Chapter 422 – There Are Two Old Men
But after a brief exchange with Xiang Tian Xiao, he also had some faint idea of what was happening, so he decided to follow up with Qiu Yi Meng about the situation.
This young lady was not the same as him. She had lived in the Central Capital all year round and was well informed about various matters. It was likely that she had heard some rumors about the Xiang Family’s internal situation, given her Qiu Family’s heritage and methods.
Hearing Yang Kai’s comment, Qiu Yi Meng couldn’t help laughing bitterly, the sharpness of this man’s instincts made even her somewhat distraught.
“Xiang Family’s Xiang Chu, you’ve already met. He’s a direct descendant of the Xiang Family’s official wife and also its current successor. The Second Young Lord is reportedly the son of a concubine, so his status is not as high as his big brother in the family, but this person’s aptitude and natural talent are outstanding. He is the greatest genius the Xiang Family has produced in several decades. You just fought with him, so you should have a fair understanding of his strength, but even just the fact that he has reached the True Element Boundary Ninth Stage at such a young age is quite rare.”
“En.” Yang Kai nodded in agreement. Amongst the younger generation of the Yang Family, there weren’t many who had reached the True Element Boundary Ninth Stages, but that was also due to them practicing outside the family where their resources were limited.
Even so, this Xiang Tian Xiao’s aptitude really wasn’t ordinary.
Among the first-class forces, there were also many geniuses; for example, Wu Cheng Yi from the Nine Star Sword Sect who he had met in that isolated world was also a True Element Boundary Eighth Stage. If he was still alive, he likely would have already broken through to the Immortal Ascension Boundary, but Wu Cheng Yi was also older than Xiang Tian Xiao.
“Xiang Chu prefers to use schemes and plots, his thoughts are quite treacherous, while his brother Xiang Tian Xiao is the exact opposite: an up-front, straightforward personality. Coupled with his excellent aptitude, he is actually quite favoured by many of the Xiang Family Elders,” Qiu Yi Meng smiled meaningfully, “And so, you should understand the issue.”
“About which one should be the heir?” Yang Kai frowned slightly.
“En, out of all the big forces, only your Yang Family chooses its next Patriarch through a direct contest like the Inheritance War. Of the other Central Capital’s Eight Great Families, and most of the world’s first-class forces, the heir is almost always the family’s eldest son.” When Qiu Yi Meng mentioned this, she couldn’t help showing a slight look of frustration, but she quickly composed herself, not even pausing for a moment before continuing, “As long as this eldest son isn’t too bad, his position is generally stable, because the one who inherits the Patriarch position doesn’t need to be the strongest, but instead capable of managing the whole family. A good example is the Lu Family’s Lu Liang who you already met; he is only an Immortal Ascension Boundary Seventh Stage master, so amongst the Lu Family’s Elders there are a number who are stronger than him, but he is still the Patriarch, firstly because of his administrative ability and secondly because he was the eldest son of the Lu Family at the time, the same is true in my Qiu Family...”
“Ahem, but as for the Xiang Family, Xiang Chu is the current heir, but the excellent performance of Xiang Tian Xiao has put some pressure on him, so I heard... en, just heard, that Xiang Chu often plays some tricks on his younger half-brother to deal with him. Xiang Tian Xiao, on the other hand, doesn’t put up any resistance; it would seem he’s not interested in fighting for power.”
As Yang Kai listened to these words, he became more certain about his own assessment, nodding lightly, “With Xiang Chu’s personality, it is indeed possible he would do such things.”
“En, so given this situation, you can understand why Xiang Tian Xiao would appear at your door, right?” Qiu Yi Meng asked with a smile.
“En, I know.” Yang Kai said blankly.
Xiang Chu dreaded his younger brother’s ability, so when Yang Kai blackmailed him, he had sent his younger brother here to help Yang Kai participate in the Inheritance War.
First off, Yang Kai really did need help in the Inheritance War, so there was nothing wrong with sending him some manpower. Such sincerity was also more useful than the Nan Family’s four boxes of materials.
Secondly, if Xiang Tian Xiao was here with Yang Kai, as long Xiang Chu worked with another of the Yang Family Young Lords to defeat him in the Inheritance War, it would be equivalent to proving he had superior skill to his brother, thus stabilizing his position as the Xiang Family’s heir.
For Xiang Chu, this was equivalent to killing two birds with one stone.
Most likely, he also planned to cut down Xiang Tian Xiao’s followers in this Inheritance War., because this group of people were strong supporters of Xiang Tian Xiao in the family.
“Do you think he’ll be useful?” Yang Kai looked over at Qiu Yi Meng.
Yang Kai asking her so casually suddenly made Qiu Yi Meng smile and feel happy, “I think he is useful! But it’ll be up to you to decide whether to use him or not.”
“Let’s have them stand by for now,” Yang Kai said undecidedly. Whether this Second Young Lord sincerely wanted to help him or not, Yang Kai had always been a cautious person. It was impossible for him to trust a complete stranger simply on their word and a few rumors he had heard.
Seeing through people’s hearts took a long time, only a long road would truly test a horses’ strength.
“En,” Knowing he would say this, Qiu Yi Meng simply grinned and said. “However, I got an interesting piece of information from Xiang Tian Xiao that’s not good news for you, do you want to listen?”
“Oh, what news?”
“His big brother and the Nan Family’s Young Lord are also in War City!” Qiu Yi Meng smiled.
Yang Kai didn’t show any surprised at all, his expression still light and carefree, “Who did they choose?”
