Chapter 43: Resolve
Runfeng Restaurant was located in Yunshi Alley, which happened to be under the control of Tao Qingyuan’s guard station.
Tao Qingyuan was walking in front of the group. People who knew him often came up to him and greeted him for the new year, and Tao Qingyuan responded enthusiastically in return.
From the outside, he really had the temperament of a leader.
Soon, everyone arrived at Runfeng Restaurant.
“Why did we slow down?”
Runfeng Restaurant was right in front of them, but Xu Ning noticed that the pace of the group had slowed down.
Xu Ning looked to the side and saw another group of people walking towards the restaurant.
The leader of the opposite group was Tan Fengying.
‘We ran into the Tan Village?’
Ever since the two sides fought at the dining hall, they were still feuding against each other.
Xu Ning was worried about what would happen once they ran into each other like this.
Master Wei Changqing had mentioned in his congratulatory speech that he hoped that everyone could support each other and resolve internal disputes.
So, it would not be good if Wei Changqing heard about the two groups fighting again.
Tao Qingyuan had a bad look on his face.
He had already noticed the group of Tan villagers when they were still quite far away from the restaurant.
But when the other group saw him, they started to walk faster; thus, they arrived at the restaurant at the same time.
Tao Qingyuan did not want to incite another dispute, as the other party was obviously hostile. With this in mind, he ignored them and walked towards the restaurant.
“Slow down.”
Tan Fengying took a step forward and reached out his hand to stop Tao Qingyuan.
“What are you doing?”
Tao Qingyuan’s tone was calm, not annoyed in the slightest.
He did not want any conflict on the first day of the new year.
“We were here first, let us go in first.”
Tan Fengying stared into Tao Qingyuan’s eyes as he spoke.
Tao Qingyuan’s eyebrows furrowed. He turned his head and glanced at the Tao Village people behind him.
The two sides had gradually gathered together, facing towards each other.
If he compromised and backed down right now, although everyone would know that he was trying to avoid confrontation, it would inevitably hurt his image.
“The restaurant’s gate is so wide. Two people can walk in at the same time.”
Tao Qingyuan was still restraining his emotions.
There was suddenly a crowd at the entrance of the restaurant.
When the restaurant’s waiter saw the crowd at the front gate, he was stunned.
Although no one was wearing the Black Armored Guards uniform, the waiter was aware of the identities of both parties.
The waiter didn’t know how to resolve the tension between the two parties.
“My foot was on this step first, so we should go in first.”
Tan Fengying clearly did not accept Tao Qingyuan’s proposal, as his hand was still blocking Tao Qingyuan’s way.
As expected, Tao Qingyuan began to lose his patience.
If he continued to hesitate like this, he would appear weak.
He waved his hand and moved Tan Fengying’s arm away.
When Tan Fengying saw this, a smirk appeared on his face.
In fact, today’s confrontation was not entirely because of the fight from last time.
It was also because Tan Fengying felt that his influence in the Tan Village had weakened.
After everyone was assigned to their respective guard duties, he felt his position of power in the group diminishing.
Tan Fengying wanted to re-establish his own prestige. Truthfully, he did not want to fight Tao Qingyuan. He only needed to provoke him, in order to consolidate his position in the Tan Village.
As for whether he was at a disadvantage in the fight, Tan Fengying did not know.
Ever since he entered the Black Armored Guards, he had practiced hard day and night, purchased dan medicines, and learned all types of tips and tricks. After going through all that, he finally cultivated his Source Breath Bodybuilding Tactic to the elementary realm.
According to Tan Fengying’s sources, he was the only person among Camp Site Three’s village leaders to achieve this.
Just as Tao Qingyuan was about to step into the restaurant, Tan Fengying grabbed his sleeve.
Tao Qingyuan finally lost patience.
He clenched his fists and stepped forward.
It was Tan Fengying’s turn to act.
Both of them were in the inner enrichment realm, but due to Tan Fengying’s elementary realm in the Source Breath Bodybuilding Tactic, he definitely had the upper hand.
Tan Fengying clenched his fist, preparing to strike Tao Qingyuan.
Slam!
The two punches collided.
Suddenly, a figure appeared between them. It was Xu Ning.
The second before the fists collided, Xu Ning reached out his hands and blocked both punches at the same time.
The huge forces behind the two strikes from inner enrichment warriors were easily blocked by Xu Ning.
“Xu Ning?”
Tao Qingyuan felt his arm being held back.
When he saw that the person who stopped him was Xu Ning, he was stunned.
‘Isn’t Xu Ning in the muscle bone realm? How could he block my punch?’
‘Unless he leveled up to the inner enrichment realm, and improved in his Source Breath Bodybuilding Tactic…’
Tao Qingyuan looked at Xu Ning’s unwavering eyes. He felt a little frightened for a second.
