Your Name Is Xu Ye?

Lü Tao could hardly be blamed for questioning Xu Ye so harshly.

In White Cloud County, the truly strong were few and far between.

And someone as young as Xu Ye, already at the ninth level of Meridian Opening, would usually be well-known.

Yet Lü Tao had neither seen nor heard of him. That was enough to make him suspicious.

Feeling Lü Tao's crushing aura bear down on him, Xu Ye's expression changed.

Still, he did not panic. Just as he was about to say something—

At that moment, the older man from the Demon-Suppression Bureau said, "Enough, Lü Tao. Questioning him is one thing; don't interrogate him like a criminal."

Hearing that, Lü Tao chuckled and withdrew his oppressive aura. "It's not that I'm making a mountain out of a molehill, Captain Du. This kid is genuinely strange. We have to be cautious about this sort of thing."

Du Yuanxiu nodded. "Fine. Go check whether the information on this cat demon matches up. Leave this to me."

Lü Tao nodded, though his gaze at Xu Ye remained full of scrutiny.

Then Du Yuanxiu looked at Xu Ye and asked, "Your surname is Xu?"

Those three simple words changed Xu Ye's expression. "Do you know me, sir?"

He did not know the man before him.

How did this man know about him?

Du Yuanxiu took a deep breath and asked again, "Is your name Xu Ye?"

Boom!

Xu Ye was utterly dumbfounded.

This man actually knew his name?

But he had never met him before!

Just as Xu Ye was about to ask, Du Yuanxiu had already realized that his guess was likely correct.

He took a breath and said, "My name is Du Yuanxiu. Your father should have mentioned me to you."

Du Yuanxiu!

Upon hearing that name, Xu Ye immediately recalled what his father had once told him.

His father had told him that he had a good friend in the Demon-Suppression Bureau.

The two often carried out missions together, and that man's name was Du Yuanxiu.

But because of the Demon-Suppression Bureau, he had only heard his father speak of him and had never actually met him.

He had never imagined that he would meet his father's friend from the Demon-Suppression Bureau in a place like this.

"Are you Uncle Du?" Xu Ye hurriedly asked.

Having confirmed his suspicions, Du Yuanxiu's expression softened at once. "I never expected you to have grown this big already, kid."

At that moment, Lü Tao, who had finished examining the cat demon, walked over as well. Looking at Xu Ye in surprise, he asked, "Captain Du, this kid is Old Xu's son?"

Clearly, he too had been Xu Ye's father's colleague. They all knew one another.

"That's right." Du Yuanxiu nodded slightly.

Lü Tao stared wide-eyed at Xu Ye. Was this not far too much of a coincidence?

He examined Xu Ye carefully before saying, "I was wondering why he looked somewhat familiar. He really does look a lot like Old Xu."

Du Yuanxiu did not respond to that.

Instead, he looked at Xu Ye. After a moment, he asked, "Has Old Xu's matter been settled?"

Xu Ye regained his composure. "Thank you for your concern, Uncle Du. It has already been settled."

Du Yuanxiu nodded faintly, then said with guilt, "When something happened to him this time, I happened to be away on a mission. I couldn't make it back to see him one last time."

Hearing that, Xu Ye shook his head. "Uncle Du, my father would understand."

Du Yuanxiu nodded and sighed. "That's true. He was such an easygoing man; he surely would understand. Still, I never thought that after one mission, we would never see each other again."

In their line of work, that day would come sooner or later.

Yet with his old friend gone, he still could not let it go.

Xu Ye did not want to dwell on the matter any longer. Shaking his head, he said, "Uncle Du, it's all in the past."

Du Yuanxiu tactfully nodded upon hearing that. Only then did he change the subject, sweeping his gaze around the area. "Did you do all this?"

Xu Ye nodded slightly and did not deny it.

Lü Tao looked at Xu Ye. "Didn't Old Xu say that your martial meridians were blocked from birth, leaving you unable to cultivate? How do you have such strength?"

At those words, Du Yuanxiu also looked at Xu Ye curiously.

At the same time, a trace of vigilance rose in his heart.

In this chaotic age of demons and fiends, anything was possible.

He did not want his old friend's descendant to go too far and walk a wicked path.

Xu Ye understood what they meant and smiled as he gave them the explanation he had prepared long ago.

It was actually quite simple: his father had told him to play the pig to eat the tiger, so he had deliberately hidden his strength all these years.

After he finished, Lü Tao's eyes widened. "You're saying Old Xu deliberately told you to conceal your strength?"

Xu Ye nodded. This was the only thing he could say now.

"Old Xu was a steady man. In these troubled times, the more ordinary one appears, the safer one is. He did very well in that regard." Du Yuanxiu readily accepted Xu Ye's explanation.

Lü Tao nodded as well. Then he looked around and pointed at the Clear Spring Gang corpses scattered across the ground. "Then what happened here?"

Xu Ye did not hide anything either and recounted the entire matter from beginning to end.

When they heard that the Su Family had threatened Xu Ye into selling his special pardon order—

Both men's expressions darkened.

"The Su Family is utterly inhuman. They would even bully the descendant of a meritorious man. They're despicable!" Lü Tao clenched his fists, furious.

But he could only curse them, because there was nothing he could do about such matters.

There was more than one such case in all of White Cloud County.

They could not stop them either.

"So the Su Family crossed the river and tore down the bridge?" Du Yuanxiu clenched and loosened his fists.

It pained him deeply to hear that his old friend's descendant had been bullied like this.

But Xu Ye was not finished yet, and he had already guessed most of what had happened.

"Yes." Xu Ye nodded slightly and also told them what the Clear Spring Gang had done, as well as what had happened with the cat demon.

After hearing it all, Du Yuanxiu and Lü Tao both stared blankly at Xu Ye.

Just because they had hit his little sister—

He had wiped out everyone in their headquarters?

That was truly ruthless!

Still, it was not that they thought Xu Ye had done anything wrong.

They simply found it hard to imagine that someone so young could do something so ruthless.

"That's what happened. I had originally planned to kill them all and burn the place down to be done with it. I didn't expect to run into you and Uncle Du." Xu Ye spoke honestly now.

Since they were his father's friends, their character was surely sound. There was no need to hide anything else.

Lü Tao said calmly, "We sensed demonic aura, so we came over."

Xu Ye nodded.

But Du Yuanxiu understood what Xu Ye meant. He nodded slightly and said, "The Clear Spring Gang colluded with demons and fiends and harmed the common people. Their crimes are heinous; they deserved to die. Leave this matter to us. We'll handle the aftermath and make sure it does not implicate you."

Xu Ye was overjoyed to hear that. That was exactly what he wanted Du Yuanxiu to say.

Sure enough!

His father's old friend was a man of good character.

Xu Ye immediately cupped his fists. "Thank you, Uncle Du!"

Du Yuanxiu waved a hand slightly. "No need to thank me. This is what we should have done in the first place."

After saying that, he paused before continuing, "What about you? What are your plans for the future?"

Xu Ye smiled easily. "I don't have any particular plans. As long as my little sister is happy, and we're both still alive, that's enough."

Hearing that, both Du Yuanxiu and Lü Tao felt a bitter ache in their hearts.

What a simple wish!

Sadly, in these troubled times, even that was probably far too extravagant.