Chapter 56: Chapter 56: Killing Skills
A few days later, a horse galloped into Feiyan City, stopping only at the door of the Golden Phoenix Tower.
"Young Master Shi."
Upon seeing Shi Xiaole, several guards greeted him, although their eyes hinted at something unusual.
Shi Xiaole politely saluted with his fist and then entered.
"I heard it’s because of Young Master Shi’s trouble that the Golden Phoenix Tower is in such a predicament. I didn’t expect him to dare return."
"Don’t talk nonsense! We don’t know the full story, but Young Master Shi being back proves he’s at least taking responsibility."
Several guards whispered among themselves.
As Shi Xiaole walked inside the Golden Phoenix Tower, he could distinctly feel that the atmosphere was off. The security officers and servants looked at him with a mix of surprise, respect, and an indescribable expression.
Sharp as ever, Shi Xiaole quickly figured out what was happening.
When Meng Qi learned of his return, he expressed relief and concern, saying, "At this critical moment, Young Master, you shouldn’t have returned."
Shi Xiaole simply inquired about the events that had passed, and after understanding what had happened, he said, "Since the events were caused by me, I naturally have to return. After all, I cannot expect my aunt to clean up my mess."
Meng Qi was at a loss – what use was Shi Xiaole’s return?
"What’s the current situation?"
"Spring and Autumn Hall and Xue family have started to make their moves, unabated these past few days. Both fronts besiege the Golden Phoenix Tower, which has lost more than 70% of its business. Many of our top fighters have been injured or killed, and some have left the Golden Phoenix Tower after seeing the decline."
Meng Qi’s face was clear with anger, but also a sense of helplessness.
Though Shi Xiaole knew the situation was dire, he hadn’t expected it to be this bad. He hurriedly asked, "Where is my aunt?"
"Lady Su went to City Lord Mansion today."
After inquiring for a while, someone came to announce that the Golden Phoenix Tower’s shop had been ransacked again. Meng Qi excused himself, apologizing for leaving in a hurry.
"Feiyan City is being forced step by step, gradually devouring the strength of the Golden Phoenix Tower?"
Shi Xiaole’s face darkened.
From what Meng Qi divulged, he could more or less deduce the intentions of the Xue family and Spring and Autumn Hall.
They were clearly using a ’slow boiling frog’ tactic.
The force used to strike Golden Phoenix Tower each time was controlled just right. It inflicted serious damage without pushing them to desperation. Over time, the Golden Phoenix Tower would likely collapse on its own.
Once that happened, Shi Xiaole knew, he and his aunt had only death waiting.
On matters of life and death, Shi Xiaole’s mind raced, considering all possible alternatives, only to dismiss each one soon after.
Before he knew it, he had returned to his own courtyard.
His aunt still hadn’t returned by evening. After waiting in vain, and tired from the journey, Shi Xiaole decided to rest his eyes and recuperate.
Abruptly, an extremely faint sound echoed around.
If it were not for Shi Xiaole’s heightened senses, he would not have been able to hear it.
A puff of smoke was released from a brass tube inserted in the paper door, quickly pervading the room’s air.
After a while, the door was pushed open, and three people entered.
"Do not blame me, boy. If not for the fear of causing a commotion, I would not have resorted to such despicable means," said the tall, spry figure who was unmistakably the Second Elder.
"Second Elder, what are you trying to do?"
Sitting on his chair, Shi Xiaole, who had fainted earlier, opened his eyes and stood up to ask. He had held his breath in advance, hence he was unaffected by the sleeping gas.
When the Second Elder realised his plot was revealed, he grimly declared, "I am going to tie you up and send you to the Xue family."
"Send me to the Xue family?"
Shi Xiaole understood. The other party planned to trade his life in negotiation with the Xue family. But that plan was far too naïve. At this stage, would the Xue family and Spring and Autumn Hall let go of the lucrative ’cake’ that was the Golden Phoenix Tower because of him?
"Naturally, I know your life won’t solve the problem. However, it can at least buy some time and allow the Golden Phoenix Tower to breathe."
Second Elder scoffed: "Shi Xiaole, you have implicated the Golden Phoenix Tower because of your own interests, even forcing your aunt to lower her head and plead to the City Lord. Don’t you want to atone for your sins?"
The Second Elder’s words caused Shi Xiaole’s breath to hitch.
Admittedly, his actions had implicated the Golden Phoenix Tower. However, he was unrepentant. In fact, from the incident in Moyun City, he never thought he had done anything wrong.
What pained him was the fact that his proud aunt had to lower her head and plead to the City Lord, who obviously lusted after her, because of him. And all this happened because of his actions.
"I will bear the consequences of my actions."
Shi Xiaole announced, word by word.
"Bear responsibility? That’s a nice way to put it. What abilities do you have to take it on? Isn’t your aunt the one cleaning up your mess? Shi Xiaole, are you content only when the Golden Phoenix Tower is destroyed?"
The Second Elder’s anger grew as he barked, "Bind this youngster."
The two people beside him were his close confidants, both peak experts at the ninth level of Hidden Qi.
