Chapter 328: Yuchi Dao
The old man grabbed Xia Fei and began running back the way they had come, furiously bellowing, “Come with me!”
“To where?”
historical
“Anyone who makes me lose out on a Gilded Greenface beast will have to pay!” growled the old man angrily.
Baihao had planned to offer the Greenface beast to his master, but Xia Fei’s heist had thrown the entire castle into disarray.
On their way back, they ran into several teams that Baihao had sent to find the Greenface beast. The old man charged up and killed them all, leaving no survivors.
He even went further and cut off all their heads! It was all rather barbaric and of such savagery that even Xia Fei, who had grown used to gruesome sights, found himself unable to watch.
This magnetic special ability was far more powerful than Xia Fei had imagined. Any weapon made of metal would no longer obey the commands of its owner, and the old man could even reverse the magnetism!
An enemy threw a saber at the old man, intending for it to pierce through him, but with a thought, he took control of the saber and sent it back, using it to cut off the head of its former owner.
Phantom pursed his lips and whispered, “The magnetic special ability is truly problematic. He’s most likely at the Eternal rank. You have to find a good opportunity to run away.”
Xia Fei frowned. “I estimate that his magnetic control extends for at least fifteen kilometers, and it’s unlikely that his magnetism becomes ineffective past this range. His control will simply become weaker. I’ll have to get fifty kilometers away from him in a minute for any chance of escaping.”
Furball poked its head out from Xia Fei’s bosom. It seemed to know that it had made a huge mistake today, so the ball of fur wanted to get back in Xia Fei’s good graces. Alas, Xia Fei was not having it. Two fingers ruthlessly pinched Furball’s little face as Xia Fei whispered, “I’ll deal with you later. Just obediently sit tightly for now.”
Furball angrily drew its head back, an innocent look on its face.
‘How does this guy know how to play the victim so much? Where did it learn this from?’ Xia Fei muttered to himself. He decided that he would have to keep a close eye on Furball’s development. He had no idea what this strange ball would eventually grow into.
If a single burp was able to frighten a valuable special beast like the Gilded Greenface to death, Furball definitely was not some low-level being, but if it developed in a wicked direction or walked the path of treachery and murder, then regardless of how high Furball’s power level was, Xia Fei would kill it without hesitation.
A few moments later, the old man and Xia Fei arrived at Baihao’s fortress.
Pointing at the fortress, the old man loudly said, “You. Come with me, and I’ll see if you’re telling the truth!”
*Whoosh~*
Two shadowy figures charged in. The people in the fortress were already in a panicked disarray, and numerous guards and bodyguards were even outside. Xia Fei and the old man killed everyone on sight!
It was a bloody massacre!
The two of them killed more than one hundred people as if they were cutting melons!
Blood flowed like rivers!
*Clang!*
While the old man was rather gaunt and thin, he had a very impressive temper. He kicked open the door to the dungeon which had once held the Gilded Greenface captive, and then he saw the filthy hay covering the bottom of the cage and smelled the awful sewage-like odor in the air. The plate of leftover meat scraps had been flipped over, and they were covered in dust.
“Senior, look! This is the awful place where they kept in the Gilded Greenface. They fed it the leftovers of other people’s meals; I even saw for myself that big baldy watching the Greenface beast, throwing the food to the ground and kicking it a few times before feeding it to him.
“The Greenface beast had its dignity and refused to eat, so that baldy forced open its mouth and made it eat. It’s a terribly humiliating sight!”
Xia Fei added fuel to the fire.
The old man got so furious that his dark-skinned face had turned purple!
He sighed in shock before furiously saying, “Very good! These people dared to treat such a precious and cute Gilded Greenface beast like this! I’ll kill every last one of them!”
Thus, another massacre commenced...
...
Once the killing was done, the old man lit everything on fire, setting ablaze Baihao’s imposing residence with all the corpses within!
The old man sullenly walked in front, while Xia Fei cautiously followed, ready to escape at any moment.
“It seems that I really did blame you wrongly. The one who killed the Greenface beast isn’t you but that lot of scoundrels!” The old man fumed. He had killed at least one thousand people, but his rage had still not cooled. One could not help but admire this sort of explosive temper.
Xia Fei hurriedly said in a righteous tone, “Elder, I’m certain that the Gilded Greenface down in the underworld will be soothed now that you’ve avenged it.”
Phantom sighed and shook his head. Xia Fei’s ability to lie without batting an eyelid could match with Furball’s. In fact, Furball might have learned it from him.
The old man nodded. “My name is Yuchi Dao, and because I’m always too late, people call me the Late[1] Uncle. I came as soon as I heard the news, but in the end, ah! I was a step too late!”
“The Late Uncle?” Xia Fei secretly found it quite amusing. Everyone would be late, but someone who was late for their entire life was a little absurd.
Xia Fei smiled and introduced himself. Yuchi Dao seemed rather startled, muttering to himself, “Xia Fei? This name sounds rather familiar.”
“I happened to participate in the Gold Finger Cup and created a bit of stir. Elder might’ve heard a few rumors.”
“No, I don’t care about some silly Gold Finger Cup.”
Xia Fei became rather embarrassed, saying, “Maybe it’s because I’ve recently become an A-grade supplier of the military. You might’ve heard it on the news.”
“That’s not it, either. What does the military have to do with me?”
Xia Fei was speechless. Those two events were his most glorious moments in the alliance, but Yuchi Dao had not heard of either of them. It appeared that there was some misunderstanding here.
“I remember now!” Yuchi Dao slapped himself on the head. “That was close! I almost killed Qin Mang’s disciple!”
