Xu Zirong gently rubbed his right wrist, his expression shifting unpredictably. There had once been a conspicuous scar there. Even after reaching the Nascent Soul stage, when he could reshape his body, he had chosen not to erase it.
He had acquired the scar when he fell from a cliff and, struggling desperately to avoid falling to his death, scraped his wrist against a jagged rock. From that moment, he had severed the last thread binding him to the Xu family. The scar served as a reminder never to forget the humiliations they had inflicted upon him!
“Father.” Holding Xu Zirong by the hand, Xu Ziyan entered the dining hall at an unhurried pace.
The dining hall was very spacious. Three dining tables, each large enough to seat more than a dozen people, stood in the center.
Xu Xiao sat at the head of the room. An empty chair had been placed to his right.
Xu Ziyan knew that chair had been reserved especially for him. Its position alone demonstrated that, within the Xu family, his standing was second only to Xu Xiao’s.
Of course, the chair conferred no actual authority on Xu Ziyan. It was purely a mark of status. He had earned the seat not through any great contribution to the Xu family but through the expectations the family placed on his future.
A cultivation clan like the Xu family would inevitably devote its resources to its most talented descendants for the good of the clan. Fairness had nothing to do with it. If Xu Ziyan controlled such a family, he would do exactly the same.
As things stood, given Xu Ziyan’s lightning spiritual root, he was practically guaranteed to become a Golden Core cultivator so long as he was not too stupid. An additional Golden Core cultivator would be of incalculable value to a middling clan like the Xus.
Every great clan required enough powerful backing and accumulated foundations to prosper. The Xu family’s past achievements formed those foundations; in the eyes of the clan, Xu Ziyan was its safest bet for a powerful backer in the future.
In this world, blood ties and master-disciple relationships were the most reliable bonds between people. Unless someone had gone completely mad, cultivators who came from established clans generally took care to look after the families they had left behind.
Xu Ziyan enjoyed the privileges of that arrangement, so naturally he would have to shoulder its obligations. Although he had not entered this body of his own free will, he did not intend to shirk them.
No one in the Xu family had wronged him personally, and he had no particular dislike for the clan.
In the memories he had inherited, many members of the Xu family had taken part in bullying Xu Zirong, but the original Xu Ziyan had been the one directing it all. The others would hardly have gone out of their way to torment a child simply because they were bored.
Most of the servants had acted to curry favor with their superiors, too. One could say that the original Xu Ziyan alone had harbored the greatest malice toward Xu Zirong in the entire Xu family.
In the space of a moment, Xu Ziyan settled on his position. Many things had yet to happen in this lifetime, and Xu Zirong had not suffered that torment yet. They could live happily together in the Xu household. Following the righteous path was much safer than becoming a demonic cultivator. At the very least, should that bloodsucking-insect incident really occur in the future, Zirong would not inexplicably end up shouldering such an enormous accusation.
As for the original body’s mother, Xu Ziyan could only offer her a silent apology. He had no intention of avenging her. Xu Xiao was ultimately responsible for her tragic fate, and even his original counterpart had never taken revenge on Xu Xiao. How could someone like him, who held no personal grudge against the man, do so?
Apart from the chair beside Xu Xiao, the other seats were already occupied by children.
These children were talented descendants of the Xu family’s collateral branches. The very fact that they could dine in this room was indirect proof of their abilities.
They varied widely in age. Some appeared to be in their twenties, while the youngest looked only eight or nine. The more calculating ones studied Xu Zirong appraisingly; the little ones merely stared at the newly arrived child with curiosity.
Xu Zirong hid shyly behind Xu Ziyan, stealing occasional glances at the others. He seemed rather frightened.
Children were shy around strangers. That was perfectly understandable.
That was what many of their eyes seemed to say. Quite a few of them even offered friendly smiles after noticing that Xu Ziyan was holding Xu Zirong’s hand.
Xu Zirong lowered his head slightly, hiding the hatred carved into his eyes. He recognized most of the people in this room. In his memories, they had left him with countless painful wounds.
The reason he did not dare look up was that he feared Xu Xiao, seated at the head, might see his hatred. He was confident his disguise would fool the children, but he had no such confidence facing an old fox as cunning as Xu Xiao.
If asked whom he hated most in the Xu family, the answer would unquestionably be Xu Ziyan. But the person he resented most was Xu Xiao.
If Xu Xiao had never brought him back to the Xu household, life in that small town might have been difficult, but he would never have suffered such humiliation.
Father. It was a word that should have meant warmth and protection, yet to him it could summon only an expressionless, indifferent face.
