Chapter 43: Harassment!

Behind the centurion, a group of soldiers burst into loud laughter, their mirth filled with blatant mockery and deliberate scorn.

"You are going too far!"
"This is simply bullying people beyond endurance!"
Yang Ying'er, Xu Ruolan, and the other women grew indignant.

"Oh? I never expected a fellow like you to have such stunning ladies by your side."
"How about this, young man surnamed Chen? Hand your women over to me and my brothers to play with for a couple of hours. Once we've had our fun, we'll let you into the city. How does that sound?"
The centurion suddenly licked his lips, his eyes gleaming with lust as he looked Yang Ying'er and the others up and down with a lecherous smile.

"Hahaha, Lord Centurion is truly good to us! When he eats meat, he doesn't forget to leave us a sip of the broth!"
"We swear to follow Lord Centurion to the death!"
"Boy, if you know what's good for you, honestly hand your women over for us to enjoy. Otherwise, don't even dream of entering this city today!"
"Not only will you not enter the city, but you won't be leaving either!"
The soldiers behind him roared with laughter one after another.

"Damn it, these bastards are deliberately picking a fight!"
Liu Jinyu cursed under his breath, casting a sidelong glance at Chen Xuan. Wearing a green hat was the ultimate humiliation for any man; he wondered how Chen Xuan would handle this situation.

At this moment, Chen Xuan's face had already darkened completely, like water on the verge of freezing.

Seeing this, Li Xiuning grew worried that he might do something rash. She gently tugged at his sleeve and whispered,
"They are obviously trying to provoke you. Don't fall for their trap. Since they won't let us enter the city, we can just wait nearby. Once the situation changes, we'll go in then."
As she spoke, she exchanged a meaningful look with Xu Ruolan.

Xu Ruolan, being a sharp-witted woman, caught on instantly and chimed in, "Oh, my dear husband, there's no need for us to lower ourselves to the level of these scoundrels. If they refuse to let us in, we didn't want to enter anyway! Besides, we're rather tired from the journey; resting here for a while sounds quite lovely."

Yang Ying'er also spoke up, "Don't be angry. It's simply not worth getting worked up over such a worthless scoundrel."
The other women quickly added their words of persuasion, all fearing that Chen Xuan might act on impulse.

Only An Ruxue stood coldly aside, embracing her sword without uttering a single word, as freezing as frost.
Knowing her temperament, Li Xiuning hadn't asked her to dissuade Chen Xuan.

Yet, faced with the collective persuasion of the women, Chen Xuan smiled. He spoke softly, "Rest assured, I know what I'm doing."

Hearing this, Li Xiuning and the others relaxed just a fraction.
Immediately afterward, Chen Xuan strode directly toward the centurion.

Clad in armor, the centurion appeared a full circle larger than Chen Xuan, who was dressed in simple white robes.

He glanced disdainfully at Chen Xuan, not taking him seriously in the least.

"I know someone instructed you to bar me from entering the city and to deliberately make things difficult for me."
"Normally, I wouldn't bother arguing with you, but you should never, ever have dared to covet my women. You will pay the price for this!"
Chen Xuan spoke with chilling indifference.

However, the centurion dismissed the threat entirely and even burst into laughter. "Make me pay the price? That's hilarious! I'd love to see what kind of price you can possibly make me pay!"
The surrounding soldiers laughed aloud as well, mocking Chen Xuan for biting off more than he could chew.

This was Barbarian City, not the Imperial Capital!

*Whoosh!*

Suddenly, Chen Xuan struck without warning, his hand clamping directly around the centurion's throat.
His Dragon Claw Hand was a profound-grade advanced martial skill, executed with lightning-fast speed that left no room for defense. The centurion had no time to react at all.
Let alone someone of his caliber, even an expert at the Martial Master realm would find it hard to evade such a lightning-fast strike from Chen Xuan, making it fatally easy for a successful ambush.

"You..."
The centurion's pupils dilated in shock. He felt a suffocating wave of pressure as his neck was gripped in an iron vice, cutting off his breath entirely!
He desperately wanted to threaten Chen Xuan, but no words could escape his throat.

*Crack—*

The next moment, the centurion heard a crisp, distinct snap originating from his own neck.
Shock washed over his face, rapidly giving way to sheer terror.
He wasn't dead yet, but he knew instantly that his neck had been broken!

In his wildest dreams, he never expected that Chen Xuan would dare to brazenly snap his neck like this, right here in the open streets of Barbarian City, with complete disregard for the consequences.
The centurion's eyes bulged wide as his life force drained rapidly away. Finally, his head drooped, and he breathed his last.

*Thud!*

Chen Xuan tossed him aside casually as if discarding a piece of trash, the body hitting the ground with a heavy thud.

The entire scene plunged into absolute, dead silence!

Everyone was dumbfounded; none of them had anticipated that Chen Xuan would actually make a move.
How could he possibly dare?
Even Liu Jinyu, who was accustomed to acting lawlessly, broke out in a cold sweat.
The man was a centurion of the city guards, clearly carrying out orders by denying them entry. To coldly choke him to death like this—was he not afraid of bloody retaliation?

Li Xiuning, Yang Ying'er, and the other women were frozen in utter astonishment.
They had fully expected Chen Xuan to swallow his pride, but never in their wildest imaginations...
This man believed in avenging a grievance on the spot!

An Ruxue's expressionless face flickered with a trace of complexity; clearly, she hadn't anticipated Chen Xuan's sudden strike.
This fellow truly possessed not a shred of cowardice.
For a moment, the look she cast toward Chen Xuan carried a strange, new light.

Meanwhile, the most shocked individuals of all were the city guard soldiers.
They had never dreamed that Chen Xuan would dare to resort to violence right beneath the city gates!
This completely exceeded their comprehension.

"Did the centurion just pass out from his grip?"
"Absolute nonsense! Didn't you hear that bone-snapping sound? He wasn't knocked out; his neck was broken!"
"Impossible! He dared to kill a centurion? Unless he has a death wish, he surely only knocked him out."
"Quick, go check the centurion's condition!"

Immediately, a city guard hurried forward to check on the centurion.
However, when he tried to lift the man up, he was horrified to find that the centurion's body was completely limp, feeling like a mass of heavy, lifeless flesh.

Having been through battlefields and carrying the dead before, they knew very well that when a human body became abnormally heavy and impossible to lift, it meant only one thing.
He was dead!

The soldier's face drained of color. He trembling placed his hand near the centurion's nostrils to test for breath—there was none.
The centurion's eyes remained wide open; though his pupils were already dilated, the look of lingering terror on his face was unmistakable.
He had never imagined his life would end in such a brutal manner.

"How is the centurion?"
"Should we fetch a physician from inside the city to take a look?"
The surrounding soldiers asked anxiously.

The soldier checking the body spoke with a trembling, quavering voice, "The centurion... he's dead!"