Chapter 10: Conflict
Three people walked in; the shopkeeper’s face changed as he hurried over to welcome them. He said, “Master Wu, haha, my humble shop is honoured by your presence. Please, come in! Come in!”
Master Wu completely ignored the shopkeeper, walked straight to the table ahead, stuck out his hand, and felt the Fu Bear Hide. 12th furrowed his brows and said, “Stop touching it…… For someone your age you sure have no manners!” Luo Zhan lifted his hand and swatted Master Wu’s outstretched hand, saying, “Off with you!”
The shopkeeper suddenly broke out in a cold sweat, he didn’t know who 12th and the others were, for Qin Zi Lu only told him that they were guests without discussing their ident.i.ties in detail.
Master Wu, whose full name was Wu Shen Xi, was son of the Southern Fu Sect’s representative who lived in Qin Guang, and he was also a famous dandyist in Qin Guang, and because he was also a Beast Zhou Warrior, he was especially arrogant too.
No business or clan wanted to get on the wrong side of the important people from the Four Great Sects, so even if the Qin clan had such a broad influence in Qin Guang, they still wouldn’t dare to anger the Southern Fu Sect’s representatives. This was not because they were cowards, but because they didn’t have the ability; only people from the other sects could.
The shopkeepers pulled Qin Zi Lu to one side and whispered, “What do we do? This isn’t good!”
Wu Shen Xi was angered. He stepped back and held his hand to his waist, this was a Zhou Warrior’s typical stance indicating they were about to attack. 12th turned his head, “Uncle Luo, if he dares to attack, just kill him!” he said loudly and clearly.
As such Luo Zhan drew his Fu Knife, stared at Wu Shen Xi and said, “Boy, think this through before you strike, as long as you won’t regret it then go ahead!”
Only then did Wu Shen Xi see the symbols on all their chests. He was unreasonably arrogant, but he wasn’t stupid. He knew that his opponents were from the Northern Fu Sect, and according to the symbols, they were from the Inner Sect, meaning it would be a bad idea to anger them. He reluctantly said, “I’m here to buy, why are you s.n.a.t.c.hing my things?”
The shopkeeper took this opportunity and hurriedly explained, “That was brought by this young master…… It’s not from this shop!”
Slap!
Wu Shen Xi angrily asked, “Why didn’t you f.u.c.king say so earlier?!”
12th despised guys like this in his past life too, he said, “Are you really trying to be imposing in front of me? Uncle Luo! Get him!”
Wu Shen Xi’s chest also had a symbol which showed that he was from the Southern Fu Sect. Luo Zhan, and the others already disliked people from the Southern Fu Sect. As soon as 12th said it he speedily swung the palm of his hand without hesitation, and with that, he smacked Wu Shen Xi so hard he left him dazed. Only then did the two Beast Warriors next to him react, charging angrily at them.
Xiao Feng smiled, “I. Don’t. Like. You!” He forcefully rushed ahead, swung his leg twice, once at each of them, and both Beast Warriors were kicked far away.
Wu Shen Xi can also see the symbols on Luo Zhan and Xiao Feng’s chests, both were Fu Masters. They both didn’t need to attack, for just one would be enough to eliminate all three of them. He held his face, and defiantly said, “You dare strike me?!”
12th laughed and said, “Uncle Luo, hit him again!” In his past life he’d seen plenty of these types, arrogant and overbearing cowards who bullied the weak, for someone like that, a fierce beating was in order which then solved all problems.
Luo Zhan laughed as he lunged forward, he liked 12th solutions to these problems, they were f.u.c.king awesome. Using one hand he grabbed Wu Shen Xi’s collar, and the other slapped him on both cheeks with both forehand and backhand; he struck him so much that the guy’s head was swaying about as a line of blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. Enraged, Wu Shen Xi frantically exclaimed, “You won’t get away with this…… I’m gonna kill you……”
12th smiled, “Not bad, stubborn…… I like it!” He whipped out a dagger, and in front of Wu Shen Xi’s face he placed it lightly between his eyes, and said, “I can thrust this right through your skull into your brain, haha. Wanna try it?”
Wu Shen Xi suddenly understood that his opponents were really ready to kill him, and from their smiling expressions to the looks in their eyes, he could sense the stone-cold, murderous intentions. A shiver shot through his brain as he shamefully p.i.s.sed his pants.
