As usual, Xiaotian left his room quite early.
He could boast of being the first to wake up in the entire Mu mansion, even though he actually slept his eight hours in that black ball. But when he is awake, only the guards on night duty are awake.
So, like every morning, he tends to go and say hello to Ruxue, but today she was not in her room.
"She left quite early," said Mrs. Wang as she cleaned. "She said she found what she was looking for. I thought she was going to tell you."
Xiaotian nodded. He didn't like the idea of her going out and investigating things on her own, especially something so dangerous, but he had no choice. If he went with her, he would only be a burden, so he simply nodded to Mrs. Wang before leaving.
"Wait," she said, stopping her work. "Are you going to that place today?" she asked.
"What place?" Xiaotian asked, confused.
"You don't need to play dumb with me, little Xiaotian. I know very well that you've been working with someone of high status to get yourself enrolled in that tournament. And now you're going there, right?"
He shrugged. If she already knew, there was no need to hide it.
"These are things I must do, Mrs. Wang. Even you know that," he replied.
She shook her head. "I just hope you don't get my young lady into trouble. She may be naive at times and follow you blindly, but she is the hope of our clan."
"My actions will benefit your family more than harm it, Mrs. Wang. Even Uncle Mu understands this, which is why he hasn't come to stop me."
"Our family can grow a lot even if you just stay in your room and do nothing," she said, returning to cleaning.
Xiaotian laughed. "If that's what you think, I'm afraid I've overestimated your abilities, Mrs. Wang. I thought you could see the bigger picture."
Mrs. Wang frowned, stopped what she was doing, and looked at him. "What do you mean?" she asked.
Xiaotian shrugged before starting to walk away.
"Who do you, Mu, and Xi depend on to stay in this city?" he asked casually and answered himself.
"You only depend on immature talents who have been in the shadows of the Zhangs until now." He sneered before walking out the door. "The Zhangs have several talents as talented as Ruxue and that Xi; moreover, they have one capable of surpassing them. Ask yourself, Mrs. Wang, if the Zhang family acquires that legacy technique, will your family be able to remain in Woodshade?"
His words sounded like thunder in Mrs. Wang's ears, and she frowned.
"He seems different from the one you knew, doesn't he?"
Suddenly, a voice behind her snapped her out of her stupor, and she turned around.
"Master."
"They say a near-death experience can awaken your hidden qualities. It seems that saying was true." Leader Mu smiled. "Don't worry too much, nothing will happen to him, and Ruxue will be fine," he said, patting him on the back before walking out the same door.
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When Xiaotian left the Mu mansion, he looked up and saw the sun shining directly in his face. He had to raise a hand to shield his eyes.
His words sounded nice; he seemed to be doing something for the Mu Family, and he even seemed concerned about Woodshade City.
But is that really why he's doing it?
He knows that his words were embellished with hints of hypocrisy.
He only found a nice reason to cover up his thirst for revenge, to cover up that hatred that seemed to have intensified when the two souls united.
He cares about Ruxue, of course, he does. And he cares about the Mu family too; they have always helped him a lot, and if it were up to him, he would make them reign over this city or the entire region to repay that debt. But he knows they will be fine even if the Zhangs win this tournament.
Because they are a prosperous family, with numerous businesses and lands to their name. With great power and perfect control over their market.
But he cannot allow the Zhangs to win, even though, in his current situation, it would give him a lot of time to carry out his revenge. After all, no one knows he is still alive, except for a few people who would surely not reveal it.
He could go to a distant sect with Ruxue, grow stronger, and reach the top without anyone knowing he was still alive. But... the Zhangs would be free during all those years.
They would live, eat, drink... do all their evil deeds.
Lucheng, Hao, Fenglian... they would all live longer than he wanted to allow them to.
His hatred and thirst for revenge, tightly bound to his heart, cannot allow that to happen.
'Perhaps so much hatred will do nothing but destroy me,' he thought, though he could not control those feelings much.
He looked down the road, to one side of the mansion, and approached a beggar who always sat there writing.
He never knew what he was writing, but he always had a pen and an open book. His pen moved slowly across the page as he slept on the sidewalk. Perhaps he was waiting for food or alms.
Xiaotian had helped him more than once, and this day would be no exception.
He approached and placed a couple of coins there, which he had exchanged for a spirit crystal, before continuing on his way.
'On Earth, they said that helping the poor would bring me good luck. Good karma, they called it,' he thought. 'I hope that restores the negative karma I'll earn with so much hatred.'
Although he smiled, he paid no further attention to his surroundings and walked toward the designated location for the Tournament.
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