He mercilessly and without hesitation beat the merchant, making Xiao Ping appear terrifying in their eyes. But they didn't know that Xiao Ping wasn't done yet.
The image of the man lying unconscious on the pavement was reflected in Xiao Ping's eyes, his gaze utterly cold. There was no guilt in what he had just done—only absolute coldness.
Xiao Ping crouched down, reached out, and grabbed the merchant's head. Then, under the horrified stares of the onlookers, he stood up and dragged the merchant behind him toward the caravan.
When he reached it, he said in a crazed voice:
"Merchant, weren't you just telling me that I had to pay 5 liras or pay with my body to be allowed to leave?"
He let his words hang in the air before laughing and saying:
"But I'm not as greedy as you! I just want to smash your face with your precious caravan."
Hearing his mad words, the onlookers trembled even more, and some women screamed in panic.
But Xiao Ping paid no attention to their screams. Just moments ago, they had been laughing and smiling while he was being punched and insulted by the merchant. They did nothing to intervene—they saw him as just a vagrant not worth saving. But now, with the tables turned, fear and panic showed on their corrupt, damned faces.
"If the world wants to hurt me, why can't I hurt it? I'm not some hero or something like that, saved by some damned heroine while being bullied and defended against the bad guys, only to become one of her harem."
He let out a mad sigh as he brushed back his short hair and continued muttering:
"I'm just an extra here who wants to live, nothing more. I abandoned my beliefs when I was dying and heard that woman's words to her son. I don't want to be a hero or a villain—I just want to achieve my goals, even if I have to destroy and kill every inhabitant of this world."
After saying this, Xiao Ping grabbed the merchant's head and lifted it from the ground. The merchant's eyes were still rolled back, white and wide open. Xiao Ping then slammed the merchant's head against the right outer frame of the caravan with force.
"Thud!"
The merchant's face collided violently with the wooden frame of the caravan, blood gushing from his nose and mouth. But Xiao Ping wasn't satisfied with just one hit—he kept going.
"Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!"
He repeatedly lifted and slammed the merchant's face against the caravan frame, breaking the merchant's nose and knocking out some of his teeth from the consecutive impacts. The caravan frame was severely damaged, but Xiao Ping continued without stopping.
He laughed like a madman, beating without pause or mercy, determined to show his new side to this new world he had been transported to.
"You damned vagrant, stop what you're doing right now, or I'll have to use force and weapons!"
As Xiao Ping continued, he heard someone shouting and warning him.
He turned his head, revealing his madly smiling face, and fixed his green eyes on the source of the threat. He recognized him as the guard who had stopped him at the city's giant gate earlier.
At that moment, Xiao Ping could only feel anger. He bit his lip so hard that blood flowed from his mouth.
He had been wondering earlier: Why this damned world? When he was being tortured or beaten, no one did anything. But when he fought back, the whole world turned against him.
So, upon hearing the guard's warnings, he grew to hate this world entirely. He looked at the merchant and raised the hand holding the merchant's head to slam it against the caravan again when he heard another warning.
"Vagrant, you've left me no choice but to use violence!" shouted the guard, dressed in knight's attire, as he drew his silver sword from the scabbard hanging at his waist. He charged toward Xiao Ping, raising his sword high to strike.
But Xiao Ping saw it all with his supernatural abilities. He turned his gaze back to the guard and said:
"I was planning to let you live, but perhaps you desperately want to die. Don't blame me."
At that moment, he carefully observed the guard's arm and leg as he charged toward him and said:
"Sever."
Something shot out at high speed and cut the silver energy threads moving inside the guard's left arm and right leg.
"Hah."
At that moment, the guard's eyes widened as he felt his hand and leg go numb, as if paralyzed. But that wasn't all—he had been running at high speed, so when his right leg stopped moving, he fell. Unfortunately, with his left arm also disabled, the sword remained in his right hand, but he couldn't grip it properly. The sword fell with his right hand and hit the concrete pavement, standing upright like a pole and piercing through his armor as he fell onto it.
"Gahh."
The guard let out a painful grunt as the sword pierced his stomach and emerged from his back, passing through his armor as if it were sponge.
"Ahhhhhhh!"
One of the women screamed loudly and hysterically, while all the onlookers fled in terror at what had happened to the guard right before their eyes. It was even more horrifying than watching Xiao Ping torture the merchant.
Only two people remained standing among the spectators. They watched Xiao Ping laughing in a devilish manner, completely unaffected by what he had just done to the guard.
They were both tall, about two meters in height, and dressed entirely in black. Only their eyebrows and eyes were visible. Their eyes were completely black, cold, and devoid of any emotion.
