“Ah……don’t disturb me ZiYu, let big brother sleep a bit longer,” Xu ZiYan squirmed again before he spoke up in a vague tone.
ZiYu?
Xu ZiRong slightly squinted his eyes. There was only one person in the younger generation of Xu family who was called ZiYu, and he was someone from a very small branch of the family. In addition, that ZiYu was already twenty years old, thus it was impossible for him to call Xu ZiYan ‘big brother’.
Silently recording yet another doubt in his heart, Xu ZiRong persisted in pushing that big rolled-up blanket. “Big brother, if you don’t get up now we’ll really be late! You don’t want me to be late for my first cultivation practical day right?”
“Ah……right……ZiYu can’t be late for school!” Xu ZiYan suddenly opened his blankets and sat up, his face still looking dazed. It seemed as if he had not woken up yet, and his full head of black hair was messy to the point it looked like a chicken’s nest.
Xu ZiRong once again silently noted down the word ‘school’.
“Uh……so it was ZiRong ah,” Xu ZiYan was finally awaken from his daze. Seeing Xu ZiRong’s sudden wide eyes, he climbed out of bed with not a little amount of embarrassment.
He clearly said that he was going to take good care of this little brother, but in the end he had to be dragged out of bed by the same little brother every morning. It was too shameful……_(:з」∠)_
Yawning, Xu ZiYan picked up the clothes by his bedside and dressed himself. Beside him, Xu ZiRong was in the middle of attaching heavy importance to the word ‘ZiYu’.
He believed that if he was able to find the owner of the name ‘ZiYu’, then perhaps he would be able to find the ultimate reason as to why Xu ZiYan had changed so much.
Xu ZiYan’s actions were nimble and neat. He didn’t use much time before he had already cleaned himself all up.
Ruo Shi hadn’t dared to get up and was still kneeling at the door when the two people walked out of the room. However, the moment she saw Xu ZiYan she lightly bit her lower lip before revealing a wronged expression on her face.
When he saw Ruo Shi kneeling at his door, Xu ZiYan hesitated for a moment. “What happened here?” He remembered that this Ruo Shi was quite quick-witted, so how did she end up like this?
“Young Master……it’s all this servant’s fault. I’ve displeased Young Master ZiRong,” Ruo Shi quickly explained.
The corner of Xu ZiRong’s mouth tilted up in an undetectable curve. He really wanted to see how Xu ZiYan would handle this matter.
“Displeased ZiRong?” Xu ZiYan was a bit startled. To him, the Xu ZiRong who had recently arrived at the Xu family was just a sensitive child who craved care from others. Let’s not even talk about how lovable he was, it was rare for him to even be angry. It was hard for Xu ZiYan to imagine just what kind of things Ruo Shi had said that were actually capable of making Xu ZiRong angry.
Lightly glancing at Ruo Shi, he spoke, “If it’s like that, then go and tell the butler that from today onwards, you have been transferred out of Liu Shang Court.”
Ruo Shi’s eyes widened in a disbelieving manner as she stared at Xu ZiYan.
The reason she had taken the initiative before to talk was to display how she had no intentions of complaining. However, she did not expect that the Young Master wouldn’t even ask for an explanation before transferring her out of Liu Shang Court. After Ruo Qi was transferred her position took a devastating dive and she could now barely work in the laundry room. If Ruo Shi was also transferred……
When she thought of that, Ruo Shi’s face suddenly paled white. Her body swayed and she almost fainted.
Xu ZiRong was also stunned. He would have never imagined that Xu ZiYan would simply disregard the details of the situation and instead directly punish Ruo Shi like that.
He still remembered how, thanks to her brains, Ruo Shi’s position in Liu Shang Court was only second to Ruo Qi’s. However, Ruo Qi was transferred out, and now even Ruo Shi was driven away from the Liu Shang Court. Toward these two things, the gap between this Xu ZiYan and the previous one was so big they were practically two different people. Xu ZiRong couldn’t help but doubt things.
“Young Master……” Ruo Shi opened her mouth, still wanting to explain things.
But Xu ZiYan completely didn’t have the interest to keep listening to her. The conduct and deeds Ruo Shi committed in the original’s life were things he was very clear about. However, in this life she didn’t do anything yet, so naturally he wasn’t going to target her.
But now that she offended Xu ZiRong, no matter if it was intended or unintended, Xu Ziyan didn’t want her to stay in the Liu Shang Court. Drawing on his experience from his last life and so Xu ZiRong wouldn’t grow up bent, he was planning to separate those people who had once bullied Xu ZiRong from the child as much as possible.
Of course, in the original’s life the people who had intentionally bullied Xu ZiRong only did it so they could please Xu ZiYan. Now that his attitude toward Xu ZiRong had changed, naturally the attitudes of those people would have changed as well. The rest of the bullies would only be those bastards who think Xu ZiRong was displeasing to their eyes.
Cheerfully leaving with Xu ZiRong, Xu ZiYan ignored the shivering Ruo Shi who had collapsed on the ground. In this world where the weak were prey for the strong, it was impossible for him to protect everybody. Thus, he could only focus on the feelings of the people he had taken under his wing.
As they walked toward the martial arts training hall, Xu ZiYan imparted as much knowledge he received from the original’s memories as possible to Xu ZiRong. Today’s real-combat drill could also be considered a test for Xu ZiYan as well. After all, even if he used all the memories of the Xu ZiYan, he might not be able to bring out the full extent of the original’s capabilities.
