267-275

Jiang Xiu hadn't appeared at the Imperial University for a long time, and his dorm mates hadn't seen him for 2 months, so they were quite excited. Especially Zheng Lun, he believed he was the most upright guy in their dorm. But ever since the day the relationship between Jiang Xiu and Cheng Lingran had come to light, and also adding the beef he had with Long Yingqing into the equation, he had become the leader of their dorm room. No, he had actually become the man of the moment in the campus.

They believed that they'd rise to the top by following behind Jiang Xiu, but he actually disappeared for 2 months, resulting in their beautiful dream remain a dream forever.

And now, though he had returned, it was too late. 2 months had passed since the matter happened and the students in the university were pretty forgetful. Old news was often replaced by new news.

Zheng Lun said, "Jiang Xiu, you're really something. You actually went missing for 2 months. Where did you go? Why didn't you bring us brothers along with you?"

Zhou Jin also agreed, "Yeah!"

Jiang Xiu said, "I made a trip to Europe…"

"Brrruuhhhhh!!"

The three of them surrounded him with the intent to make him spill about all he had seen over there, but the cold-natured Jiang Xiu naturally didn't like doing such things. The three brutes were left in disappointment. Zheng Lun asked, "Why didn't you take your diva with you? You weren't afraid of someone harassing her?"

Jiang Xiu's expression turned grim, "The Long family still dares to harass her?"

It looks like I've acted too lenient towards the Long family.

"We don't know. Long Yingqing fell from the diva rankings after that incident, and Cheng Lingran has already become the no.1 diva on campus. How can someone like us know about the circumstances of an existence like her?"

"However, Diva Long came to look for you twice…"

"Long Yingqing?"

Zheng Lun continued, "Rumors were that she'd transferred, that she's leaving the uni to overcome her mental trauma. Jiang Xiu, you need to be careful. The Long family isn't an ordinary family. She must certainly be looking for you to settle the debt."

Jiang Xiu smiled coolly, "She won't dare to do that…"

The four of them chatted for a while after which they attended classes. The classes mainly comprised of cultural subjects which could be just read from the books. The teacher had no interest to teach, and the students even more so didn't have any interest in listening. Though it was close to the end of term now, no one in the university felt very enthusiastic.

Jiang Xiu sent a text to Cheng Lingran - Let's meet at the park!

Cheng Lingran replied - You're back! (Angry Emoji)

Go there right now!

The chilly autumn winds were breezing across the campus. It was already too cold right now. Cheng Lingran wore a full-body black down-filled garment, but her stature looked as tall and slender as before, not giving off an awkward feel at all. She took graceful steps towards the location they were supposed to meet, but when she arrived there, there was no sign of Jiang Xiu. Her pretty face became full of fury.

He hadn't called her even once for the past 2 months. The rage she felt wouldn't calm down unless she taught him a lesson. She didn't sit on the lawn like she usually did as it was too cold today. She stood at the roadside and tapped the ground with her feet to regulate her rage. Suddenly, a shadow fell over her and immediately after that, a necklace hung down from above, the diamonds on it glittering with a bright radiance.

"So pretty!"

Jiang Xiu harbored endless guilt towards this woman. This was the first time he was gifting her something, factoring their previous life into it. She reached out with her slender hand and grabbed the necklace, astonishment filling her eyes. She knew Jiang Xiu must've certainly bought this for her. Warmth filled her heart immediately, dissipating most of the anger she felt, but she still acted as if she was angry.

"You're finally willing to come back, huh?"

Jiang Xiu undid the hook of the necklace. Cheng Lingran understood that he wanted to tie it around her neck, so she drew her pretty hair back to match his actions, revealing her snowy neck. In his previous life, when the two of them had gone out and passed by a shopping mall, Cheng Lingran had stopped in front of a jewelry store which had a necklace worth 699 RMB on display, but she hadn't bought it. Jiang Xiu hadn't realized it back then, but now that he pondered on it, his heart was filled with sadness.

He turned her around. She had a taught face right now, but the happiness in her eyes was plain to see. Her picturesque brows, her celestial nose, and also her cherry mouth below it as well as her fair skin which glistened under the sunshine, the necklace on her neck really suited all of it well, making her look noble and elegant.

Cheng Lingran raised her chin slightly, planning to get angry, but Jiang Xiu was a step ahead of her. He praised her, "Really pretty!"

Cheng Lingran's heart thumped madly as her pretty face blushed up. Stinky brat, you've really learned how to tease. His words made her heart race, and all the curses which were fermenting inside of her vanished due to them. "Next time you make a long trip away from home, remember to call. We were worried about you. Got it?"

Her voice became gentler, bringing warmth to the heart!

Jiang Xiu nodded in affirmation.

"Sis, show your hand to me…"

"What for?" Cheng Linran asked skeptically, but she still extended her tender, slender lily-white hand towards him. However, when she saw Jiang Xiu check her pulse like a traditional doctor, she burst out in laughter. "Checking my condition? How is it?"

A gleam flashed across Jiang Xiu's eyes, but the words he said made the Eldest Lady Cheng explode in anger. "Mhm. This state ought to be that one. Congratulations, Eldest Lady Cheng, you are expecting."

Cheng Lingran's eyes opened as round as a ball, "You bastard!"

She immediately kicked towards him.

How could Jiang Xiu allow her to prevail? He immediately made an about turn and ran for it. Cheng Lingran clenched her teeth hatefully. This lady is as pure as ice and clean as jade. And you dare to slander my purity in such a way? See how I deal with you.

But that guy was akin to a four-limbed beast. No matter how hard she ran, she couldn't catch up to him until she finally ran out of breath. She snarled at him, "Stand still! Don't move!"

Was she instructing a dog?

This was indeed too vicious!

It was a great example of the phrase - Since you're heartless, don't blame me for my disloyalty!

"Stop playing around. I want to speak a proper matter with you. Susu always complains to me that the boys at her university bother her. Since you've returned after 2 months, make a few visits to NU (National University)…"

"Why?" Jiang Xiu asked her.

"You fool, it's naturally to claim your ownership. That's your wife. If you act so unconcerned, Susu will definitely get harassed by someone. There won't be any tears left even if you want to cry then."

Only you are my wife, she's just a stranger who acted like a stranger to me in school. But after recalling the actual circumstances, he felt a bit unhappy. "I won't go!"

Cheng Lingran frowned, "I dare you to say that again. You think I can't catch up to you? I was just acting lenient, that's all."

Jiang Xiu sat down on the park bench.

Cheng Lingran went over and sat beside him, feeling a bit puzzled. "I remember that you and Susu were on good terms during our childhood. You've grown up now and even married, but why do I feel you talk even lesser now?"

"Time can let you understand a person clearly." Jiang Xiu commented.

Cheng Lingran sighed. For a long time, her mother and Susu had tried their best to break off the engagement between him and Susu. Even if they hadn't said it in front of Jiang Xiu, he naturally understood it. She felt that all that had left behind a knot in his heart. In reality, she didn't know that Cheng Lingsu had compelled him to sign an agreement to dissolve the engagement and also didn't know about the numerous experiences Jiang Xiu had gone through in their previous life. Most importantly, she didn't know that the ill-fated relationship between her and Jiang Xiu was pricking into the depths of his soul.

"Anyways, it doesn't matter. I treasure my lil' sister, Susu, very much. You're in for a beating if you don't treat her well. You have to go to NU. She told me there's some event today."

Jiang Xiu was about to say he won't go when an angry fist appeared in front of his face. "Student Cheng Lingran, violence can't solve this issue."

"Power comes out the end of the rifle." Cheng Lingran replied.

A pretty, charming girl donned in clothes of a maple leaf-like color appeared nearby. Her skin was as fair as snow, and her red garments formed a bright contrast with it, emphasizing her charm. She stood at a distance and looked over towards Jiang Xiu's side from there. The surrounding trees with mottled leaves gave a photogenic look to the scene, which seemed to make the entire area look magnificent thanks to her being a campus diva.

She gazed at Jiang Xiu with a complicated look in her eyes. He had made her suffer endless humiliation and made a laughingstock out of her on campus, yet she couldn't feel hate for him right now and even felt a different kind of emotion for him. Over the past two months, she recalled all the little details about the time they had associated with each other and even all the matters which had once caused her to feel angry felt amusing to her now. At the same time, she also had to bear the heavy responsibility of the family on her shoulders.

As Jiang Xiu glanced to the side, he took note of her. Long Yingqing hesitated a bit. She actually didn't want to go disturb him, but since he had already seen her, she decided to go over. Cheng Lingran's expression warped when she saw her. Long Yingqing gazed at Jiang Xiu then said, "I want to…" But she forgot the rest of what she was about to say as her gaze was attracted by the necklace on Cheng Lingran's neck.