“Your Second Brother, Yang Zhao!”
“Good eyes!” Yang Kai sneered, “It looks like there’ll be lots of fun tonight.”
Qiu Yi Meng also smiled lightly, no longer showing any of her former tension. Since Yang Kai wanted her to see a good show tonight, she naturally no longer felt the need to worry about him.
“Is there anything else Young Lord Kai requires? If not, then this humble servant will retire first!” Qiu Yi Meng said in a teasing tone.
Yang Kai glanced at her eccentrically and snorted, “Don’t tease me, I can’t afford it.”
Seeing the twitching brow on Yang Kai’s face, Qiu Yi Meng smiled more gleefully than ever before.
“However, there really is something I’d like you to do.” Yang Kai looked straight at her and said.
“Oh? Like what?”
“A thousand meters outside the house, there are two old men on sitting atop a banyan tree, have someone send them two pots of wine.”
Qiu Yi Meng stared blankly for a moment, “Two old men? Who are they?”
“My guess is that they’re from the Huo Family, probably sent here to secretly protect Huo Xing Chen.”
The Qiu Family’s First Young Lady squinted her eyes as she observed Yang Kai, not understanding why he seemed so sure that there were two people there.
Also, since they were here to protect Huo Xing Chen, they would no doubt be the two masters who always accompanied the Central Capital Wolf, but those two were Immortal Ascension Boundary Eighth Stage masters!
With their cultivations, how could Yang Kai possibly have discovered them?
Suddenly feeling confused, Qiu Yi Meng didn’t think Yang Kai was just speculating.
Although Huo Zheng was angered half to death by his delinquent son, Huo Xing Chen was still the Huo Family’s only heir. Him accompanying the ‘doomed’ Yang Kai alone, it was understandable for Huo Zheng to send those two old men to secretly protect him.
Qiu Yi Meng withdrew with a suspicious look upon her face, frowning for a moment before personally fetching two pots of wine and diligently walking out.
A thousand meters outside Yang Kai’s mansion, on the top of a banyan tree.
The dense leaves obscured the figures of the two Huo Family masters. The two of them breathed evenly, converging their auras to the extreme while a faint halo hung over them, further concealing them, the combination of all these techniques, from an outside observers’ perspective, made them both completely fade into thin air.
Even if someone were to be standing directly under the tree, looking up at them, they wouldn’t be able to discover anything, only if one used a powerful Divine Sense to examine the tree would they notice something.
At the moment, the two old men were bored as they sat with their backs against the tree trunk in a meditative state.
Both of their invisible Divine Senses covered the entirety of Yang Kai’s compound, allowing them to perceive every gust of wind and every blade of grass. With such formidable Divine Senses deployed, they would notice any signs of attack in an instant and be able to respond in kind.
So even though they were hidden here, they were not worried that anyone would harm to their Young Master.
The two releasing their Divine Senses so blatantly obviously couldn’t escape the notice of Qu Gao Yi and Ying Jiu, but since there was no malicious intent, the two Blood Warriors simply continued healing themselves, essentially keeping one eye open and one eye closed.
Suddenly, the two old men noticed a set of footsteps coming towards them. At the beginning, the two did not care, there were tens of thousands of people living in War City, so even though the location of Yang Kai’s compound was remote, there would still be the occasional pedestrian passing by.
But as the footsteps got closer and closer, the two masters couldn’t help opening their eyes and glancing at each other slightly strangely.
These footsteps... they seemed to be coming towards the two of them.
Looking down, the two suddenly felt shocked.
What they saw the Qiu Family’s First Young Lady Qiu Yi Meng, actually at the moment acting like a common maidservant, holding a tray in her hand with two pots of old wine atop it, smiling as she elegantly stepped towards their hiding spot.
Waiting until she had reached the base of the tree, Qiu Yi Meng looked up towards the two Huo Family masters.
Seeing this, both old man felt their hearts jump, thinking that the Martial Skill they were using to conceal themselves had somehow failed, but in the blink of an eye dismissing this thought. Their Martial Skill was clearly still functioning, and Qiu Yi Meng’s eyes weren’t directly aimed at them, instead just staring in their general direction.
[She can’t see us.]
“With the weather being so dry, the two Seniors have stayed up in this tree for so long, you’re no doubt thirsty. These two pots of wine are a gift for you to moisten your throats. Please don’t reject.”
(Silavin: I would die if I drink alcohol every time I was thirsty.)
When her sweet voice reached their ears, the two Huo Family masters stared at each other in blank dismay, immediately waving their hands and dispelling their concealment skill.
With a slight ripple of light, the two old men’s figures suddenly presented themselves before Qiu Yi Meng’s eyes.
Having already been exposed, the two were too embarrassed to feign ignorance, not to mention, Qiu Yi Meng’s identity wasn’t ordinary.
Seeing these two appear, Qiu Yi Meng’s expression remained calm, but in her heart she was secretly praising Yang Kai.
The two Huo Family masters jumped down from the tree and stood in front of Qiu Yi Meng, “Greetings Young Lady Qiu, thank you for your hard work.”
As they spoke, the two of them picked up the two pots of wine.
“Please enjoy it slowly,” Qiu Yi Meng smiled and bowed before turning back.
“Young Lady Qiu, a moment please!” One of them shouted.
“Hm?” Qiu Yi Meng turned her head and looked at him curiously.
The man frowned, remaining silent for a moment before finally speaking, “May I ask Young Lady Qiu, how did you know we were here? Did the two Yang Family Blood Warriors inform you?”