Chapter 417 - Brothers In The City Lord Mansion
“Elder Feng, is this what you meant by saying that Xu Xiaoshou has disappeared?”
Fu Yinhong looked at Xu Xiaoshou, who was standing at the corner of a wall not far away with his hands straightened toward the front of his pants, and her face started to blush a little.
At the very first instance Elder Feng lost his target, he immediately went back to Fu Xing’s side.
Fu Xing was unable to leave his duties, so he could only get his sister to call upon some men to follow up.
After all, there were not many who understood Xu Xiaoshou well at the banquet. The only ones who knew his destructive capabilities were the two of them.
To be honest, Fu Yinhong was extremely unwilling to face Xu Xiaoshou again.
But she was also afraid that if the guy went missing, he would do something that would make everyone hate him again.
As such, she rushed to this place only to find that Xu Xiaoshou, who Elder Feng said had disappeared, was actually standing at the corner of the wall…
Urinating…
Suspected, Passive Points +2.
Elder Feng also did not expect that the disappeared Xu Xiaoshou would be back in this place again.
‘Is something wrong with my eyes?’
Before he could rub his eyes, Xu Xiaoshou was already done with whatever he was doing.
He looked back as he retrieved some water from the spiritual pond in his Yuan Mansion to wash his hands.
Shortly after, he seemed to have suddenly noticed the people behind him. His eyes went big with a little shock.
“Hi, what brings you here, Little Niece Hong?”
Fu Yinhong’s eyes tightened. She gritted her teeth until sounds could be heard.
That was why she was reluctant to go here.
Xu Xiaoshou continued, “Who is that person again, the pretty Sovereign who kept following you around? Where is she? Weren’t you guys going to go search for the person who set off the explosions?”
“Have you guys found anything?”
Fu Yinhong thought in her heart, ‘I think that not only are you the person who set off the explosions but you are also related to the theft!’
Using her sixth sense to face him was obviously useless. She bit on to the back of her teeth as she said, “Guardian Liu is still looking for him. I’m tired.”
“Oh, since you are tired, you should rest. Don’t force yourself. It’s okay if you can’t find anything. Your body is more important.”
Xu Xiaoshou flung the remaining water on his hands before using his sleeves to dry them and walking forward.
“And this is?”
He looked at the old man.
“Elder Feng, a good friend of my father’s. He is one of the City Lord Mansion’s guest elders.” Fu Yinhong explained.
Feng Ma’s eyes went back and forth between the two of them strangely. He did not understand why Xu Xiaoshou addressed him as someone from the same generation and called the City Lord Mansion’s little princess his Little Niece Hong.
‘Is this the way youth are calling each other now to express their love?’
‘I have aged after all…’
“Feng Ma.”
He said after he shook his head and sighed.
After understanding the relationship between the two of them, Feng Ma started to closely examine Xu Xiaoshou.
‘Based on his battles just now, other than his cockiness and pride, to be honest, he is good-looking and has a great demeanor. He’s a rather good match for her.’
The more Feng Ma looked, the more pleased he was. ‘For Fu Zhi to have such a son-in-law, he would be very pleased and relieved after he returns from his cultivation!’
He did not expect that right after Xu Xiaoshou heard that Feng Ma was Fu Zhi’s good friend, he started to laugh casually and patted Feng Ma’s shoulder with his palm.
“Ah Brother Feng, I have heard of you. Brother Fu and I are also good brothers. The brother of my brother is naturally my brother as well!”
Feng Ma was confused.
He looked in shock as he felt the strong hand on his shoulder.
‘Did this fella really put his hands on my shoulder?’
‘F*ck, is this young man crazy? Where did he get the courage to call himself my brother?’
‘Did he really think that the person standing in front of him was an Innate Stage cultivator who only knew basic techniques?’
Fu Yinhong closed her eyes in silence.
This was what she had expected.
The worst of her expectations had happened.
‘I already tried to speak as little as I could. How did this Xu Xiaoshou manage to capture so much?’
‘I should have just said a name during my introduction just now!’
Feng Ma watched as Fu Yinhong place a hand on her forehead and felt that something was amiss.
“You… Did you mention that you are good friends with brother Fu?”
“What Fu are you referring to?” he asked.
“Who else could it be?”
Xu Xiaoshou pulled back his hands and laughed. “Naturally, that would be Fu Xing’s father, Fu Zhi!”
Feng Ma staggered a little.
‘Fu Zhi?’
Hearing his words in the beginning, he was still a little angry. After all, if it was Fu Xing, then this action of patting his shoulders would have been disrespectful on Xu Xiaoshou’s part.
