Begin Your Performance

Of the three men, the ones on either side seemed to be subordinates, while the man in the middle was broad and powerfully built, with a conspicuous scar across his face.

A heavy killing aura clung to him; he seemed to be the sort who licked blood from a blade's edge.

At this moment, Xu Zimo and the others were eating when the scar-faced man strode straight to Xu Zimo's table, picked up a chicken leg from a bowl, and began gnawing on it without a word.

"Who the hell are you? Didn't you see that this is our food?" Xiao Guizi rose to his feet and shouted sternly.

The scar-faced man shot Xiao Guizi a sidelong glance. Spiritual energy surged in his right hand as he slammed his palm onto the table before him.

The table instantly shattered into pieces, and all the food was knocked onto the floor.

"Who is this guy? He's so arrogant," one of the diners asked in confusion.

"The leader of the White Crane Mercenary Group, Xiao Baihe. He's a ruthless man. Keep your voice down," someone beside him warned.

"Who sent you?" Xu Zimo asked with a smile, utterly unangered.

Xiao Baihe froze, his expression changing slightly, but he still said carelessly, "Who sent me? I just don't like the look of you, damn it."

Xu Zimo smiled, wiped his mouth with a piece of paper, and then everyone saw a flash of blade shadow before their eyes. Xiao Baihe's legs were severed directly at the knees.

Xiao Baihe had not even reacted yet. The strike had been so fast that he felt no pain at all.

Only when his two legs fell aside and his body, left without support, crashed to the ground—

did the piercing agony reach his nerves. Looking at his severed legs, he screamed in pain, his face white as paper as beads of sweat the size of soybeans streamed down his forehead.

"Who sent you?" Xu Zimo asked again with the same smile.

"I don't know," Xiao Baihe answered stubbornly.

A sharp blade swept across his throat. A line of blood sprayed more than three feet away, and even in death, Xiao Baihe's eyes remained full of disbelief.

Beside him, the two subordinates who had come with him seemed frightened stupid, standing rooted to the spot without moving.

When Xu Zimo's gaze swept over them, the two men shuddered all over and finally came back to their senses.

They hurriedly dropped to their knees, kowtowing and begging for mercy.

"Who sent you?" Xu Zimo asked once more.

"The Situ Family. The chief steward of their inner court came to our leader," one of them hurriedly replied.

"Then are you willing to come to the Situ Family with me and testify?" Xu Zimo asked.

"I..." The man hesitated.

Blade light flashed, and a head with eyes still wide open in death fell to the ground.

"Are you willing to come testify for me?" Xu Zimo asked the sole remaining man of the three.

The man's expression twisted in struggle. Then he began frantically kowtowing to Xu Zimo, his forehead already a bloody mess. "My lord, please spare me. If I testify, my whole family will die."

"I gave you a chance, but you were useless." Xu Zimo shook his head, and once again, the blade rose and fell.

The head rolled across the ground like a ball. Xu Zimo yawned, shook his head helplessly, and muttered, "Boring."

"That was too impulsive, brother," a Young Man in white stepped out from the side, folding fan in hand. He looked at Xu Zimo and sighed, shaking his head.

"How so?" Xu Zimo looked at him in puzzlement.

"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Zheng Kai." The Young Man opened his folding fan and said slowly, "I can see that you are no ordinary person. If you had kept these three men alive—even just one of them—you could have gone to the Situ Family and sought justice.

But now that you have killed them all, you have neither witnesses nor evidence. Isn't that a great pity?"

"What the hell does it have to do with you?" Xu Zimo asked in return.

"Uh..." The Young Man froze. Having made a fool of himself, he simply stood to one side without another word.

Xu Zimo glanced at Xiao Guizi beside him and said, "Xiao Guizi, please begin your performance."

Xiao Guizi nodded, then grabbed the iron rod from his back and swung it straight at Xu Zimo.

Xu Zimo kicked him to the ground and demanded sharply, "Speak! Who instructed you?"

"It was the chief steward of the Situ Family's inner court. This lowly one is willing to testify," Xiao Guizi hurriedly answered.

"Come on. Then let's go to the Situ Family and settle accounts with him." Xu Zimo pulled Xiao Guizi along, with Lin Ruhu following behind, and the group marched mightily toward the Situ Family.

Zheng Kai, the Young Man standing nearby, was utterly dumbfounded. Watching the group leave, his eyes were opened wide. "Holy shit, you can do that?"

As they walked down the bustling street, Lin Ruhu asked curiously, "Brother Zimo, why is the Situ Family looking for trouble with us?"

"Because we saved Situ Yunqing and ruined certain people's plans," Xu Zimo said with a smile.

Lin Ruhu nodded as if he understood, then asked, "But if we have Xiao Guizi pretend to be from the White Crane Mercenary Group like this, will the Situ Family believe it?"

"Don't you understand yet? Whether Xiao Guizi is from the White Crane Mercenary Group isn't important, and whether they believe it isn't important either," Xu Zimo said. "What matters is that our fists are bigger."

Lin Ruhu froze. "Bigger fists? I think I sort of get it now. When your fists are big enough, white can be called black, and black can be called white."

At this moment, because of Situ Yunqing's arrival, the entire Situ Family was in a state where mountain rain was about to come and wind filled the tower.

Inside the Situ Family's council hall, the atmosphere was somewhat heavy.

The First Elder looked at Situ Yuntian, the Situ Family head seated at the head of the hall, and said, "Family Head, we are all delighted that niece Yunqing was able to return. But for her to acknowledge her ancestry and be entered into the family genealogy immediately upon returning—is that not somewhat improper?

After all, she did not grow up in the Situ Family. Shouldn't this matter be delayed for a while?"

"I agree with the First Elder," the Second Elder and Third Elder beside him said, as though they had discussed it beforehand, nodding at the same time.

"What? You have objections to my decision?" Situ Yuntian asked with a frown.

"We are only considering the future of the Situ Family," the First Elder said gravely.

"Moreover, it is not just us who oppose this. Rumors are already flying throughout the entire Lineage. I think the Family Head should consider the bigger picture."

As they spoke, a servant came running in panic.

"Family Head, Elders, three people have come outside claiming they want justice from our Situ Family. They injured several members of the patrol squad. Instructor Lou tried to stop them, but one of them killed him with a single slash."

Situ Yuntian frowned slightly. Instructor Lou was responsible for the Lineage's security patrols and was also the strongest person in the entire Situ Family aside from Situ Yuntian and the elders.

"They say they are disciples of the True Martial Sacred Sect, and that someone from our Situ Family hired others to assassinate them," the servant continued.

"The True Martial Sacred Sect?" Situ Yuntian instantly felt the matter was troublesome. That colossal entity was like a mountain towering over the entire Far West Land. "It seems we have never provoked any disciples of the True Martial Sacred Sect, have we?"