Long Yingqing became a little envious. Though the Long family was wealthy, it wouldn't be feasible for them to spend 500 million euros to purchase a piece of jewelry. She believed the number of people who could do such a thing could be counted on one's fingers and Jiang Xiu was one of them. Her sight moved towards him, "I want to talk with you."

2 months had passed since that matter had happened, so it wasn't that fresh anymore. Though it had given rise to a sensation, after all, it couldn't be considered a significant event. Before Jiang Xiu could open his mouth, Cheng Lingran had already walked over to the side. "You both can have a chat."

Jiang Xiu looked at Long Yingqing. He knew what she wanted to talk about. The Long family was a branch of Heaven's Gate and the influence it held in China wasn't small, but since Jiang Xiu had destroyed Heaven's Gate, they had lost their patron and got suppressed from all sides in the country.

Long Yingqing said, "Heaven's Gate is no more, the Long family wishes to ask for your support."

Jiang Xiu looked at her with a fake smile on his face, "I already did a great favor to your Long family by letting them off the hook, and you want me to support them?"

"I know that this request is a little excessive, but my Long family has nowhere to go now."

If it were merely some hostile powers, it wouldn't have been a big deal, but the biggest pressure came from the authorities of China. A significantly large share of the Long family's assets was within China, and the authorities had control over the outflow of capital. The Long family couldn't shift their assets out and were thus stuck in a dilemma with only one thought remaining in their minds - Asking for Jiang Luoxia's help.

Jiang Xiu said, "Your Long family becoming a member of Heaven's Gate itself was akin to abandoning China."

The Chinese authorities rejected Heaven's Gate and China was a forbidden land for Heaven's Gate. Even the demigod of the Long family, Long Zaizong, wasn't allowed to stay in the country and had to live in Europe. Now that Heaven's Gate was destroyed, the Long family had lost their patron, and the authorities won't spare him that easily.

"My Long family knows this matter is quite troublesome and that's why we want your help."

"Why should I help your Long family?"

"The Long family wishes to pay allegiance to you and serve at your command."

Jiang Xiu sneered at her, "Your Long family has indeed made up a good plan. Right now, many families wish to pay allegiance to me, and there are more than a few of them which are more powerful than your Long family."

These words were no exaggeration. Especially those families who dabble in the martial arts world, they were all rushing like ducks towards Jiang Luoxia. If he wished for it, they'd be able to obtain a colossal patron.

Long Yingqing bit her lips, "Don't you feel even a little bit regretful about bullying me? I'm after all a girl. Don't you think your actions were wrong?"

Jiang Xiu felt this girl was a little naïve, but she had an earnest expression on her face as she said this. Perhaps these were the real thoughts in her mind. She continued, "As far as I'm concerned, it was a huge blow to me, but I'm willing to forgive you."

And our Deity Xiu just happens to like naïve people. He already had the intentions to take in the Long family into his ranks. This was because of the actions Long Zaizong's took for his granddaughter. It had enabled him to see a different side other than the usual cold-heartedness of the elite families and also let him see the magnificence of human nature. Just this was enough for Jiang Xiu to give them a chance.

He got up to leave. Long Yingqing nervously stepped forward but heard him say - "Alright, it's a deal. I'll save your Long family in exchange for your forgiveness."

Long Yingqing simply couldn't believe it, that he had really promised to do it for such a preposterous reason. She expressed her heartfelt gratitude, "Thank you!"

The Long family was a remnant branch of Heaven's Gate, and he knew clearly that other branches of Heaven's Gate held a lot of influence. Jiang Xiu wanted the Long family to rope in those powers, comprising those in Korea, Japan, and Europe.

…

After lunch, Jiang Xiu was forced by Cheng Lingran to go visit NU to look for Cheng Lingsu.

When he arrived at the entrance, he recalled the nightmarish afternoon when his mother had forced him to propose marriage to Cheng Lingsu, and today was also an afternoon. He thought - I can be considered a filial son, right?

Jiang Xiu asked a person, "Fellow student, which way is the building for the freshers of Finance Dept.?"

That person replied, "I believe they are at the auditorium for the dress rehearsal."

After offering him words of gratitude, Jiang Xiu went to look for the auditorium. As the term entered into December, the student council became relatively busier. On the one hand, they had to prepare for the end-term examinations, and on the other hand, there were too many holidays. Christmas was arriving soon and the New Year's Day following that. The dress rehearsal was mostly for the New Year's Day evening party.

There were really too many people in the auditorium, roughly around 60-70 of them. They were all busy and discussing in groups of twos or threes. Some of them were arranging things on the stage.

Actually, today was the day the for selecting the program of the Finance Department. Many of them had washed out, and only two programs had made it into the list, finally passing through the qualifying rounds and obtaining the chance to perform on New Year's Day.

Jiang Xiu swept his gaze across the crowd and discovered Cheng Lingsu. She was wearing dancing attire and seemed like it was for modern dance, so he didn't go disturb her. He had come here today to make his name known - Hello everyone, I'm Cheng Lingsu's husband. I've already plucked the flower called Campus Diva Cheng so please restrain your beastly nature and keep away from this plucked flower.

He was here to let them know that Cheng Lingsu was already taken. To make those buzzing bees stay away from her.

Actually, he looked forward to seeing Cheng Lingsu set her sights on someone else. He could boldly and justly divorce her then, but he knew this wasn't feasible. It wasn't that he was confident in his charm but rather that he had absolute faith in Cheng Lingsu's character. A greedy girl like her would never renounce Jiang Luoxia, a person whose financial power kept flourishing. The only way it would be possible was if he returned to becoming a poor brat whose family owns a fruit stall.

"Hey, Kiddo. Get out of the way…"

Jiang Xiu was just getting bored of waiting when a group of hunks came by. It was a group of 4 boys, each of whose height was above 1.8 m, making them taller than Jiang Xiu. One of them had his hands in his jeans pockets, assuming a badass look and appeared to be their leader.

"What do you want?"

"Shut up and just move your ass…"

Jiang Xiu looked beside him and noticed there were many empty seats. He didn't want to invite trouble right now, so he shifted to the side. That cool boy sat down where Jiang Xiu was previously seated, and the other three sat down as well.

"Young Master Ai, it's that one!"

One of the pointed towards a girl on the stage. Her skin was snow white and eyes painted. She had the height of a northern girl yet also had an alluring graceful style of a woman of rustic Jiangnan. Each of her movements drew the gazes of everyone and just looking at her made one feel as if this world was too beautiful. If one could have her, it'd be akin to having the whole world as nothing else would matter.

That boy called Young Master Ai said, "This daddy wants a sexy one, not the kind of elegant beauty… you are… describing…" His words came to a stop as his gaze remained fixed on the girl, unable to move his eyes away from her.

It wasn't anyone else but rather the fresher campus diva of NU, Cheng Lingsu.

The moment this girl had shown up among the campus divas, it had given rise to a huge sensation, resulting in her becoming the woman of the moment as well as causing the boys to chase after her relentlessly.

After pausing for a moment, Young Master Ai said, "She's just ordinary!" but his eyes never moved away from Cheng Lingsu's body.

It was the application of Zhou Xingxing's words - A flower needs leaves to support it.

No harm could be done without anything to compare with.

But the fact was that the esthetics of humans couldn't cheat themselves. He couldn't find a single blemish on Cheng Lingsu. She was absolutely perfect, and even he hadn't realized that he had lost himself to her attraction long ago.

"Brat, are you also from the Finance Dept.?"

"No, I came to watch my wife."

Our Deity Xiu soliloquized internally that life had no meaning anymore when he said these words.

"Your wife, huh? Who is it? Tell me…"

Jiang Xiu pointed at Cheng Lingsu, "Her, Cheng Lingsu!"

"What?!"

The group cried out together.

"Stop boasting, alright? You say Cheng Lingsu is your wife? Brat, have you gone mad from infatuation?" One of the boys made a big fuss out of it. He walked to the side towards another group of students then said, "Tian Bu, this kid says your department's Cheng Lingsu is his wife."

That boy called Tian Bu started laughing as well, "He must be boasting."

"Who are you? I'm afraid Cheng Lingsu doesn't even know your name."

Jiang Xiu said, "Don't believe me if you don't want to!"

This was no matter to kid about. There was another reason the newly ascended campus diva, Cheng Lingsu, had become so popular. It was because she hadn't accepted anyone's confession. Rumors were that she had no boyfriend.

Though she always claimed that she had a boyfriend, no one had seen that boyfriend till now.

Everyone believed she was a pure girl.

"Kiddo, it looks like you were just talking big. You could've just chosen something reasonable to boast about. There was no need to brag about Cheng Lingsu being your wife. If this is true, this daddy will eat this table." He slapped the table with a look of ridicule on his face.