Once the name Fu Zhi came out, with Fu Xing as reference earlier, it would be impossible for Xu Xiaoshou to make a blunder.
“Do you know Mayor Fu?”
Feng Ma did not believe him at all.
Fu Zhi was a missing man and had not appeared for a couple of years.
Even his own children had not seen him. How could Xu Xiaoshou have known him?
If he were to say that they had known each other before he went missing, then Feng Ma would definitely know about it.
Xu Xiaoshou raised an eyebrow and looked at Fu Yinhong with a little bit of shock.
“Little Niece, what happened to your father? Does no one know yet?”
He was referring to the fact that Fu Zhi had already been rescued.
Fu Yinhong rolled her eyes. She did not bother with how Xu Xiaoshou addressed her since he would never change.
“No.”
“Does Fu Zhi not know as well?” Xu Xiaoshou asked.
“He does not. I didn’t bother to say.”
“No wonder…”
Xu Xiaoshou mumbled. Come to think about it, he did not see Fu Zhi appear in the banquet hall.
‘That guy… Is it possible that he was afraid of facing people again after not seeing anyone for so long?’
‘That’s not right. He did say he wanted to wash up.’
Xu Xiaoshou was stunned for a while.
‘Washing up… Does it require such a long time?’
Feng Ma listened to their incomprehensible conversation. Joy flashed across his eyes as he suddenly realized something.
“Could it be…”
“Let’s head back first!”
Xu Xiaoshou was not someone who would spoil secrets. Maybe Fu Zhi wanted to be romantic and come up with some surprise.
He started to walk back while the two behind him followed closely.
Xu Xiaoshou sighed and asked, “Why does it feel like you guys are trying to prevent theft from happening? I did not do anything. I merely could not hold my bladder and could not find the bathroom.”
He looked back at Fu Yinhong and sighed. “Your house is really huge.”
Fu Yinhong snorted and did not reply.
‘Only a ghost would believe you.’
‘I’m afraid if I were to come out any later, you would have damaged this wall.’
Xu Xiaoshou saw that she was upset, but it did not bother him. He looked at Feng Ma and asked, “Come to think of it, how is your relationship with Brother Fu?”
The edges of Feng Ma’s lips twitched. He did not know if Xu Xiaoshou was bluffing about his relationship with Fu Zhi.
The fact that Fu Yinhong did not retort made him doubt his suspicions.
‘I shall give him the benefit of the doubt!’
“Our relationship is not bad. We have been playing together since we were little.”
When he said that, even he felt something was amiss.
He was just someone with a low presence beside Young Mayor Fu. Now, he was calling someone that he had just met a brother.
What in the world was happening?
Xu Xiaoshou excitedly said, “Since you guys played together since young, that must mean your relationship is really good.”
“Come to think of it, with a status such as yours, are you only a guest elder of the City Lord Mansion?”
“Fu Zhi, that fella… He is too casual with this. I will talk to him about this. As my brother, you shouldn’t be ordered around like this,” Xu Xiaoshou said with a face of unjust.
“Fu Zhi, that fella…”
Fu Yinhong decided to stop herself from hearing any more of this.
She was afraid that if she listened anymore, she would not be able to control herself from attacking.
The road back was still long. She had to tolerate him.
Feng Ma was dumbfounded. He was stunned for quite a while before barely being able to see Xu Xiaoshou as someone on the same level as him.
Even if he felt that something was weird, Feng Ma still opened his mouth and said, “I guess it’s not really considered ordering me around. I’m not really a guest elder as well, more of half a free man.”
He looked in Fu Yinhong’s direction with pleading eyes asking for help, but Fu Yinhong did not care. Quickening her footsteps, she overtook the two of them.
‘So hateful…’
Xu Xiaoshou let out an expression of being deep in thought.
“That’s better. I knew that Brother Fu was someone with a conscience.”
He kept trying to talk to Feng Ma, but Feng Ma was obviously not someone of many words. On the whole way back, it was just Xu Xiaoshou asking and Feng Ma answering simply.
Finally, after feeling that he had totally become closer to brother Feng, he casually revealed his true intentions.
“Are there many guest elders who are on the level like you within the City Lord Mansion?”
“After all, other than you, I only know Brother Yuan, so I feel that it would be good if I had a better understanding.”
Fu Yinhong, who had blocked her hearing, could not hear that Xu Xiaoshou was steering the conversation away to his benefit. If she would have heard it, she would probably have been able to guess Xu Xiaoshou’s true intention of trying to find out about the City Lord Mansion’s manpower and strength.
But Feng Ma was different.
After a whole journey of noise and chatter, he was already numb. When he suddenly heard a familiar name, he started to pay attention.