Previously, the Second Elder had chosen to use a sedative to avoid a commotion, but with Shi Xiaole’s defiance, he no longer cared about avoiding a scene.
The faces of the two Chief Stewards were dark as they pounced on him, left and right, closing in like two iron pincers and leaving no room for Shi Xiaole to resist.
In these days, Golden Phoenix Tower was consumed by frustration and desperation, everyone was busy and panicked, so even though Shi Xiaole’s victory over Lian Tu was known far and wide, not many within the Tower knew about it.
Had they known, they might have hesitated.
Facing the combined power of two Golden Phoenix Tower masters, Shi Xiaole drew his sword, standing still in his place. Like an extension of his arm, his blade moved effortlessly, and with just six or seven moves, he sent the pair flying.
"This kid!"
The Second Master’s face turned white with shock, stunned by the power that Shi Xiaole unleashed.
"Second Master, Shi Xiaole has always been a man of his word. Since this matter started because of me, I won’t shirk my responsibility."
Shi Xiaole sheathed his sword, looking into the Second Master’s eyes: "I can’t promise that I can resolve the matter, but I can assure you, if it can’t be done, I will die before you."
In his eyes, brighter than any gem in the deepest ocean, glimmered steadfast determination. Even the Second Master couldn’t bear to look into them directly, scorched by the intensity of his resolve.
"Hmph, I’d love to see how you’re going to handle this. If you really can resolve this matter, I won’t bother you again."
With a flick of his sleeves, the Second Master left with a skeptical look on his face, taking his two confidants with him.
From a neutral perspective, even the Second Master had to admit that the Xue family had been too domineering in Moyun City. Back then, Shi Xiaole had no other choice but to retaliate.
But matters in the Martial World didn’t hinge on who was right or wrong, but rather, who was stronger.
The Golden Phoenix Tower was now on the verge of collapse, while the Xue family and the Spring and Autumn Hall were eyeing them like tigers about to pounce. This was the situation.
It wasn’t until evening that Su Yanru returned to the Golden Phoenix Tower in her red dress. As soon as she heard Shi Xiaole was back, she rushed over.
"Lele."
"Auntie."
Seeing Su Yanru’s visibly thin and haggard face, Shi Xiaole felt a twinge of heartache. This was the first emotional change he felt since crossing over.
"Lele, why did you come back?"
Everything had started because of him, but in his aunt’s eyes, there was no blame, no resentment, only pity and concern.
Suppressing some of his emotions, Shi Xiaole said: "Auntie, stop treating me like a child. This time I came back to deal with the enemies of the Golden Phoenix Tower."
Looking at him with a smile, Su Yanru said: "Lele, you’ve grown up."
Shi Xiaole wasn’t deaf to her dismissal; knowing that empty words couldn’t convince her, he decided to lay out a solid plan in the next few days.
"Did Auntie see the City Lord?"
Su Yanru revealed a bitter smile: "I waited five 2-hour periods, but the City Lord didn’t see me, so I had to return."
With Su Yanru’s intelligence, she knew what the City Lord intended.
The City Lord clearly wanted to snub her to show his power. Under this situation, she would have to lower her standards. Once she did, she’d be at the City Lord’s mercy.
As a woman, she, of course, knew what the City Lord wanted.
And that made Su Yanru even angrier.
Looking at the whole Feiyan City, the Golden Phoenix Tower was now being pushed by everyone. Some had even shed their masks of hypocrisy, revealing their true nature.
The experience of his aunt further cemented Shi Xiaole’s determination to find a way through the crisis.
There was already a plan forming in his mind.
That night, after his aunt left, Shi Xiaole couldn’t wait to enter the system space.
After defeating Lian Tu last time, he had completed a system task and was now here to claim his reward.
"Congratulations to the host for completing Task Four. Would you like to choose a secondary level martial arts technique or unlock the system’s killing technique feature?"
The system asked mechanically.
"What’s the killing technique feature?"
Shi Xiaole asked, squinting.
"The killing technique feature allows the host to sacrifice several of his martial arts as a price and pay a certain amount of reward points in exchange for the opportunity to pull a one-time attack."
"The type of attack used depends on the level of the martial arts sacrificed by the host and the pull result, and isn’t fixed."
With a deep look in his eyes, Shi Xiaole asked, "How powerful is the attack?"
"Equivalent to the full power of the technique’s original owner."
Much to Shi Xiaole’s delight, the system’s response implied that if he drew a technique, it would be equivalent to possessing the power of the original owner, albeit for just one hit.
Without hesitation, Shi Xiaole chose the latter between the secondary level martial arts and the killing technique feature.
After all, this was a new feature. The secondary level martial arts could wait.
"Congratulations to the host for unlocking the Killing Technique feature. In addition, there is a 500 point reward for completing the task. Would you like to use it immediately?"
Recalling that he would need additional reward points to exchange for the killing technique, Shi Xiaole said: "Not for now."
His martial arts had hit a bottleneck.
He was at a point where he could neither make progress with his techniques nor could his internal power increase rapidly. Even if the points were exchanged for training time, it would not necessarily be efficient. It was better to save them for a rainy day.
