Chapter 45 - 44: Enemies

Chapter 45: Chapter 44: Enemies

Pang Hong and the disciples of the Immortal Institute stared at each other for a long time. In the distance, the disciples of the Cheng Institute saw this scene and came to stand behind Pang Hong.

The standoff between the two factions gradually drew a growing crowd of onlookers on the street.

Since this was the affluent district, the guards from the Government Office arrived quite quickly.

Pang Hong didn’t say anything more. He merely cast a dark, gloomy glance at Xu Guang before turning and walking away.

Susu turned around, seemingly ignoring Xu Guang’s existence, and whispered to Xu Sanduo, "Junior Brother Xu, is it worth offending Pang Hong for him?"

Xu Sanduo gave a casual smile and said nothing more.

Susu scoffed coldly and left without looking back. Her sycophants naturally followed suit.

Just before leaving, she cast a mocking glance at Xu Guang.

Xu Guang ignored the ridicule in their eyes. He turned, walked over to a corner, and picked up the bamboo basket of medicinal herbs he had bought earlier.

A moment later, Xu Sanduo and Zhao Yong brought Xu Guang to a restaurant.

"Junior Brother, why did you come over here? If we hadn’t been keeping an eye out, you would’ve been done for," Xu Sanduo said with a sigh.

Xu Guang narrowed his eyes, his heart still brimming with indignation. Pang Hong was a mad dog. He had to kill him tonight!

Or rather, if his senior brothers hadn’t arrived so quickly, Pang Hong would already be dead by now.

Xu Guang asked softly, "Why are you two here?"

At the mention of this, Xu Sanduo became indignant. "Han Juan has lost her mind. I don’t know what kind of magic potion Pang Hong fed her, but she’s insisting on marrying Pang Hong’s brother, Bai Ran. Little does she know, Pang Hong just wants to use Han Juan’s wedding to invite the disciples of our Immortal Institute out. He plans to kill a few of commoner backgrounds to enrage Master Zhao and force Eldest Senior Brother Jiang Wu out into the open.

"Master Zhao sent me and Fourth Senior Brother to wait here, just in case any commoner disciples showed up, so we could lend a hand in time."

Hearing this, the gleam in Xu Guang’s eyes grew increasingly dangerous.

This Pang Hong...

Xu Sanduo suddenly remembered something. Just now, Xu Guang seemed to have exchanged a few moves with Pang Hong, right?

"But I didn’t expect you to be so strong."

Zhao Yong suddenly chimed in from the side, "Junior Brother, you must have awakened your Bloodline Power, right? Have you reached Bone Forging in your Martial Dao, too?"

Both of their gazes instantly landed on him.

Xu Guang wasn’t surprised by the question. Out of concern for him, these two had acted the moment they noticed Pang Hong intercepting him, so it was only natural they had witnessed his brief skirmish with the man.

He chose not to hide it and nodded. "I was lucky enough to awaken a bloodline, and my cultivation has also improved a bit."

This was something he had decided to reveal after careful consideration. When a secret was known by more than one person, it was bound to stop being a secret sooner or later.

Cheng Lian’Er already knew he was one of the Abnormal People. Even though she had promised not to tell anyone, he figured he couldn’t keep it hidden for long anyway.

Therefore, it was inevitable that his identity as an Abnormal Person would be exposed in the future. As for his three current Bloodline Powers...

The origin of Ghost Hair was dubious. If the Yellow Heaven Sect found out, there would be massive trouble. Besides, Ghost Hair was the easiest to conceal. After all, who would expect his abnormality to lie in his hair?

Blood Eye was obvious, but it held the greatest significance for him. Blood Refining was practically his most important trump card. To outsiders, it sounded somewhat evil, so he wouldn’t reveal it easily.

Stone Skin, by comparison, didn’t matter as much if exposed.

Xu Sanduo’s face immediately lit up with excitement. He abruptly stood up and slapped Xu Guang on the shoulder. "Good heavens! I always knew you were no ordinary fish in the pond, Junior Brother, but I didn’t expect you to be this impressive! You’re just like me, just like me!"

