The white, stationary ocean of condensed clouds seemed like a bone-chilling, desolate ruins.
On the road, scattered groups of hurriedly moving people could be seen- each individual minding his/her own business. He Yiming was precisely among these people.
However, even if He Yiming were to run into one of his acquaintances, he wouldn’t dare recognize the latter.
Fourteen years old, He Yiming’s body was quite nicely developed due to training in martial arts from a small age. However, his figure was not one of those bulky types. Therefore, compared to an average grown man, he seemed somewhat pet.i.te.
However, under the a.s.sistance of Bone Transformation technique, his body had been forcibly lengthened.
Apart from this, he’d even disguised his face. He seemed like a down-in-life, thirty-year-old man. As long as he didn’t talk, even if he were to sit right before He Quanming and Lin Wenyu, neither of them would suspect anything.
However, He Yiming himself was aware that his experience was limited, and thus, he would not be able to perfectly imitate a middle-aged man. However, this was merely a try on his part. With time, he would naturally be able to garner enough experience. Moreover, here, n.o.body would pay particular attention to him.
He raised his head. As the stagnant, endless stream of white clouds entered his eyes, he slowed his footsteps somewhat. Since his objective was exceedingly secretive, he opted not to ride a horse and rely on his own feet.
With his strength, he would naturally not feel any exhaustion. However, walking by himself, he couldn’t help but feel a little solitude.
After all, this was but his first time leaving the home by himself.
His both ears faintly shook as soft sounds of horse’s hooves clicked his eardrums. He faintly trembled inwardly. This road was extremely reputed in Tai Cang county- the only road leading to Xu castle.
‘Daring enough to travel on hurriedly galloping horses, this individual must have some relation with Xu family,’
He shifted his body to the side slightly and continued to walk slowly. When the sounds began to become louder and approach nearer, he astoundedly turned his head.
As his vision landed on the rider, he involuntarily started for a moment. The rider was actually Xu Yucai whom he’d already beaten before.
He Yiming threw a quick glance at him. The face of this ill.u.s.trious member of Xu family’s third generation carried an anxious expression as if something was keeping his mind. The horse rushed past He Yiming, and the rider didn’t even glance at him.
He Yiming felt strange. He pondered for a bit then increased his speed as he hurried ahead.
By the evening, he’d already arrived in the small town next to the Xu castle.
Xu castle was surrounded by mountains on two sides. After a hard work worth of centuries, the ancestors of Xu family eventually succeeded in constructing this hard-to-attack-easy-to-defend, gigantic castle that occupied an area of hundred of mu’s.
Apart from the descendants of Xu family, many external spongers that Xu family had managed to attract and a lot of servants resided inside this castle. Over the years, as the number of residents in the castle increased, a town that entirely relied on the castle to survive developed outside the Xu castle.
The number of people living in this town didn’t amount to much- just a few hundred- however, each and every of them had some sort of relationship with Xu family.
After arriving in this town, He Yiming easily located the only inn of this town.
The scale of this inn was not small at all. For such a small town, this inn was actually quite big. However, the visitors of this inn were not the residents of the town, but the visitors of Xu family.
As He Yiming entered the inn, he immediately felt the at least three gazes lingering on his body for a short period of time.
Perhaps since the men that shared his appearance were too much around here, these gazes soon completely disappeared.
He Yiming thought, ‘Father and others were indeed right. This inn indeed has Xu family members behind it. Every visitor of this inn has to go through their inspection,’
A waiter smilingly approached him. He Yiming thought for a moment before asking for an independent room and food.
This waiter evidently looked startled before resuming his smiling expression. However, at this moment, to He Yiming’s surprise, the inspecting gazes had once again returned.
Being clever, he immediately discovered the cause.
He resembled a man who seemed in dire straits. Why would such a man ask for an independent room?
He bitterly smiled. Actually, he had no need to enter this inn at all. He didn’t even have to enter this town.
However, since he had already entered, abruptly leaving would instead attract more suspicion.
He moderated his state of mind and followed the waiter to the independent room. After a few moments, the waiter brought back some simple food items and drinks.
When the waiter was just about to leave, He Yiming called him and said, “Xu castle his right ahead, right?”
That waiter bowed and answered with a smiling face, “That’s correct, uncle. A few li’s ahead stands our Tai Cang county’s reputed Xu castle.”
He Yiming touched his chin where a full beard grew- sufficient to make him look well over thirty. On the other hand, this waiter seemed only about sixteen-seventeen years old at most. Thus, calling He Yiming uncle was not excessive from his side.
