by Mars Gravity
“Qingyue my wife, we had better go quickly. A toad will bite when it gets anxious. If we were bitten by this thing, wouldn’t we be disgusted to death?” As Xiao Che talked, he pulled Xia Qingyue far away.
Xiao Chengzhi’s face muscles spasmed as he almost puked out blood.
“Che Er, Qingyue, come over here.”
In the midst of the crowd, Xiao Che quickly saw Xiao Lie beckoning to him with Xiao Lingxi by his side. He and Xia Qingyue swiftly walked over.
After Xia Qingyue underwent Xiao Che’s acupuncture treatment, not to mention her physique, even her face showed a great change. Ignoring her physique, her complexion had become more delicate, rosy and luminous. However, this change of complexion held a different meaning under Xiao Lie’s eyes. Seeing Xiao Che clearly exude an spiritless attitude, Xiao Lie lowered his voice and said with a chuckle: “Che Er, you’re still too young. You’re only half grown, and your body is still developing. Concerning these matters between men and women, you should control yourself as much as possible or else it may harm your body.”
“Ah?” Xiao Che stared at him. After recovering, he could only nod his head in embarrassment: “This… I understand. In the future, I’ll definitely control… control…. AH!”
He uttered a sound of pain. The small hand held in his suddenly pricked him mercilessly with its nail. Xia Qingyue turned her face away, but one could faintly see a patch of pink slowly spread across her cheeks.
Eh eh ehhh? She actually blushed…
Xiao Che was about to quietly explain himself when he once again grimaced in pain… It was Xiao Lingxi’s small hand that had fiercely pinched his left arm.
“Little aunt, why did you pinch me?” Xiao Che said as he looked at Xiao Lingxi, a wronged expression on his face.
“Hmph!” Xiao Lingxi pouted and also faced the other way, ignoring him in a fit of anger.
“Young Master Xiao has arrived ! !”
At this time, a loud and clear shout erupted from the front of the crowd. The crowd immediately quieted as everyone’s eyes turned towards the source of the sound, wanting to catch a glimpse of the elegance of the Xiao Sect’s members. Not long after, a luxuriously dressed young man with a proud demeanor walked over through the crowd. Xiao Moshan was not more than half a step behind him, and Xiao Yunhai was in front personally leading the way. Both his expression and posture were differential, with not even a hint of disrespect.
Under Xiao Yunhai’s guidance, Xiao Kuangyun walked up the erected platform and sat on the seat of honor in the middle. He swept his gaze over the Xiao Clan members beneath him with a haughty look, like an emperor overlooking his subjects. A moment later, he nodded to Xiao Yunhai to indicate that they may begin.
“Is this the big shot from Xiao Sect? If we don’t talk about anything else, his appearance is still a bit too unsightly. Aren’t the genes of the great Xiao Sect suppose to be formidable… Eh? He shouldn’t be adopted, right?” Xiao Che muttered quietly.
“One hundred of him can’t compare with little Che!” Xiao Lingxi echoed in reply. As soon as she said that, she remembered that she was suppose to be mad at him. She once again quickly let out a *hmph* sound, and turned her face to ignore him.
“Che Er, Xi Er, don’t spout nonsense.” Xiao Lie said in a low voice.
“Oh.” Xiao Che answered, as he stopped talking.
“Is everyone from Xiao Clan here?” Xiao Kuangyun slowly said with half open eyes and a bored tone of voice. However, both his eyes were rapidly spinning about searching the crowd for the figure of the fairy he saw yesterday as well as the girl whom Xiao Yulong claimed to on par with that fairy.
“It has already been confirmed. Everyone is present, there won’t even be one missing.” Xiao Yunhai said with a serious look in his face.
“Very good!” Xiao Kuangyun nodded. His gaze then slanted towards the main entrance: “Who are those people standing outside the door?”
“Reporting to Young Master Xiao, they are all powerful families within Floating Cloud City. They’ve been gathered here since early this morning, hoping catch a glance of Young Master Xiao’s elegance.” Xiao Yunhai replied as he half rose out of his chair.
“Ah, it’s like that.” Xiao Kuangyun nodded and then said with a wave of his hand: “Since they are guests, we can’t let them wait outside like that. Let them come in. Having the people outside of Xiao Clan witness today’s matter is also a good thing, otherwise others may later say that I was being biased.”