Xu Guang’s expression darkened in exasperation. Like hell he was.

Recalling that Xu Sanduo’s family were pig slaughterers and not exactly highly educated, Xu Guang couldn’t be bothered to argue with him.

Zhao Yong looked at Xu Guang with envy. Abnormal People were the epitome of formidable strength.

"Junior Brother, why don’t you report to the City Guard’s Mansion? I heard they highly value Abnormal People."

Xu Guang shook his head slightly. "I’ll hold off for now. The City Guard’s Mansion is full of experts. Let’s wait a while. For now, I find being a mercenary quite freeing."

He felt genuinely touched by their deep concern for him.

Ever since he had joined the institute, Fourth Senior Brother Zhao Yong had been the one constantly helping him. Later on, Xu Sanduo joined them, and for a long time, the three of them had stuck together.

Thinking back to his earlier search for methods to accelerate Bone Forging, he remembered a mention of an Exotic Beast called River Woe. He hadn’t had the time to go catch one yet. If the opportunity arose, he would take his two senior brothers along to hunt a River Woe.

"By the way, Senior Brother, you just mentioned that Bai Ran and Pang Hong are very close. Does Pang Hong also live around here?"

Xu Sanduo nodded. "The two live next door to each other and have been like brothers since childhood. Otherwise, a materialistic woman like Han Juan wouldn’t have chosen to sever ties with Master Zhao to marry Bai Ran. It’s just a pity..."

A mocking smirk played on his lips. "It’s a pity Pang Hong looks down on her, so he made Bai Ran marry her instead."

Xu Guang couldn’t help but sigh at his senior sister Han Juan’s intelligence. It seemed all her nutrients had gone straight to the two mounds of flesh on her chest. The saying ’big breasts, no brains’ really held some truth.

Parting ways with his two senior brothers, Xu Guang hurried straight home with his bamboo basket of herbs without stopping.

He even took several detours along the way, just in case Pang Hong was watching him from the shadows.

Upon arriving home, Xu Guang saw Ji Xiaolu and Mrs. Xu standing on stools by the door, hanging up lanterns.

Seeing this, Xu Guang hurriedly set down his things and went to help, a realization dawning on him.

It seemed... the New Year was approaching.

Time always passed so quickly.

Counting the days, he had started practicing martial arts in May. It had been nearly seven months now.

Starting tomorrow, it would be the 631st year of the Great Qian calendar. Most commoners didn’t know the Emperor’s taboo name and simply recorded the years starting from the founding of Great Qian.

"Lu, where did you buy these lanterns? They’re beautiful," Xu Guang asked softly, half-embracing his wife.

"From Miss Chun. She’s very skilled with her hands and can make a lot of little trinkets. Oh, right, let me show you something she just finished making for me today."

Ji Xiaolu enthusiastically took out a few cloth tigers from the cabinet. "Mother asked Miss Chun to make these. She said that once we have a child..."

She trailed off, stopping herself from saying more, but the look she gave Xu Guang carried a hint of anticipation.

Xu Guang consciously ignored the hint.

However, he said, "Then we should work a little harder."

"Mhm~"

In the afternoon, after finishing his martial arts practice, Xu Guang helped the two women prepare the New Year’s food. With both meat and vegetables, it was the most well-prepared year the Xu Family had had in a long time.

"Once the New Year passes, the city is going to get restless again," Mrs. Xu sighed quietly as she ate.

"Mother, the Government just sent people to wipe out those gangs this year. It shouldn’t happen again."

Mrs. Xu let out a cold snort. "You don’t understand. Those gangs aren’t that simple. When you were younger a few years ago, do you know why I never let you go to the river during the New Year?"

Xu Guang remained silent. He had sneaked out to take a look during his youth. Every New Year, corpses would float in the river.

Suddenly, his expression froze. In past years, bodies would occasionally drift down the river, but it seemed there hadn’t been any corpses floating by in recent months? Even when the famine was at its worst, the river had remained somewhat clean.

Was someone cleaning the riverway?

Xu Guang faintly sensed that something was wrong.

Because the city’s Government Office personnel were on holiday during the New Year season, many people chose to settle their scores and kill each other during this time.

