Chapter 130: Matching Wits with the Scholars II

Considering this.

With the Demon King having appeared, Julia fell into a brief moment of calm contemplation. She raised her phone and said to Theresa, "That is 'him'. If you have already broached certain sensitive topics with him, that could spell trouble."

Theresa replied, "I asked him to help me bewitch a woman, though I didn't specify who."

Julia frowned, saying, "That is serious enough. With an IQ of 400, once he learns of your identity, he will inevitably connect it to me, and there is no telling where his deductions might lead. Furthermore, I can tell you right now that the person who hacked your email box is definitely him, which proves he is already harboring suspicions."

"Then I should leave immediately and erase every trace related to this..." Theresa panicked as well.

"That will be entirely useless; he is omniscient. The last person who had that thought was his omnipotent father, and the old drunk ended up inexplicably losing the entire planet," Julia said indifferently.

"Then what should I do?" Theresa was genuinely anxious.

"Do nothing. Don't leave either; stay right there and wait for me to handle it. I must see him. It has been a very long time since last we met."

With that, Julia hung up the phone. Her assistants and bodyguards watched her frown in deep thought, her stunning charm radiating to an absolute extreme...

Inside the waterside banquet hall, Theresa felt a chilling sensation in her chest. With a fluttering heart, she secretly glanced at the "Great Demon King." Remembering how she had just been showing off with the phrase "Is there anything I don't know?" lingering on her lips, Theresa couldn't help but feel her aged face flush slightly.

At the same time, she felt a thrill of excitement. She could simply sit back and watch Qiu Hongwen, his brother, and Mike Chen court death. Thoroughly dark-hearted and wishing for the world to be plunged into chaos, Theresa figured that the more hatred they provoked, the less attention the Great Demon King would pay to other matters, thereby reducing the Victoria family's troubles.

Indeed, the instigating power of a troublemaker was formidable.

Theresa seemed to carry an aura that continuously influenced everyone's emotions.

In the center of the hall, Qiu Hongwen had completely lost his patience. Wrapping an arm around Zeng Xiaoxian's waist, his expression darkened. "Enough, stop talking to this little bastard. He's practically a good-for-nothing; there will certainly be a price to pay later."

Many onlookers secretly shook their heads. Provoking someone to the point of utter fury naturally came with a price, and it was only because this was a public occasion that Qiu Hongwen and Qiu Tianjue had not yet acted. After all, they were simply too hot-headed. How could someone like Qiu Hongwen be trifled with? He was notoriously ill-tempered in the circle; even Fatty Jiang had been relentlessly pursued and targeted without even provoking him head-on, let on this young upstart.

Still harboring lingering resentment, Zeng Xiaoxian pointed at Xiao Ma's nose and snapped, "You're nothing more than a freeloader living off women. You picked the wrong place to put on airs. Were it not for the special circumstances today, I'd really love to see how someone beats you to death in public."

Xiao Ma resumed his eccentric, twitchy persona and said, "Yet you know nothing of power. Actually, I had already died once, but a bolt of heavenly lightning struck me back to life."

Xiao Ma remained utterly carefree, but Quan Zhiling, who was with him, felt her scalp go numb and wished she could simply faint.

Zeng Xiaoxian was so angry she laughed. She had never encountered a man who dared to speak to her like that to her face. Choking on her own breath, she desperately wanted to take off her high heels and bash a hole straight through his head.

She immediately raised her hand again, pointing at Xiao Ma's nose. "If you dare to give me one more sarcastic reply, I'll have people drag you out and beat you to death right here on the spot, and make sure your boss, Yu Chengmin, suffers consequences he can't handle."

Xiao Ma decisively responded, "If you dare say you'll drag me out and beat me to death again, I'll say I'm going to drag you out for some hanky-panky."

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone in the hall stood with their mouths half-open in shock. This was an insult to any woman, especially to a socialite like Zeng Xiaoxian.

Zeng Xiaoxian's entire face flushed red. "Are you mentally retarded or just insane? It doesn't matter if you're too stupid to know who I am, but can't you just make a phone call to Yu Chengmin and find out?"

"I do know who you are. I heard about your exploits back when I was still in school. You're a siren. Several of my roommates liked to hang your posters inside their mosquito nets and wank to them," Xiao Ma said with a bizarre expression.

Much like Qiu Tianjue, Zeng Xiaoxian was pushed to the absolute limit of her anger, to the point where she stopped speaking altogether. Her expression gradually grew dark as she took out her phone and began typing a message.

Qiu Tianjue, who was far more calculating, secretly found it amusing. It wasn't that he hadn't wanted to move against Xiao Ma—had he wanted to, he would have done so long ago—it was simply that this little bastard's ability to generate hatred was off the charts, provoking Zeng Xiaoxian into coming forward personally to stir up trouble.

Qiu Tianjue also knew of Zeng Xiaoxian's methods. People seventeen times more formidable than Xiao Ma had once been driven by her to the point of utter ruin. Thus, he adopted the attitude of someone watching a good show.

