Edited by FluffyGoblyn

At night, in a small courtyard in the northern part of Rivulet City, Xu Qi was concealing himself atop a tree, observing the patrolling guards. Occasionally, he would hear children’s voice coming from a side room. Xu Qi nodded his head in satisfaction. He had discovered this place based on the route Xu Pingfan told him of. He found this courtyard looked just like an ordinary courtyard externally, but its defense on the inside was very tight. This courtyard was none other than where the orphans gathered under Xu Qi’s orders were accommodated temporarily.

Atop the tree, Xu Qi laid in wait for two guards to pass by. Then, he activated his body technique and zipped over to the side room. Xu Qi gently pushed open the door, flashing into the room and quietly closed the doors immediately, feeling pleased with his powers. Before Xu Qi could turn his head, the cold voice of a child spoke, “Who are you?”

Xu Qi slowly turned around. He discovered over twenty children around his age, looking at him. One of the taller boy’s complexion was grave and stern. He looked at Xu Qi vigilantly. Evidently, the voice heard earlier belonged to this child.

Xu Qi gestured randomly without a word, wanting to let them know he can’t speak; he’s a mute.

“You’re new here? And a mute?” the tall boy asked.

Xu Qi nodded his head vehemently.

The boy remained vigilant and continued questioning, “Why weren’t you brought in here by someone?”

Xu Qi shook his head, then gestured randomly once more. Obviously, the boy would not understand. Xu Qi gave up on using hand signs and started looking at each of the children in this room. There was a total of twenty-six children; eighteen boys, and eight girls. From the looks of it, all of them were around Xu Qi’s age. This tall boy was probably the leader of the group.

These twenty-six children were only a portion of the orphans Xu Pingfan gathered for Xu Qi. According to the latter’s instructions, Xu Pingfan gathered over ninety orphans and arranged for those with a good constitution, who didn’t cry or throw tantrums, were relatively quiet, and obedient to be brought to this courtyard and placed under strict surveillance. They even paid particular attention to the food arranged for these children. As for the orphans, they had been suffering before Xu Clan’s intervention. Therefore, they were content with their current life here.

The tall boy looked at the new boy who was smaller than him and asked, “Are you hungry? We have food here. Xiaowu1, bring him some food.”

Just as the tall boy finished his sentence, a short, skinny boy walked out from among the group of children. His hands were holding a steamed bun and a piece of meat. He then brought them to Xu Qi’s face, saying, “Eat up. We have more if that’s not enough.”

Xu Qi declined the food from them, waving his hand. He walked over to the tall boy and brought him to a corner. Then, he took out a jade pendant with a flip of his palm. Upon seeing the pendant, the boy’s eyes were full of surprise. Just as he was about to open his mouth, Xu Qi stopped him with his hand and pointed to the wall with his other.

The tall boy hesitated for a bit as he looked at the wall Xu Qi pointed to. He also recognized the jade pendant the latter was holding; Xu Pingfan once talked with him alone after adopting him and said someone with this jade pendant would look for him. If that person shows himself, he was to obey whatever the person with the jade pendant instructed. However, he hesitated at the sight of this boy, who was even younger than him. Behind the wall was a hidden room!

“Whatever, Uncle Xu must have his reasons for such arrangement,” the tall boy concluded.

He turned and moved over to the wall. Then, he lifted the painting hanging on the wall. Hidden behind the painting was a hole, which he stretched his hand into and struggled to mess with something. Following which, a door gently opened on the originally even wall.

Seeing as the door was opened, Xu Qi signaled for silence to the group of children with his hands. Then, he stepped up next to the tall boy. Xu Qi gestured for the latter to get everybody in there, and he went into the hidden room.

The tall boy was even more curious as he watched Xu Qi walk in. Still, he called out, “Everyone, don’t worry and get in there. He was someone sent by Uncle Xu.”

Just as he said that the group of children came over and entered the hidden room, orderly. The tall boy was the last to enter, and he closed the secret door as he entered, returning the wall to its usual look.