Xiao Yunhai promptly sucked up to him: “Young Master Xiao is truly worthy of being the son of the sect master of the Xiao Sect. You’re this young and are already this open-minded. It’s enough to make me blush with shame… Xiao De, quickly, invite our guests in.”
The main entrance opened and all the powerful inhabitants of Floating Cloud City orderly walked in, each and every one with a reserved demeanor. All of them brought a heavy gift. Amongst the crowd, Xiao Che also saw Xia Qingyue’s father, Xia Hongyi.
“Very good, now we can start.” Xiao Kuangyun straightened in his chair and finally assumed what could be considered a normal sitting posture as he looked down and lightly spoke: “My name is Xiao Kuangyun and I am from the Xiao Sect. Regarding the great name of the Xiao Sect, you all should be very clear. In the Blue Wind Empire, there’s nothing that my Xiao Sect can’t resolve. All of you ought to feel honored and proud because even though you are a bit weak, you can still be said to be related to the Xiao Sect. The founder of the Xiao Clan was the son of one of our Xiao Sect’s Elders. However, although your founder was the son of an elder, he was actually born from a female servant. His status was so low it wasn’t worth mentioning, and his profound strength was really too lacking. As a piece of trash, he wasn’t fit to remain in the Xiao Sect. Your founder was thus banished by that Elder to this place, and that’s how your Xiao Clan came into existence.”
Xiao Kuangyun’s extremely harsh words did not hide his disdain for both the entire Xiao Clan and their founder. A few Xiao Clan members scowled upon hearing this, but no one dared to make a fuss.
Chapter 26: Upheaval (5)
Xiao Kuangyun was really wild, but within the Xiao Clan, he truly had the right to be wild. Not to mention his ear-piercing speech, even if he had called the entire Xiao Clan dogs, everyone in the Xiao Clan would have to obediently listen. There definitely wouldn’t be anyone who would dare to retort. It may even be possible that some would wag their tails accordingly.
“Before Elder Xiao Zheng died, he remembered his affection for his son, and left behind a dying wish. He hoped we would find the one with the best aptitude amongst the younger generation here to bring back to the Xiao Sect.”
Xiao Kuangyun picked up the roster that Xiao Yunhai had prepared overnight, looked all around him, and then arrogantly said: “Today, I will personally check that. In a while, anyone whose name I call will come in front of me and show your profound strength. However, aptitude isn’t decided by the level of your profound strength, but by your foundation and potential!”
“Before I came here, my honorable father had me bring a batch of Profound Opening Powder. The person selected not only will be brought back to the Xiao Sect, but will also receive this Profound Opening Powder as a reward! Good medicine can only be enjoyed by those with enough aptitude. It would only be wasted if used on the body of trash!” Saying this, Xiao Kuangyun’s gaze slanted towards Xiao Yunhai. “Clan master, bring out the Profound Opening Powder. Even though this is a gift to the Xiao Clan, you shouldn’t have any complaints about giving this to the one with the best aptitude as a reward, right?”
No matter how ridiculous Xiao Kuangyun’s words were, Xiao Yunhai still wouldn’t dare to have any reservations. However, upon hearing his words, Xiao Yunhai’s expression all of a sudden became pale, and a cold sweat broke out on his forehead. He didn’t move to retrieve the Profound Opening Powder, but rather stood there in a fluster.
“What’s the matter?” Xiao Kuangyun’s expression darkened: “Clan Master
Xiao, you wouldn’t be unwilling to part with the Profound Opening Powder, right?”
“No, no, of course not.” Xiao Yunhai promptly shook his head with a terrified expression: “It’s only… only…”
“Only what?”
With a *putong* sound, Xiao Yunhai immediately knelt on on one knee with both hands trembling. He said with a face full of terror: “I… I deserve to die… The Profound Opening Powder that Young Master Xiao gifted us yesterday, I left it in our Xiao Clan’s infirmary and made it clear to the person there that they must guard it well. But… but this morning, the person from the infirmary suddenly ran over to tell me that the Profound Opening Powder in the infirmary had unexpectedly… unexpectedly disappeared!”
Hua——The crowd below immediately broke into chaos.
To steal the treasure brought by the Xiao Sect… who could have the nerve?!