“Elder Yuan?”
“Do you know Senior Yuan Sandao?”
‘Senior?’
Xu Xiaoshou felt his heart skip a little. ‘This old man’s background is impressive.’
‘Even Feng Ma has to call him senior.’
Xu Xiaoshou started to doubt whether he had made a blunder in saying that he had a relationship with him.
After all, he only knew the name.
Xu Xiaoshou did not panic and calmly continued. “It’s not so much that I know him, but don’t I have Brother Fu to help pull the strings? It’s just some form of acquaintanceship.”
He immediately changed the topic. “So, are there any other brothers in the City Lord Mansion?”
Feng Ma did not expect Xu Xiaoshou to know even Yuan Sandao since he had become famous much way earlier than him.
At first, he was numb. With this change in topic, all his doubts disappeared.
“Those that you can consider as your brother within the City Lord Mansion are actually only a few.”
Feng Ma smiled as he said, “Even though the two guardians call Fu Zhi their big brother, their relationship is actually that of employer and employee. Hence, with your relationship to Fu Zhi, you can ignore the two of them.”
“Other than those two, the main ones would be those few old fellas.”
‘A few…’
Xu Xiaoshou was a little surprised inside, but he did not show it on his face as he asked, “Who are they?”
“Qi Lao’er, Brother Dong Fang, Youngest Brother Shu Gu, as well as the old Zi Yin…”
Memories started to flash past Feng Ma’s eyes as he said, “These were all the old people of the Holy Palace. Even I haven’t seen them for a very long time. Tsk tsk, back in those days…”
It was as if he had opened his chatterbox and started to talk non-stop.
Xu Xiaoshou did not listen to half of what he was saying.
‘Calm down.’
He had never heard of all these names before. Since they were mentioned by Feng Ma in such a manner and tone, they had to be Sovereigns.
If he had not seen them for a long time, could it be possible that some of them had already attained the Cutting Path Level?
Xu Xiaoshou felt chills.
He started counting. ‘Five names were mentioned just now. Adding Feng Ma would make six. If he were to add the two guardians and Fu Zhi, there would be at least nine big Sovereigns. That might not be all of them either!’
‘F*ck!’
The strength of the City Lord Mansion could almost compare to that of Tiansang Spiritual Palace.
Xu Xiaoshou suddenly lost some confidence in his secret plan.
He interrupted Feng Ma’s words and redirected the conversation by asking, “So, these few old brothers really don’t come out anymore? Even for a longer time than Fu Zhi?”
“Heh.”
“Come out?”
Feng Ma laughed. “Based on what I know about their personalities, I’m afraid even if Tiansang Prefecture were to explode, they might not even come out. You might only see them if something serious happens when White Cave opens.”
“You only see me because I like having a bit of fun in life.”
Xu Xiaoshou felt the huge rock weighing on his heart drop.
‘I’m less worried now.’
‘Since those people will not come out, whether they exist or not doesn’t really matter anymore.’
‘What I need to guard against now would be this person in front of me, as well as the two guardians and Fu Zhi.’
‘Just in case of any accidents, perhaps I could count Red Coat Night Guardian as well…’
Xu Xiaoshou was deep in thought and unknowingly had already walked to the entrance of the banquet hall.
Fu Yinhong reactivated her hearing again and impatiently said, “Fu Xing said next time if you want to leave the banquet hall again, you have to bring me along!”
“Oh?”
Xu Xiaoshou’s eyes brightened. “That’s a good thing. Later after I drink a bit more alcohol and need to visit the bathroom, I will definitely call you!”
“When you are free, we can shi– Squat together.”
Fu Yinhong was speechless.
Cursed, Passive Points +1.
She tilted her head and left without saying another word.
Feng Ma watched with a smile.
The scene of the two of them bickering actually looked pretty good.
He suddenly realized that something was amiss.
‘If Fu Zhi calls Xu Xiaoshou his brother, then how would he be his son-in-law?’
‘Wouldn’t this mess up the whole relationship equation?’
He was stunned for a while before Xu Xiaoshou came close to his ears and dropped a big piece of news.
“Brother, I don’t want to hide from you anymore. Actually, Fu Zhi has already come out of his cultivation. You should know where he is now.”
“Go look for him. He said he had not seen you for a long time and missed you.”
After saying that, Xu Xiaoshou took his leave.
Feng Ma was stunned. Even if he had some guesses earlier, to actually hear the truth from his mouth still made him a little shocked.
‘Has Fu Zhi really come back?’
Looking at the entrance in front of him, Feng Ma suddenly did not know whether he should enter or leave.
