Chapter 172: Chapter 172: High-Spirited Qin Wuye (Seeking Subscriptions, Seeking Monthly Tickets!)
Qin Wuye always exuded a congenial aura, so much so that even Shi Xiaole, with his keen perception, couldn’t detect any weakness in him. After walking into the hall, he showed a warm smile, giving people the impression of a kind-hearted elder.
Shi Xiaole never liked beating around the bush, so he directly took out the broken, bloodstained jade bracelet and asked, "Qin Wuye, do you recognize this?"
The jade artifacts produced by the Treasure Horse Pavilion were always unique; they never created two of the same piece. So, Shi Xiaole wasn’t worried about Qin Wuye denying it.
Sure enough, Qin Wuye’s smile froze for an instant, then his eyes turned red. He asked, "Nephew, this is a memento from the Qin family’s benefactors. How did you get it? Are the couple well?"
Shi Xiaole’s eyes were deep and unreadable, revealing no emotion.
Under normal circumstances, if someone had done something wrong, their first reaction shouldn’t be to inquire, but to deny. If this were to happen, it would signify either that the old man was an eccentric liar, or that Qin Wuye’s scheming was unfathomably deep.
"I have been entrusted to retrieve old deeds," he said.
Shi Xiaole didn’t respond to Qin Wuye’s question but reiterated his position.
"Sir, it seems inappropriate for you to make such a request without revealing your identity. Who knows where you got this bracelet from?"
Qin Liang, Qin Wuye’s son, took a step forward, a hint of anger in his voice.
Shi Xiaole smiled, moved his finger, and a drop of blood, maintained mid-air by his internal power, resonated with the blood in the jade bracelet, both vibrating at the same time.
Both Qin Wuye and his son looked horrified, especially Qin Wuye—his eyes contracted.
Once martial artists in this world reach a certain level of skill, their blood would gain a spiritual nature and pass on to their descendants. The scene unfolding before them indicated a close relationship between this young man in a green robe and the aforementioned couple.
Qin Wuye began to panic.
No one knew how strong that couple was. Qin Wuye only knew that one day, someone approached him and instructed him to secretly poison them.
Later, the couple had to travel to the Cloud Triangle Area. Not long after, Qin Wuye received news of their death.
He wouldn’t have dared to take their belongings otherwise, even if he had ten times his courage.
Facing Shi Xiaole alone was not a problem for Qin Wuye. What he feared was that the couple might still be alive. If they learned about the past, what would he do then?
Panic and confusion flashed through his mind. In distress, Qin Wuye cried out, "Nephew, no, are you the young master? How are the benefactors?"
"They’re doing well. This time they sent me ahead. Qin Wuye, you will see them soon."
Finally, Shi Xiaole detected a hint of cold panic in the depths of Qin Wuye’s eyes. He chuckled to himself and said, "So, will you return the old deeds and assets?"
Qin Liang shouted, "Sir, aren’t you ashamed of this trick? Or are you thinking of taking advantage of my father’s generosity to attack the Peach Forest Sect?"
He deliberately projected his voice with his internal power. Sure enough, it alarmed many skilled masters, who soon rushed to the scene.
"Who dares to target my Peach Forest Sect? Show yourself!"
"The reputation of our Sect Leader attracts clowns who attempt to take advantage. Does the Peach Forest Sect lack people?"
A wave of people flooded into the hall in a ferocious manner, standing behind Qin Wuye and his son, glaring at Shi Xiaole with angry eyes. The oppressive atmosphere thickened, causing the air to stagnate.
Qin Liang smiled slightly.
The Peach Forest Sect had seven masters who had reached the peak of the sixth tier of Qi Absorption, thirteen masters at the fifth tier, and his father was a master of the seventh tier. With all these people combined, how could they not handle this kid?
Considering the abnormality of current events, Qin Liang preferred to nip any potential trouble in the bud to prevent any unfavorable rumors from spreading.
"Qin Wuye, is this your attitude?"
Shi Xiaole stood up, looking at the crowd.
To everyone’s surprise, Qin Wuye turned towards them and angrily said, "What are you all doing? This is the son of my benefactors. It’s only chivalrous for him to request the deeds. From now on, you all must treat him with due respect."
After saying this, he gestured to a clansman under the stunned gaze of the crowd. He took a stack of paper from him, handed it to Shi Xiaole and said, "Young master, this is your parents’ deed and five hundred thousand taels of silver banknotes. The rest of the assets will be delivered to the benefactors’ manor later. I have kept them safe all these years, and today I can finally breathe a sigh of relief."
As long as the life-and-death situation of the Shi Xuanzhong couple was unclear, Qin Wuye would not dare to take action. His priority was to appease Shi Xiaole. Luckily for him, he was cautious. After the incident, he had bought back all the things he had used.
At this point, even Shi Xiaole had to admire Qin Wuye’s scheming.
Sensing the opponent’s energy, Shi Xiaole felt a slight threat, which proved that Qin Wuye’s strength was not much stronger than his. To determine who was stronger, a fight was necessary.
Well then, if he wanted to play, Shi Xiaole would play along. There might be some unexpected discoveries.
Without hastily using the Soul Transfer Great Method to avoid distraction and inadvertently alarming Qin Wuye, Shi Xiaole took the deeds and money, and left in large strides.
The Shi Xuanzhong couple’s manor was not far from the Peach Forest Sect. It was beautifully decorated; the south side was flanked by houses, the east side by a flower garden, and in the center of the courtyard lay a small pond.
According to Qin Wuye, he had not changed the layout out of his longing for the Shi Xuanzhong couple.