“Huh?” Xiao Che frowned slightly as a burst of suspicion appeared in his heart… Based on his ten some years’ understanding of Xiao Yunhai, he would consider him a cautious person. Knowing his character, for him to put the treasure that the Xiao Sect brought in the infirmary after receiving it from them instead of keeping it on himself was a bit unreasonable… Knowing that the infirmary only had Xiao Gu, who had wholly devoted himself to medicine and had practically no profound strength, the infirmary could be considered the most weakly defended area within the Xiao Clan.
Not only that, the Profound Opening Powder was brought by the Xiao Sect. Even if someone craved it, at the very least they should have waited until the people from the Xiao Sect left to act. Why would they unexpectedly pick such a dangerous time… Even if they stole it, would they even have a life to use it afterwards?
Xiao Lie’s entire body shook. He immediately glanced towards Xiao Lingxi, only to find that Xiao Lingxi also had a face full of astonishment. Noticing Xiao Lie’s pointed look, Xiao Lingxi promptly shook her head forcefully to indicate that she had nothing to do with this. Xiao Lie withdrew his gaze and inwardly took a deep sigh of relief.
“Wh… what!!”
Xiao Kuangyun violently stood up from his seat as his expression turned incomparably dark, his body radiating a baleful aura. He looked at Xiao Yunhai and said fiercely: “You’re saying that… there’s actually someone who would steal the Profound Opening Powder?”
“Your humble servant couldn’t protect it. I request Young Master Xiao administer punishment.” Xiao Yunhai lowered his head, a look of shame and fear across his entire face.
“This is ridiculous!” Xiao Kuangyun violently took a breath as his chest heaved. His complexion became more and more dark; he had evidently been extremely angered: “Someone actually dared to steal our gift to the Xiao Clan. Good! Very good! I’ve really underestimated this Floating Cloud City! You all are actually… quite bold!”
Xiao Kuangyun’s anger and killing intent had extended to almost the entire Xiao Clan. This caused everyone’s spines to shiver and their hearts to convulse. They didn’t even dare to breathe loudly and, unable to cope with their panic, hung their heads low for fear that Xiao Kuangyun would look at them.
Xiao Che half closed his eyes, his gaze directly on Xiao Kuangyun’s eyes. A short while later, he poked Xiao Lie and asked in a small voice: “Grandfather, the clan master didn’t offend this Xiao Kuangyun yesterday, right?”
Xiao Lie was startled, then shook his head: “Xiao Yunhai was always prudent. He shouldn’t have gone that far.”
“Then that’s strange.” Xiao Che rubbed his chin and then said quietly: “This Xiao Kuangyun’s anger is clearly fake. If the clan master had offended him, and he had planned to steal it himself and then blame the clan master, then that would make sense. If that’s not the case… don’t tell me this Xiao Kuangyun is acting out a monkey’s show by himself?”
“… Watch your mouth.” Xiao Lie didn’t understand the meaning of his words and so quietly warned him.
Xiao Kuangyun’s eyes became sinister and his expression darkened to the color of a storm cloud: “Yesterday, when I took out the Profound Opening Powder, there were only members of the Xiao Clan around. I don’t think that you Xiao Clan people would be stupid enough to let the fact that you’ve obtained a high grade medicine spread to the ears of outsiders. In addition, your Xiao Clan’s defensive abilities can’t be considered weak in Floating Cloud City. If someone wanted to break it, it wouldn’t be easy… Then, the thief should be from your Xiao Clan!”
Xiao Kuangyun’s words caused the expression of all of the Xiao Clan members to change. The sound of whispers grew even louder. Xiao Yunhai also quickly nodded: “Right! Young Master Xiao sees clearly. After I knew the Profound Opening Powder had been stolen, I also thought that it was stolen by someone from our Xiao Clan. The infirmary’s Xiao Gu is almost sixty years old and is unconcerned with worldly affairs. He simply wouldn’t have any kind of desire for the Profound Opening Powder, so it shouldn’t be him that stole it. Everyone else should probably be viewed with suspicion.”
“Hmph! The insignificant Xiao Clan simply isn’t worth mentioning in the eyes of our Xiao Sect! Any lowly person from our Xiao Sect could single handedly wipe out your entire clan! This time, we graced you with our presence and trekked thousands of li to your Xiao Clan. That gave you an immense amount prestige and was a great show of kindness… yet you instead gave me such a large surprise! This is practically a slap to the face of our Xiao Sect!”