Behind the secret door was a hidden room that was not very big; it was almost filled by accommodating the group of children. At this moment, Xu Qi had his back facing the orphans.

“What did you bring us in here for? Did Uncle Xu have something to let us know? ...Oh, right. You’re mute,” the tall boy voiced out his doubts casually.

Xu Qi slowly turned around. He smiled at the tall boy and said, “You must be Lin Hu, right?”

“Oh! You’re not mute! How did you know my name?” the tall boy exclaimed.

“Who told you I’m mute? And don’t ever ask me questions! Only answers from you; there’s no such thing as questions!” The boy named Lin Hu’s heartbeat unexpectedly sped up when Xu Qi spoke.

Seeing as no one spoke up after him, Xu Qi nodded in satisfaction and continued, “My name is Xu Qi; the young master of Xu Clan. Xu Pingfan is my housekeeper. You will only need to obey me in the future. I will be imparting cultivation methods to all of you, allowing you to become famed experts in the future. There’s no point in telling you too much now, as you might not understand. Simply put, you will not be bullied in the future, and you will not go hungry. As for any enemies you have amongst you, you will obtain the power needed for revenge!”

There was a lack of reaction from the group of children, but when Xu Qi said that they would neither get bullied nor go hungry, their eyes all lit up. The boy named Xiaowu, who handed a steamed bun to Xu Qi earlier, showed a look of anger when he heard he would be able to exact revenge.

The first to show a response was Lin Hu. He felt Xu Qi’s words were unreal; how could such a young child have such capabilities? Thus, he spoke out, “Little young master, we’re thankful to Uncle Xu for bringing us here and taking care of us, but we don’t really understand what you mean by cultivation.”

Hearing such, Xu Qi smiled slightly. He activated his cultivation method, enveloping his entire body in blue light. The next moment, he eerily disappeared from the eyes of these shocked orphans.

Lin Hu was dumbstruck momentarily as he saw Xu Qi disappear right before him. The other children, too, were horrified at the sight.

Just as the group of children was in a state of shock, Xu Qi’s silhouette gradually reappeared at the same position, and he asked, “Are you willing to be my followers?”

This time round, the first to respond was Xiaowu. He squeezed his way out from the crowd and knelt on the ground with a plop, answering, “Young Master, I’m willing to follow you.”

Lin Hu immediately snapped out of his shock upon hearing what Xiaowu said. He too knelt on the ground, declaring decisively, “Young Master, my life belongs to you from now on.”

Xu Qi looked at Lin Hu, then shifted his gaze to the crowd behind without acknowledging. Feeling Xu Qi’s attention, the crowd of children reacted. Each of them fell to their knees one by one, except for two little girls who looked identical to each other. Neither did the two spoke out, nor drop to their knees; all they did was stare at Xu Qi.

“Eh, a pair of twins!” Xu Qi was surprised.

“Qian Yin, Qian Yun, what are you two doing? Hurry up and kneel to Young Master,” seeing the situation, Lin Hu anxiously called out to the girls. He didn’t want them to miss this opportunity.

However, the two girls ignored Lin Hu and continued to stare at Xu Qi.

Xu Qi looked at the twins’ gaze puzzledly; tears were welling up in their eyes, yet the stubbornness shown on their faces indicated that they didn’t want to weep. Xu Qi thought for a moment, then said, “You’re Qian Yin and Qian Yun, right? The two of you want a promise from me, am I right?”

“I am the elder sister, Qian Yin, Young Master. The both of us were turned into orphans, no thanks to somebody; our family was killed off entirely. I don’t know whether Young Master will be able to, or even dare to help us. That person has very powerful forces supporting him. That was why we don’t dare kneel to Young Master,” one of the girls stepped forward and spoke to Xu Qi.

Xu Qi slanted his head, looking towards the group of children. He saw they were all waiting for his reply. Xu Qi smiled and said, “Even if the sky drops on you, this Young Master will be there to support you!”

TL Note:

1: Xiaowu is literally Little Five.