Shi Xiaole rummaged through the manor and finally found a lot of elegant writings in the study, presumably written by the hostess. The writings included accounts of mundane days with her husband, the joy of traveling and amusement, and a few of them framed carefully, were written for their future child with a tone of anticipation and nervousness.
In the room, Shi Xiaole found a large stack of baby clothes covered in dust. The needlework was not meticulous and even had some blood stains on it.
Standing quietly for a while, he left the room and unknowingly arrived at a flowerbed filled with iris and roses. Before his eyes, he seemed to see an image of a handsome man with a broad smile, personally planting seeds...
In the Peach Forest Sect, only Qin Wuye and his son were left in the hall.
"Father, why are you indulging that boy?"
Qin Liang both didn’t understand and didn’t want to let go.
While the manor wasn’t large, it exuded elegance. In Qin Liang’s mind, it had long since become the property of the Qin Family. How could he tolerate anyone else laying their hands on it?
Qin Wuye squinted, his face gloomy, devoid of the hearty spirit seen by outsiders. He said, "Don’t be hasty. Send someone to investigate that boy. We’ll formulate plans accordingly based on the results. Hmph! Thinking about taking things from my mouth, they must not fear having their hands bitten off."
Qin Liang felt relieved. Knowing his father already had plans, he relaxed and went off to arrange for the investigation.
"This boy, he doesn’t resemble Shi Xuanzhong at all, yet somehow feels very similar."
After the initial shock, Qin Wuye eventually regained his composure.
If Shi Xuanzhong and his wife hadn’t died, why didn’t they come themselves? Furthermore, even if they came, he had already concealed everything from back then, and even generously returned their old property. What reason would they have to harm him?
Alas, if only he knew the whereabouts of those people from back then, and could contact them, he wouldn’t have to worry about anything.
Outside world.
Word had gotten out from an unknown source - the whole Peach Forest Town now knew that Qin Wuye, a man of loyalty and honour, had voluntarily returned the property and wealth bestowed by a benefactor to their son upon his arrival.
With some instigation, Shi Xiaole’s rude and arrogant image was spreading far and wide. However, Qin Wuye was portrayed as a man of loyalty, brimming with gratitude.
Compared to one another, the differences were stark.
"Father, look into it. That boy has never seen his parents, he was raised by his aunt from a young age..."
Within the study, Qin Liang reported every detail of Shi Xiaole’s life.
The eyes of Qin Wuye brightened.
"From this, it seems he has never met Shi Xuanzhong. The question is, what’s the story with his master?"
Qin Wuye had barely relaxed his brows when they furrowed once again.
Being able to kill a first tier Xuan Qi master with one move, if Shi Xiaole’s master was that powerful, he might not be able to make a rash move.
During his contemplation, Qin Liang put on a greedy expression and said, "Father, why don’t we get someone to probe? If his master is not around, wouldn’t it be the best opportunity for us to make a move?"
"The boy has such a powerful master, he must have some astonishing martial arts skills. If we could acquire it, what’s the loss in abandoning the Peach Forest Sect? As long as we prepare an escape route in advance and move out the assets, it’s just a matter of setting up a new sect."
Qin Liang’s instigation tempted Qin Wuye quite a bit. Actually, even he had the same thought earlier.
As long as he got his hands on a second-rate martial arts skill, where couldn’t he go in this world? Shi Xiaole’s master, no matter how powerful, might not be able to find them.
The most important thing was that whenever Qin Wuye thought of Shi Xiaole, he always felt a sense of palpitation. He was fearful that Shi Xiaole might learn something in the future and then come back to silence him.
"Father, it’s better to eliminate potential dangers in time."
Qin Liang urged impatiently.
Qin Wuye was a ruthless person. After a moment of thought, he said, "Although the martial arts level in the Floating River Area is slightly low, that boy is nonetheless the Copper Banner Master. Let me contact some old friends first. Once we ascertain that we can make a move, we’ll join forces to kill him, eliminating any potential trouble."
"Father, you are wise!"
Hearing this, Qin Liang lavished praises one after another.
Father and son exchanged glances, seeming to see a hopeful future standing tall in the martial arts world, bursting into laughter.
Meanwhile, Shi Xiaole sat within the manor like a statue, unmoving for five straight two-hour periods.
In the past few days, while being nostalgic, he forced his mind onto martial arts and unexpectedly triggered the breakthrough opportunity of the Purple Light Divine Skill.
Boom!
Suddenly, a dense layer of purple aura emerged from his pores, quickly filling the room. With each of Shi Xiaole’s breaths, the purple internal power fluctuated, even causing the furniture in the room to crackle.
The next moment, the purple internal power coalesced and directly shattered the table in front of him into dust. The sheer power was frightening to behold.
"Purple Light Divine Skill, it has finally been perfected."
Shi Xiaole opened his eyes. A flash of purple light flickered deep within them.
Having reached the realm of perfection, the Purple Light Divine Skill greatly improved the purity of Shi Xiaole’s internal power.
If one could see, they would discover that his internal power had changed from light purple to a dense dark purple, full of a resilient and difficult to stimulate quality.
Shi Xiaole tested it and found that the destructive power under the same amount of internal power had surpassed the previous by a full thirty percent.
But that was not all.
The increase in the purity of his internal power had also led to a breakthrough in Shi Xiaole’s realm, reaching the mid-level of Qi Absorption Three.
"With my current strength, I shouldn’t need to fear Qin Wuye anymore. I could even defeat him."
Rising to his feet, Shi Xiaole pushed open the door and gazed towards the neighbouring room.
He didn’t believe that Qin Wuye would just sit and wait for death. Both sides were waiting for an opportunity - it was just a matter of who would make the first move.
