The Heroic Master Is Tough-Talking but Soft-Hearted: The Aloof Major General Has Fallen - Chapter 15

When Asher received a communication from the Duke’s mansion calling him back to the ancestral home early, he anticipated that nothing good would come of it.

Sure enough, before he could even see Duke Yolai, he was intercepted by the female attendant, Renzo. The other party handed him an object and instructed him to mix it into Cen Li’s daily meals. Asher was naturally unwilling. Putting aside the fact that he did not know what Renzo had given him, Renzo was Duke Yolai’s female attendant and was perpetually at odds with Admiral Derek. This unknown package was certainly nothing good. If Asher actually followed through and something happened to his Master later, he would be held entirely responsible.

Renzo had not expected Asher to be so stubborn. No matter how he threatened or bribed him, Asher remained unmoved. Instead, it was Renzo who ended up half-dead with rage. He had never imagined he would be rejected. Left with no choice, he repeatedly threatened Asher not to speak a word of today’s events, or he would make him pay.

Even so, Renzo remained uneasy. He decided to give Asher a warning; even if Asher wanted to complain, he would have to weigh the consequences first. Renzo only chose to take this risk because Sia had seemingly lost Cen Li’s trust and he feared Cen Li might actually recover, leaving his own bug cub with no chance of inheriting the title.

Ultimately, Asher was forced to kneel in the backyard as punishment. He knelt for several hours straight, from the high noon sun until it began to sink in the west. Under the slanted rays of the sunset, a long shadow stretched out, outlining Asher’s rugged silhouette. His broad shoulders appeared silent and resolute in the shifting light.

“Oh, is this not our Light of the Empire, Major General Asher?”

Asher looked toward the voice and saw Cen Li’s nominal younger brother, Mihaū. Mihaū walked over and stopped directly in front of Asher, his expression mocking. He blocked a large portion of the stinging sunlight, casting a dark, heavy shadow over him.

Asher averted his gaze. Mihaū’s eyes swept over the female’s slender and flexible waist, and he sneered, “It looks like life has not been treating you well since you married Cen Li.”

Asher pursed his lips, his jawline tightening instinctively. It seemed another round of harassment was unavoidable. Back when Asher was at the height of his fame, Mihaū had been one of his pursuers. Even though Mihaū already had a courtyard full of female attendants at the time, it did not stop his desire to acquire more. Moreover, Asher was not as easy to obtain as other females, which only fueled Mihaū’s desire for conquest. Such a beautiful military female would be a delight to the eyes even if he just kept him at home as a decoration. He had not expected that Cen Li would get his hands on him first.

Thinking of his crippled older brother, Mihaū’s eyes turned sinister. He leaned down and gripped Asher’s chin. “What? Do you regret it? Tell me,” he toyed with Asher’s jaw suggestively, arching an eyebrow, “can that crippled brother of mine actually make you feel good?”

Asher’s heart trembled. Forced to meet the male’s dark, suggestive gaze, he frowned imperceptibly and turned his head away.

“Lord Mihaū, please conduct yourself with dignity.”

This single sentence completely enraged the arrogant male. Mihaū’s face turned from sunny to stormy in a second, and he raised his hand to deliver a sudden, unexpected slap.

“You ungrateful wretch! You are nothing but a female bug, yet you dare to reject me time and time again. I was giving you face!”

Mihaū was fuming. He looked down at the female, whose head was jerked sharply to the side, looking utterly disheveled. Asher supported himself with his hands on the ground, half his body hidden in the deep shadows. The other party had clearly used a lot of strength, as a thin trail of blood leaked from the corner of Asher’s mouth.

Asher composed himself, and his clenched hands relaxed again, as if the fight had left him. He could not resist because the other party was a male. If he fought back, it would only lead to a far worse outcome. However, how could this satisfy a capricious male? Furthermore, having Asher right in front of him was a constant reminder to Mihaū that he was inferior to Cen Li in every way. His mental power was one grade lower, and his birth was one step behind. Now, he could not even win a female bug away from Cen Li.

