"You're so great, kid, huh?"
Ken stood in front of a fuming old man. The man looked in his sixties, but his posture was strong and steady, his broad shoulders radiated strength.
"Grand Elder Fernando, I'm not sure what you're talking about," Ken said politely. He would guess it had something to do with the fact a Han member probably died an hour ago.
"It's about the Han kid that your bodyguard killed!"
'I thought so,' Ken mused to himself while the elder berated him.
Fernando had long black hair and brown eyes like most of the Sue clan. He was 180 centimeters (5'11) tall, and his broad body made him seem even bigger than he was. His wrinkled face gave off a sense of wisdom, but it was from making him seem weak. His Greek nose also added to his powerful aura.
"You think the clan will protect you only because you're talented?" The elder asked.
"I do, wouldn't it?"
"It… it would. We protect those who are ones of ours, but it doesn't mean you can go around and cause trouble. I hope you have a good explanation for that."
Fernando furrowed his eyebrows in annoyance when Ken capitalized on his merits for protection. Fighting another elite clan was troublesome; it'd weaken both clans, and even worse, it'd weaken the sect as a whole.
"I do. If you recall, I had killed one of theirs two years ago, and they tried to kill me because of it, going against the agreement of not sending older generations after the member of another elite clan," Ken told the elder.
"I didn't hear about something like that. Does Dominic know about it?" Fernando asked with a frown. Violating the unwritten rules would call for strong retaliation, and he didn't remember anything like that. Of course, he did not know everything about Ken's matters, hence the question.
"No, I've never told him."
"Why not?" Fernando asked doubtfully.
"Krone and Norman were still alive back then, and they oppressed me to the maximum. My other uncles and aunts did not go out of their way to protect me, nor anyone else did. Even if I reported the incident, the clan would only use it to extort some benefits for themselves while I wouldn't get anything out of it."
Ken explained the situation he faced two years ago.
"Who attacked you? How did you get out of it alive?"
"A few disciples from the outer sect. There were three of them, and they were all at the fourth stage. Back at the time, everyone thought I was still at the Soul Strengthening stage but I've already formed my core and simply hid it from others. I've defeated the three of them with my superior foundation and questioned one before killing him. That's how I knew they were hired by the Han clan."
It was a lie, Ken was still in the third stage at the time. He just didn't want to tell the elder that he defeated three Core Formation cultivators on his own as a third-stage cultivator, even if said cultivators were outer disciples with a weak foundation and low-grade techniques.
The difference between the two stages was too vast to be bridged to the point of going 1v3 and winning; Ken was sure he'd defeat his past self without using a single technique.
"And you were seven at the time?" Fernando asked in surprise.
"Yes."
"Hiya… you were truly raised under tough circumstances…" the elder sighed. He was not surprised by Ken's early breakthrough; being at the fourth stage at seven or seven and a few months did not make a big difference as they were both considered impossible.
He sighed because of Ken's behavior. A seven-year-old forced to kill his chasers but has nobody to rely on in his family to the extent of keeping such a matter to himself as a secret. He felt ashamed; such a gem was neglected and oppressed, and now they had to make up for it. He only hoped it was not too late.
"You should've told the clan. Even if you wouldn't get anything directly, we would make sure to kill the families of those outer disciples to make an example out of them," Fernando eventually said when he got no response from Ken.
"It's all right, I've done it myself." Ken caused his granduncle to raise his eyebrows in surprise again. He did not expect a seven-year-old to be so decisive and ruthless, even knowing to go after someone's family.
"Good call, but how would the other outer disciples know about it when you kept the matter secret? We would make sure they all knew."
"One of them got away. I couldn't catch the archer, so I figured he'd get to the sect and tell the story before the Han clan kills him."
"So you also understood that the Han clan would kill him... But you missed something. He'd never dare return to the sect. Even if he didn't think the Han clan would kill him, he'd believe that we would."
"Those involved in affairs are often muddled, whereas the onlookers can see clearly (1)," Ken said in surprise. He always assumed that the archer was killed by the Han clan as soon as he got near the sect.
"Indeed. I would say he never returned to the sect, and the Han clan assumed he got killed along with the rest of his group. If we check, I'm sure his life token was broken when he destroyed his discipleship token to fake his death, and he is hiding in some city somewhere now. Do you remember his face?"
"Yes, I can draw it," Ken took out paper and ink from his storage ring and quickly drew a precise sketch of the disciple. He never forgets, and faces were no exception. With the drawing skills he had developed by practicing Formation Mastery, the sketch was spot on.
"I will send some of our underlings to look into it and find him. If we find him, we can use him to pressure the Han clan. You can kill some more of their cultivators to take revenge if you want, but don't go too far. How high do you think your bodyguard can rank?"
"top 20."
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A/N: Those involved in affairs are often muddled, whereas the onlookers can see clearly – idiom meaning that sometimes outsiders can see the truth more clearly than those involved.
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