In just one month, Xu Ning had made such a huge improvement.
Tan Fengying was just as confused as Tao Qingyuan.
‘How powerful is this person? He was able to block my full punch so easily!’
Tan Fengying also recognized that Xu Ning was the opponent who beat him previously.
Previously, Tan Fengying only thought that this person was sneaky, but now, Tan Fengying instantly gained newfound respect towards Xu Ning.
“Qingyuan, Brother Tan.”
Xu Ning said, “Today is New Year’s Day, so I am afraid a conflict is not appropriate. Moreover, like Master Wei said, I hope we get along in harmony.”
“To be able to celebrate the New Year in the same restaurant today is an honor.”
Tao Qingyuan and Tan Fengying looked at each other and pulled back their fists at the same time.
However, underneath their calm faces, their blood was boiling.
Xu Ning sensed that both of them had backed down, so he walked and stood behind Tao Qingyuan.
This fight was different from the fight at the dining hall.
Back then, Xu Ning’s strength was not enough to handle the situation.
But now, Xu Ning’s strength had improved to the point he had the strength to control the field.
Xu Ning did not want Tao Jiazhuang to be blacklisted by Wei Changqing, and he did not want to see a bloody conflict on the first day of the new year.
Moreover, Xu Ning also noticed the slight changes in Tan Fengying’s breathing pattern when he exerted his strength, which made Xu Ning realize that Tan Fengying had already practiced the Source Breath Bodybuilding Tactic to the elementary realm.
With his increase in strength, Tao Qingyuan would definitely lose the fight.
The combination of various reasons contributed to Xu Ning’s initiative to resolve the conflict.
“Xu Ning…”
Tao Jin looked at Xu Ning’s face with a complicated expression.
After a long time, she lowered her eyes.
The emotions of both sides stabilized.
“Brother Tan, Happy New Year.”
Tao Qingyuan greeted Tan Fengying.
Tan Fengying glanced at Xu Ning in the crowd before nonchalantly replying, “I wish you the same.”
“Please.”
Tao Qingyuan gestured.
“Please.”
Tan Fengying responded.
This time, both groups entered the restaurant at the same time.
…
Everyone arrived at the private room that Tao Qingyuan had booked in advance.
Like Tao Qingyuan said before, the room was filled with tea, fruit, nuts, and a fireplace.
The private room was located on the second floor, so they could see the lion dance and other New Year activities on the street below through the windows.
“Xu Ning.”
After Tao Qingyuan greeted everyone, he began to speak to Xu Ning.
“Thank you for breaking the conflict just now.”
Tao Qingyuan personally handed Xu Ning a cup of tea.
Xu Ning took it and thanked him. “No problem, I just don’t want anyone to get hurt during the New Year celebration. Even if Captain Qu wants us to maintain vitality through internal competition, he doesn’t want to see his own people get unnecessarily injured.”
“I see…”
Tao Qingyuan listened and nodded in agreement.
“Xu Ning, I heard that Captain Qu visited you twice recently.”
After pondering for a moment, Tao Qingyuan asked tentatively.
The recent contacts between Xu Ning and Qu Dayou had been noticed by the people in the camp.
But because Xu Ning wasn’t well known in the past, no one paid much attention to it.
“Yes, it’s all related to Maple Lane.”
Xu Ning nodded as he responded truthfully.
“The matter with Dayuan Trading Company?”
Tao Qingyuan lowered his voice.
Tao Qingyuan was highly valued by the lieutenants at the Yunshi Alley Guard Station, so he also learned about the struggle between Cai Qinghan and Qu Dayou.
“Yes.”
Xu Ning had also asked Tao Qingyuan to help investigate the affairs of Dayuan Trading Company, so he said, “We are Captain Qu’s people, but because of this, it’s not easy to get along with people at the guard station.”
“That’s really quite troublesome…”
Tao Qingyuan nodded silently.
“Xu Ning…”
After a moment of silence, Tao Qingyuan wanted to ask about Xu Ning’s martial arts progress.
But he stopped the words from coming out of his mouth.
This was Xu Ning’s private matters after all. Unless Xu Ning actively displayed or explained his martial arts skills, it was impolite to ask.
“What?”
Xu Ning asked.
“Nothing.”
Tao Qingyuan raised his teacup. “Happy New Year.”
“Happy New Year.”
Xu Ning and Tao Qingyuan clinked glasses.
‘If Xu Ning was surnamed Tao, maybe he would have taken over my position…’
Tao Qingyuan sighed in his heart.
But he didn’t have any hints of jealousy.
After all, integrity was a core part of Tao Qingyuan’s personality.
After that, Tao Qingyuan got up and greeted everyone one by one for the new year.