“Xu—Xiao—Shou!”
A gritty voice came from behind him before he could release all the fire seeds conjured in both his hands.
Xu Xiaoshou turned around.
It was Zhao Xidong!
“Oh, why are you here?” Xu Xiaoshou asked, looking surprised.
“Why should I not be here, huh? Is it because you intend to stuff a few more law enforcers into the ground before I show up?”
Zhao Xidong was fuming as he angrily pointed to the two “carrots” planted into the ground. The ones who got stuffed into the soil felt so embarrassed that they felt like digging a deeper hole to hide their heads inside as well.
It was simply too embarrassing for the two law enforcers.
Xu Xiaoshou quashed the raging energies on his hand. If Zhao Xidong was already there, then there was no way he could carry out his plan any further.
“Oh, them? They wanted to be stuck inside, so I just helped to speed up the process.” He looked at the two men planted in the ground and asked, “Right?”
What?
The two men looked truly baffled, wondering who would have asked anyone to do that.
Now that Zhao Xidong had arrived, they were thinking of telling on Xu Xiaoshou. But after some consideration, they realized that Zhao Xidong could not be there every day.
However, Xu Xiaoshou was actually around them every day.
The two of them hesitated for quite a while.
Zhao Xidong became even more furious after noticing that the two men had chosen not to say anything at all. He then pointed at Lan Xinzi, who was behind Xu Xiaoshou. He asked, “What the hell is with her then?”
Despite what Zhao Xidong just said, he was rather shocked to see her there.
Lan Xinzhi was not someone who had been in her position for no reason. Throughout his years in the Spirit Palace, it was the first time he had seen the woman in such a haggard and disheveled state appearing before him.
“Her?”
Xu Xiaoshou turned around and saw Lan Xinzhi. She was already popping meds by then. He sighed and said, “She wanted to kill me. So, I was doing what I did out of self-defense.”
Lan Xinzhi immediately froze on the spot.
: Cursed, Passive Points +1.
Zhao Xidong burst out in a rage.
“So you retaliated in self-defense, eh? Do you mean to say that even the law enforcers had caused you to have to defend yourself then? What the hell is with the cauldron, huh?” Zhao Xidong pointed to the bathtub at Xu Xiaoshou’s side.
“Cauldron?”
Xu Xiaoshou looked stunned, not believing that Zhao Xidong could tell that the tub was indeed a cauldron.
Well, he had probably met Elder Sang before.
Xu Xiaoshou puffed out his chest and replied, “Well, you have said it yourself. It is a cauldron. So, I am undoubtedly doing alchemy with it. What? You think I could bash someone with this thing?”
The two stuck in the ground continued to look confused.
: Cursed, Passive Points +1.
The crowd almost burst out laughing because his explanation and his deeds did not go hand in hand at all.
Zhao Xidong cooled down and decided that he had done enough talking with Xu Xiaoshou for the day. If he were to keep talking, someone would get into trouble.
He then decided not to banter with the lad, and said, “Say no more. Come with me to the Spiritual Law Division.”
Xu Xiaoshou was not about to comply with the instruction.
He had not yet killed the one he was out to eliminate. It would be a joke to get arrested for something he had not done.
“The Inner Yard does not forbid violence for personal reasons!” Xu Xiaoshou shouted.
“Huh, it seems like you know the rules well. But do you know that beating up law enforcers is an offense as well?” Zhao Xidong retorted with a smirk.
“It had nothing to do with me. That thing was the one doing it.”
Xu Xiaoshou pointed to the bathtub by his side. Zhao Xidong was so angry that he was shaking all over.
Was Xu Xiaoshou blaming the tub then?
“Are you saying that it could hit someone without you using it to do so?”
“I am just standing around in the Inner Yard, and someone was trying to kill me!” Xu Xiaoshou retorted.
The grins on the faces of the crowd froze right away.
Although Xu Xiaoshou spoke and behaved funnily, there was little doubt that he was a troublesome character as well.
He somehow got on the wrong side of the most prominent person of the Inner Yard and had to live in fear every day.
They wondered if they could have lasted as long as he did if they were to be in his shoes.
Zhao Xidong instantly ran out of things to say, recalling the case with Wen Chong.
He knew that ultimately he would be the one responsible for any tragedies that occurred.
He felt perhaps he did not do a proper job as a referee on that day.
Huh?
Wait, no!
We were talking about Xu Xiaoshou beating up law enforcers here! Why were we deviating from the subject?
Zhao Xidong took a deep breath and saw the wronged look on Xu Xiaoshou’s face. He felt the young man had toyed with him.
The kid knew how to play his tricks well.
“Well then, if you want to leave, fine. Hand over the thing you have been beating people up with. If you dare to do such a thing again, I will confiscate another thing from you!” Zhao Xidong said in a stern tone.