The people on the stage had taken notice of the commotion there. Cheng Lingsu also noticed Jiang Xiu there. Her eyes lit up in astonishment as she called out to him, "Husband!"

"…"

Jiang Xiu was left speechless.

Hah?" The surrounding people stood up in astonishment, their eyes wide open. The new campus diva, Cheng Lingsu, whom they revered as a goddess had actually called this boy 'Husband.' Such a sequence was too shocking.

The guys sitting beside him were utterly stupefied, especially Tian Bu. He had just claimed he'd eat the table if Jiang Xiu was really Cheng Lingsu's boyfriend and he hadn't even returned his hand to the table before his face got smacked so quickly. He made an embarrassed expression yet also felt even more shocked.

"He's really her boyfriend?"

From what he knew, there were many young masters and rich boys chasing after Cheng Lingsu.

Cheng Lingsu likes him?

It wasn't that Jiang Xiu was inferior, he just appeared ordinary and hardly came up to the rank where he could chase after a class diva. Tian Bu didn't think it was possible for someone like that to date Cheng Lingsu who was a campus diva.

Cheng Lingsu had already come walking towards Jiang Xiu. This guy actually still wore an impassive expression, as if he hadn't noticed the lovely call by the campus diva. His acting looked a bit too stiff.

Cheng Lingsu hadn't expected Jiang Xiu would appear here, so she felt greatly surprised and was unable to conceal the happiness in her eyes - "How come you're here?"

"Hmm, I was just passing by a nearby place…"

Cheng Lingsu gave out a flowery smile. It didn't matter whether he came here with sincerity or to put on a play. She linked arms with him and pull him up from his seat, taking him towards the stage cheerfully. "I'll introduce my classmates to you."

Just like a perfect couple!

Jiang Xiu couldn't adapt well to Cheng Lingsu's intimate behavior, so his body was a little stiff, but he let her pull him towards the stage. The eyes of the girls on the stage were already burning with the flames of gossip.

"Susu…"

"Who is this?"

They evaluated Jiang Xiu with an unrestrained gaze, feeling that he wasn't suitable for Cheng Lingsu.

"Ahem… My dear classmates…"

"Let me officially and solemnly introduce Jiang Xiu to you sisters." Cheng Lingsu wore a glittering smile on her face which made her look even more gorgeous and alluring than before, "My… husband…"

She covered her pretty face with both hands after saying these words, as if she couldn't show her face due to feeling shy and hid in Jiang Xiu's embrace.

This girl really knew how to pretend!

As for Jiang Xiu - He felt like life had no meaning anymore. He wondered why he was even here? From where did he come? He thought that maybe it was time for him to return. The disgust he felt towards Cheng Lingsu increased more, but he had to match with her.

Cheng Lingsu took a glance back very carefully while her face blushed slightly.

"Susu, you've finally revealed it…"

"You hid too deep."

"When did I hide it? Hasn't he come here today? Alright now, stop staring at him so much." Cheng Lingsu said with a flushed face.

Miao Xiaolin said, "Oi, stop acting so petty, lass. It's not like you'll lose anything if we stare at him."

"No!"

"You're not allowed to stare at him!"

Cheng Lingsu blocked their view by standing in front of him. A few of the girls came up to make fun of her. Suddenly, the stage became full of sweet laughter. All the boys stared at this scene with envy.

For the rest of the rehearsal, Jiang Xiu was allowed to watch it from the 1st row. This guy thought that his mission was completed now that everyone knew Cheng Lingsu was already taken, that those boys wouldn't disturb her again and his suffering would finally end.

Cheng Lingsu was the lead dancer. She was performing a pretty dynamic and explosive robotic breakdance which really brought out her individuality. Actually, girls looked prettier while performing a breakdance than when boys performed.

"What's that brat's history?"

"He actually hooked up with the campus diva."

The boys felt pretty unwell.

"Kiddo, come with me…"

That man called Young Master Ai who acted cool called out to Jiang Xiu and Jiang Xiu actually followed after him like an idiot. The girls who were rehearsing stopped when they saw this.

"Susu, you boyfriend got called out by the basketball team."

"They aren't good people to provoke."

Cheng Lingsu also saw it but her she had different thoughts than them. You don't know who's the one not to be trifled with.

"Let's go take a look lest he suffers in their hands."

Jiang Xiu was taken to a banyan tree beside the playground. A few men had surrounded him while that cool boy looked at Jiang Xiu with ridicule, "You dared to flirt right in front of this daddy. Kiddo, you really have guts!"

"You want to fight?"

Jiang Xiu had seen things like these many times since junior high. He smiled, "Isn't this too unfair? Are so many of you going to fight me together?"

Young Master Ai said, "We never fight, only beat the crap out of people."

Jiang Xiu looked at his surroundings to look for something which he could use to make an example out of, but couldn't find anything. He saw a bicycle parked beside the flower bed, so he walked over there and grabbed the handle. A stupefying scene followed after that. That steel bar was twisted over by Jiang Xiu and then broken off.

With the broken bar in his hand, Jiang Xiu asked them, "You still want to fight?"

Fudge!

Fuck!

The basketball team members' jaws almost dropped down to the ground as a stupefied expression dyed their face. That's a steel bar, dude. Fucking shit, you playing with us here?

Is he even human? Ain't looking for a fight with him equal to welcoming our doom?

"Quickly escape!"

The training given to the sports teams were pretty hardcore. They immediately escaped from the scene and ran 500-600 m away in one breath, hiding inside an alley. They turned back and confirmed that Jiang Xiu wasn't chasing them to reassure themselves then wiped the sweat off their forehead.

"The bicycle handle is made of steel."

"Fuck!"

"What the heck?!"

Cheng Lingsu was a bit worried, so she came over and just happened to see their appearance which seemed to say 'they regretted not being born with three legs.' She looked at Jiang Xiu with reproach, "You used violence to settle the issue again?"

"They were the ones who wanted to attack me."

Cheng Lingsu looked at the bicycle on the ground. Its handle bar was twisted into a weird shape and thrown inside the flower bed. She was left speechless.

The other girls also came running over, "How is it? Everything alright?"

"Everything's fine."

Cheng Lingsu said, "Let's end today's practice here, girls. Since a tycoon has arrived, we must milk him dry. It's happy time at whichever place we want."

She had made out Jiang Xiu's purpose in coming over today. She believed Lin Yueling must've told him to so she began to act a little brazenly. The boyfriends of her close friends had all acted as a host before except for hers.

"Yay. Okay then. Shall we go clubbing?"

"Okay!"

The girls chattered quickly and settled on a plan.

"Jiang Xiu, wait for us. We're all sweaty so we'll return after taking a bath." Cheng Lingsu returned into the dorm with the group of girls and left Jiang Xiu waiting at the entrance of the dorm.

Deity Xiu had really given her a lot of face today. He also didn't want her to create trouble for him and if she complained to Lin Yueling, he'd be the one to suffer.

Miao Xiaolin, as well as Xiao Fangfang, called their boyfriends as well. Since a tycoon was hosting tonight, the numbers became pretty high.

The party went to a nearby nightclub.

Nightclubs held endless charm to university students. It was a place where they could indulge in the deepest desires of their heart. Jiang Xiu and Cheng Lingsu sat down on the sofa while those men and women got on the dance floor to dance. "Thank you for today!"

Seeing that none of her classmates were here, Cheng Lingsu spoke out her heart.

Jiang Xiu replied apathetically, "I just didn't want to invite trouble for myself."

The two of them were, after all, a legally married couple, both in name and lawfully.

"Oh!"

Cheng Lingsu answered him with an 'oh' while puffing up her cute cheeks. She was already 70-80% satisfied by the fact that Jiang Xiu had come as she knew his character very well.

"I always wanted to visit a nightclub since I heard it's a fun place but never dared to because they say it's a very chaotic place. I was finally able to visit one since you're accompanying me."

Jiang Xiu didn't reply to her. He didn't want Cheng Lingsu to misunderstand and feel that they had really buried the hatchet.

"I'll go dance then."

Jiang Xiu nodded, feeling like this entire day was wasted, but not long after, Cheng Lingsu returned with a cold expression on her face. A youth followed after her with a sneer on his face. Jiang Xiu was a little astonished by this.

"Girl, you really aren't giving me face!" Miao Xiaolin, as well as Xiao Fangfang, returned as well. It seemed like something had happened on the dance floor.

Cheng Lingsu looked at that man coldly.

"Don't blame me for not reminding you. My boss is Young Master Lin's underling, and this place is run by Young Master Lin too. You won't be able to leave this place unless you accompany me for a few drinks."

Miao Xiaolin asked, "Young Master Lin? Which one are you talking about?"

"Who else in the capital dares to call themselves Young Master Lin? It's naturally the Lin family's Lin Shiqian!" That youth stated loftily.

