Back when he was still in the Tianxuan Kingdom, Sun Qiang had been with the Old Master for quite some time, but he had never heard that the Old Master had another butlerHad he known this earlier, he would not have tired himself out like this. He could simply have ordered this fellow around to get things done!
After all, he was the butler whom the Old Master had entrusted the Young Master to, so it went without saying that his standing had to be higher.
"You want me to listen to your commands?" Hearing those words, Hu Yiwei"s cheeks twitched wildly, and he nearly rushed forward to strangle the other party to death.
Could you be any more shameless?
Even if I have concealed my cultivation, you should be able to tell how powerful I am from Zhan s.h.i.+ and the others" att.i.tude, right?
I am a figure whom others would faint in the face of, and yet, you actually dare to say such words to me. Are you really that brave, or are your eyes that bad?
"Indeed! You are only a subordinate in charge of handling the Old Master"s miscellaneous affairs whereas I am butler whom the Old Master has recognized and entrusted great responsibility to. Shouldn"t it be your honor to listen to my commands?" Sun Qiang nodded matter-of-factly.
After all, it was clear that the other party was a mere subordinate in charge of handling miscellaneous affairs. On the other hand, he was a butler who had been entrusted with a direct disciple!
Given so, was it not obvious which of the two of them was of higher standing?
A subordinate might still require a token for others to validate their ident.i.ty, but as the real butler, it went without saying that he did not need such a thing! With such a thought in mind, Sun Qiang suddenly felt his indignation subsiding significantly, and his pride swelled once more.
"You want me to listen to your commands?"
Luo luo!
Hu Yiwei clenched his teeth tightly together as a hint of killing intent flashed across his eyes. With a flick of his finger, he inconspicuously sent a surge of poison into the plump man"s body as he thought callously, Sure, as long as you can survive this!
After which, he decisively turned his gaze toward the elder, not wanting to waste any more of his breath on a dead man.
"Zhan s.h.i.+, I have accompanied the Young Master here this time. He has already successfully enrolled in the Sanctum of Sages, so my mission is already complete, and there"s no reason for me to stay here anymore. The reason I"m paying a visit right now is to request for you to take good care of him. My master has very high expectations of the Young Master."
But before Zhan s.h.i.+ could respond, a loud voice suddenly interjected. "There"s no need for you to worry. I"ll take care of the Young Master well."
Hu Yiwei"s eyes widened in astonishment upon hearing that voice. He quickly turned his gaze over and saw Sun Qiang waving his hand calmly.
"H-how is this… possible?" Hu Yiwei"s heart jolted in shock.
The poison he had used was so potent that even an expert of Zhan s.h.i.+"s caliber would bleed from his seven apertures once afflicted with it. Considering the dose that he had injected into the plump man"s body, how could he possibly remain completely fine and even speak so energetically? Was this for real?
"What do you mean by that?" Not knowing the peril that he had just been through, Sun Qiang waved his hand derisively and harrumphed. "If not for me taking care of the Young Master along the way, how could he have become a student of the Sanctum of Sages so easily? You needn"t worry about anything; the Young Master is in good hands!"
"…"
Hearing how the plump man was speaking with increasing fervor, completely devoid of the weakened state that a poisoned man should be in, Hu Yiwei narrowed his eyes grimly. Unable to believe what was happening before him, he discreetly flicked his finger a few more times, sending more surges of poison into the other party"s body.
Even though his temperament had calmed down over the years under Yang s.h.i.+"s teachings, the plump man before him had simply gone too far, stomping right across his bottom line. As a Saint 9-dan expert, there was no way he could allow a weakling to humiliate him like that!
Wu wu wu!
In an instant, the few most lethal poisons that Hu Yiwei had with him were injected right into Sun Qiang"s body.
"Enough! Is there any point in you flicking your fingers again and again? Are you hearing what I"m saying, or are you playing deaf with me? As a subordinate, you should know your place! It"s no wonder the Old Master is unwilling to entrust greater responsibilities to you!" Sun Qiang flung his sleeves in disapproval.
He had been speaking nicely to the other party all this while, but that fellow just had to flick things at him again and again, provoking the zhenqi that the Young Master had left within his body to surge all around the place.
Don"t you know about respecting your seniors? Or do you think that I have mellowed out so much over the year that you feel that you can climb over my head?