He gulped, and pleaded, “No…… Please…… Please don’t kill me……”
12th suddenly noticed a pool of liquid collecting at Wu Shen Xi’s feet, which left him stunned. Sighing as he sheathed his dagger, he said, “Uncle Luo, let him go…… Oi! You can leave!” Against such a weakling, he couldn’t be bothered to bully him, so he said in a quiet voice, “Since you know fear…… then why were you so arrogant? Why put yourself through that? Seriously man…… and you even wet yourself? And here I thought you were some kind of bully……”
Wu Shen Xi wailed as he ran off. Luo Zhan held back his laughter and said, “12th, you’re the bully here.”
12th shook his head smiling and said, “Uncle Luo, I’m a little kid not a little bully, hehe, although I’ll occasionally cameo as a bully, it’s quite fun.”
Luo Zhan didn’t understand what ‘cameo’ meant, but it didn’t hinder his understanding as he said, “That kid though, he doesn’t seem to be older than thirty but he’s already a Zhou Warrior, you should take some care.”
12th said, “Ah whatever, I’m still young…… I misbehave.”
Luo Zhan laughed, for 12th was indeed young, only nine, but not even adults could do what he could.
12th walked over to the shopkeeper, asking, “Are you ok?”
The shopkeeper had tears in his eyes as he said, “I’m…… I’m okay……” He resented 12th slightly for that, p.i.s.sing off the Southern Fu Sect’s people meant trouble for him in the future.
12th didn’t know what this guy was thinking as he asked, “Can you please find me the best clothes manufacturer, and use this sheet of Fu Beast Hide to create a few fur coats. Yes, as soon as possible, is two days enough time?”
The shopkeeper bitterly said, “This is Fu Beast hide, it’s not normal wild beast hide it’s different, you need to find specific Fu Masters who can work with this. In the Qin clan we’ve only got Fu Warriors, meaning we can’t work on this type of Fu Beast hide, so it might be best to try another business?”
12th was surprised, “Only Fu Masters can do it?” He understood immediately that Fu Beast hide was extraordinarily st.u.r.dy—normal people probably wouldn’t even be able to cut it, let alone work on it—it seemed like he presumed too much. He said, “Nevermind, I won’t bother you any more then.” as he retrieved the Fu Beast Hide.
Suddenly somebody said, “Stop right there!”
This was now the second time. 12th already knew, for in his past life they called it, ‘Wealth, the ultimate motivation’, but here, the precious Fu Beast Hide was even more motivating than wealth. He turned his head and five people walked in, the middle-aged man leading them was infuriated, and on his chests was the symbol of a Fu Master.
12th ignored them, put away the Fu Beast Hide, and held the Hidden Fu Bag tightly in his arms.
The middle-aged man’s face betrayed nothing, and seeing the symbols on each person’s chests, he finally calmed down and calmly asked, “Whose piece of Fu Beast hide is that?”
12th tilted his head, stared at his eyes, and after half a moment he finally said, “Mister, the Fu beast hide is mine. Pray tell……can I help you with something?”
The middle-aged man was shocked to see the symbol on 12th’s chest—A FuZhou Warrior—he couldn’t help but ask, “Young brother, what’s your name? How old are you?”
T/N: Brother in this sense is more like how monks call each other brothers, rather than two people with a brotherly relationship. Since they are both Fu pract.i.tioners, he calls him ‘brother’, it’s also somewhat polite.
12th didn’t care about his young age, sometimes he even thought that being so young had its benefits. He smiled, and said, “My name is Guo 12th and I’m nine years old.”
The middle-aged man was so shocked he looked like he was going to spit blood, he exclaimed, “Nine! A FuZhou Warrior!” He then saw the two Fu Masters and the other four children and became even more unsettled. This child must be of real importance if he’s under the protection of these Fu Masters. He wasn’t as shallow as the shopkeeper, he knew full well how difficult it is to be a FuZhou Warrior at the age of nine, for without having a natural apt.i.tude for it, there would be no chance.
“Haha, my name is Zhu Da Chang, I’m a Fu Master from the Zhu clan’s business. Pleased to meet you!”
12th stared wide-eyed, “Zhu Da Chang? Mister, your name is really…… incredible!”
Zhu Da Chang laughed aloud and said, “Yeah, everyone all say my name is great! Haha.”
T/N: The characters for his name are 朱大昌 which is p.r.o.nounced exactly the same as 猪大肠 which means Pig’s Large Intestine. Given that this is spoken, 12th doesn’t know which characters are used for his name and therefore a.s.sumes the latter which prompts his reaction.
12th thought to himself, Alright, playing dumb are we? Two can play at this game…… He smiled and said, “Mister, if there’s nothing else, please excuse us. You get on with your business.” He waved everyone over, turned, and headed for the exit.
“Hey, hey…… Brother Guo, please wait a moment.”
