Chapter 095: Zhou Anlan's Purpose

These two girls were truly adept at twisting right into wrong and black into white. Others had been minding their own business, running stalls and selling their wares in good order; if they had not come looking for trouble, how could they have been put in their place? The onlookers among the free cultivator illusionists could only mutter about it in their hearts.

An Lan looked at the two girls standing on either side of him, and his expression suddenly darkened. He stopped in his tracks and said in a low, angry voice, "Zhou Qing, Zhou Chen, have you caused enough trouble? If you have, then go back to the academy at once. And be careful, or I will tell your sister-in-law about this!"

The two of them looked at the tall middle-aged man before them in disbelief. How could the uncle who had always doted on them so much lose his temper for the sake of someone who had hurt them? It was simply inconceivable.

In an instant, tears welled in the eyes of the twin girls, and their grievances were beyond words. "Uncle An Lan, Qingqing nearly died!"

"Enough. Did you not hear what I said?" An Lan pulled his arms free from the girls' grasp, then glanced at the three young men behind them. "Take your junior sisters back to the academy."

The three exchanged glances, and in the end none of them dared defy the command of the strong man before them. Half-dragging, half-leading, they took Zhou Qing and Zhou Chen away.

Zhou Qing shot Shen Duo a resentful glare. Though unwilling, she still followed her senior brothers away. If she insisted on venting her anger now, her uncle might truly tell their mother, and by then they would not even have the chance to come out and have fun.

She only hoped she would not run into these people again next time. If she did, she would certainly make them pay.

Upon hearing of Lord An Lan's reputation, Wei Dong went rigid on the spot, and then he forced himself to relax as much as possible, not daring to reveal any flaw.

Shen Duo looked at this Lord An Lan in some surprise. He had actually not moved to help Zhou Qing and Zhou Chen. What exactly was he plotting?

An Lan walked toward Shen Duo and the others with a smile as gentle as spring sunshine. Casually, he sized up the calm and exceptional young girl before him, and with a faintly satisfied nod said, "So young, and already a Sword King. Truly a genius. May I ask your name?"

"Shen Duo." Before she had ascertained this man's purpose, Shen Duo decided it would be best not to act rashly.

An Lan then looked at the other two beside her. One was a rather ordinary seven- or eight-star illusionist, while the other had decent strength as a sword spirit.

He raised his brows. To think he would meet two swordsmen here, and both of them were high-level at that. Truly rare.

Seeing that An Lan was looking at her companions, Shen Duo was not stingy either. "This is my elder brother, Shen Jun, and this is my friend, Wei Dong." She glanced toward Feng Jun and Wei Dong in turn.

Seeing how sensible she was, An Lan replied with a warm smile, "I am Zhou Anlan, the master of this bazaar."

Shen Duo was slightly stunned. Only then did she understand. This small bazaar near the harbor, which received a constant flow of illusionists and swordsmen, also had many wandering cultivators with hidden identities and formidable strength. In a place where people came and went so frequently, if the bazaar was to remain peaceful and open for business, it absolutely needed a powerful figure in charge.

Otherwise, if scenes like the one just now broke out every few days, who would still be able to do business here?

Only, as the master of the bazaar, he should have noticed the disturbance the moment it began. Why had he waited until Zhou Qing was in danger before making a move?

Shen Duo turned it over in her mind and quickly understood.

His two twin nieces were, in the eyes of ordinary people, quite formidable in combat, and they were also spoiled and overbearing by nature. He had probably intended to sit back and watch his nieces vent their anger, never expecting Shen Duo to turn the tables on them. In order to save his nieces' lives, he had no choice but to intervene.

Thinking of this, Shen Duo gave a cold snort inwardly. From this alone, this man was probably no good either.

"Lord An Lan, we have urgent business, so we will take our leave first." Shen Duo bowed slightly to Zhou Anlan and was about to lead Feng Jun away.

Zhou Anlan stepped sideways and blocked their path, still smiling warmly as he looked from her to the disordered bazaar, which had just been ravaged in the fight.

Shen Duo was so exasperated that she almost choked. She cursed inwardly: how shameless this man was! This bazaar was not destroyed by her alone; those two nieces of his had contributed their share as well!

Pretending to be puzzled, Shen Duo glanced at him. "What does Lord An Lan mean? I do not understand."

Zhou Anlan's smile grew even gentler. "The bazaar has been ruined to this extent. Many stalls can no longer do business. Although this was not caused by you alone, you still bear part of the responsibility. Come back with me, pay the fine, and then you may leave."

Shen Duo opened her mouth, ready to argue again, but Zhou Anlan cut her off. "Rest assured, Shen Duo. I, Zhou Anlan, am not a biased man. I will cover the share due from Zhou Qing and Zhou Chen as well. These are the rules of the bazaar, so please do not make things difficult for me."

With words this shameless, what else could Shen Duo say?

If Zhou Anlan had exploded in anger and demanded compensation from her, she might still have found a reason to resist. But now that he was being so gentle and considerate, "for the sake of the bazaar," she found herself unable to refuse.

Shen Duo was certain that after this round of persuasion from Zhou Anlan, if she still refused to nod, the surrounding onlooking free cultivator illusionists would drown her in their spit.

Helplessly, she followed Zhou Anlan to the place where he conducted his business.

It was a small three-story building on the bank of the Tianqing River, not far from the bazaar. Standing before the floor-to-ceiling windows on the third floor, one could see the bazaar beside the docks in its entirety.

Looking at the bazaar now spread before her eyes, Shen Duo gritted her teeth inwardly.

Zhou Anlan extended a hand toward them and said in a gentle tone, "Please, be seated."

After they sat down, a female illusionist brought several cups of sweet dew and placed them before each of them.

Shen Duo did not touch the colorful drink in the transparent glass before her. Instead, she fixed her gaze directly on Zhou Anlan seated at the head of the table. "If Lord An Lan has something to say, then please say it plainly."

She would never believe that he had brought them here merely to collect some damned compensation.

Anlan gave her a half-smile. "Shen Duo, you are very straightforward."

With that, he took a scroll from the drawer and handed it to Shen Duo. "Open it and have a look."

Shen Duo cast him a suspicious glance, took the scroll, and slowly unfurled it. After reading the words on it, she frowned lightly. "How do you know I have never entered an academy?"

It was an academy invitation, and more specifically, an invitation from Joslin Academy. More than that, the invitation came with the recommendation of a professor from the Zhou family at Joslin Academy. In an instant, An Lan's purpose became crystal clear: he wanted her to enter the academy and study under a professor of the Zhou family.

Anlan idly sipped the drink on the table. "At your age, if you had already advanced to Sword King, you would surely have made a name for yourself in any academy, just like that boy from the Feng family. Yet I have never heard of you, so I concluded that you had never entered an academy. Rest assured, Joslin Academy is the academy on the Holy Radiance Continent most skilled in the training of swordsmen, and with Lord Wei Lan presiding there, no academy suits you better than Joslin. With this invitation, you need not take part in the academy's preliminary selection test. And surely you know this as well: if you wish to advance to a higher level, even a genius without a systematic cultivation method will have to take many detours. The academy can save you at least twenty years of struggle."