"Lin Shiqian?"

The expressions of the surrounding people warped.

Everyone knew the famous name of Lin Shiqian in this region. 80% of the internet cafés, bars, clubs here were owned by Lin Shiqian.

Jiang Xiu thought - Hardly had talks of visiting the Lin family happened and voila, I've ended up in a place owned by them.

The Lin family was one of the elite families so they naturally wouldn't dabble in such unorthodox businesses, but the youngest generation of the family often lacked money, so they used their family's name to run such businesses outside.

"All you have to do is accompany me to drink, and this matter will be over. If you get into trouble in the future, just come to me and ask for my help, I'll settle the matter in a jiffy." Though he was talking about drinking, it obviously wouldn't be just drinking.

Miao Xiaolin's expression turned sour. She knew this matter was troublesome. On the side, Xiao Fangfang commented, "Shall we call Young Master Song? If not, something might happen."

Miao Xiaolin made a sullen face, "The other side is the Lin family. Even Young Maser Song can't do anything to help."

"We shouldn't have come here!"

"We're in trouble this time!"

A boy was standing beside Miao Xiaolin who appeared to be her boyfriend. He was called Jin Bo, and his parents were small-time business owners owning assets worth 10 million RMB. He said, "Let's see what Cheng Lingsu's boyfriend intends to do. It's a boy's time to shine. Do you know why pretty girls like to hook up with a rich and powerful man? It's because a man with neither money nor influence can't protect their woman, just like how Susu is right now. That's why girls look forward to hooking up with a young master."

"An ordinary person like him will lose Susu sooner or later."

Xiao Fangfang's boyfriend, Qian Kun, also believed the same.

Cheng Lingsu's expression warped. She had rejected the man originally. If the other side was merely a thug, Jiang Xiu could've just beat him up carefreely, but she never expected that the man was a person from the Lin family. The Lin family was an elite family of the capital, so she was worried a bit about what Jiang Xiu would do. He already disliked her enough, and now she had brought such trouble to him.

At this moment when everyone was stuck in a dilemma, an indifferent voice came through. "Lin Shiqian, isn't he Lin Jianan's grandson?"

Whoa!

Everyone was stunned.

"He actually dared to call Elder Lin by his name!"

Lin Jianan was an old man who had retired from the army and was pretty influential, so no one dared to address him so disrespectfully.

"Yeah!"

The youth was stunned as well but replied in affirmation.

Jiang Xiu couldn't help but shake his head. It was no wonder that the Lin family's status was going downhill these past years. They had fallen from the top-tier elite families into a state where the youngest generation of the family ran places of entertainment such as nightclubs while the children of the other elite families dabbled in real estate, exploiting the business energetically. And at worst, they opened up a movie company and had fun with actresses. As for this Lin Shiqian, he was mingling with such people here. "The Lin family's accomplishments are indeed rising up and up."

"Brat, you better think before you speak."

Miao Xiaolin and Xiao Fangfang were already scared shitless. Brother! Take it easy on your words. You really dare to say whatever you want, but that's the Lin family, a powerful elite family. How can you make such comments about them?

But they didn't dare to interrupt.

"Quickly call Young Master Song. He's always been chasing Susu, this is the time for him to show off." Miao Xiaolin said to Xiao Fangfang slyly. She didn't approve of Jiang Xiu's actions and was worried Susu might suffer losses.

Opportunately, Song Ronghao was inside a high-grade club next-door. He immediately rushed over without even questioning anything once he received the call.

"Brother Hai, how come you're here?" Song Ronghao came running over and was startled after seeing the youth. After seeing the crowd which had gathered here, he immediately understood that Brother Hai wanted Cheng Lingsu. "They are my friends. Please pardon them, Brother Hai."

"Young Master Song!"

A smile rose up on Brother Hai's face when he saw Song Ronghao. The other side was the Song family, the wealthiest family in Shanghai, so he naturally had to sell some face to the children of the Song family. But Jiang Xiu had offended the Lin family. That smile on his face slowly turned into a cold sneer, "Your friend is really amazing. He actually dared to address Elder Lin by his name and even criticized the Lin family, and also disregarded Young Master Lin."

Jiang Xiu and Song Ronghao had met before. Song Ronghao had learned of the relationship between Cheng Lingsu and him back then, but their relationship didn't look that well and seemed pretty disharmonious. It felt like their relationship was just for namesake, so he believed this was an excellent chance for him.

Since the beauty had run into misfortune, it was time for him to show off and make her understand that he's the Emperor chosen for her by the heavens. "Brother Hai, show me some face and let this matter go. If you do that, I won't mention this matter to Young Master Lin."

"What did you say?" Brother Hai grinned, "Young Master Song, just because we call you 'Young Master,' did you think you've become one? Just a word from Young Master Lin is enough to throw you out from the capital."

The Song family was a business family, so they acted as aids and advisors of top officials, but they were still far from comparing to the truly elite families. Moreover, Song Ronghao's position in the family wasn't that high.

"Let me offer you a piece of advice, Young Master Song. You can befriend some people, but you absolutely can't befriend some as it'll kill you."

Song Ronghao's face turned green. He didn't expect that Brother Hai wouldn't show him any face at all. He had utterly lost face in front of the beauty.

Cheng Lingsu had come from a small region like Jiang City, so she really didn't understand the depths of the waters of the capital. She believed the matter would be settled since Song Ronghao had come, after all, he was a member of the wealthiest family in Shanghai, so it should've been enough to act as a deterrent. But she didn't expect the other party to show blatant disrespect for him and even admonish him. She finally understood that the other side's background was much stronger.

She estimated how the Jiang family compared with the Lin family and whether Jiang Xiu would act or not.

That man glanced at Cheng Lingsu, "Are you willing to accompany me now?"

"You better not regret your choice."

Saying so, he left the area.

Song Ronghai said, "Jiang Xiu, you acted too recklessly. How could you criticize the Lin family?" He felt like he had lost a lot of face since he wasn't of any use. "I don't know where you get your confidence from to call Elder Lin by his name and even criticize the Lin family. The Lin family is an elite family of the Imperial Capital. You… You're courting death."

"Yeh?"

Jiang Xiu smiled coolly.

Song Ronghao sighed helplessly. The ignorant were indeed fearless. He believed that an ordinary person like Jiang Xiu could never understand the fearsomeness of the Lin family. They had the power to destroy families in minutes. "Better heed my advice. Get your shit straight before Young Master Lin arrives and lay down your pride else the consequences would be too horrible."

Cheng Lingsu wore a look of worry on her face. She didn't know what to do. She hesitated for a long time, desperation flashing through her eyes as her face paled. She said, "I'll go."

She naïvely believed that the matter would be over if she accompanied the other party for a few drinks.

An ominous glint flashed through Jiang Xiu's eyes, killing intent rushed out from his eyes. It gave goosebumps to Cheng Lingsu. She had never seen such a terrifying Jiang Xiu.

Cheng Lingsu believed that since this matter had originated due to her, it'd be better for her to accept this humiliation as she didn't want to create trouble for Jiang Xiu and make things difficult for him. But she had forgotten one thing, she was currently his, Jiang Luoxia's nominal wife. An insult to her meant that Jiang Luoxia was incompetent, and this would make him lose face which was an even bigger humiliation.

Actually, Cheng Lingsu understood this. She had done the same in Jiangnan, but she panicked in the current situation and forgot about it. When she saw his angry gaze, she immediately understood what mistake she had made and sat down quickly.

On the side, Miao Xiaolin and Xiao Fangfang were really unhappy.

"Why?"

"That's a boy."

"Jiang Xiu, are you a man or not? You're not even standing up at such a time."

Right at this moment, a youth escorted by a group of people came over to their location. Song Ronghao went up to welcome him, "Young Master Lin!"

The surrounding people called out to him in succession and bowed to greet him.

To tell the truth, it was difficult for ordinary people to meet a young master from an elite family. Lin Shiqian was an oddball who wasted himself by running a nightclub here.

"Who has the gall to criticize my Lin family here?"

His gaze dropped on Jiang Xiu who appeared nothing special and looked ordinary. His heart was filled with disdain. He believed it must've been some fierce person who had criticized his Lin family, but it turned out to be an ordinary guy who was just running his mouth off.

Everyone looked at Jiang Xiu with sympathy. This matter had become grave.

The most fearsome thing about a young master of the capital was the power of their family. They could crush a person in minutes and were scarier than the wealthy families as they could directly cut off all routes of a family.

He sat down on the sofa and brought a cigar to his mouth. That man called Brother Hai immediately sparked the lighter and with that, the show had finally begun.

He smoked a few puffs then looked at Jiang Xiu with a look of ridicule while exhaling the smoke, "Student. Where are you from? What's your name?"

Jiang Xiu replied with an apathetic gaze, "Jiang City."

