Martial Dao: Peace by Force

Chapter 302: Chapter 178: Martial Chivalry; A Righteous Call Will Be Answered

The other two senior brothers started to follow.

With a pained look, Xiao Yunkai quickly grabbed Brother Ma’s arm. ”Don’t! Please, Brother,” he said urgently. ”I appreciate you standing up for me, but Brother Tian is waiting for us... We can’t let my problem get in the way of more important things.”

Brother Ma stopped in his tracks. He glanced back at Xiao Yunkai, his gaze lingering on his face for a couple of seconds before he slowly unclenched his fist.

”Fine,” he said, taking a deep breath to suppress his anger. ”You should have said something sooner. So what if they’re the fucking Dragon Eagle? Next time he pisses me off, I’ll cripple him!”

The other two senior brothers chimed in.

”That’s right.”

”Dragon Eagle ain’t shit.”

The three of them walked toward the parking lot, cursing all the while. Their footsteps slapped against the empty ground.

Xiao Yunkai trailed behind them, muttering, ”Right, right, right,” terrified that Brother Ma might suddenly change his mind.

The four of them got into the car. The doors shut, the engine roared to life, and they pulled out of the parking lot, merging into the New Year’s Eve traffic.

Outside the car window, fireworks still blossomed in the distant sky, one after another—red, green, purple, gold—illuminating the entire city as if it were broad daylight.

The cheers of the crowd drifted from the distance, faint and indistinct, like sounds from another world.

”Wan Ze...” Brother Ma muttered the name under his breath before turning his gaze to the window.

’Damn it. You got lucky, kid!’

...

On the fourth floor of Cloud Meal, at a table by the window.

After the three men left, the atmosphere in the restaurant slowly returned to normal.

The girls at the other table grew louder again.

Liu Xi had resumed his bragging, telling Song Wanqing stories about his cousin’s exploits.

Song Wanqing listened intently, her eyes sparkling as she periodically exclaimed, ”Wow!” ”Really?” and ”That’s amazing!”

Zhao Hexiang, sitting nearby, racked his brain for every impressive person he knew, only to realize... he only knew two people who practiced martial arts. One was Wan Ze, the other was Zhou Xianchuan, and they were sitting right at the next table.

’Brag about them?’

’How embarrassing!’

He couldn’t help but turn his head to look at them.

The four of them were all laughing and smiling, and he felt a pang of envy.

Outside, in the square, the crowd had begun to disperse.

Sun Fan glanced at her watch. ”It’s getting late,” she suggested. ”Should we get going?”

Xiaoyu looked reluctant to leave. She leaned on the windowsill for one last look at the square before slowly standing up and readjusting her scarf.

Zhou Xianchuan burped, patting his stomach with a satisfied expression. ”This meal was totally worth it.”

After saying goodbye to Liu Yu, the four of them left the restaurant.

The moment they stepped out of the building, a cold wind hit them in the face. Xiaoyu shivered and pulled her scarf up higher, leaving only her eyes visible.

”Brother, can we come see the fireworks again next year?”

She tilted her head back to ask, her voice muffled by her scarf.

Wan Ze looked down at her and patted her on the head. ”We’ll see next year.”

”So that’s a yes!” Xiaoyu hopped, her ponytail flipping over her shoulder. She ran over to link arms with Sun Fan. ”Sister Fan, you have to come with us next year too, okay?”

Sun Fan smiled in agreement.

Zhou Xianchuan waited a moment before chiming in, ”Hey, Xiaoyu, how come you’re not asking me?”

”You’ll definitely be with my brother, so there’s no need to ask,” Xiaoyu huffed.

”See? Our little sister’s the smart one,” Zhou Xianchuan chuckled.

Wan Ze shook his head with a laugh and patted Xiaoyu’s head. ”Don’t be rude.”

Before Xiaoyu could say a word, Zhou Xianchuan objected. ”Ah Ze, stay out of it. I love that our little sister is so genuine.”

Wan Ze: ”...”

’This guy is a lost cause.’

The four of them started walking home along the street.

The crowds began to thin. Fireworks still burst in the distance, but they were no longer as frequent. Now, one would bloom every few minutes, hanging solitarily in the sky.

Wan Ze walked at the back of the group, his hands in his pockets, watching Xiaoyu, Zhou Xianchuan, and Sun Fan ahead of him.

He suddenly recalled the question Xiaoyu had asked him earlier... ”Brother, can we come see the fireworks again next year?”

’Next year.’

’He really couldn’t say for sure what would happen a year from now.’

’Where would he be? What would he be doing? Would he be stronger, or...? He didn’t know the answer to any of it.’

’But he had just made a wish. By this time next year, he had to be ten times stronger than he was now!’

”Brother, hurry up! You’re so slow!” Xiaoyu shouted from up ahead.

”Coming.”

Just then, a massive firework exploded in the sky, dissolving into countless golden specks of light that drifted slowly downward as the four figures gradually vanished into the distance.

...

...

When they got home, the light in the living room was still on.

The moment Xiaoyu walked in the door, she kicked off her shoes, ran barefoot across the floor, and flopped onto the sofa. She gestured wildly with her hands, chattering nonstop, ”Mom! You should have seen it! There was this firework that was so, so big! It went BOOM and just exploded! And then it turned into a dragon! A real dragon! It was flying in the sky! And there was a fire-breather! The guy had fire in his mouth and he just went WHOOSH and sprayed it out, and it went so, so high!”

Mrs. Wan sat on the sofa, a constant smile on her face as she listened to Xiaoyu’s description. She would hum ”mm-hmm” every so often to show she was listening.

”And! And!” Xiaoyu sat up on the sofa, propping her hands on her knees and leaning forward, her expression as serious as if she were giving a formal report. ”That dragon flew in the sky for a long, long time! Everyone was taking pictures! And I made a wish!”

”What did you wish for?” Mrs. Wan asked.

”I’m not telling you!” Xiaoyu tossed her head, her ponytail whipping over her shoulder. ”It won’t come true if I tell!”

Father Wan walked out from the kitchen, laughing when he heard her words.

Wan Ze, having changed his shoes, walked into the living room and patted Xiaoyu on the head. ”All right, that’s enough excitement. Go wash up and get to bed.”