"It’s fine. We just need to live our own lives well. By the way, Mother, did Eldest Sister come by today?"

Mrs. Xu replied, "She did. She came with your brother-in-law. He was even looking for you, saying you shouldn’t go out on New Year’s Eve."

"Got it. I know."

New Year’s Eve in this world was not a day for family reunions. Because the Government Office had no one on duty, it was more of an unorganized, unmanaged lawless period. Many people would choose this very night to eliminate the enemies they had accumulated over the past year.

Hanging lanterns was actually a way of expressing welcome to guests.

"Since I’m already welcoming you as a guest, are you really still going to kill me?"

That was roughly the sentiment. As for stockpiling food, it was so they could stay safely at home during these few New Year days to avoid bringing disaster upon themselves.

The Government wasn’t worried that the commoners would suddenly grow a backbone on this day, either. After all, sheep were still sheep. When wolves were on the prowl, they would consciously and obediently hide in their pens.

On New Year’s Eve, the Martial Artists wandering outside were the main characters.

Of course, if Martial Artists wantonly slaughtered civilians and caused a massive uproar, the Government would still investigate. Warrants issued by the Three Guards were not so easily evaded.

At the Yellow Heaven Sect.

On a spacious drill ground, the Jade Elephant Canon Seat stood before the massive Jade Elephant. He reached out to gently stroke its back, while the elephant’s trunk affectionately brushed against his black robes.

"Have you still not found my son?"

The hard black mud ground had been trampled into a slurry by the Jade Elephant’s massive limbs.

A middle-aged man dressed in white clothes hurriedly dropped to his knees in a panic. He said with the utmost reverence, "To answer the Canon Seat, the young master... has been found. His corpse is on its way back."

Hearing this, the Jade Elephant Canon Seat swayed slightly before suddenly barking out coldly, "And you only found him today?"

The middle-aged man trembled like a leaf. Cold sweat instantly slid down his forehead. Swallowing hard, he carefully glanced at the giant white elephant behind the Jade Elephant Canon Seat. Under the immense pressure, he finally spoke.

"Forgive me, Canon Seat! We searched for the young master for three days before finally discovering him in a certain location. However, some reckless fools among my subordinates were afraid of your punishment and kept it hidden. I only just found out the news today..."

THUD!

The giant elephant seemed to share a telepathic link with the Jade Elephant Canon Seat. Before the middle-aged man could finish speaking, he was sent flying by a flick of the elephant’s tail. He smashed into a nearby flagpole before crashing to the ground. Ignoring his internal injuries, the middle-aged man scrambled up and resumed his kneeling posture.

"Then what use are you? Where is the man?" the Jade Elephant Canon Seat asked methodically, as if nothing had happened.

"His severed head is being sent back along with the young master’s body."

The Jade Elephant Canon Seat fell silent. For a time, the drill ground was completely devoid of sound, save for the dull thuds of the Jade Elephant stomping the ground.

Immense pressure began to spread across the drill ground along with the silence. The middle-aged man unconsciously shallowed his breathing.

After a long time, he finally spoke slowly.

"I remember Neng’Er went to capture a woman named Cheng Lian’Er from the Cheng Family in Feiyun City, didn’t he?"

"Yes, the young master fell in love with Miss Cheng at first sight."

The Jade Elephant Canon Seat’s voice echoed, as sinister as Yama of the Underworld. "I shouldn’t need to teach you what to do next, should I?"

"This subordinate understands! Please rest assured, Canon Seat."

The Jade Elephant Canon Seat clenched his fists, his face dark and icy cold. Had the Great Mage not sent down orders a few days ago, tasking all the Canon Seats with overseeing the construction of Yellow Heaven City, he would have handled this personally!

In another Yellow Heaven Sect fortress.

A charming woman dressed in a magnificent purple palace gown lay gracefully on a massive chaise lounge. A rustling sound echoed from her body from time to time, as though something was crawling beneath her clothes.

"My Taohua hasn’t sent any news in a long time, right? Baiyi, tomorrow is the New Year in Feiyun City. Go take a look and bring Peach Branch back."