“You rascals, wait outside. Feel free to walk and play around, I would like to see if anyone in the Four Quarters Emba.s.sy dare to stop you all. I’ll leave a huge hole in anyone who dares to trample on my pride today!”
The old fellow spoke arrogantly.
“I’ll fetch you all back after I meet that decrepit geezer!”
“Yes, grandfather. We’re still waiting for you to show them your might!”
The Xu Clan offsprings fawned shamelessly on their grandfather with a bright smile.
“b.a.s.t.a.r.d!”
From afar, Cousin w.a.n.g Li, w.a.n.g Zhu Yan, and w.a.n.g Liang stepped forward and glared furiously at the Xu Clan members.
These fellows were annual visitors to grandfather’s birthday banquet, and under the name of offering blessings, they came to wreck havoc.
No one could understand why grandfather would allow these unwelcomed fellows in each year.
“Heh, how can the w.a.n.g Clan treat their guests like that? Does the w.a.n.g Clan not educate its offsprings on the proper way of welcoming one’s guests?”
The offsprings of the old fellow lifted their head arrogantly.
“Hehe, little lad, if the one who said those words was your grandfather, I might still reconsider the matter on his account. You all are just brats, I advise you all to scram to the side obediently.”
Abusing his seniority, the old fellow chirped in.
“Old turtle, is this all you can do? To think that despite your age, all you can do is to bully the young folks like us!”
w.a.n.g Chong couldn’t hold himself back anymore.
Shua!
In an instant, everyone’s gazes immediately fell onto w.a.n.g Chong. Upon hearing the nickname ‘old turtle’, the old fellow’s face turned crimson as if he was injected with chicken blood.
The faces of the Xu Clan offsprings also darkened as they glared savagely at w.a.n.g Chong.
w.a.n.g Chong didn’t bother avoiding them either. Walking out from the fake hill, he slowly walked over to Old Geezer Xu.
Every family had guests whom they don’t welcome.
Old Geezer Xu was one of them.
w.a.n.g Chong couldn’t stand his arrogance.
“Hehe, back then, during the political change in the royal court, you hid in your own turtle sh.e.l.l, not daring to move at all. Only when everything was nearly settled did you send an army of troops over, earning yourself the t.i.tle of Duke of Xu. Old geezer, if you aren’t a turtle, who else is?”
Walking over, w.a.n.g Chong didn’t mince his words at all. The nickname of ‘old turtle’ that he gave him in his previous life didn’t come from nowhere. In w.a.n.g Chong’s opinion, it wasn’t luck at all. The other party was just a coward, and the only reason why he managed to become the Duke of Xu was because he saw that the situation was settling down, and he made use of the opportunity to step out and earn himself merit.
“You stinky brat!”
Turning to look at w.a.n.g Chong, Old Geezer Xu’s body trembled, and his face became as red as a pig’s liver. Back then, during the political change, Xu Shao arrived late, and numerous people made use of this fact to attack him. It was his greatest sore spot.
He didn’t expect that w.a.n.g Chong would flip it out today.
“… You, come here! I promise that I won’t throw you over the wall!”
w.a.n.g Chong was no fool. Seeing Old Geezer Xu’s eyes turn red, he immediately retreated.
“Duke of Xu, since you’ve arrived, you should enter!”
At this moment, a calm voice echoed in everyone’s ears.
“Heh, little b.a.s.t.a.r.d, I’ll let you off for now on your grandfather’s account!”
Hearing the voice, Old Geezer Xu’s anger dissipated, and he roared in laughter. Flinging his sleeves, he tilted his head upward. With an arrogant expression saying ‘I won’t waste my time quarreling with a little brat like you’, he walked into the hall.
Behind him, the offsprings of Old Geezer Xu also copied his haughty att.i.tude.
“That old turtle and little turtles truly share the same blood!”
w.a.n.g Chong criticized them in his mind.
The old fellow was of the same generation as the old master, and his qualifications made it impossible for w.a.n.g Chong to do anything about him. All he could do was to grab onto his sore spot and infuriate him.