12th grinned slightly as turned, “Oh, Mister Zhu, is something the matter?” His ability to play dumb was astonishing, so much so that Luo Zhan almost couldn’t hold in his laughter. He’d been with 12th for so long, so he knew that the little guy was going to mess with someone again.
Zhu Da Chang felt uncomfortable, how could this kid be this hard to deal with. He forced out a peaceful smile, saying, “That Fu Beast hide I saw earlier, is that yours?”
12th countered, “Yeah, is there a problem?”
Zhu Da Chang smiled bitterly, “No, no problem……”
Without waiting for him to continue, 12th nodded, smiled and said, “Oh, well if that’s all then great, we’re leaving!”
Zhu Da Chang was both annoyed and impatient as he called out, “Brother Guo!”
12th stood and turned, “My word Mister Zhu, you have to be messing with me……”
Luo Zhan nearly laughed out loud but instead he made a choked snorting sound but stopped himself in time as he turned his head and tried to force down his laughter. This kid was terrible, irritating that Fu Master beyond belief and not even cracking a smile.
Zhu Da Chang smiled awkwardly as he said, “Um, no it’s, um, I only wanted to…… I wanted to have a look at that piece of Fu Beast hide!” He finally said what he wanted to say, so he felt relieved—keeping it in was too uncomfortable—he was finally able to say it.
“What’s so interesting about a Fu Beast hide? Haven’t you ever seen one before?” asked 12th.
Zhu Da Chang was constantly smiling uncomfortably, he was even a little frightened of this child. A simple reb.u.t.tal, yet hit it where it really hurt. It’s not that he hasn’t seen Fu Beast hide before, just he had never seen a complete sheet of Fu Beast hide, for a full sheet of Fu Beast hide must have some series of natural Fu patterns in it, which are utterly priceless. It was one of the best materials for creating Fu Armour.
Zhu Da Chang didn’t want to say that he hadn’t ever seen a complete piece of Fu Beast hide before, so he said, “Haha, of course I’ve seen Fu Beast hide, only I’ve not seen a Fu Bear’s hide before, haha. I’m just curious, nothing bad, haha.”
12th thought for a moment, and thought it wasn’t worth it, Zhu Da Chang has been rather courteous, unlike Wu Shen Xi who was domineering. He was the cowardly bully type of person. 12th smiled and said, “Alright, I can show it to you, although, I hope that you won’t make some unreasonable demands, this sheet of Fu Bear hide is my Master’s.” And in the blink of an eye, this sheet of Fu Bear hide just became his Master’s.
Zhu Da Chang held out his hands and said, “Let me see! Haha!”
12th slightly despised this guy as he took out his Hidden Fu Bag and brought out the Fu Bear hide, saying, “This is the hide from a Fu Bear and it’s relatively complete, take a look! Don’t take too long, I’ve got stuff to do.”
Zhu Da Chang carefully felt the Fu Bear hide, excitedly asking, “Where on earth did you guys hunt this? Wow, it’s so big! I’m a.s.suming you had a Great Fu Master’s help, right?” He flipped the hide and inspected the natural Fu patterns on the skin, continuously asking questions, “A Fu Beast with decent attack and defense capabilities, this hide…… it’s very tough. It’s hard to imagine how you guys managed to hunt such a terrifying Fu Beast.”
12th silently stood next to him not rushing him.
Zhu Da Chang flipped and stared at it many many times, then after a while he finally finished and said, “Amazing! Brother Guo, is there any possibility of you pa.s.sing on ownership?”
12th smiled, “What do you think?”
Zhu Da Chang grimaced, “Well, that’s hard to say, it depends on your intentions.”
12th asked, “You’re a Fu Master, what do you specialise in?”
Zhu Da Chang’s eyes glimmered, saying, “I specifically craft Fu Armour, and my specialty is creating Soft Fu Armour, haha, this hide is a top tier material for creating Soft Fu Armour!”
12th nodded and asked, “So are you finished?”
Zhu Da Chang said, “Haha, yes I’m done, here……” He returned the hide, took a step back and stared hopefully at 12th.
12th took the hide back and said, “Well then, we’ll be taking our leave, bye!”
“What? You’re leaving?”
Zhu Da Chang hurriedly chased a few steps, calling, “Brother Guo! Brother Guo!”
12th asked, “Is there another problem?”
Zhu Da Chang was so frustrated he didn’t know what to do, he said, “Surely you must want to use it to create Fu Armour?”
12th seriously nodded and said, “Of course I do!”
Zhu Da Chang perked up and said, “Then allow me! I am one of the best at creating Soft Fu Armour, look! You see? I’m recognised by the Northern Fu Sect as a Fu Master!”
