As he spoke, a pair of large hands grabbed the other person by the collar, while his fan-sized palm slapped directly at the other person's face. With his seventh-grade cultivation and expertise in wrestling, this grab was as fast as lightning.
Many people thought that this drunkard was probably going to suffer a great loss. If the slap landed and he got hurt, that would be a minor matter; losing face would be the real problem.
Only Zu'an secretly mourned for that military officer surnamed Dian.
At this moment, the clerk stumbled and grabbed at empty air, as if the other party was transparent.
But the other person was clearly there the whole time.
Only a few people saw that the drunkard had actually taken half a step back and then half a step forward, just dodging the attack. Because of the speed, it was as if he hadn't moved at all.
Jian Taiding's pupils contracted, and he hurriedly said, "General, come back."
He had already realized that the other party was no match for this mysterious drunkard.
General Ke Dian was usually reckless, and he couldn't stand being insulted in front of everyone. He assumed he had just made a careless mistake, so he rolled up his sleeves and glared at the other man fiercely: "Draw your sword, let's have a good fight, and whoever wins sits here."
The drunkard glanced at him sleepily, then slowly uttered a few words: "You don't deserve it."
Upon hearing this, gasps of astonishment filled the room.
This guy is so arrogant!
The military commander was so enraged that he roared and charged at his opponent. This time, he held back, his entire body surging with energy, and he charged at his opponent like an angry bear.
"No!" Zuo Su hurriedly stepped forward to stop them. With such force, even a slight brush or touch would cause serious injury to someone with lower cultivation. How could they be so deadly at a welcome banquet?
Unfortunately, the enraged Dian Canjun wouldn't even listen to Jian Taiding, so how could he possibly listen to him?
Faced with the opponent's aggressive approach, the drunkard didn't even raise his eyelids. Suddenly, the sword in his hand jumped out of its sheath a few inches, striking the opponent with its hilt. Dian Can was instantly sent flying backward, crashing into a rockery in the distance before finally stopping.
With a loud crash, the artificial hill was smashed into pieces by the enormous impact. Dian Can struggled several times to get up from the ground, but all his efforts ended in failure.
The drunkard's sword had already bounced back into its scabbard, and it had only come out a few inches from beginning to end.
"So you defeated a seventh-rank expert just like that?" Everyone in the arena was dumbfounded, except for Zu An, who was the most composed, because he had personally experienced how high the opponent's swordsmanship was.
The drunkard sat down as if nothing had happened, refusing to drink the wine on the table, and instead opened his gourd and gulped it down.
"How dare you! You actually plot to murder an official of the imperial court!" Someone from the governor's office shouted in shock and anger.
At this moment, Xu Yu smiled slightly: "Just now, all of you witnessed that the two agreed that whoever won would win this position. The Great Zhou Dynasty is founded on martial prowess and has always supported such competitions, right?"
"But the Grand Counselor is an official appointed by the imperial court. He shouldn't have used such force. It clearly exceeded the scope of the competition!" the other side retorted.
Xu Yu said calmly, "The Deputy Commander only looks disheveled; he's not injured. What wrong has my brother Xiao done?"
The people from the Governor's Office were taken aback and hurriedly turned around to look. At this moment, the Assistant Commander had already gotten up. It turned out that he had only been unable to get up because his internal energy had been dispersed, and he was indeed not injured.
However, he was too ashamed to stay any longer. He bowed to the crowd in shame and hurriedly left, covering his face.
At this moment, Sang Hong finally spoke up to smooth things over: "Haha, I have just witnessed a wonderful competition and thoroughly felt the martial spirit of Yunzhong County. Our Great Zhou was founded on martial prowess, and the court needs heroes like these. For the prosperity of our Great Zhou, let us all drink this cup together!"
With this reason presented, both the prefectural governor's office and the governor's office would certainly give him face, and they would all readily agree and raise their glasses in agreement.
The people from the Governor's Office had originally thought that if the drunkard didn't raise his glass, they could later charge him with disrespect. However, they didn't expect that the drunkard, who had seemed indifferent, would also raise his glass.
Seeing this, Zuan became even more certain that only someone from the academy could maintain such a strong sense of patriotism even in such dire straits.
After a glass of wine, the previously tense atmosphere gradually turned into a joyful one, and soon the maids and servants came forward to distribute the roasted meat to everyone's table.
Although Sang Hong was curious about the drunkard's background, he was afraid that asking would disrupt the hard-won peace, so he remained silent and instead chatted with these people about official matters.
The group of people flattered Sang Hong about his past achievements, such as opening up border areas and cultivating land, and equalizing the transportation of salt and iron, which made Zu An look at him with new respect. Although he knew that Sang Hong was very capable, he did not expect him to be so good at economic matters.
Sang Hong naturally reciprocated by spreading the stories of these local officials' triumphs, and soon the atmosphere became increasingly lively.
As they chatted, the topic turned to the fact that the imperial envoy's team had arrived a few days later than expected.
"It's all the fault of the Demonic Sect causing trouble," Sang Hong recounted the events that had occurred in Yi County.
Many officials began to denounce the evil of the Demonic Cult, and eventually talked about how terrifying the Demonic Cult leader, Yun Jianyue, was.
At this moment, Sang Hong patted Zu An on the shoulder with a smile: "Speaking of which, Zu An has even fought against Yun Jian Yue before."
Upon hearing this, the previously noisy venue fell silent. Even the seemingly asleep drunkard raised his head and looked at Zu An, a glint of light flashing in his eyes.
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