone.

Yet, before Ye Luo could finish feeling relieved, a new task arrived.

"New task: Cause havoc at the Imperial Family Tavern!"

Damn!

That damned Border Guard—it was hell-bent on ruining him!

To hell with it, that’s the tavern run by the Crown Prince! He hadn’t even gone to drink there yet, and now the Border Guard was assigning him a task to stir up trouble!

And it just had to involve creating chaos at the Imperial Family Tavern!

If Ye Luo had enough strength, he’d have loved nothing more than to go teach Li Long a lesson immediately.

Unfortunately, all Ye Luo could do was stew over the thought.

Giving Yun Liancheng a helpless look, he cursed inwardly at Yun Liancheng’s suggestion to drink at the Imperial Tavern. Now look, Ye Luo was forced to provoke the Crown Prince.

Honestly, the Third Prince was already an inevitable enemy of Ye Luo. Now with the Crown Prince included, was Ye Luo going to end up offending every single member of the Great Tang Empire’s royal family?

"Let’s go! Imperial Family Tavern—it’s on me!"

Ye Luo waved his hand and led Yun Liancheng and the others toward the Imperial Family Tavern en masse.

Thankfully, the disciples of the Yun Division were sensible enough not to follow. Most remained behind, and only those who had fought against Ye Luo accompanied him. Otherwise, Ye Luo might’ve truly gone broke.

On the way, Ye Luo couldn’t help but ponder one troubling question: How exactly was the Border Guard monitoring him?

Setting other things aside for the moment, let’s just take this matter of drinking at the Imperial Family Tavern. Yun Liancheng had just casually brought up the idea, and immediately, the task from the Border Guard came through.

Clearly, the Border Guard was monitoring Ye Luo at all times. Unfortunately, Ye Luo had no idea how they were doing it.

Unable to figure it out, Ye Luo decided he might as well stop trying. By now, Ye Luo clearly understood that he was nothing more than a pawn in the eyes of the Border Guard. He had no say in the matter.

Or perhaps, Ye Luo never had a choice to begin with.

Before long, they arrived at the Imperial Family Tavern.

The Imperial Family Tavern wasn’t particularly expansive—it was actually quite small.

The Great Tang Imperial Capital was intriguing in this way. The more exclusive and special the place, the smaller it tended to appear, whereas other buildings casually reached hundreds of stories tall!