Book 1 - What Is A Genius - Chapter 20 - Xu Family Fortress

He Yiming heard sounds of disturbance coming from afar. He immediately discerned that this disturbance was produced by a group of people.
A glance at a corpse on the ground, and One could tell that these people had come here following Hubin’s trails.
He Yiming again retreated a few steps and hesitated a bit, before loudly speaking:
“Who is it? State your names.”
The sounds disappeared in a flash. Upon hearing He Yiming’s voice, those people immediately ceased to advance.
A loud and clear voice sounded:
“We are from Xu family, coordinating with the officials to arrest a major criminal. Your majesty is…”
He Yiming’s age was still small and he’d not begun to handle to manage the affairs of He family yet, but he at least knew that Xu family was one of the three influential families in Tai Cang county alongside He family. Xu family also had a tenth level Internal Energy master, and their relations with He family were not harmonious at all.
However, under such circumstances, He Yiming had no desire to look for trouble. He said in a clear voice:
“Have respected members of Xu family been chasing the fugitive Hubin?”
“That’s right.”
“All right. In that case, you might want to return.”
A few faint noises sounded from that direction. He Yiming’s both ears slightly shook. He’d discovered that these sounds were that of bows tightening.
He coldly laughed inwardly. The might of crossbows was indeed formidable. Despite having attained the seventh layer, he didn’t dare take an arrow head-on with his bare body. Though from the perspectives of cultivators who’d attained the sixth layer, only a sneak attack or a large-scale attack would be truly effective.
If they alerted He Yiming, while they themselves only shot ten or so arrows at a time, it would basically pose no threat to He Yiming.
After quite a while, the voice once again sounded. But, this time, it carried a faint killing intent:
“Who is your majesty? …an accomplice of Hubin?”
He Yiming rolled his eyes and said:
“You are his accomplice.”
“Since your majesty is not Hubin’s accomplice, why would you shield him?”
He Yiming was about to speak when he suddenly heard faint sounds coming from the sides. He immediately understood that while this man was conversing with him, he’d already assigned his companions to surround him from both sides.
He Yiming’s heart sank and brows slightly creased. Being so decisive, this individual was definitely not a kind person. If his Internal Energy had not attained the realm of the seventh layer, he actually might have failed to catch onto these sounds.
Of course, this was related to his lack of experience. If it had been Hubin, he definitely would not have missed these faint noises despite only being at the fifth layer.
He Yiming coldly snorted and said:
“Everyone, no need to conceal yourself. Just come out without tricks, Hubin is dead already.”
The sounds from all the three sides died. Being discovered, they would naturally not try to pretend anymore. Furthermore, upon hearing the news of Hubin’s death, they obviously wanted to come out and have a look.
After a short while, more than ten people stepped out from the three directions. Apart from the three people wearing the attire of the lower-officials, all the rest were dressed in the same type of robe which was the official clothing of the Xu Family Fortress.
The individual in the lead was a tall man. He didn’t have any beard, just a short mustache on his mouth. He seemed to be in high spirits, and his eyes seemed resonant in such a way that it caused people not being able to intently look at him. Clearly, he was a cultivator who’d high accomplishments in Internal Energy.
He Yiming’s swept his gaze through everybody at a lightning fast speed. He immediately discerned that except for the man, all the rest were somewhere around the third layer and were hardly any different than the elite servants of the He Family Manor. However, the man in the lead was rather different. He Yiming was unable to discern his true strength, but he’d a feeling that the man’s strength would be much above him and would be hardly any different than his father and the rest.
After stepping out, the man’s gaze first swept through He Yiming’s face. He immediately revealed a faintly surprised expression. Subsequently, as he saw the Hubin’s body on the ground, his brows slightly creased.
He waved his hand. The three lower-officials immediately came forward, took out a picture, and compared it to the body on the ground.
Despite Hubin’s eyeball being destroyed, his facial features were not affected at all. After a brief moment, the three lower-officials simultaneously shouted in excited voices:
“It’s Hubin. Senior Xu-second, it’s really him.”
He Yiming instantly guessed the man’s identity. He ought to be the ranked second in Xu family’s second generation, named Xu Xiangci.
He Yiming had heard some things about Xu family. They also had a lord father comparable to He Wude. With the two tenth level masters, both the sides maintained an equilibrium in terms of their martial strength’s peak.
Xu family’s second generaton had four members, though none of these had attained the ninth level. All of them were strong individuals at the eighth level. In Tai Cang county, a small region, such strength couldn’t be belittled.
As expected, the man’s vision was once again fixed on He Yiming, and his eyes seemed slightly suspicious.
With his experience, he could discern that this youngster’s age was not much. It didn’t seem possible for him to be above fifteen, but still, he could kill Hubin. The man naturally found such a thing inconceivable.
