Chapter 39: Chapter 39 begins your performance
These three men, the ones on the left and right appeared to be subordinates, while the man in the middle, muscular and with a prominent scar on his face.
His body radiated a dense evil qi, suggesting he was the sort to lick his wounds after a battle.
At that moment, Xu Zimei and his company were having their meal when the scar-faced man walked straight to Xu Zimei’s table, picked up a chicken leg from the bowl, and started gnawing on it without a word.
"Who are you, didn’t you see this is our food?” Xiao Guizi stood up and said fiercely.
The scar-faced man glanced sidewards at Xiao Guizi and with a right hand surging with spiritual energy, he slammed his palm onto the table in front of him.
Instantly, the table splintered into pieces, and all the food toppled to the ground.
...
"Who is this person, acting so arrogantly?” questioned a diner eating nearby.
"Who sent you?” Xu Zimei asked with a smile on his face, unfazed.
Xiao Baihe was startled, his expression slightly changing, but still said carelessly, “Who sent me? I just don’t like your face.”
Xu Zimei smiled, wiped his mouth with a napkin, and then all that could be seen was a flash of a blade before everyone’s eyes, and Xiao Baihe’s legs were severed from the knees down.
Even then, Xiao Baihe hadn’t managed to react, as the speed was too fast and he hadn’t felt any pain.
Only when his legs fell to one side and he lost his support, collapsing onto the ground, did the piercing pain hit his nerves. He looked at his legs, screaming in agony, his face going pale, and large beads of sweat rolled down his forehead.
"Who sent you?” Xu Zimei continued to ask with a smile.
"I don’t know,” Xiao Baihe retorted defiantly.
A sharp blade swept across his neck, and a line of blood sprayed a meter out; Xiao Baihe’s eyes were filled with disbelief in his dying moments.
The two subordinates who had come with him seemed to be frozen in shock, standing still and not moving.
Only when Xu Zimei’s gaze swept over did they shudder, coming back to their senses.
They hastily knelt down and started kowtowing, begging for mercy.
"Who sent you?” Xu Zimei asked again.
"The Situ Family, it was their head housekeeper from the inner court who found our leader,” one of them hastily replied.
"Are you willing to go with me to the Situ Family to testify?” Xu Zimei inquired.
"I,” the man hesitated.
The flash of a blade, and a head of someone who died with eyes still open fell to the ground.
"Are you willing to testify?” Xu Zimei turned towards the last remaining of the three and asked.
The man’s face struggled, then he began to frantically kowtow on the ground before Xu Zimei, his forehead already bloody and dripping, “Please, spare me, my lord. If I testify, my whole family won’t survive.”
"You had your chance and you proved worthless,” Xu Zimei shook his head, and with another stroke of his blade,
The severed head rolled on the ground like a ball. He yawned, shook his head in resignation, and muttered to himself, “Boring.”
"This brother is too impulsive,” a young man dressed in white garb, holding a folding fan, came forward and sighed while shaking his head at Xu Zimei.
"What do you mean?” Xu Zimei asked the other party with confusion.
"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Zheng Guangkai,” the young man unfolded the folding fan in his hand and spoke slowly, “I see that you are not an ordinary person either. If you had left one of these three alive, even just one, you could have sought justice at the Situ Family.
But now that you’ve killed all three, there’s no human or physical evidence left, isn’t that a pity?”
"What’s it to you?” Xu Zimei retorted.
"Um,” the young man was stunned, having embarrassed himself, and stood aside without speaking further.
Xu Zimei glanced over at Xiao Guizi and said, “Xiao Guizi, please begin your performance.”
Xiao Guizi nodded, then picked up the iron staff from his back and swung it directly at Xu Zimei.
Xu Zimei kicked him to the ground with one foot and demanded harshly, “Speak, who sent you?”
"It was the chief steward of the inner court of the Situ Family. I am willing to testify,” Xiao Guizi hurriedly replied.
"Let’s go, then we will go to the Situ Family and settle accounts,” Xu Zimei said, pulling Xiao Guizi while Lin Ruhu followed behind, and they set off mightily towards the Situ Family.
The young man named Zheng Guangkai, bewildered, watched the departing group with widened eyes, “Damn, is that even a thing?”
As they walked along the bustling streets, Lin Ruhu asked curiously, “Brother Zimo, why did the Situ Family come looking for trouble with us?”
"Because we saved Situ Yunqing and disrupted someone’s plan,” Xu Zimei said with a smile.
Lin Ruhu nodded in semi-understanding and asked, “So, our pretending that Xiao Guizi is from the White Crane Mercenary Group, will the Situ Family believe it?”
"Don’t you get it yet? Whether Xiao Guizi is actually from the White Crane Mercenary Group doesn’t matter. Whether they believe it or not doesn’t matter,” Xu Zimei said. “What’s important is that we have the bigger fist.”
Lin Ruhu was startled, “A bigger fist? He seemed to understand now. Just because one has a bigger fist, white can be argued as black, and black as white.”
At this moment, the Situ Family, due to the arrival of Situ Yunqing, was in a state of apprehension as if a storm was brewing.
The atmosphere in the family’s council hall of the Situ Family was somewhat heavy.
The Great Elder looked at Situ Yuntian, the Family Head seated at the top, and said, “Family Head, we are all happy that Niece Yunqing could return, but to have her acknowledge her ancestry and record it in the family annals as soon as she comes back, isn’t that somewhat improper?
After all, she didn’t grow up in the Situ Family, should we not delay this matter a bit?”
"I agree with the Great Elder,” the second and third Elders, as if having discussed beforehand, nodded simultaneously.
"Are you expressing dissent against my decision?” Situ Yuntian asked, frowning.
"We are only thinking of the future of the Situ Family,” the Great Elder said solemnly.
"Besides, it’s not just us who oppose this. The entire family is rife with rumors. I think the Family Head should consider the big picture.”
As they were talking, they saw a servant rush in flusteredly.
"Family Head, Elders, three people have come outside looking to seek justice from our Situ Family. They’ve injured several of our patrol team, and Instructor Lou tried to stop them but was killed by one of them with a single strike,” the servant reported.
Situ Yuntian’s eyebrows creased slightly. Instructor Lou was responsible for the family’s security patrols and was one of the strongest in the entire Situ Family, aside from him and a few Elders.
"The newcomers declared themselves disciples of the True Martial Holy Sect and claimed that someone from our Situ Family had ordered others to assassinate them,” the servant continued.
"True Martial Holy Sect?” Situ Yuntian also immediately felt the problematic situation, with this behemoth like a mountain looming over the entire Extreme West Region. “We don’t seem to have provoked any disciples of the True Martial Holy Sect, have we?”