Situ Yunqing

"What if it's the Situ Family's carriage?" The bandit leader laughed heartily. "Once my brothers rob your carriage, we'll find another place to settle down. The sky is high enough for birds to fly wherever they please. Could the Situ Family's influence possibly stretch across the entire Eastern Continent?"

By now, all the carriage guards had been killed. Only an old man at the ninth level of the Spirit Vein Realm was still struggling to hold on.

This group of bandits was basically all in the Spirit Vein Realm. Only their leader seemed to have just advanced into the Condensing Pulse Realm.

He was in no hurry to kill the old man. Instead, like a cat toying with a mouse, he said mockingly, "Have the people inside the carriage come out. I'd like to see which member of the Situ Family is in there."

"Boss, someone's coming," a young bandit beside him said when he spotted Xu Zimo and the others.

The bandit leader turned his head, gripping a linked saber as he swaggered forward and called out to Xu Zimo and his group, "You brats over there, since I'm in a good mood today, get the hell out of here.

"Take one more step forward, and I'll chop your heads off."

"We're not leaving. As a bandit, shouldn't you at least have some professional ethics?" Xu Zimo said indignantly. "Why are you robbing them but not us?

"Why are you looking down on us? How are we any worse than them?"

The bandit leader looked utterly bewildered. "Is this guy sick? I tell him to leave, and he refuses. He insists on making me rob him."

With a sweep of his hand, swarms of bandits rushed forward and surrounded Xu Zimo's group.

"Xiao Guizi, I'll leave it to you," Xu Zimo said with a smile.

"Don't worry," Xiao Guizi said confidently, taking an iron staff from behind his back and nodding.

Though Xiao Guizi usually acted like a fawning lackey, he was a genuine inner disciple of the True Martial Sacred Sect, a warrior at the fifth level of the Condensing Pulse Realm.

Dealing with this band of bandits was more than easy enough for him.

Xiao Guizi swung the iron staff in his hand. With every strike, it was as though he were smashing watermelons, and his opponents' heads burst apart.

"Brothers, this one's tough! Attack together!" a bandit beside him shouted.

Xiao Guizi did not flinch. He leaped directly from the Desert Steed, the iron staff in his hand whistling with the force of a tiger and dragon. His momentum was astonishing, and every strike seemed to carry the weight of a thousand jun.

The compressed air around him let out booming sonic blasts.

After only a few exchanges, all the bandits were already sprawled across the ground, howling endlessly.

Seeing that things had gone badly, the bandit leader hurriedly mounted his horse and tried to flee.

Xiao Guizi's gaze was bright as a torch. He hurled the iron staff in his hand directly at him.

The iron staff hummed through the air, transforming into a streak of black light that pierced straight through the bandit leader's back.

Its momentum did not diminish. After piercing through the bandit leader, the iron staff crashed directly into a massive boulder ahead.

The iron staff sank heavily into the boulder before slowly coming to a stop.

"You've trained this Mad Demon Staff Technique quite proficiently," Xu Zimo said.

"This Meridian Technique of mine has only just reached the Other Shore level. It is still somewhat short of perfection," Xiao Guizi replied.

Subtlety, mystery, Other Shore, perfection.

These were the four levels of Meridian Techniques.

"Don't pay too much attention to the surface meaning of the Mad Demon Staff Technique. This 'mad' does not mean insanity, and this 'demon' does not refer to those fiends who slaughter without blinking," Xu Zimo casually offered a few pointers. "The Mad Demon Staff Technique emphasizes a single burst of momentum, pressing forward with indomitable force."

Seeing Xiao Guizi's thoughtful expression, Xu Zimo rode forward.

Beside the carriage, the sole surviving old man hurriedly thanked Xu Zimo.

"It isn't your turn to thank me," Xu Zimo said calmly. "Have the person inside the carriage come out."

The old man hesitated. Then, a voice as melodious as a lark came from within the carriage.

"Uncle Fu, it's fine. I ought to meet this benefactor who saved my life."

The carriage curtain was drawn aside, and two women slowly stepped down.

The woman on the left was dressed like a maid.

The woman on the right wore a pale green dress, with lotus flowers embroidered around the cuffs and collar.

Her fair, alluring collarbones were exposed. Long black hair fell over her shoulders, tied with a pink ribbon.

She looked fresh and refined, wearing only light makeup. Her large black eyes were lively and intelligent, her nose delicate, her face shaped like a melon seed.

"This humble girl is Situ Yunqing. Thank you, Young Master, for saving my life," the woman said softly, dipping into a slight curtsy.

"Tsk, tsk, that little face of yours is quite exquisite," Xu Zimo said in a lecherous tone, a stalk of straw dangling from his mouth.

As he spoke, he reached out with his right hand to touch her face, but Situ Yunqing turned her head aside.

Xu Zimo hooked her chin with his right index finger and looked at her appraisingly. Situ Yunqing's face turned deathly pale with fright.

Yet she still pressed her lips together and met Xu Zimo's gaze.

"Senior Brother Xu, if you want her, I can stand watch nearby for you," Xiao Guizi said from the side.

"Let go of my lady!" The maid tried to shove Xu Zimo away, but Lin Ruhu grabbed her by the collar and flung her straight aside.

"I've never liked forcing people to do what they don't want," Xu Zimo said with a smile, withdrawing his right hand. "If you want to thank me, don't just say it. At least show some sincerity."

"I have nothing on me right now. If you do not mind, Young Master, you may accompany me to Zhouque City. Once we reach the Situ Family, I will certainly reward you generously," Situ Yunqing said sincerely as she looked at Xu Zimo.

"You're a young lady of the Situ Family? Who are you trying to fool?" Xiao Guizi questioned from the side. "The Situ Family may not be much, but it is still a great lineage in Zhouque City.

"You traveled without even a Condensing Pulse Realm guard. Otherwise, you would not have been robbed by bandits. Do you think we know nothing?"

"My mother was merely an ordinary woman from a small town. Her meeting with my father was purely an accident," Situ Yunqing fell silent for a moment before slowly replying. "My mother was strong-willed. She did not wish to live under another's roof and endure their disdain, so she raised me alone all these years.

"She had not wanted any further ties to the Situ Family, but this time, my mother fell gravely ill. Before she died, she could not stop worrying about me, so she had me come to the Situ Family to find my father, in hopes of finding a place of shelter."

Upon hearing Situ Yunqing's words, Xu Zimo more or less understood.

Situ Yunqing's mother was likely just an ordinary woman, while her father was the head of the Situ Family. The gap between their identities was simply too vast.

Situ Yunqing's mother had not wanted to go to the Situ Family and live under another's roof, so she raised Situ Yunqing alone outside.

In other words, many people in the Situ Family probably did not even know that their family head had an illegitimate daughter outside.

"The Situ Family..." At that, Xu Zimo suddenly recalled some events from his Previous Life.

The Situ Family had originally been only a small lineage in Zhouque City. Its influence and reputation could only linger around Zhouque City.

But later, he heard that a woman had emerged from the Situ Family. She founded the Situ Chamber of Commerce, spreading its business across the entire Eastern Continent, and led the Situ Family—once able to run rampant only within Zhouque City's little patch of land—to rise completely.