Otherwise, would you dare to act so brazenly before me?
It seems like you are really mistaking my kindness for weakness.
"You…" Seeing that there was really no sign of the other party being poisoned, Hu Yiwei"s eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets.
The poisons that he had flicked into the plump man"s body earlier were the most potent that he possessed. Even Yang s.h.i.+ had to struggle a bit to deal with them, and yet, the other party was actually completely fine before them. Could it be that the plump man really was not as weak as he seemed? Was he actually a formidable expert in disguise?
Just a while ago, he had met with a lady, whom despite her young age, was able to subdue him with ease!
Furthermore, he had heard that the founder of the Poison Hall had returned recently, and she seemed to be a young la.s.s, too!
All of this taught him to never judge a person by their appearance.
Not to mention, his master"s eye of discernment had always been exceptional. Most likely, there was a deeper reason as to why he chose this crude plump man as his butler. After all, there was no reason for his master to recruit a useless man into his service!
In an instant, the silhouette of the plump man whom he had been looking down at all this while suddenly grew towering.
Zhan s.h.i.+ had noticed Hu Yiwei"s actions, but seeing that Sun Qiang remained completely unharmed, he thought that Hu Yiwei had decided against it in the end. Heaving a sigh of relief on the inside, he hurriedly asked, "I"ll definitely take good care of Yang s.h.i.+"s student… He"s a freshman who cleared this examination just earlier this year, right? May I know his name?"
"Zhang Xuan!"
"Feng Ziyi!"
Sun Qiang and Hu Yiwei spoke simultaneously.
"Zhang Xuan?" Before Zhan s.h.i.+ could respond, Hu Yiwei had already turned to look at Sun Qiang with a deep frown. "My master only has a single student, and his name is Feng Ziyi. Who in the world is the Zhang Xuan you speak of?"
All those who were close with Yang s.h.i.+ would know that he had only officially accepted a single student in his lifetime, and that person was Feng Ziyi. That was the Young Master whom he had been speaking of, and he had been following the other party all this while in order to protect him from the shadows, ensuring that he arrived at the Sanctum of Sages safely. As for that Zhang Xuan… he had never heard of this person before!
It was one thing for him to have never heard of his master taking in another butler, but would it not be truly ridiculous if he remained oblivious to his master taking in another student as well?
"Feng Ziyi and our Young Master are from the same lineage. They have already met one another, and they even had a friendly spar." Sun Qiang waved his hand as he explained with a smile.
"From the looks of it, it seems like he has already become our Young Master"s junior!"
So, that fellow was in charge of taking care of Feng Ziyi. That would explain everything!
He had thought that it was weird when that fellow talked about how he had accompanied the Young Master here. It turned out that the Young Masters they were talking about were referring to different individuals!
Based on what he knew of Zhang Xuan, the latter would surely have Feng Ziyi pummeled till Feng Ziyi willingly addressed him as "senior".
"Junior?" Hu Yiwei froze on the spot.
"We could have been spared from all that trouble if you had just mentioned Feng Ziyi"s name earlier! I wouldn"t have doubted you if that was the case. Since we are all working for the Old Master, we should at least try to get along with one another."
Seeing that Hu Yiwei still had an uncomprehending frown on his forehead, Sun Qiang continued explaining with a smile. "For an expert as powerful as the Old Master, it"s perfectly normal for him to take in a couple of students and butlers outside without informing you. After all, as subordinates, it"s not our place to inquire too much into our master"s affairs."
He knew full well how low profile the Old Master was. For one, despite knowing the Old Master for more than a year now, he would still have been oblivious to how incredible of a figure the Old Master was if not for Zhang Jiuxiao"s explanation a while ago!
"…" Hu Yiwei was stifled into silence.
With how confidently the plump man was speaking, and given that the other party had cleared Zhan s.h.i.+ and the others" verification and even his most potent of poisons could not kill the other party, he suddenly felt deeply uncertain on the inside.
He might have been accompanying Yang s.h.i.+ for the past few years, but in the end, he was just a subordinate. There were still some matters that he was not privy to.
Could it be that his master had really taken in another student and butler behind his back?
His initial intention had just been to request Zhan s.h.i.+ to take care of Feng Ziyi, but in a weird twist of fate, it somehow turned into a reunion event.