“Qin Mang? Elder knows old man Qin Mang?” Xia Fei curiously asked.
Yuchi Dao happily laughed, patting Xia Fei on the shoulder. “Mm! A speed ability user who’s about this age! You must be Qin Mang’s youngest disciple, Xia Fei!
“Yesterday, when I went to see Yawei, he mentioned you. I actually wanted to pay you a visit, but he said that you had gone out for work, so I didn’t pay it any mind. I learned from him that a Gilded Greenface had appeared on this planet, so I rushed over here as soon as I could. I didn’t think that I would run into you!
“Did you know? Qin Mang, Thuram, Morris, Su Fang, and I used to be known as the Five Tiger Greenskins of the Adjudicator Union’s older generation!” Yuchi Dao said proudly. “We were brimming with energy back then, each one with a bigger temper than the last, beating up anyone who just looked at us the wrong way. We ended up causing a lot of trouble, but the more the five of us fought, the better our relationship became, and by the end, we’re basically like brothers to one another.”
Xia Fei nodded. Old man Qin Mang truly did have an explosive temper in his prime. He had heard about this numerous times from Thuram. Seeing as how this old man had just sent more than a thousand people, regardless of age or gender, down to hell, Xia Fei could somewhat believe his story.
“Have you heard of the Five Tiger Greenskins?” Yuchi Dao proudly asked.
Xia Fei shook his head.
“You haven’t?” Yuchi Dao was clearly rather displeased. “Greenskin is slang for rude and unreasonable ruffians on the streets. The five of us were formidable fighters in our youths, so we’re called the Five Tigers, and because our personalities used to be so easily irritated and unreasonable, the people in the Union added the term ‘greenskin’ to the end of it. It just means that we were unreasonable gangsters who could put up a good fight!”
Xia Fei did not find the moniker something to be proud of, but Yuchi Dao heartily laughed and began to talk about all the absurd things he had done in his youth. Xia Fei was very sure that Yuchi Dao in his youth definitely deserved the nickname of Greenskin.
“What a pity that Qin Mang and the rest grew fond of politics. I’m the only one who still likes to travel about. Because I was always late to arrive at the Union, I would often be rebuked by my superiors, so one day, in a fit of anger, I decided to quit the Adjudicator Union. As we age, the Five Tiger Greenskins have steadily grown more distant to one another.” Yuchi Dao’s voice was tinged with sorrow.
“Did you know? Your master Qin Mang and Thuram joined together to recommend you to The Brotherhood, but someone intervened.”
Xia Fei frowned. “I heard the old man talk about The Brotherhood, but I’ve never heard of me joining it. In addition, Qin Mang isn’t my master. He’s the curator of the library, and I’m just a subordinate who has a somewhat good relationship with him.”
Yuchi Dao casually said, “I don’t care about how you’re related to him, but you’d better understand that joining The Brotherhood is equivalent to joining the most elite fighting group in the alliance; it’s the ultimate goal of many fighters. Once you go back, Qin Mang is probably going to get you a job in the Adjudicator Union. And after you’ve had two or three years of experience under your belt, he’ll likely send in your application again.”
Xia Fei was speechless. He had only one mission in mind: Strengthen his own faction. Starting from a long time ago, Xia Fei had realized that, while relying on the Adjudicator Union was fine and the mysterious organization of The Brotherhood was probably formidable, none of them could compare to relying on himself!
In this strange universe which was fraught with danger, a person could only survive by relying on oneself. The various internal conflicts going on in the Adjudicator Union made Xia Fei sigh. What if someone stabbed him in the back one day? Just how many people had come to plunder old man Qin Mang’s possessions when he had fallen seriously ill that one time? That was a living example!
As the saying went, ‘one can lean on a big tree for its shade.’ With the protection of the powerful Adjudicator Union, Xia Fei could save himself from taking many detours, but this tree was not just a bearer of fruits, but also bombs!
There were countless pathways to success, and Xia Fei elected not to take those seemingly flat and sunny paths. He had chosen a difficult path, but one that could take him even farther.
“One day, I’ll make my own faction and set down my own game rules!” This was the ideal that Xia Fei aspired to.
While Yuchi Dao was always late and his temper made him unpredictable, he realized that he and Xia Fei were the same kind of person, so he immediately became kind and genial. He regaled Xia Fei with tales of the past and tried to help the young man find a way to get into The Brotherhood even sooner.
Xia Fei very patiently and diligently listened, displaying the modesty a junior should have. This made Yuchi Dao very satisfied.
When they parted, Xia Fei took out many tea leaves, dried meat, and other such things from his spatial ring to offer as a gift. The Chinese had turned gift-giving into an art, and Xia Fei explained that he was not offering these things as a gift but rather as a form of respect!
Yuchi Dao had never received such courtesy before, and his pride swelled. It was as if Xia Fei had sent him a mountain of gold and silver.
After some hesitation, Yuchi Dao took out a circular metal placard from his bosom and gave it to Xia Fei. “As a senior, I should also give you something to commemorate our first meeting. You can have this admission ticket to The Brotherhood New Year Trade Carnival this year. I’m always late, so this isn’t very useful to me.”
“The Brotherhood New Year Trade Carnival?” Xia Fei found this a mouthful to say.
“Mm, it’s a big trade meet that The Brotherhood holds every three years. The items traded there would be of the highest grade in the Alliance. Even if you don’t have the money to buy anything, you can still look around and get some experience.”
[1] The name Yuchi Dao also shares the same character used for the word ‘late’ (chi dao).