"Jiang Xiu!"

That big cigar, as well as the aura of a young master, oppressed the other students, making them lower their heads. The entire place turned deathly silent as they waited for the storm to arrive.

Lin Shiqian furrowed his brows. Since the Jiang family was destroyed, his family had talked about what happened long ago. That aunt of his who had been driven away from the family due to marrying a man of the Jiang family seemed to live in Jiang City, and she also had a son called Jiang Xiu. He believed that the person before him couldn't possibly be that son as such coincidences didn't happen in this world.

Lin Shiqian said, "You really have guts to criticize my Lin family."

Jiang Xiu sneered, "What? Is your Lin family related to imperial kin or what? So what if I criticized them? If you don't want people to criticize, then stop doing such disgraceful things."

Lin Shiqian took a deep puff from the cigar then said, "Brat, do you even know who you are speaking to?"

"To me, it looks like you're the one who doesn't know who you're speaking to." Jiang Xiu countered.

"You run a nightclub and even act so tyrannically inside. I want to see what you'll do to me today and how you'll stop me from teaching you all a lesson."

Lin Shiqian stood up in a fit of fury, "Motherfucker! You're courting death!" He never expected a person would dare to act so rampantly on his domain.

"Break his legs for me and throw him out on the street."

Saying so, he didn't even taken another glance at Jiang Xiu and turned around to leave while puffing on the cigar, carrying himself with the style of a young master. Crushing Jiang Xiu was as easy as crushing an ant to him.

However…

At the same moment he got up, Jiang Xiu also stood up and grabbed Lin Shiqian's hair then smashed his head into the glass table, causing it to break into pieces. He didn't even have time to scream as his head kept bleeding.

"Aaaahhhh!"

The people in the club cried out in fear. They never expected Jiang Xiu would so brazenly and savagely beat up Young Master Lin, and that too so ruthlessly.

Jiang Xiu dragged Lin Shiqian by his hair. He was already feeling disoriented from the concussion. Blood kept flowing out from his head, and his face was fully dyed by blood.

"Y-You dared to hit me?"

Bang! Once again, his head was banged into a glass table.

Lin Shiqian howled in grief.

The surrounding people were already stupefied, feeling that this guy must've gone insane. He was beating up the young master of the Lin family, but after that, they saw Jiang Xiu turn over Lin Shiqian and speak in an ice-cold tone, "Do you believe I won't kill you?"

Some people were similar to mad dogs. In case they get angry, they'd not even think about the consequences.

Lin Shiqian's eyes almost popped out of his eyes. He was terrified.

"D-Don't kill me!"

Jiang Xiu looked at his terrified appearance and couldn't help but sneer. This was was the so-called young master of the capital. He didn't even fucking have guts. The Jiang family's people were far more ruthless. Jiang Hang had ordered assassinations to get people killed while this guy could only do such scummy things in nightclubs.

Jiang Xiu felt like his hand had become dirty by pulling Lin Shiqian's hair.

SN-AP!

A sharp and clear sound of a bone breaking resounded in the area. It made everyone's hair stand on end.

"AAARRRGGHHHH!!"

Lin Shiqian was kneeling on the ground initially. Jiang Xiu raised that leg on which he was kneeling on, bent it into another direction and broke it off. Lin Shiqian fell to the floor and screamed like a pig.

"MY LEG! MY LEG!!"

His underlings were all stupefied. It wasn't that they weren't willing to help. The club also had security, but this had happened too suddenly. No one thought that Young Master Lin would get beaten up as usually even standing up without feeling weak in the legs after hearing his name would've been enough to be considered as bravery.

"Young Master Lin!"

Brother Hai finally recovered from the shock.

"Brat, you're screwed."

"Security…"

Jiang Xiu crouched in front of Lin Shiqian, looked at him yelp like a pig as he withdrew back in fear. Jiang Xiu took out his cell phone pulled up Uncle Xian's number, but he didn't call it. Instead, he placed his phone in front of Lin Shiqian.

He believed Lin Shiqian would recognize this number.

As expected, Lin Shiqian's eyes grew wide open in surprise. T-This is Great Uncle Xian's number. He looked at Jiang Xiu with a gaze of disbelief. The youth's identity was already clear, he was really the son of the aunt who was driven away from the family.

"It's you! It's really you!"

Jiang Xiu said, "Don't worry. I won't kill you!"

"At most…"

Jiang Xiu acted like he was about to press the call button. Fear filled Lin Shiqian's eyes as he shivered all over. It wasn't due to the pain but rather due to fear. He shouted in a rush, "D-DON'T CALL THE SECURITY!"

"I was in the wrong!"

Everyone was stunned.

They couldn't understand the situation. Jiang Xiu had crippled a young master of the Lin family, and the other party had actually admitted they were in the wrong. They wondered just whose number Jiang Xiu had shown that it had terrified him so much.

"Young Master Lin?"

Brother Hai's was full of doubt as he couldn't understand why he was saying that.

As for Miao Xiaolin, Xiao Fangfang, Qian Kun and the rest, especially Song Ronghao, they were extremely shocked by the scene and looked at Jiang Xiu who was currently not in a deified state with a gaze full of disbelief. They could comprehend him raging out for such a pretty girlfriend. They believed Jiang Xiu was courting death but didn't expect that Young Master Lin would admit he was in the wrong. They wondered if Jiang Xiu had some astonishing history?

But what kind of background could scare a young master of the Lin family so much? After all, that was the Lin family.

Was this brat always a tiger disguised as a pig?

In the end, Jiang Xiu called the number. Uncle Xian was accompanying an old man for a chat right now. When he saw the caller ID, he was astonished. Jiang Xiu had acted pretty cold to him at their home, so he wondered why he had taken the initiative to call him. "Hello, Little Xiu?"

"Lin Shiqian was acting arrogantly in a club nearby to NU. I broke one of his legs." Saying so, he didn't even wait for the other side to say anything and hung the call.

Uncle Xian was left in a daze.

"Q-Quickly take Young Master Lin to the hospital…"

"Call 120. What are you standing there in a daze for?"

Jiang Xiu wasn't interested in remaining here, so he turned around to leave. Cheng Lingsu and the others didn't dare to stay there, so they followed him out of the club. Miao Xiaolin asked, "Jiang Xiu, just who the hell are you? Young Master Lin got beaten up so badly and even admitted he was in the wrong."

Miao Xiaolin's boyfriend, Jin Bo had an even more curious face, "Yes. Jiang Xiu, are you actually a child of an influential family? A family which is even more influential than the Lin family?"

Jiang Xiu shook his head.

Song Ronghao's gaze turned complicated as he looked at Jiang Xiu. He had lost all face today. The goddess was actually helped by Jiang Xiu. He also wanted to know what background Jiang Xiu had.

"I'm just a poor youth from Jiang City. Lin Shiqian had admitted he was at fault because he was in the wrong. The Lin family operated in officialdom, so they care a lot about reputation. Him showing up at such a nightclub was in itself a mistake. Moreover, he even acted so despotically here."

"He wasn't afraid of me but rather his family's elders."

Song Ronghao and the others suddenly realized the crux of the matter.

However, Cheng Lingsu knew the matter wasn't so simple. Among them, only she knew that Jiang Xiu was Jiang Luoxia. So it wasn't possible that the reason Lin Shiqian was afraid was due to Jiang Xiu. The battled called as the Demigod Battle had left a profound impression on her mind. The boy in front of her had otherworldly abilities.

Anyone who wished to make him his enemy needed to first gauge whether they had that kind of ability or not.

After realizing that Jiang Xiu wasn't some great person, their gazes became ordinary again. Merely, his ruthlessness had left a profound impression in their mind. However, in the current society, ruthlessness and having the ability to fight was of no use as it couldn't help one rise up. That depended on background and assets.

"Let's stay away from this region from now on."

"Mhm!"

Song Ronghao took notice of Cheng Lingsu following behind Jiang Xiu and felt quite jealous. Since it was clear that Jiang Xiu wasn't a young master of an influential family, he believed that his qualifications, as well as appearance, were higher than him and that he still had a chance.

"Let's go look for a place to have a midnight snack!"

On the night, Cheng Lingsu returned home along with Jiang Xiu. Lin Yueling saw them return together and smiled beautifully. It was just that Cheng Lingsu called out to her timidly then returned to her room take a bath then rest.

"Yep! You look just like a husband and wife!"

Jiang Xiu didn't want to hurt Lin Yueling. If he told what happened today to his mother, that he had broken a leg of a Lin family's child, he didn't know what kind of impression would be left in her mind.

And now, Lin Shiqian's parents had already received the news and were on the way to the hospital.To Lin Shiqian's parents, his injury appeared quite heavy. From childhood until now, their son had never gotten injured so badly. His head was hurt and his left leg broken. They felt as if someone had stabbed their hearts with a blade then twisted it when they saw their son's condition.