Xu ZiRong had a smile on his face as he listened to Xu ZiYan’s earnest teachings the whole way there. However, it was hard for him to explain what he was feeling at the moment.
The things Xu ZiYan taught him today were obviously not any use to the him of now. However, if he really was an eight year old child, then the other had really taught him everything he should know.
If this was the previous Xu ZiYan and everything he had done so far was an act, then his best opportunity was to borrow this real-combat drill and quietly bury Xu ZiRong inside the forest. After all, with the addition of spiritual beasts anything could happen.
But seeing how Xu ZiYan explained all the key points in extreme detail to him with a serious face, no matter what Xu ZiRong couldn’t make himself believe that the other planned to murder him inside the forest.
Sighing slightly in his heart, Xu ZiRong felt that he couldn’t see through this Xu ZiYan even more now.
“Do you remember everything?”
“I remember,” Xu ZiRong nodded in an obedient and clever manner. “I will for sure follow closely behind big brother.”
“En, then that’s good. Later I will look for others so you can be even safer,” Xu ZiYan said as he patted Xu ZiRong’s shoulder.
The two people followed the stone step road and very quickly climbed to the top of the mountain. On the plaza of the martial arts training hall, dozens of Xu family children stood in clumps. It seemed that many teams have already been spontaneously made.
When Xu ZiYan appeared, most people couldn’t help but looking over. Everyone knew that Xu ZiYan was already at the sixth layer of Qi Condensation Stage. If they could go with him, then that practically represented both safety and less worrying.
Xu ZiYan knew he was well-received and popular, but he didn’t want to just casually pick a team.
Carefully observing everything and combining that with the memories in his head, he quickly found the three people who stood in a corner.
He took Xu ZiRong and walked over before asking a girl who had lowered her head, “Can we join you?”
The girl raised her head and Xu ZiRong’s eyebrow suddenly jumped.
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“You wish to join us?” The young girl’s expression was ice-cold, and the gaze she used to look at Xu ZiYan was thick with scrutinization.
Xu ZiYan allowed the other to size him up. He knew that the girl was for sure extremely shocked. After all, his predecessor and this girl were deadly rivals, and no matter what the original would never join her team.
But the Xu ZiYan now was different. He was an adult man, and he would never give up on such a good teammate just because of some jealousy between teenagers. In the end, the original reason the previous Xu ZiYan thought this girl was displeasing to the eye was merely because he had always thought he was Xu family’s hope for the future. Thus, he believed that everyone should act as if he was the world’s sun. Yet although this young girl’s strength was a whole level lower than his, she didn’t surround him like the other children and thus he felt extremely uncomfortable around her.
Xu ZiYan didn’t have the chuunibyou disease and nor was he a small child, so of course wouldn’t do such stupid things.
When you look for teammates, obviously the stronger they were the better it was. The stronger the strength of a team, the safer Xu ZiRong would be.
“What? Do you not want us?” Xu ZiYan slightly raised his eyebrow, his expression a bit provocative.
The young girl’s face sank. “Of course we want you, why wouldn’t we? But……” Her tone took a turn as she turned to directly face Xu ZiRong. “We have no need for a child from a previous woman.”
Xu ZiRong’s face became a bit gloomy. He hated the tone of this young girl.
On the other hand, Xu ZiYan’s expression was flat. “Either both of us join the team, or both of us leave to find another one. I believe, with my cultivation at the sixth layer of Qi Condensation Stage, there isn’t a need for me to worry about finding a team.”
The young girl glanced at and sized up Xu ZiRong a few times before she began to discuss with the two boys beside her. Finally, she agreed. “Let’s first agree that you are responsible for protecting him yourself.”
“No problem.”
“The rewards we get from hunting will be split into four parts, and both of you will only get one.”
“That’s fine.”
“If that’s the case,” the young girl took a deep breath. “Welcome to the team.”
Xi ZiYan smiled faintly. He loved dealing with smart people the most. It saved both time and effort.
From start to finish, not a single person asked for Xu ZiRong’s opinions. Of course, this was because his strength was too low, and he completely didn’t have the right to express his opinions.
Toward this Xu ZiRong didn’t feel that humiliated. After all, one’s cultivation was the reason for another’s respect, and thus it was normal for the other party to believe he was worth nothing right now.
Not long afterward, Xu Mo stepped onto the stage in front of the martial arts training hall plaza. Looking down at nearly a hundred Xu family children, he loudly announced: “Today’s real-combat drill is limited to the edge of the forest. The river will be the boundary, and no one is allowed to cross the lake to enter the second area. Each one of you must carry a protective jade pendant on your body. The moment you encounter a spiritual beast that is beyond your abilities, you must crush the jade pendant immediately. There will be teachers who will come and save you, but in that case, any achievements you make today will be invalid. Before today’s sunset, you must bring back a spiritual beast that is equal to your own cultivation level. But even if it is to pass a test, if you capture extra beasts, you can sell them and anything you earn can be counted as an addition to your allowances.”
Having said that, he glanced at the children with rather low cultivation levels before adding, “If you don’t have enough strength, don’t be stupid and go deep into the forest. There are many low-level spiritual beasts around the edge of the forest. If someone stupid encountered strong enemies and don’t have enough time to crush the jade pendant, then you’ll just be dying in vain.”
With his words sinking into the audience, Xu Mo jumped down from the high stage before walking into a room to start the mechanism.