“Little brat, the name you came up with is quite good. Judging from how distressed the old geezer looks, he seems to be exceptionally sensitive to it.”
w.a.n.g Zhu Yan walked over from the distance, and a smile slowly crept onto her face.
Old Geezer Xu was the typical uninvited guest that one would meet at a party, and it wasn’t the first time he had come over to cause trouble. He had already been visiting since w.a.n.g Zhu Yan was a child.
However, this was her first time seeing him getting so agitated to the point that his eyes turned red.
“The next time he dares to act impertinently here, we’ll call him old turtle together! Let’s see what he’ll do about that!”
Saying those words, w.a.n.g Zhu Yan couldn’t help but chuckle.
w.a.n.g Chong also laughed as well.
Honestly speaking, even though Old Geezer Xu’s behavior was unseemly for an elder, playing off his seniority and wreaking havoc at grandfather’s birthday banquet every year, he didn’t do anything much other than that.
w.a.n.g Chong’s impression of him wasn’t too bad. Just getting back at him by insulting him as an ‘old turtle’ was enough for him.
“Hmph!”
Just as w.a.n.g Chong was speaking with w.a.n.g Zhu Yan, no one noticed that the eldest granddaughter of the Ye Clan, Ye Yinping, was also looking at them. Harrumphing lightly, it was hard to tell what she was thinking of, but she suddenly approached the offsprings of Duke of Xu.
“w.a.n.g Chong!”
Suddenly, a loud bellow sounded. Instantly, everyone’s attention was captured by the voice. Turning around, w.a.n.g Chong saw a young and haughty figure stepping forth from the crowd.
“… Do you have the guts to battle with me?”
From afar, the person pointed a finger at w.a.n.g Chong and spoke with an overbearing tone.
For a brief instant, the entire Erudite Pavilion fell silent. This sudden shout has attracted the attention of all in the area.
Be it the Imperial Army guards, Cousin w.a.n.g Li and w.a.n.g Liang, big aunt, uncle, Duke of Hu, Elder Ma, Elder Zhao, Elder Sun, and their offsprings… Everyone turned to look at the commotion.
Even more so, the eyes of those offsprings, who greeted w.a.n.g Chong under the orders of their grandfathers, gleamed in antic.i.p.ation to what that was about to happen.
w.a.n.g Chong was the first person who won the acknowledgement of their grandfather, but honestly speaking, they still didn’t know much about him.
“Xu Xuan!”
Narrowing his eyes, w.a.n.g Chong immediately recognized the other party. He was the most talented offspring of the younger generation of the Xu Clan, Xu Xuan.
However, it wasn’t because of this that w.a.n.g Chong knew of him. It was because even though he was the same age as him, his reputation in the capital was much more resounding than his.
Other people has given him the nickname of ‘Capable Xu’ in recognition of his superiority compared to those of the same generation, as though a swan standing amidst a group of chicken.
w.a.n.g Chong knew that even though he was only sixteen-year-old, his cultivation has already reached Origin Energy Tier 7. He was much stronger than Wei Hao, Gao Fei, and the others.
Even Su Bai, whom w.a.n.g Chong sent to jail, was unable to match up to him.
Other than w.a.n.g Chong’s big brother, elder cousin, Yao Feng, and those of their generation, there was nearly no one in the capital who could defeat him.
Due to his outstanding abilities, there were signs of him becoming a leader of the scions in the capital.
However, what that baffled w.a.n.g Chong was Xu Xuan, who had always looked down on those of the same generation as him, stepping forward to challenge him.
“Hmph! w.a.n.g Chong, it can’t be that you’re afraid? Are you still a man? With this, you expect us to bow down to you and call you Young Master Chong?”
The icy and disdainful voice of a young lady sounded. In an instant, everyone’s eyes were fixated on w.a.n.g Chong.
w.a.n.g Chong quickly glanced in the direction of the voice, and he saw the fair-skinned and proud Ye Yinping.
“So it’s her!”
w.a.n.g Chong chuckled. He was still wondering why Xu Xuan would suddenly turn his attention to him. From the looks of it, it seemed that Ye Yinping was behind it. Rumor has it that the Xu Clan martial arts genius, Xu Xuan, has been courting Ye Yinping, but he was heartlessly rejected every time.