He saw Xu Xiaoshou return to his seat and looked at Fu Xing and Fu Yinhong on stage. He felt that things have started to settle down.
‘Fu Zhi… Did that fella actually miss me?”
Feng Ma suddenly laughed.
Truth to be told, until the very end, he was ultimately triggered by that last sentence.
‘There should not be much of a problem if I leave for a short while.’
He retracted his half-raised leg, turned around, and disappeared.
…
“Hey, you’re back.”
Mu Zixi squeezed her mouth and spoke in a weird tone.
Xu Xiaoshou retrieved his Perception from the entrance where Feng Ma disappeared. His lips curled up into a smile.
He looked at the lady in front of him and wanted to laugh. “Why? Is there no one coming here to chat you up anymore? Are you going to blame me for this?”
Mu Zixi was speechless.
Cursed, Passive Points +1.
Xu Xiaoshou’s eyes turned toward the stage.
At this time, the battle had already entered the most intense stage as the remaining participants were all trying to fight hard for the remaining White Cave quotas.
At the bottom of the stage, there were already a few young men and women standing around looking extremely tired. They had blood all over their bodies, but their eyes were still filled with excitement.
“These should be the guys who managed to get some White Cave quotas, right?”
Xu Xiaoshou mumbled.
“Not bad. They are all rather impressive, and a few have even reached the Master Stage.”
Mu Zixi looked at the battle and said, “No one actually dared to challenge you earlier. How strange.”
Xu Xiaoshou thought, ‘It would be strange if they did.’
‘Not everyone is able to be like me, who possesses the Eternal Vitality skill and has many passive techniques that do not use spiritual source or only use Sword Will.’
‘Those who can really battle for 10 consecutive rounds and survive are the truly powerful ones!’
‘I might not be able to participate, but come to think of it, these fellas should be among the top few within their own prefectural cities.’
With a glance, Xu Xiaoshou saw that among the eight winners, five of them were Heavenly Image.
To be able to reach the Master Stage at such an age was considered very impressive.
The remaining, who were not Masters, were still able to get their quotas.
Those were the truly impressive ones.
Looking at the battle, Xu Xiaoshou felt his heart tingle a little. He suddenly stood up and was going to start walking toward the stage.
“Xu Xiaoshou, what are you doing?” Mu Zixi was shocked.
“What am I doing?”
Xu Xiaoshou grinned. “No one dares to challenge me, but the rules did not say I cannot challenge people.”
With that being said, a few elders around him were alerted and looked at him.
‘That makes sense!’
‘Does this fella still intend to go up on stage?’
Suspected, Passive Points +23.
At this time, a white-armored guard walked hurriedly toward Xu Xiaoshou as if he was afraid that he would not be able to catch up to him.
“Please stay.”
The guard took out a piece of paper as he approached. “You are Xu Xiaoshou, right?”
“Yes, I am. What’s the matter?” Xu Xiaoshou was stunned a little.
“I’m sorry, but you will not be able to go up on stage for any challenges.”
The guard apologized and continued to wave the piece of paper in his hand.
“These are the newly updated rules. To tell you the truth, they were all created because of you.”
“Among them, the fifth point of the fourth section states that youths who have obtained the undefeatable badge cannot go up on stage to challenge again within the same competition.”
Xu Xiaoshou was totally stunned. Mu Zixi heard this at the side and almost burst out laughing.
The old people at the side were also looking on with interest.
‘Such an interesting thing to do.’
‘Can there actually be rules that are tailor-made for just one person?’
“Who set these?” Xu Xiaoshou’s face darkened.
“The young mayor, Fu Xing.”
The guard lowered his head. “Young Mayor Fu said if you have any objections, you can look for him, but he will ignore all of them.”
Xu Xiaoshou was shocked.
He started cursing him internally.
‘What a fella. Who did you learn such bad ideas from?’
‘If I were to find out, I will definitely break his legs!’
‘Through past encounters with him, how did I not see that Fu Xing had such a black heart!’
He took the piece of paper with a slight headache and saw that there were many rows of words. It was covered with array veins to prevent anyone from destroying them.
If he really wanted to, Xu Xiaoshou could easily break those veins.
But…
‘Never mind.’
“Where is the undefeatable badge then? How come I did not receive it?”
Xu Xiaoshou reached out his hand with his blackened face.
The guard was already prepared as he took out a purple jade-carved insignia and placed it on Xu Xiaoshou’s extended hand.
“Young Mayor Fu said that this was especially rushed out just for you. It has a defensive spiritual array within it. He hopes you will like it.”
Xu Xiaoshou was surprised.
‘Fu Xing… What a fella!’