Despite being just a fifth layer cultivator, the strength Hubin displayed during the chase was far above the bounds of a fifth layer cultivator’s strength. Xu family’s third generation was the first to clash with him. However, two members of the younger generation who had attained the sixth layer were unable to stop him and instead had to flee due to being injured by him.
This was the true reason Xu family’s second generation personally joined the chase. Upon seeing He Yiming’s appearance, the man inevitably found it difficult to convince himself.
He faintly cupped his hands and said in a clear voice:
“My humble self is Xu Xiangci from Xu family. May I ask, younger brother is….”
Although the two families fought among each other, it had not yet attained the point of shredding apart all pretenses of cordiality. Therefore, He Yiming had to be courteous on the surface. He slightly bent his waist and said:
“Small nephew, He Yiming, greets Senior Xu-second.”
“He Yiming? You are from He family…”
“Yes.” He Yiming said in a neither servile nor overbearing voice.
A malicious glint flickered in Xu Xianci’s eyes and he coldly asked:
“Hubin is truly killed by you?”
He Yiming’s brows slightly creased, and he replied with his head high:
“Correct. This man has truly died at small nephew’s hands.”
Xu Xianci’s lips slightly stretched at the corners, and the numerous people behind him turned slightly tensed. Even the three lower-officials knew that in Tai Cang county, Xu family and He family did not get along too well. Although they seemed to be at peace on the surface, be it matters related to territory or business, the friction between them was not trivial.
A senior of Xu family’s second generation had personally led people, but the fugitive had died at the hands of He family’s third generation. This was indeed a loss of face.
After a bit of hesitation, Xu Xiangci suddenly laughed once and said:
“Good, a hero from young age1. Has nephew already attained the realm of Internal Energy’s sixth layer?”
“Barely sixth layer.” He Yiming tactfully said. Even his own family didn’t know his true strength, thus, it was even more impossible for him to tell an outsider.
Xu Xiangci’s face was becoming increasingly harmonious. He said:
“Sixth layer of Internal Energy is indeed pretty good. May I know nephew’s age?”
“Small nephew is thirteen this year.”
Sounds of sharp breath intakes sounded from the surroundings. They looked at He Yiming with peculiar gazes.
A hard-to-conceal peculiar glint flickered in Xu Xiangci’s eyes while his heart began to churn. A faint killing intent flickered in his eyes. However, his reaction was extremely quick. He instantly restrained the killing intent. The killing intent instantly appeared and disappeared. An average person would not have felt it.
However, the individual in front of him, He Yiming, felt it extremely clearly. His heart immediately raced, and he enormously increased his guard against the man in front of him.
His fight with Hubin had allowed him to understand some truths.
Some things are extremely difficult to learn through mere words. However, a life-and-death battle can allow one to mature extremely quickly.
For He Yiming, his battle with Hubin was extremely crucial. It allowed his entire being to have a transformation as if he’d been born anew.
In response to the killing intent revealed by his counterpart, countless thoughts immediately emerged in his mind.
He faintly smiled and said:
“Senior Xu second, since Hubin is already executed, we should leave the mountains and let Cheng family take care of this matter.”
Xu Xiangci faintly nodded and said:
“That’s true. It should be this way.” He turned his body and instructed:
“Take the corpse, we are leaving.”
Following the mountain path, everybody was walking towards the outside. From the beginning, He Yiming had been walking at the end, maintaining a certain distance from Xu Xiangci.
The more they approached the end of mountains, the more Xu Xiangci’s heart surged. Every once in a while, his vision swept through the three lower-officials and the servants of Xu family.
He Yiming looked calm and collected on the surface, but he’d increased his guard and was paying attention to every small movement of his counterpart with his eyes, while his mind was bitterly complaining. If the man decided to risk killing everyone to silence them in order to kill He Yiming, latter would have no chance to escape.
After all, Xu Xiangci was an eighth level Internal Energy expert. Furthermore, his battle experience was abundant and was far above that of He Yiming.
As He Yiming’s thoughts were going rampant, he thought of countless ideas. Though, it seemed none of these held any use for his present situation.
Soon, in about fifteen minutes, they would exit the mountain pass. Xu Xiangci suddenly stopped his footsteps and sucked in a deep breath. His eyes turned resolute as if he’d made a decision.
At the same time, He Yiming’s heart sank. He circulated his Internal Energy and was prepared to strike as if his life depended on it.
However, at this moment, sudden noises could be heard coming from the mountain pass. Both, Xu Xiangci and He Yiming, almost simultaneously an old man’s figure.
Xu Xiangci’s figure trembled and the killing intent in his heart immediately vanished, while He Yiming let out a long sigh. He knew that he was absolutely safe.
英雄出少年 an ancient saying that heroes begin to show their excellence from a young age.