Four young maidservants followed the girl wearing a green dress. Each maid carried a musical instrument. One brought a Chinese dulcimer, and another had a four-stringed Chinese lute; one maid had a Chinese zither, while another held an erhu, which was a Chinese two-stringed musical instrument that was usually held in the lap and played with a bow.
"Please call me Coco, my honorable guests," Coco uttered softly as she bowed politely in greeting.
The soft-spoken girl in green, Coco, wore her long, ebony hair loose, and it fell on her bare alabaster shoulders. She had wide eyes that sparkled and she resembled a pure flower fairy.
This was Zen's first visit to this sort of place. Smiling, Nory waved his hand, gestured in Coco's direction and requested, "May we hear Miss Coco's lovely singing voice please?"
Nodding in acknowledgment, Coco stepped back, repositioned a chair, and sat demurely. Then she accepted the four-stringed Chinese lute from one of the maidservants and began singing a light song.
Her voice was like a nightingale's voice, modestly melodious, echoing in the private box and the ears of her contented listeners.
Several waiters served food and wine as they listened. Zen sighed in his heart. Although the Golden Wind Restaurant was pricey, the quality of service, food, and recreation offered made it worth it.
Before Coco finished singing, a rough voice of an interrupter came from the doorway.
"Are you kidding me? Yesterday, you wouldn't sing for me Coco. You told me that you had a sore throat, but, here you are, singing for them?" A large man in a black robe sauntered in, followed by a few men who were also dressed in black robes. They were all inner disciples of the Cloud Sect.
Standing next to the big man was a waiter bowing and apologizing.
Scrunching up her brows in disgust, Coco stopped singing, and stated, "Mr. Hong, yesterday I had a sore throat. Now, I have other guests. If you want to hear me sing, you will need to wait for another day!"
"Yes, Mr. Hong, Coco has guests already today. If you would come with me, please, we have other good singers," remarked the waiter while he bowed deeply in front of Bush Hong.
"Fuck you!" Bush Hong shouted angrily as he kicked the waiter to the ground and demanded, "Who gives a shit about the damn guests? I am a guest too, and I demand that Coco sings for me, now!" roared Bush, while glaring at Zen and the other guests. As he noted they were all wearing white robes, he sneered, "They are only a few outer disciples." He paused briefly and said to Zen and the others, "You guys don't mind if Coco sings for me, right?"
No one enjoyed losing face in such a public way. Nory and Sean frowned. They didn't want to give in, but, these were the Cloud Sect inner disciples. Regardless of which peak they were in, Nory and Sean didn't think they could beat them.
Zen poured a goblet of wine and sipped it, slowly. The wine was delicate with an enjoyable taste. After finishing his glass, Zen declared, "Don't you know the order? We were here first, and you were second. Therefore, if you want to hear Coco sing, you will have to choose another day."
Originally, Bush and his fellow inner disciples thought the outer disciples would be pliant. After all, the outer disciples always gave in to the inner disciples. Zen's reaction shocked them.
Guffawing, Bush retorted, "You were here first? That's bullshit! How about you talk to my fist about who was here first!"
Zen scowled, pointed to the door and commanded, "It looks like there is nothing to discuss, so, get out of my sight!"
'Get out?' Bush and his fellow disciples were astounded and doubted their hearing.
Why was this outer disciple daring to be so arrogant to inner disciples?
"Boy, you're in trouble now," stated Bush coldly while cracking his knuckles as though he would use his fists, and then life vitality was unleashed from his navel. The overwhelming amount of energy was so significant that it lifted Coco's hair.
"Oh, am I? You are the second person to threaten me today, but, you are crap compared to the first one," said Zen sneering. He haphazardly tossed his goblet on the table, and as it spun on the table, Zen vacated his seat.
No one saw Zen move, and he was in front of Bush before anyone saw him.
"Smack!"
The sound of Zen's hand as he slapped Bush across the face reverberated in the room.
It took a moment before Bush realized that he'd been slapped. His face flushed in anger, and he moved to retaliate.
"Smack!"
Came the sound and sting as Zen slapped Bush again.
"What? I'm going to kill you!" cried Bush.
"Slap!"
A third slap stopped Bush's words in his throat.
Behind Bush, the inner disciples were poised to jump into the fight.
Before any of them could unleash their life vitality, they were each punched in the chest.
While Zen's punch seemed weak, it was, in fact, mighty because Zen used demonic life energy.
Flying backward, the wind knocked out of the guys, and they slammed into the delicate second-floor guard rail before crashing to the floor in the hall.
With a blast of air, Zen was in front of Bush once again.
Bush was dazed and unaware that his comrades were outside the room on the floor. He exploded, "Beat him, brothers! Tear these outer disciples to shreds!"
Zen, Nory, and Sean smiled mockingly at Bush.
When there was no movement, Bush looked behind him. When he saw his posse was gone, his face darkened, and he finally realized that he'd run into a tough character.
Clearly, he was a bit late in realizing.
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