"What are his intentions? He was fully aware that we're relatives yet he acted so ruthlessly. Does he think we won't go find him to settle this?" A lady spoke while trembling in a fury.

A cold-faced man stood opposite to her. He remained silent and didn't say a word, but everyone knew that the more anger this man felt, the lesser he spoke.

"I definitely won't let this matter end so easily."

"I will make Lin Yueling account this to me."

The man sat down on the hospital chair. He was Lin Jianan's third son, called Lin Zekang. His gaze was fixed on the floor. "Uncle Xian just informed me that this matter won't be investigated."

The lady's eyes opened wide, "Why? She was exiled from the family, and the Jiang family is no more. Do we even need to fear her and show affection to her as a relative? When her son beat up Shiqian, he didn't even stop for a moment to think that we're relatives."

"I don't care about anything else. I won't take this lying down."

"Lin Zekang, are you even a man? Your son was beaten up to such a condition, and you don't do shit about it… Wuwuwu. I was really blind to have married you."

Lin Zekang threw the quilt on the table to the ground in anger. "You still dare to say such things. Look how you've raised up your son. Do you know why he got beaten up?"

"This bastard fought over someone else's girl in a filthy place like a nightclub and got beaten up as a result. If it weren't for Uncle Xian suppressing this matter, do you know what would've happened?"

The lady seethed with anger, "How I raise my son is up to me, but no one is allowed to beat up my son like this!"

Lin Zekang said, "Stop acting willfully. I heard that father is allowing Yueling's family to return. Jiang Yi has a good relation with Governor Gu, and this link is needed for the second brother to compete for the position."

"I don't care about all that. I can't allow my son to suffer losses." The lady replied.

Lin Zekang said, "Father is growing old and there's no pillar to support the family. Everything depends on whether second brother can nab the position. If you mess up father's business at such a critical juncture, the consequences will be devastating."

The lady didn't reply and made a displeased face.

"If you have anything to say, wait till the election is done…"

For a nobleman to take revenge, ten years weren't too long. Moreover, Jiangnan's election was set to happen this year.

As Jiang Xiu had expected, this issue didn't blow up and didn't even reach Lin Yueling's ears. Cheng Lingsu was very nervous that night. She also didn't want to create difficulties for Jiang Xiu. She believed she needed to mature faster else she wouldn't be able to keep up with Jiang Xiu's pace and would be left behind by him.

She hesitated for a long time then summoned her courage to speak, "Jiang Xiu, can you lend me some money?"

She still didn't know that he had already returned the Cheng Conglomerate to her family. He had given her 1 million before which she had used to buy a house for her parents and was left with nothing after she invested the rest of the money. It was common to borrow money from friends, and now that the Jiang family and Cheng family were reconciled, there was no reason to refuse her. "How much?"

"100 million!"

"You really know how to ask."

"You can just loan it to me. 3 years, I'll return it to you with both the principal and interest after 3 years. I want to invest this 100 million in the financial market and…"

Jiang Xiu hinted her to stop speaking. He wasn't interested in what she wanted to with the money as it was unrelated to him. "100 million, right? I'll make someone send you the amount to your account."

"Thank you!"

"Don't thank me so soon. I'm not giving this money to you for free. If you are unable to return this money to me in 3 years, you know what I want. We'll visit the civil administration office if that happens."

Cheng Lingsu bit her lips and said decisively, "It's a deal then!"

If Jiang Xiu hadn't remembered wrong, a global financial crisis would occur in 2009. Several people would go bankrupt under this crisis, and some even committed suicide by jumping off from a building.

"I'll make someone bring you the agreement tomorrow. You'll get the money as soon as you sign it."

He took out his phone then called Wang Xintong's number. This was a good thing for him. He had already lost hope of divorcing Cheng Lingsu, but she had courted disaster herself.

"Draft an agreement to loan 100 million to Cheng Lingsu. If she can't return it in 3 years, that'd be equivalent to agreeing to divorce automatically…"

"Looks like you're still working hard to get Cheng Lingran!"

"Actually, the two sisters look quite similar. You can just consider Cheng Lingsu as a spiritual substitute. There's no need for you to scheme so much to drive her away from your side."

"You've started to act more and more wantonly." Jiang Xiu said coldly.

Wang Xintong replied in a light tone, "I'm just thinking for your good. Alright. I got it. I'll do as you say."

"Did the Xie family come to look for me?"

"Yeah. Xie Sanxian came to look for you."

Since the prophecy written in the ancient desert city had come true, the new world would descend to this one to take revenge against the Ming Dynasty and overthrow the Ming Dynasty's rule. As the later generation of the desert city, the Xie family was bound to experience a change when this new age was about to arrive. No matter whether it was a good or bad change, he believed they'd definitely be terrified and come to look for him.

"Send me Xie Sanxian's number."

Jiang Xiu immediately called Xie Sanxian's number. On the other side, Xie Sanxian replied with a weak, downcast voice, "Hello, who is this?"

"It's me, Jiang Xiu!"

Xie Sanxian became jubilant, "Mr. Jiang, you've finally returned. You must save Tingting! I beg you!"

Jiang Xiu's heart raced, "How is she?"

That girl was a special girl.

Xie Sanxian's voice was quite impatient, "Tingting got taken away. Those people were too strong. We weren't their match at all."

"Taken away? Who did it?"

"The Ji family!"

"Ji Wudao's family?"

"Yes, that Ji family. Mr. Jiang, you must save her. Only you can save her."

"Does your family have a grievance with the Ji family?"

"That…" Xie Sanxian muttered to himself for a moment before saying, "Mr. Jiang ought to know that my ancestor was an avenger who had left the desert city and the Ji family's ancestor, Ji Wudao, was an officer of the Ming Dynasty back then."

Jiang Xiu suddenly recalled a matter. Wang Chonglin had told him back then that Ji Wudao was a God and since Jiang Xiu had killed Ji Wudao, it meant that he was also a God. They actually had such a link between them.

"Why did they take her away?"

Xie Ting was no longer Xie Ting. It was extremely possible that she was the Holy Woman mentioned in the inscription. The reason the Ji family had captured Xie Ting was definitely not because she was the later generation of the desert family. Otherwise, they would've captured Xie Sanxian instead. He believed that they must've discerned the real identity of the current Xie Ting. They must've wanted to the capture the Holy Woman.

"I too don't know why they captured her. Mr. Jiang, you have to save her. I only have one daughter whom I hold more precious than my own life. Please save her."

This man, Xie Sanxian, was pretty shrewd. So far, although he hadn't revealed any harmful intentions to Jiang Xiu, he was acting defensively, but this wasn't strange at all since Jiang Luoxia was akin to a wolf. Who else would Xie Sanxian be on guard against if not he, Jiang Luoxia?

"Before the incident happened, did you notice any change in Tingting or did something strange happen?"

Xia Sanxian said, "After returning from the desert city, she often looked at the night sky obsessively. Sometimes, she would watch the sky for the entire night and even kowtow towards the sky while saying some words which I couldn't make sense of."

"Anything else besides that? Did she experience any change in her body or gain some special ability?"

"Nothing like that happened…"

"How about you then? Does your body feel unwell?" Xie Sanxian's matter was quite troublesome. His divinity origin was already destroyed by Jiang Xiu, and it was possible that his body might experience a change again.

"Nothing like that for now…"

"Mhm. I'll save Tingting. Since she called me her brother, I won't stay still doing nothing while she faces mortal danger."

Xie Ting was indeed the Holy Woman, and the reason for her descent was to destroy Great Ming to take revenge for the people who got massacred back then. The Ji family was also among those who indulged in the slaughter so it was highly probable that they had captured her to stop the descent of the so-called destroying power and if necessary, they would definitely kill her.

Jiang Xiu couldn't help but recall that elegant girl who was just like a rose blooming in the desert. He believed she must be in danger right now.

On the next day, Lin Yueling had dressed herself up prettily and even put on a new dress she had bought at the mall along with Cheng Lingsu. When he asked her about the reason, she told him that she was going to meet up with a few of her good sisters from high school. She hadn't met them for 20 years, so she didn't want to appear in an unpresentable state in front of them.

Cheng Lingsu also knew how to curry favor. Lin Yueling liked whatever she said, and in fact, she had quite the excellent taste and seemed to appear of some value. She had dressed up Lin Yueling quite beautifully.

Every man desired that his wife and mother have such good relations, but Jiang Xiu was an exception. He really hoped these two would get into an argument, which would lead to their relationship entering a freezing point again. He even hoped Lin Yueling would force her to divorce him when that happens.

Only, such a beautiful thing was nothing but a pipe dream.

As for Lin Yueling, she didn't consider Cheng Lingsu as her daughter-in-law but rather more of a sister. "Aren't these clothes a bit too plain?"