He did not believe that he could not somehow put the kid in his place.
“You want the tub?”
Xu Xiaoshou had a peculiar expression and said, “Honestly, this thing does not belong to me. It belongs to Elder Sang. So, you want to take it?”
Elder Sang?
Zhao Xidong felt a headache coming right away, wondering why it had involved Elder Sang again. Why was Elder Sang involved every single time?
However, when he inspected the tub before him, it looked very much like the one the Elder had used.
Other than being one size smaller, this thing was definitely of similar origin!
Zhao Xidong started recalling everything which had happened before. Every time he wanted to take action against Xu Xiaoshou, there was always a higher force getting in his way.
The intervention had come by coincidence or even a twist of fate, and at times, they were outright intervention from those holding higher authorities.
Sometimes, those with authority were people like Ye Xiaotian or Elder Qiao. And even the masked man.
Zhao Xidong felt like he had caught on to some leads, and he could probe further.
Did Xu Xiaoshou have something to do with Elder Sang?
Were they master and disciple?
Zhao Xidong looked surprised as those theories flashed through his mind. It was not the first time he had such thoughts. But Elder Sang already had a disciple.
Mu Zixi.
Hold on!
Zhao Xidong’s pupils contracted.
Mu Zixi?
That’s right!
Whenever he got to the point with his deductions, that innocent, insipid-looking presence would always interrupt his thoughts. Yet Xu Xiaoshou was the greatest mental block that disrupted his thoughts.
If Xu Xiaoshou had something to do with Elder Sang, then Mu Zixi would just be around as a cover of sorts!
His heart raced when he came to such a conclusion.
“But why?”
If Xu Xiaoshou was Elder Sang’s disciple, why could he not say so?
While the kid was indeed ridiculous, one cannot deny that he had exceptional combat prowess. His talents were almost at the very top of all the disciples in the Inner Yard. He was so good that one could say he was number one in the Spirit Palace.
Why was he hiding this, though?
It was indeed like how he had analyzed it. Zhao Xidong believed he had exceptional intuition because he had dated many girlfriends before. He was confident that he could sense something that felt fishy.
It was something that seemed bigger than the Spirit Palace itself and felt more like a big game that had yet to be played out. Xu Xiaoshou had yet to show what he was truly capable of.
If the young man standing before him was already so competent before he had reached his pinnacle to show his true mettle, then…
What happens when that game gets underway?
Huff!
Zhao Xidong suppressed his shock and turned to look at the young man who had a look claiming innocence to any wrongdoings.
Zhao Xidong knew what those old men were like from firsthand experience.
If it had not been for them, he might have been someone more prominent than a mere law enforcer in the Spirit Palace.
“Am I this pathetic?”
Sometimes, Zhao Xidong wished he was not as brilliant as he was. He could have been ignorant about things and enjoyed the bliss, but his mind had to get to work.
He decided not to get caught up with whatever was coming.
For now, he wanted to be as far away from the action as possible.
“Off you go, Xu Xiaoshou,” Zhao Xidong said, his voice sounding rather tired.
Xu Xiaoshou was almost ready to show Elder Sang’s token. But suddenly, the prominent figure from the Spiritual Law Division let him walk instead.
Flashes of the word “Doubted” appeared all over his Information Bar, making Xu Xiaoshou wonder what was going on in the mind of the law enforcer.
But then again, none of it mattered.
Xu Xiaoshou packed his things and pointed to the woman behind him. “She has injuries. I better help her out a bit.”
Lan Xinzi looked baffled.
The veins on Zhao Xidong’s forehead popped. He was furious at how the kid just kept going further.
“Xu Xiaoshou, do not get so cocky.”
“Xu Xiaoshou?”
A gentle voice interrupted Zhao Xidong. Everyone turned around to find a man who looked so huge that he could support the sky.
Gulp!
Everyone in the crowd froze and seemed petrified.
“He is here?”
Xu Xiaoshou turned around when he heard the voice. He saw a sturdy man, well over two meters in height, standing right behind him.
The man had a black, thick beard. His clothes fitted tightly because of the rippling muscles underneath his clothes. The long cape which draped on his shoulders billowed in the wind.
Xu Xiaoshou seemed to know who the man was at a single glance.
He went up and extended his hand in a friendly manner.
“Pleased to meet you.”
Zhang Xinxiong took out a piece of paper from his bulging pecs and looked down at Xu Xiaoshou, who was over one head shorter than he was. Then he slapped the paper onto Xu Xiaoshou’s chest.
The paper dropped to the ground with a thump.
Xu Xiaoshou’s portrait was on that piece of paper.
“The pleasure is mine.”