A slap to the face of the Xiao Sect… this incomparably strange and large accusation caused Xiao Yunhai’s face to immediately turn ashen.
Xiao Kuangyun’s eyes were like that of a viper, sweeping from one face to another. Everyone touched by his gaze lowered their head as if trying to avoid being struck by lightning. No one dared to look him in the face… However, this absolutely didn’t mean that Xiao Kuangyun’s eyes had were incredibly penetrating, or that his aura was that fierce. It was only because he was backed by the enormous Xiao Sect.
Xiao Che’s gaze turned to Xiao Yunhai’s face and his expression became even more downcast. He said in low voice that only he could hear: “This Xiao Yunhai’s demeanor is also unexpectedly fake… What exactly do they want to do?”
In Xiao Che’s two lifetimes worth of memories, particularly those from the life on Azure Cloud Continent, he had experienced countless designs of good and evil and skirted past the boundary between life and death multiple times. The amount of people he had encountered was even more innumerable, from the most ordinary of people to the overlords of the world. Not even a profound practitioner that was hundreds of years old would necessarily be able to compare to the viciousness seen by his eyes.
Xiao Kuangyun once again swept his gaze around. His tone suddenly became mild: “Forget it, even though it’s truly regrettable, I can’t be bothered to get upset with you people from this small place. The person who stole the Profound Opening Powder, I’ll give you fifteen seconds to obediently come out and hand over the Profound Opening Powder. I may show you mercy for the first offense! If you continue to be obstinate, then don’t blame for me for being impolite.”
“Xiao Ba, start counting!”
After Xiao Kuangyun finished speaking, he let out a cold snort and sat back down on his seat. The black dressed young man on his left stepped forward and started the countdown in a low voice.
Xiao Yunhai immediately turned around and said in a loud voice: “The vermin that stole the Profound Opening Powder, did you hear that?! Young Master Xiao is magnanimously tolerant to give you a way out. Quickly mend your ways and come apologize! If not, not to mention Young Master Xiao, the entire Xiao Clan will never forgive you!!”
“… Twelve… eleven… ten… nine…” The black clothed man called Xiao Ba continued to count down.
Everyone in the Xiao Clan turned to look at their neighbors, one after another guessing at who was reckless enough to dare steal something the Xiao Sect had brought. Although Xiao Kuangyun’s mouth had uttered “mercy”, from his expression, no one believed that they
would earn his “mercy” after voluntarily admitting guilt.
“… Four… three… two… one… time’s up!”
Xiao Ba’s voice dropped off, and he then stepped back. Xiao Kuangyun once again stood up, his gaze dark and cruel as he sneered: “I already gave you a chance. Since you don’t know a good thing when you see it, don’t blame me for being ruthless after I catch you! Xiao Jiu!”
“Yes!”
In the wake of Xiao Kuangyun’s shout, another black clothed young man stepped forward and then immediately raised his palm. A whirlpool of profound strength began to condense in his palm.
“Xiao Clan Master, the Profound Opening Powder was stolen with the black box, right?”
“Yes, they were stolen together.” Xiao Yunhai nodded. His face revealed a suspicious look, as if he didn’t understand why he was asking this question.
“Very good… On the black box containing the Profound Opening Powder is a mark of our Xiao Sect’s unique profound strength——The eagle mark! As long as we use our Xiao Sect’s unique profound strength, we can very quickly determine the whereabouts of every eagle mark in the vicinity.”
As soon as Xiao Kungyun finished speaking, Xiao Jiu’s hand suddenly lowered as a growl of “it’s there” escaped from his lips. His body then turned into a gale as he rushed towards his right like lightning. His speed was exceedingly fast; in a blink of an eye he had disappeared from everyone’s sight.
“*Chuckle*, it seems we’ve already found it.” Xiao Kuangyun sneered, a deep sense of self-satisfaction flashing through the depth of his eyes… as if he was very pleased with his own performance.
“Wonderful. As expected of the Xiao Sect, not one drop of water can leak out.” Xiao Yunhai’s face also revealed a happy expression, which then darkened once again. He solemnly said: “Young Master Xiao, the nature of this matter is too vile. Not only did it provoke Young Master Xiao’s wrath, but also caused our Xiao Clan to lose quite a bit of face. So no matter who the thief is, even if it’s my son, Young Master Xiao need not have any apprehension. You must severely punish them!!”