Cheng Lingsu said, "Mhm. Let's add a cape then we can also…"

Lin Yueling had also recovered her figure, losing a lot of fat. He heard that Cheng Lingsu had got her into a yoga class and due to this, Lin Yuelign was slowly recovering her former bearing as that of the Lin family's daughter.

"Mother, I'm leaving now else I'll be late." Cheng Lingsu fixed up Lin Yueling's dress a bit then left for the door. It was already close to 9 AM in the morning. She didn't plan to attend the morning classes and only planned to attend the main classes. "Bye-Bye!" Before leaving, she waved at Jiang Xiu, but he acted as if he didn't see it, so she went out the door dispiritedly.

Don't you waswant those 100 million? I'll give it to you!

"Ding-Dong!"

Hardly after Cheng Lingsu left, the doorbell rang up. Lin Yueling said, "Susu must've forgotten something." Saying so, she went up to open the door, but the one standing at the doorway wasn't Cheng Lingsu but instead a 20-year old woman whose hair was trimmed to her ears.

"You are?"

The girl's expression turned ugly as if she was suppressing her anger. A smile flashed through her eyes as she looked at the woman in front of her, "You're Aunt Ling, right? I remember you. It's me. Lin Mi, Little Mimi."

"Mimi!"

Lin Yueling's eyes grew wide open. She grabbed her hand emotionally, "You've grown up so big. You were only 3-4 years old back then."

"Come inside!"

Lin Yueling was very happy that someone of the younger generation had come to visit her. She became a little flustered due to the excitation. "Quickly sit down. Did you have breakfast?"

"I already had it!"

Jiang Xiu was quite familiar with her. Before his name had caused waves in the world, he had met her in Dongzhou during the Dao Soldier competition. Back then, she had given him a card with the intentions to take him into the Lin family, and since he refused her, she became quite unhappy. Lin Mi saw Jiang Xiu eat breakfast while sitting there and was dazed for a moment, feeling that he looked a little familiar. She immediately made the connection, "You're Jiang Xiu!"

"Yes. This is my son, Jiang Xiu and your younger cousin. Little Xiu, this is your third uncle's daughter, Lin Mi, your older cousin."

"It's been a long time!"

"Mimi, don't bother with him. He always has a sour look on his face. Aunt is pleased that you came to visit me. Wait for me here…" She rushed upstairs after saying this.

Lin Mi said, "It seems you haven't told aunt that you ripped my younger brother. What? You don't dare to say it to her?"

Jiang Xiu smiled at her, "My mother was driven away by the Lin family, saying she was a traitor. These past 20 years, she's lived in Jiang City, and she had no relationship with the Lin family since then. Similarly, the Lin family also has no relationship with her."

What he actually meant that was he had crippled an insignificant person so why would he be worried about getting found out. If he were afraid of that, he would've have crippled the person.

"Hmph! You're more perverse than what I imagined you to be. Did you think this matter is over?"

"Do you want to take revenge for him? Can you even do it?"

Lin Mi had witnessed Jiang Xiu's strength in Dongzhou. She had come here with the intentions to lecture Jiang Xiu but wasn't expecting that he was the same young expert from Dongzhou. Back then, even Uncle Fu had praised his strength so there was no way she'd be his match in a fight.

"You…"

Lin Mi's face turned ice cold. Lin Yueling came down from upstairs at this moment with a red envelope in her hands. At her home, the elders often discussed this aunt of hers. It seemed that they were planning to let her come back to the family again. Lin Mi couldn't make a mess out of things in such a delicate situation.

"Mimi, aunt hasn't returned home for such a long time. I've never been able to give you new year money. Take this…" Lin Yueling placed the red envelope she prepared in her hands.

Lin Mi was put in an awkward situation now. She had grown so big so getting a red envelope was pretty embarrassing. Moreover, she wouldn't have much use for such an amount of money.

"Quickly take it…"

Jiang Xiu turned a blind eye to this. His mother was born in a wealthy family and was generous on the inside. She couldn't do much as she was poor before, but it was different now as they had become wealthy again. This was clear from how she acted towards Cheng Lingsu. She never regretted spending money for her.

"T-Thank you, Aunt…"

"Good child!"

Lin Yueling looked at Lin Mi and felt as if she was looking at her younger self. She sighed deeply then suddenly remembered that she had to go out. "Aunt has to hurry since I'm going out now. Make yourself at home with Little Xiu. You youngsters can socialize between yourselves."

Lin Mi was looking forward to Lin Yueling leave, "Mhm. Okay!"

Jiang Xiu bit onto the breadstick, "Mother, I'm going to Huabei province today. It might take a few days for me to return."

Lin Yueling believed he was going there to meet with his old classmates. She warned him to attend to Lin Mi properly then spoke a few words with Lin Mi before leaving with her purse.

Once Lin Yueling left, Jiang Xiu also stood up, "I'm sorry. I don't have time to take care of you. You heard it, right? I'm going to Huabei province."

"Do you think you can escape?"

Lin Mi scowled at him, "This matter isn't over yet. My little brother is still lying on the hospital bed."

Jiang Xiu didn't bother with her. Wang Xintong had arranged a 10 AM flight for him. If he missed it, he'd need to wait for the next one. Lin Mi followed after him closely. No matter what, she planned to get an explanation from Jiang Xiu today.

A black Bentley came over and stopped in front of the house. The driver got out and opened the door for Jiang Xiu. Jiang Xiu bowed his head to enter inside, and Lin Mi also followed after him to sit inside.

Jiang Xiu just gave her a glance and let her do as she wished to since he didn't care about what she did. That driver also didn't know the inside story, so he drove to the airport directly.

He got a call from Wang Xintong. "Cheng Lingsu has already signed the agreement. The funds have been transferred as well."

"Okay!"

He paused for a moment then said, "Keep an eye on her for me. I want her to lose all the money."

Wang Xintong couldn't even respond to this. Jiang Xiu was planning to make her lose purposefully by letting Cheng Lingsu lose the 100 million she was planning to invest in the financial market. If Cheng Lingsu knew she was dealing with such a demon, she'd have coughed up blood in anger.

The car reached the Imperial Airport in 30 minutes. She saw him enter inside and followed after him. He went inside the VIP lounge and didn't even take a seat, directly going to the aircraft parking ground. She saw a private plane already ready here. "Looks like you're really going out."

"Did you think I'm hiding from you?"

Saying so, he got into the plane. Lin Mi hesitated a bit before following him inside. She was already feeling startled by all the things she saw. This wasn't consistent with what she knew about Lin Yueling's situation. During the time Jiang Yi was in prison, their family had run a fruit stall, and it hadn't even been a year since Jiang Yi's case was redressed. And now, they had a villa, a professional driver who drove a Bentely and a private airplane? This didn't make sense.

Even the Lin family didn't own such a big private airplane. Although the Lin family had a lot of influence, they didn't have much leeway regarding wealth. Most of the official families were this way. They had to take note of one's image a lot as flaunting one's wealth wouldn't do any good to them. Their situation was utterly different from those wealthy families.

Lin Mi was dazzled the moment she entered inside the plane. She had traveled in her friend's private plane was pretty shocked then, but she that one couldn't even compare to Jiang Xiu's plane.

If an analogy were made to cars, her friend's plane was a Xiali brand car while Jiang Xiu's was a Ferrari or Maserati ranked car. The interior décor was on a completely different level and perhaps even better than the ones in planes owned by diamond dealers from Southwest Asia. The decoration inside was better than a five-star hotel's. There was a bedroom, bathroom, lounge as well as an office…

Wang Xintong had purchased this airplane just recently. The previous plane could only fly domestic air routes, and it'd require all kinds of audits before it could be allowed to fly via an international route. Seeing that Jiang Xiu had spent 500 million euros to buy a necklace, she didn't find it much to spend 100 million euros to obtain a top-notch airplane.

Jiang Xiu walked in and sat down on the sofa. The air hostess came over and asked him, Mr. Jiang, there's still 5 minutes left before we take off. Do you want us to serve food and drinks?"

Jiang Xiu told them to do it. His appetite was quite frightening.

Lin Mi sat opposite to him and asked doubtfully, "This airplane is yours? How did you get so much money?"

"Do you think only your Lin family is allowed to be wealthy? That others are all poor?"

Lin Mi didn't have this intention and was just curious where had he obtained so much money from. Though she didn't know how much such an airplane would cost, she could guesstimate that it would be at least several 100 million and the maintenance cost would be an astonishing number as well. She believed it was simply impossible for Jiang Xiu's family to have so much money.

But facts couldn't cheat someone.