“But…… I have no money! I can’t afford to hire a Fu Master!” 12th said with the utmost seriousness.
Only until now did Luo Zhan realise what 12th was trying to do, he’s using the Fu Bear hide as bait.
Zhu Da Chang also knew what 12th wanted, he desperately needs the Fu Bear hide to improve his skills, especially a complete piece, as it contained ma.s.sive amounts of natural Fu patterns, among which there must be ones that he hasn’t seen before. This type of exposure was the best way to improve his Fu Armour creating abilities, so he couldn’t pa.s.s this up no matter what, even if he knew it was a trap, he would still run into it head first.
“Then…… I won’t ask for pay, I’ll do it for free!”
12th put on a look of surprise and said, “No way, for free?! Something like that…… It’s gotta be too good to be true! You’re messing with me, right? Lying to children is bad!”
Zhu Da Chang almost wanted to swear an oath right there, he said, “It’s true! If you don’t believe me than ask the shopkeeper, the Zhu clan’s businesses is very reputable!”
12th couldn’t create Fu Armour, but he was a FuZhou Warrior, meaning he knew that creating Soft Fu Armour required ma.s.sive amounts of materials, which would be very expensive, so he said, “Hmm, I don’t believe something this good could happen, if you finish making the Soft Fu Armour and then ask us to pay for it, then I’ll be stuck. If that happens you’ll ask for the Fu Bear hide as payment, then I won’t have anybody to blame but myself.”
Zhu Da Chang was getting light-headed from his frustration as he said, “Fine, not only will I do it for free, I’ll also personally pay for all of the expenses, how about that?”
12th said, “But…… I might have to leave in three days time, so if I give it to you…… how will I get it back?”
Luo Zhan sighed to himself silently, that kid was too devious, not only does he want it free of charge he also wants it to be done quickly. He watched Zhu Da Chang curiously, however he looked at it the guy was like a pig, why on earth would he agree to something so unfavourable? He couldn’t for the life of him understand the greed some Fu Masters have for such remarkable materials.
12th stared at Zhu Da Chang with an expression that seemed to say: ‘If you don’t agree I’m leaving’.
Zhu Da Chang had already been deeply enthralled by the prospect of using the Fu Bear hide to make Soft Fu Armour, so he said, “The time constraint is too tight, hmm, well I have all the materials needed, except I’m missing one thing…… I’ll need you to get it for me.”
12th asked, “What material?”
Zhu Da Chang said, “The blood of the Fu Bear you got this hide from, without it…… I have no way to work with this.” He thought carefully for a moment and said, “I wouldn’t have time to do it by myself, hmm, however it’s not a big problem for I can find a few other Fu Warriors to help, they would be glad to.”
12th asked, “This sheet of Fu Bear hide, how many pieces of Soft Fu Armour can be made from it?”
Zhu Da Chang excitedly said, “That depends on what type of Soft Fu Armour you want—there’s the simple ones, and then there’s the full package.”
12th happily ran through a list, his Master would definitely want one, Grandpa Nan Shan too, as well as the people closest to him like his four companions, Uncle Luo Zhan etc.. After hearing this list Zhu Da Chang’s face paled. He opened his mouth but didn’t know what to say, and after a moment he finally answered, “Brother Guo, although this piece of Fu Bear hide is big, I don’t think it’s big enough for that many pieces of Soft Fu Armour.”
“What, it’s not enough? Then how about making some more chest plates and arm plates, that should be enough, right?”
Zhu Da Chang exhaled deeply, if he were to do it according to 12th’s numbers, then it would be definitely impossible.
12th said, “Uncle Xiao Feng, in a while can you send someone to Mister Zhu’s place, haha, we’ll head on back.” He turned to Zhu Da Chang and said, “Oh yeah, Mister Zhu, where do you live? I’ll send someone over in a while.” He didn’t hand over the Fu Bear hide immediately, instead, he planned to return and then send someone over with it.
Zhu Da Chang was already very satisfied, so he continually gave his grat.i.tude.
Luo Zhan stood to the side, shaking his head, unable to figure this out at all. The poor guy had to pay for everything himself as well as do the job for free, but he was thanking 12th? This world made no sense.
Zhu Da Chang followed behind 12th with an air of reluctance about leaving. He said, “Brother Guo, I’ll come with you and go back to your lodging, haha, you can send someone to follow me back……”
Luo Zhan was speechless, he sighed continuously in his mind, the audacity of this Fu Master was unbelievable. He’d seen plenty of arrogant Fu Masters in the Northern Fu Sect, but if you had to offend someone best not offend a Fu Master, since they are the ones that create Fu.