“Waiter, I heard that Xu family is one of the three influential families of this county. I wonder what is their criterion for hiring spongers?” He Yiming casually asked.
Before coming here, He Yiming had already formed a plan. If n.o.body suspected him, that would naturally be for the best. However, if somebody did suspect him, he would temporarily rely on the ident.i.ty of a Xu family’s sponger.
In any case, he had to leave within a month. If he couldn’t succeed in this period, he would have to give up. After he left, whether Xu family tried to find this man or not, he would have nothing do with it.
The smile on the waiter’s face remained unaltered, but his expression turned increasingly respectful as he said, “Uncle, Xu family is indeed our Tai Cang county’s one of the three influential families. Their requirements for hiring a sponger is not high at all. It is said that as long as one’s Internal Energy is at the third layer, one could easily become Xu family’s sponger. If Internal Energy is at the fifth layer, one will have the qualifications to enter the inner-castle and learn Xu family’s battle skills.”
His tone was quite fast. Evidently, he didn’t know how much he should have said.
He Yiming nodded his head with satisfaction and tossed a copper coin. The smile on the waiter’s face immediately lengthened before he profusely thanked, bowed, and left.
After leaving the room, the smile on waiter’s face immediately vanished. He walked down and entered the inner room of inn.
Inside the room, an old man in his fifties was smoking a pipe. As he saw the waiter entering, he casually asked, “How is it?”
“I have already probed him. That man ought to be a cultivator from outside the county, hoping to become a sponger of the castle,” The waiter respectfully said. This moment, he gave off a dignified aura. He was poles apart from the waiter just now who had been grinning from ear to ear in flattery.
“Humph, becoming our Xu family’s sponger is not so easy,” The old man puffed out a ring of smoke and changed the topic, “Did you make out that man’s cultivation?”
The waiter respectfully said, “According to what this disciple saw, that man’s Internal Energy lies somewhere in between third to fifth layer. It’s more than enough to become castle’s sponger.”
The old man nodded with satisfaction and said, “You are correct. My evaluation is also as such. I reckon he will go to the castle tomorrow. You go to the castle and pa.s.s a message. If this man truly has some abilities, ask him to clarify his ident.i.ty.”
“Yes.”
The old man took in a big puff before suddenly asking, “How long it has been since you came here?”
“It has already been one year since disciple came here.”
“En. One year is not short, and your eye has also been trained. When the next shift comes, you can return to the castle.”
“Yes. Many thanks to the seventh uncle,” The waiter raised his head in surprise before profusely expressing his thanks.
The old man casually tapped his pipe before saying, “Since you are a non-familial disciple, upon your return, you must properly cultivate. If you can attain the sixth layer before the age of thirty, you will naturally be accepted into the clan as an elite. However, even if you fail, there are a lot of clan’s businesses that are always in need of some young blood. In any case, as long as you don’t betray the clan, the clan will certainly treat you good.”
The waiter’s face became increasingly deferential. His face even blushed a little due to his aroused state.
The old man faintly waved his hand, and the waiter withdrew.
At a distance of ten Zhang away from them, He Yiming slowly opened his closed eyes. His brows creased a little as he tried to guess the ident.i.ties of these two men.
If that old man and the waiter knew that a peak level, tenth-layer cultivator was staying in the inn for the night, they wouldn’t have dared to talk in such a carefree manner. However, they simply couldn’t imagine that a man who seemed in dire straits yet carried a faint aura of an expert&h.e.l.lip;. was actually a peak level expert.
However, even though He Yiming had heard their conversation, Xu family was unlike He family. This was but a clan that carried a legacy of centuries. The complexity of its internal affairs was not something He Yiming could thoroughly understand.
For example, this seventh uncle who was overseeing this inn- He Yiming had never heard of him before. However, the former’s Internal Energy was actually at the eight layer, which would make him a top level expert in the county.
Although in terms of strength, Xu family and Cheng family were indeed inferior to He family, the depth of influential families possessing a legacy of centuries was no small matter. To say the least, as far as the number of eighth layer cultivators was concerned, He family was no match for these two families.
He Yiming inwardly sighed thinking that perhaps only after a hundred years, He family would truly become an influential family of Tai Cang county from every aspect.
A thought suddenly emerged in his mind. He could discern the cultivation of that old man- this&h.e.l.lip;.. seemed like an utterly inconceivable matter.
He bitterly smiled inwardly. He didn’t know how many secrets still lay hidden inside his body, and how many of them would be good for him.
He turned his head and saw that the color of the sky had turned dark. He extinguished the flame and went to bed.