‘I see you have grown up. You have learned how to fly and outplay me!’
‘Just you wait…’
“Ok.”
“I understand.”
Xu Xiaoshou sat down with a bitter face. The guard hugged his fists in respect and left.
“Restricted again?”
Mu Zixi teasingly said, “This time, it’s like they restricted you from head to toe, the kind where you can’t even make a move.”
Knock!
Xu Xiaoshou’s knuckle landed on the lady’s head, causing her ponytail to sway.
“Shut your mouth, little girl.”
“If you can go up on stage and get five quotas, I will let you tease all you want.”
Mu Zixi snorted and covered her head with her hands.
Cursed, Passive Points +1, +1, +1, +1…
…
Very soon, the competition for Spiritual Cultivators ended.
After Xu Xiaoshou alone took away five quotas, the remaining 20 were barely enough for the rest.
Some prefectural cities even had to fight with all their lives and sent almost all of their young participants only to be stopped at a few critical points.
Even a large city, such as Tiansang City, without the Four Big Families and City Lord Mansion sending anyone out, still managed to obtain six quotas.
The difference between the cities could be seen.
What captured Xu Xiaoshou’s attention the most was a familiar face.
It was Qu Qing’er.
‘This lady should be one of the gifted youths from the Plenty Gold Company.’
‘She looks younger than me, but her growth is indeed impressive. In the earlier battle, she displayed the peak of the Heavenly Image State.’
‘Just based on her cultivation level alone, she can already subdue all the gifted youths here.’
“Impressive!”
Xu Xiaoshou did not know if this kind of person would have some huge background secretly.
If it was purely based on the Plenty Gold Company, the majority of the talented youths present would also possess similar backgrounds.
In a nutshell, to be able to train to such a level at such age and possess great battling abilities, other than hard work, there was no other way.
“Respectable.”
Xu Xiaoshou felt that if it were him, he would definitely not make it.
He was too lazy of a person. Even his cultivation relied on his Passive Breathing Technique. The only time he really trained without being distracted was at night when he was asleep.
…
“The competition of the Way of Spiritual Cultivation ends here.”
Fu Xing made the announcement from the stage. He looked at the excited swordsmen below and felt the atmosphere turn hotter. Without any further ado, he continued.
“The competition between swordsmen will begin now. The rules are the same as before!”
Everyone was in an uproar.
Among the swordsmen seated, not all were from Tiansang Prefecture.
It could be said that those swordsmen who traveled a long distance for the White Cave would definitely possess some Sword Will.
Those who could come and dared to come would definitely be those confident in their own skills.
These people might not care about the battle between Spiritual Cultivators. They would only focus on the fights between swordsmen or crave to see sparks ignite between Sword Wills.
In a nutshell, within the Eastern Region, which was known for being a heaven for swordsmen, what motivated people more than battle between Spiritual Cultivators would only be one thing…
That would be the Way of the Sword.
“Here it comes!”
As soon as Fu Xing’s words ended, a handful of unfamiliar faces already stood up between banquet tables.
These people varied in age but were obviously all within the acceptable age range for participants.
Those who continued to stay seated at their tables without rushing to the bottom of the stage to watch were those who came from abroad. They had impressive backgrounds that even the City Lord Mansion had to treat them with respect.
“It’s starting! It’s starting! Eldest Senior Brother, Second Senior Brother, do you think I should go up to obtain five quotas first or should we all go up together? After all, there are three battle rings.”
The swordless swordsman, Gu Qingsan, spoke with flames in his eyes.
He had long envied the way Xu Xiaoshou looked on stage during his battles.
The three of them knew that they had been bluffed during the short encounter at the inn that day.
Even that sword cognition was definitely something that Xu Xiaoshou possessed.
They hated that they were blind at that time and did not see past Xu Xiaoshou’s bluff.
But now was not the time for them to think about that.
Before the battles even began, Gu Qingsan had already reserved the 20 White Cave quotas for this competition.
There were five for Xu Xiaoshou and five for each of the three of them.
It was perfect.
“Eldest Senior Brother, what do you think?” Gu Qing’er looked at the eldest.
Even while he was seated, Gu Qingyi did not let the grey sword leave his embrace.
He glanced at the other swordsmen in the hall. As expected, he realized that none of them could make him feel competitive.
“Are the White Cave quotas important?”
His sight fixated on Xu Xiaoshou’s already standing body. He lightly laughed. “Mutual learning through fights should be what true swordsmen like us work toward!”
“Let’s not care about whatever battle sequences. As long as Xu Xiaoshou dares to go up there, you both challenge him one by one!”
“If you guys can defeat him, I will teach you guys the great buddha chop!”