Even when they saw the guard being stabbed and impaled, they didn't move a muscle. They stood as if nothing had happened, simply watching Xiao Ping with cold expressions.
"Should we arrest him and hand him over to the leader?"
The masked figure on the left spoke without a hint of sympathy, not even turning his head to the other masked figure beside him.
"No, we were only told to observe him. We weren't ordered to arrest him. But we should clean up this mess!"
The second person replied coldly, with a hint of loyalty, as his eyes narrowed.
"Alright."
The first one responded while raising his hand to the air in front of him, as if playing an invisible instrument. Suddenly, ripples appeared on the surface of the void in front of him, moving violently before releasing a strange and incomprehensible energy.
Xiao Ping turned to the source of this strange energy he felt nearby and saw two tall figures—one standing still and the other manipulating the void in front of him.
Suddenly, Xiao Ping felt something pressing forcefully against his skull. But this time, he didn't feel pain. Instead, he looked intently at the two strange men and saw movement—not ordinary movement, but as if time was reversing.
He saw the fleeing onlookers returning to their places as if nothing had happened. He also saw that the guard was no longer on the pavement, which left him stunned.
He looked at himself and saw that the merchant's head was no longer in his hand. There were no teeth or blood on the ground, not even a scratch on the caravan frame.
The onlookers began stepping backward until they were walking in reverse on the pavement.
The merchant was no longer in front of Xiao Ping—the caravan was behind him again, and his hand was pressing down on his hunting hat. So, he lowered his hand from his head.
He realized that time had reversed to before the incident. He looked toward where the two strange men had been, only to see them gradually disappearing into the void. But one of them pointed a finger at his own eyes before pointing at Xiao Ping, indicating that he was being watched.
At that moment, Xiao Ping was shocked because he had witnessed another sequence unrelated to time manipulation, making his heart race.
But he quickly calmed down and assessed the situation. He realized that they were members of some strange and mysterious organization. He suspected they were from the same organization that had killed the body's previous owner and were now monitoring him because he was still alive.
Xiao Ping smiled as he adjusted his hat slightly and fixed his hair, making it look better. He said:
"It seems I'm going to face some troubles, but I'm ready."
After saying this, he walked along the concrete pavement and moved away from the caravan, not wanting to cause trouble like before.
As he walked, he looked around and saw that the buildings were Victorian-era with an old-fashioned style. Every four steps, he glimpsed a lamppost with a lantern inside a metal cage, filled with openings resembling a small child's hand. Their designs were ornate and very beautiful. There were also small trees, meticulously trimmed in the middle of the street, on the pavement separating the two opposite roads. So, there were no trees on the pedestrian pavement where Xiao Ping was walking.
On the street, there were small puddles from yesterday's rain, with scattered leaves floating on them.
Xiao Ping saw his reflection in one of the puddles, but he stepped on it with his old shoe, causing ripples that obscured his appearance. He still hadn't fully accepted his new look due to the shock of being transported to this world.
As he did this, he heard the sound of hooves from horses with a very beautiful appearance. Their long white hair flowed behind them with each step, and there were about four horses in total.
He also heard the sound of wheels from the carriage being pulled by the horses. It was a beautifully designed carriage made of the finest wood available in the city. The exterior was painted white and gold, with the royal family's emblem drawn on the door section. The wheels were golden and dark brown.
The carriage moved quickly past Xiao Ping, who was looking down. The golden and dark brown wheels passed over a puddle near Xiao Ping, splashing water onto his clothes from the side.
Xiao Ping turned his head to the side and saw that the carriage was the one that had done it. He shouted loudly:
"Didn't you see me here, you idiot?"
At that moment, the carriage stopped, and its beautiful door opened, revealing an interior even more luxurious than the exterior. The foot of a 17-year-old girl emerged from the carriage door. She was wearing white stockings and sky-blue high-heeled shoes. Within seconds, the other foot appeared, followed by the girl's beautiful figure.
She had long black hair with blue strands at the front and wore a dark blue dress. Her eyelashes were carefully curled, making her beautiful face even more stunning. Her lips were pink, with plump, rosy cheeks.
She wore a golden crown adorned with jewels and shiny golden earrings on her ears.
Her appearance made Xiao Ping nervous. He realized that she was the same princess he had heard described as spoiled.
"Oh no! I didn't realize I accidentally ended up on Monarco Street. Damn, it seems I've landed in even bigger trouble this time."
He said this while stepping backward, wanting to escape, but he was stunned by what the princess did.
~End of chapter, to be continued...