“What is so good about that cripple anyway?!”

In his fury, Mihaū began to speak without filter, and Asher, being within arm’s reach, became his punching bag. Just as Asher was about to endure another solid slap, a cold voice rang out.

“Stop!”

Mihaū’s hand froze mid-air. He turned his head to see Cen Li sitting in his wheelchair. Cen Li had not expected to walk right into a scene where Asher was being bullied. The moment the male turned his face, Cen Li matched it to the name in his memory.

“Mihaū?”

Cen Li’s face was grim as he steered his wheelchair forward. When he saw the clear finger marks appearing on Asher’s cheek, his expression turned hideously dark.

“You did this?”

Cen Li stared at Mihaū. It was a statement, not a question. Mihaū saw the way Cen Li was suppressing his anger and found it quite novel, but he showed no sign of remorse. He curled his lips into a smile. “Brother, your female attendant is very disobedient. I was just helping you teach him a lesson.”

Cen Li remained expressionless. “In that case, I suppose I should thank you.”

“Mm-hm,” Mihaū nodded in agreement.

Watching his nonchalant attitude, a fire surged within Cen Li. It burned so fiercely that he no longer wanted to suppress it. In the next second, the composed Mihaū suddenly screamed. He clutched his right wrist and bent over in agony.

“You,” his face was drenched in sweat and turned deathly pale as he stared intently at Cen Li, “you actually used mental power?!”

A thick pillar of mental energy had rapidly coiled around Mihaū’s wrist. Before the bug could react, it twisted and yanked with no mercy. The sound of bone cracking was enough to make one’s skin crawl. Half of Mihaū’s hand had already lost all sensation. He broke out in a cold sweat and cursed, “You lunatic!”

Rage incinerated his logic. Mihaū drove his mental power toward the bug in the wheelchair. However, before his mental energy could even touch Cen Li, it was completely crushed. How could Grade B mental power compete with Grade A? Every grade of mental power was a vast chasm. Reeling from the backlash of his own mental power, Mihaū’s cerebral cortex felt as if it were being pricked by thousands of needles, resulting in a dense, throbbing pain. He clutched his head, cursing the culprit in his agony.

Cen Li spoke airily, “I heard you call me a cripple. Tell me, should I turn you into a cripple just like me? It would only be fair, since you called me a lunatic.”

Cen Li watched with immense satisfaction as Mihaū’s eyes filled with terror. He quite enjoyed the original body’s vengeful nature; even the most bizarre actions were automatically rationalized. Mihaū’s lips trembled. Meeting Cen Li’s terrifying gaze, a cold sweat broke out on his back. “You wouldn’t dare. If the Male Father and the others found out—”

Cen Li interrupted him, asking in return, “Do you think I would be afraid of that?”

Mihaū choked on his words.

“And besides, you were the one who insulted and provoked me first, were you not?”

Mihaū had nothing to say. Cen Li curled his lip. “So, it is only reasonable for me to teach you a lesson, right?”

The words felt familiar. Mihaū’s gaze fell on Asher on the ground before turning back, his tone subtle. “You aren’t doing this to vent your anger for him, are you? Just because I slapped him?”

Cen Li did not confirm it. He simply said, “You should not have touched my things.”

The gaze between the two bugs remained locked in a stalemate for a long time. It was not until someone approached that the tense situation was broken.

“Ma—Master.”

The newcomer was Sia. Seeing Mihaū’s distorted face as he clutched his wrist in pain, Sia instinctively looked at Cen Li, who was sitting in his wheelchair with his arms folded coldly. A bold thought leaped into his mind. The Master and the others couldn’t have actually started a fight, could they?

Observing Cen Li’s indifferent disregard, Sia’s legs went weak. He wanted to cry but had no tears. If he had known, he would have come even later. He only hoped the Master’s anger would not be turned toward him.

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