Ye Yinping probably promised Xu Xuan something for the other party to provoke and humiliate him.
“Yinping, don’t worry. I will definitely humiliate this lad to the point that he dies of shame to vent your frustration!”
Turning around, Xu Xuan whispered gently to Ye Yinping. At the same time, he subconsciously reached out for Ye Yinping’s slender hands.
“Scram!”
Disgusted, Ye Yinping struck away Xu Xuan’s hands without any hesitation.
Rejected in public, Xu Xuan was embarra.s.sed. With his hands stuck awkwardly in midair, Xu Xuan could only direct all of his anger toward w.a.n.g Chong.
“w.a.n.g Chong! Do you dare to accept my challenge? To think that despite being a clan of generals, the w.a.n.g Clan doesn’t even have a single man——”
“Fine! I’ll compete with you!”
Before Xu Xuan could finish his words, w.a.n.g Chong interrupted and replied decisively.
Xu Xuan was both strong and an experienced fighter. There were no scions of the same age in the capital who could defeat him.
w.a.n.g Chong had been training hard recently, and it just happened that he wanted to spar with someone see the results of his hard work.
Xu Xuan’s cultivation might be a level higher than his, but w.a.n.g Chong wasn’t worried at all. Furthermore…
Scanning the surroundings, w.a.n.g Chong saw Duke of Hu, Elder Ma, Elder Zhao, Elder Sun… All of grandfather’s old subordinates and their offsprings were standing among the crowd, looking at him expectantly.
Even though they were forced to acknowledge him as ‘Young Master Chong’, they still didn’t know much about him. If he were to back down now, how would these people view him?
——Ye Yinping’s purpose of fanning Xu Xuan to deal with him was for this very purpose.
He couldn’t back down now!
“Hehe, fine!”
Xu Xuan didn’t expect w.a.n.g Chong to accept his challenge, and it took him awhile before he recovered from his daze. With menacing eyes, he spoke:
“w.a.n.g Chong, you have agreed to this duel yourself. In a duel, there’s no such thing as holding back, so don’t blame me if you get hurt!”
Even if it wasn’t for Ye Yinping, just the fact that w.a.n.g Chong has insulted his grandfather as an ‘old turtle’ was sufficient a reason for Xu Xuan to teach him a lesson. What else could be more satisfying for his grandfather than to step on the grandson of that old geezer in the Four Quarters Emba.s.sy on his seventieth birthday?
Peng!
With a step, dust flew into the air. A powerful aura immediately billowed from Xu Xuan’s body. With a darkened complexion, he walked intimidatingly toward w.a.n.g Chong.
“Wait a moment!”
w.a.n.g Chong suddenly called.
“Why? You wish to back down?”
Xu Xuan taunted.
“Heh, if you want me to fight with you, you should at least put something on the line!”
w.a.n.g Chong spoke. Just a moment ago, a fantastic idea appeared in his mind. This Ye Yinping might have actually done him a huge favor instead.
“What do you want?”
Stopping in his tracks, Xu Xuan frowned. He had crossed blows with numerous people in the capital, but there was never any wager involved.
“Hmph, doesn’t your Xu Clan have the Bone Forging Pill? You wish to challenge me? I welcome you! However, you have to take out a Bone Forging Pill! I refuse to conduct any unprofitable business!”
Shaking a finger in the air, w.a.n.g Chong said.
Weng!
Upon hearing the three words ‘Bone Forging Pill’, the faces of w.a.n.g Zhu Yan, Ye Yinping, Cousin w.a.n.g Li, Xu Xuan, and the other offsprings of the Xu Clan immediately changed.
Injected chicken blood (It’s a direct translation but in this case, it’s a double pun)
Normally, it’s used to describe those who are extremely excited/ thrilled/ agitated. For example, if Jack is excited, perhaps Jill could ask “Did someone inject chicken blood into you?”
Just in case anyone misunderstands, the author mentioned a physiognomist named Xu Shao (who divined Cao Cao’s fate) two chapters ago. It is completely different from the Xu Shao here, and the Physiognomist Xu Shao plays no part in this story.