Zhu Da Chang brought four underlings who sheepishly followed 12th, face full of smiles. Seeing this Luo Zhan and the others were gobsmacked, it looked like 12th used some kind of secret technique, making a Fu Master follow as though he were brain-dead.
Once the Zhen Pi Fang’s shopkeeper saw them off, he finally relaxed. That kid felt like misery to him, so the sooner it left the better.
Qin Zi Lu asked, “So, young master, where else do you want to go?”
12th stared at Zhu Da Chang, knowing he shouldn’t push his luck too far, and it was best not to be too unreasonable. Since Zhu Da Chang placed his self-respect so low, if he exploited it too much, it would be a bit too mean. He smiled and said, “We’ll go home first, sort out this thing with Mister Zhu.”
Zhu Da Chang said gratefully, “Brother Guo, thank you! Haha!”
Luo Zhan couldn’t bear to watch any longer so he turned away and walked, afraid that he wouldn’t be able to resist hitting Zhu Da Chang. As a Fu Master he lacked so much backbone it was shameful.
In the Mysterious Land, Xiao Feng already respected 12th a lot, but this is the first time that he had witnessed 12th truly mess with someone, unlike Luo Zhan who was angry at the Fu Master’s lack of backbone, he instead respected 12th even more.
The whole group followed the street back to the Qin clan.
At a street corner 12th suddenly laughed and said, “Uncle Luo, a fight’s incoming!”
Luo Zhan raised his head and couldn’t help but smile. Wu Shen Xi clenched his teeth while standing at the street corner. He had about a dozen people, four Beast Masters and a Beast Zhou Master, the rest were all Beast Warriors. This guy seemed to want revenge, however everyone knew that killing was forbidden in Qin Guang, so Wu Shen Xi’s intention was very clear—he wanted revenge against 12th.
The conflict between the Southern and Northern Fu Sects had never stopped; a lot of them were sabotages outside of the city, but even more were like the situation here—brawling. Losing meant insults and humiliation, meaning that even though n.o.body was killed, it was not much better.
Wu Shen Xi hid behind two Beast Masters, furiously saying, “It’s him! It’s that kid there!” He was afraid to move forward, so he hid behind them and whined.
Luo ZHan and the others felt a wave of hatred. How could a man in his mid-thirties be this wicked? Is this how shameful the Southern Fu Sect is?
Zhu Da Chan asked, “Well, if isn’t it the Southern Fu Sect’s Wu Shen Xi? What do you want?”
12th said, “What else? He’s obviously trying to bully a little kid like me with that group of Beast Masters!” He shouted loudly, “Mister Wu! You sure are fast……”
Wu Shen Xi yelled with hatred, “Of course I’m fast! Let’s see what you do this time! Haha!”
12th shook his head, calling out, “Mister Wu, I’m not saying you arrived fast! What I’m saying is…… that you sure change trousers fast!”
Wu Shen Xi stuttered, “You…… You….. You little……”
Luo Zhan, Xiao Feng and the others all laughed hysterically; 12th’s insults didn’t contain a single curse word. Wu Shen Xi was almost crazy with rage, “I’m gonna kill you!” he shrieked.
12th coldly said, “Who are you gonna kill? Who can you kill?”
The Beast Zhou Master stepped forward, saying, “I’m the Southern Fu Sect’s Beast Zhou Master. Kid, you’re from the Inner Sect of the Northern Fu Sect, who’s your master?”
“Who are you to him?” 12th asked as he pointed at Wu Shen Xi.
The Beast Zhou Master proudly said, “He is my son!”
Luo Zhan stepped forward saying, “You Southern Fu Sect people are such cowards, your son got hit so here comes with his old man, so f.u.c.king disappointing!”
Zhu Da Chang jumped out of his skin, for a brawl between Sects wasn’t something a Fu Master like him could partic.i.p.ate in. He hurriedly stepped back, watching nervously.
12th coldly said, “You don’t deserve to know who my master is, and if you’ve got a problem then just come at me!”
That line was more savage than slapping someone. Wu Shen Xi called, “Dad! Look at that arrogance! Dad, avenge me, please……”
The Beast Zhou Master’s face contorted with rage, he wasn’t angry at 12th, but was actually infuriated with his son. His son was a f.u.c.king moron, but he wasn’t.
Luo Zhan couldn’t help but shake his head, he said, “Man, that son of yours…… Just smack him and leave it at that! It’ll save you from coming out here and humiliating yourselves!”
12th laughed with hysteria.