Not only that.

Shinoda Hiroshi, the Japanese man, had also long since grown tired of Xiao Ma. Seeing a large group of prominent women gathered here in a catfight, he decisively shoved his hands into his trouser pockets and walked over with a cool stride to join in.

After giving a very gentlemanly slight nod to Zeng Xiaoxian and Quan Zhiling, Shinoda Hiroshi looked maliciously at Ma Weimin and said, "Indeed... it's rare to encounter someone like you."

"Naturally. One of a kind, no branches," Xiao Ma said smugly.

Dead silence filled the hall!

Many people present knew Shinoda Hiroshi's background. Naturally, he was also a man not to be trifled with.

By now, almost everyone in the hall had reached a consensus: no matter what, courting death would genuinely get you killed. This eccentric fellow was using verbal sparring to dig his own grave step by step.

Shinoda Hiroshi's face also turned cold. After a brief hesitation, he bit out word by word, "Originally, I traveled across the ocean not to resort to violence, but seeing how arrogant you are and how casually you insult beautiful women, I can no longer restrain myself. Tell me how you want to die, and I will grant your wish right here."

With that, his four personal bodyguards immediately closed in.

Zeng Xiaoxian couldn't help but glance at Shinoda Hiroshi a few more times, feeling that he was quite a charismatic man after all.

"Drag him out and beat him to death. I'll take the blame if anything happens!" Shinoda Hiroshi said in a voice that wasn't loud, issuing the command with a hint of overlord-like arrogance before stepping back slightly.

His four karate-trained bodyguards quickly stepped forward.

Antony had originally intended to keep a low profile; failing to understand the situation, he hadn't wanted to interfere in "his" affairs. But seeing things reach this point, he could no longer remain silent. He abruptly stood up, walked over, and scolded furiously, "Shinoda, if you dare lay a single finger on him, I guarantee I'll teach you how to spell the word 'death' in Japanese!"

Qiu Hongwen, Qiu Tianjue, Zeng Xiaoxian, and the others froze, completely baffled as to what kind of farce this was.

Mike Chen, hiding in a corner, began to feel that something was deeply wrong.

Shinoda Hiroshi's scalp went numb. He couldn't fathom why Antony would have any entanglements with this person—and it clearly wasn't an ordinary entanglement, because Antony was genuinely frantic.

Similarly, Theresa, who had initially been content to watch from afar and had no desire to move, saw the Spaniard putting on airs. How could the old and cunning Theresa let herself fall behind?

Thus, unwilling to be outdone, Theresa walked over and looked coldly at Shinoda Hiroshi. "Are you starting to show off again, huh?"

"!" Shinoda Hiroshi was even more terrified. He had no idea how he had offended this woman, rendering him temporarily unable to respond.

Theresa took out her phone, held it in her hand, and said coldly, "Shinoda, if you really want to play, you don't need to run all the way over here; I can teach you how to play the game. Japanese police might indeed be cut from the same cloth as you lot, but what if I were to call General Brandon right now and have him chat with your grandfather and your family's assets? I guarantee that even if you hide inside the Prime Minister's Official Residence, you can all be wiped out in one sweep."

As everyone knew, General Brandon was the commander of the US forces in Japan. Those who didn't know Theresa might have thought she was exaggerating, but those who knew her considered it entirely normal. On certain occasions, scoundrels like them truly shared the same trousers.

Of course, Shinoda Hiroshi knew just how ruthless Theresa could be, and cold sweat began to bead on his forehead. Even if he didn't know the specific insider details, he wasn't an idiot; at this stage, failing to realize something was deeply wrong would make him a fool.

With no good solution for the moment—coupled with the fact that Shinoda Hiroshi had an exceptionally thick skin—he said nothing more. He hurriedly bowed to Antony and Theresa, and did not utter another word.

Zeng Xiaoxian stood with her mouth half-open, dumbfounded, her mind temporarily in a chaotic whirl.

Quan Zhiling had long since lacked the courage to linger in the crossfire. With a cowardly "tactical retreat," she ran over to hide near Jiang Yaowen.

At that moment, seeing a turning point and noticing that a certain someone suddenly looked immensely imposing, Quan Zhiling tentatively said to Jiang Yaowen, "Young Master Jiang, your friend seems a bit strange, yet awfully formidable?"

Seeing Quan Zhiling's eyes sparkle as she tried to fish for information, Jiang Yaowen gave a malicious smile and said, "Enough, stop asking, or else you'll fall victim to 'knowing too much.' Besides, aren't you supposed to be with him? You took so much of my appearance fee, and this is how you complete your mission?"

"I... I was a bit nervous and felt scared," Quan Zhiling stammered awkwardly.

Jiang Yaowen waved a hand in high spirits and said, "Go back and keep him company. Whatever role you want can be easily arranged, as long as he doesn't object."

And so, Quan Zhiling gracefully glided back over.