During all the years he had lived with the Xu family, he had never once seen Xu Xiao smile at him.
The oppressive, unbearable violence buried deep in his heart began to stir again. Scarlet gradually crept into his eyes. Xu Zirong knew full well that if this continued, Xu Xiao would notice something abnormal about him. Given the man’s character, he would surely eliminate a danger like him before it could grow. Although the current Xu Ziyan treated him kindly, once Xu Xiao made up his mind, someone at the sixth level of Qi Refining would be powerless to stop him.
Besides…
Xu Ziyan might not even oppose the decision.
At the thought, a cold smile appeared at the corner of Xu Zirong’s mouth. He still had no idea what Xu Ziyan was plotting. But to expect him to believe, after a single afternoon together, that the present Xu Ziyan harbored no hostility toward him whatsoever? Absolutely impossible!
“Zirong? What’s wrong?” Xu Ziyan’s somewhat concerned voice sounded beside his ear.
Keeping his head lowered, Xu Zirong shook it. He did not dare look up. Eyes threaded with blood-red veins were hardly something an eight-year-old child ought to possess.
“Are you feeling unwell?”
“No… It’s just… there are so many people.” Xu Zirong did his best to keep his voice gentle.
Sure enough, Xu Ziyan suspected nothing. He smiled and patted the boy reassuringly on the head. “Don’t worry. Big Brother is here. These people will all be your friends someday. There’s nothing to be afraid of.”
Xu Zirong scoffed inwardly. Friends? The Blood Demon had never needed friends!
With his head still bowed, Xu Zirong merely gripped Xu Ziyan’s hand tightly. Xu Ziyan thought nothing of it; he assumed that the child was simply overwhelmed by meeting so many unfamiliar people at once.
Still holding Xu Zirong’s hand, he walked slowly to his own chair. He had scarcely sat down when he spoke to the two attendants standing nearby. “Go and bring another chair.”
The dining hall fell into a profound silence. Everyone who had been conversing quietly turned in unison to look at Xu Ziyan, then shifted their gazes to Xu Xiao.
Xu Ziyan had not spoken loudly, but everyone could hear him. He had made the decision after careful thought.
As the young master of the Xu family, his words carried considerable weight. He wanted this gesture to make his attitude toward Xu Zirong plain to everyone. They should understand that anyone foolish enough to bully Zirong would have to answer to him.
Instead of moving at once, the two attendants exchanged a glance and looked toward Xu Xiao.
Xu Xiao leisurely wiped his hands with a spotless white cloth, set it down, and said coldly, “Didn’t you hear the young master’s order?”
The attendants started and hurried away to fetch a chair. Xu Ziyan’s expression did not change in the slightest. He simply looked at Xu Xiao and said, “Father, we can begin the meal.”
Xu Xiao regarded Xu Ziyan deeply for a moment before declaring in a low voice, “Begin.”
Only then did everyone pick up their chopsticks and start eating.
The atmosphere was somewhat tense at first, but as time passed and nothing else happened, the children soon put the incident out of their minds. They began animatedly discussing recent questions about cultivation.
Apart from his initial greeting, Xu Ziyan did not say another word to Xu Xiao.
For one thing, facing his nominal father felt like dealing with one of those wily old foxes from the business world, and the pressure was immense. For another, he had occupied the man’s son’s body. Even though he had inherited all its memories and knew something of future events, he was still afraid he might give himself away.
In this cultivation world, there was a concept called possession, or seizing another person’s body. If Xu Xiao concluded that he had taken over his son, he would be in serious trouble. With his puny sixth-level cultivation, he would be utterly crushed by Xu Xiao’s strength, which was approaching the Golden Core stage. There would be no room for argument…
Xu Ziyan felt guilty and nervous, little knowing that Xu Xiao was actually delighted by what he saw as his son’s growing maturity.
The news that Xu Ziyan had expelled Ruoqi from Liushang Courtyard had reached Xu Xiao’s desk almost as soon as the decision was made. He did not normally monitor his son constantly, but Xu Zirong’s arrival had made him particularly curious to see how the boy would react.
He had to admit that Xu Ziyan’s earlier reactions had been rather disappointing. Twelve was no longer such a young age, yet his son had still behaved rashly and impulsively. Even if he disliked Xu Zirong, he should never have shown it so plainly. If anything happened to Xu Zirong in the future, would that not tell everyone exactly whose hand was behind it?
Whether one was a cultivator or an ordinary person, those standing in the open were always at a disadvantage compared with those acting from the shadows.