She believed that perhaps because he was so wealthy, he had hurt Lin Shiqian so severely. The rage in Lin Mi's heart welled up again when she remembered this. Lin Shiqian had a total of 30 stitches on his head, and his left leg had undergone an operation as well. He had screamed in pain all night, and even painkillers were useless. All of this was due to the man before her.

"It's useless even if you leave the capital. You have to give an explanation, or else the Lin family won't let this go."

"Don't think this matter would be set aside just because you're aunt's son. My little brother isn't so easy to bully."

"It looks like I was soft." Jiang Xiu replied.

"What?" Lin Mi couldn't believe what she was hearing. He had beat her brother so badly and said he had acted soft. "Do you want to kill him or what?"

"If I could choose again, I'd definitely kill him."

"You!"

Lin Mi's face turned red in anger, but she didn't take his words seriously, thinking he must be just trying to rile her up. In such a lawful society, there was no need to take another person's life just because of a little anger. Moreover, this person was her relative.

In reality, Jiang Xiu held no affection for the Lin family in his heart.

Back when his father had run into misfortune, the Jiang family hadn't acted so he believed his mother must've gone to the Lin family for help as well, but his father was still left to rot in prison. From this, it was clear that they didn't care about their family. Even if he kept this aside when his parents died in the previous life, he had gone to the Lin family to announce their demise and what he had experienced then had already let him understand their mindset.

He would've killed Lin Shiqian if not for Lin Yueling still holding affection for her family.

Huabei province wasn't that far, so they reached there after 2 hours. Jiang Xiu ate lunch while watching the news on TV. Naturally, he didn't act stingy by not ordering a meal for Lin Mi. It was a genuine Gaulle-style steak plus wine. But like the adage went - the more you take, the less you can criticize. Lin Mi had come to criticize him so she couldn't accept his goodwill and this didn't eat it.

Wang Xintong had already made someone arrange a car at the airport. Since Jiang Xiu's purpose for the trip was unusual this time, a driver wasn't prepared. Jiang Xiu drove it himself.

The white Maserati raced out from the airport. The longer Xie Ting remained at the Ji family, the more dangerous it was. He didn't dare to delay on the way and made for the interior mountain regions of Huabei province. There were curving mountain roads all around as well as tunnels. Jiang Xiu always kept a constant speed of 140 km/hr, and on straight paths, the speed even rose up to 160 km/hr. Even a tomboyish girl like Lin Mi who didn't fear anything was frightened due to this. It was almost akin to playing with one's life!

…

Huabei's Mu family. A good deal of disciples was currently gathered in the courtyard. Many people had gathered there and even the patriarch of the Mu family, Mu Jianping was also there.

"What do we do now? Do we just lie in wait for the Ji family to kill us all?" An old man roared in a fury. He was actually a Supreme Stage Grandmaster. He slammed the stone table with his hand, leaving behind an imprint on the table.

"How many of our disciples have died in the past few days?"

A woman robed in a white cheongsam stated in anger.

"Your Mu family must account this to me!"

Mu Jianping wore a dejected look on his face. The Ji family stood at the top in the lands of Huabei, and there were four families below them. They didn't vie with each other for resources and actually had a good relationship with each other. The biggest reason for this was to make a united front against the oppression and exploitation they suffered.

As Jiang Luoxia had killed Ji Wudao during the Mid-autumn festival and Zhu Dingsheng had also died, Mu Jianping believed the Ji family was vulnerable. They had suffered oppression for so many years and were full of resentment, so they teamed up with the other three families and started an offensive against the Ji family. But their combined attack didn't even shake up the Ji family. Instead, it had brought trouble upon them.

Nowadays, the Ji family members were coming over every few days to create trouble and kill a few people. Their hearts felt tormented as they saw the disciples, as well as their kin, die tragically.

Mu Jianping said, "Everyone. I feel ashamed to say this to you, but I've already gone to the capital to seek Mr. Jiang, but he's still in Europe."

The old man was infuriated, "Stop saying these useless things. Why would Jiang Luoxia act for someone like us?"

The woman said, "I fear you couldn't even meet with the Wang family, right?"

Mu Jianping said, "I spent a high price to meet with Wang Xintong. Miss Wang promised me that she would mention this matter to Mr. Jiang."

The old man said, "We're already in a desperate situation right now. Are we going to hand over our fate for someone else to decide now?"

"Yeah!"

A 60-year-old, tall man beside him spoke up in agreement.

Mu Jianping said, "Everyone, don't worry. Miss Wang promised that she would send people. Although Mr. Jiang wouldn't care about such small things, the Wang family is a martial arts family with a 200-year-old heritage."

Everyone turned silent after hearing this, revealing an expression on hope on their faces. The woman asked, "It would be great if the Wang family acts to help us. That'd be better than just resigning ourselves to fate."

The old man said, "But when will the people from Wang family arrive?"

"They are killing three of our people each day!"

The old man's eyes turned red as he mentioned this, his body quivering all over. Those people were all his disciples and grand-disciples, yet they had to offer up their young and innocent life.

…

After arriving near the Mu family, Jiang Xiu stopped the car. The path ahead was a mountain road, and a car couldn't drive inside, so he began to climb up. Lin Mi still followed after his as she didn't plan to give up before she got an explanation from him.

The scenery was pretty beautiful here, and there were many old constructions here, but they weren't exploited to create a tourist spot.

"Just where do you want to go?"

"Huabei's Mu family!"

"But that's Elder Mu Jianping's family. Do you know him? He's a top-notch expert of Huabei. When grandfather was still in the army back then, our Lin family had used a high position to invite him, but he refused us resolutely. He hasn't paid attention to secular matters for over a decade already."

Jiang Xiu didn't reply to her and kept walking.

Jiang Xiu didn't know where the Ji family was located. Wang Xintong had told him the location of the Mu family and said that they knew where the Ji family was.

Therefore, he could only come to the Mu family.

"I don't know him!"

Lin Mi's face was filled with disdain, "I knew you couldn't have known him. Even I never got the chance to see Elder Mu. Since you don't know Elder Mu, why did you come to the Mu family?"

"To ask them to act as my guide."

Saying so, they already arrived at the Mu family's village. A 10 m high banner had been erected at the village's entrance.

Finally!

After walking into the village, Jiang Xiu saw that several people were gathered there and the road was blocked up by many off-road vehicles. When he tried to enter in, those people blocked this path. "Who are you? Why did you come to my Mu village?"

Jiang Xiu said, "Tell Mu Jianping that a guest has arrived from the Imperial Capital."

Wang Xintong didn't care much about the help Mu Jianping had asked her for due to the Ji family oppressing the four families of Huabei as she thought it was just a small matter. She had mentioned it this time to Jiang Xiu as he was planning to go save Xie Ting and could help them in passing.

That man said, "From the Imperial Capital? Brat, there's nothing for you to do there. Return."

Lin Mi laughed while covering her mouth as if she was watching Jiang Xiu act like a fool. The other party wasn't even acknowledging him and telling him to piss off from wherever he came from.

"Quickly go report it else you won't be able to take responsibility for it."

These lackeys were indeed more difficult to deal with.

That man laughed heartily, "From your tone, it seems like you're here to settle the issue about the Ji family? There's no need for you to do that as you won't be of any help. My West Sichuan's Sword Palace's Young Sword Master has is here to deal with it. Do you think we need your help?"

Lin Mi's expression warped immediately, "West Sichuan's Sword Palace? Si Wuxie's branch?"

"Yeah!" That man said loftily.

This person wasn't a disciple of the Mu family, so it was no wonder that he was acting so rampant here. Legend was it that Si Wuxie had survived an atom bomb during WW2. It seemed like the Mu family had gone to ask their help as well.

After making many fruitless trips to the capital, Mu Jianping had helplessly gone to West Sichuan, but he wasn't expecting them to send people and that the Young Sword Master would come personally.

"You should know what to do. Get out from here!"

"And if I don't leave?"

Lin Mi's expression changed immediately. Brat, you're too stubborn, making enemies of whoever you see. Your actions were really impractical in Dongzhou as well back then. And now, look, you're going against someone from the West Sichuan Sword Palace. Do you even know who's behind them? That's Si Wuxie, a legend of China.

She reached out to pull his shirt, "Don't create trouble here. Let's leave. The West Sichuan Sword Palace isn't someone you can afford to offend. You'll lose your life in vain."

"Just useless trash, that's all." Jiang Xiu replied.

"Hah! You really have guts, mate. Do you want to oppose my West Sichuan Sword Palace?" That man's face turned cold. He appeared to be 30 years old and didn't have a tall stature, but his body was well developed. His formed a finger sword with his palm and thrust it towards Jiang Xiu.

Lin Mi exclaimed in her heart. This kid really has no limit to courting disaster. He's a brainless wild man who offends anyone he wishes. If he returns to the Lin family with Aunt Ling, he'd undoubtedly provoke a huge enemy for the Lin family.

Only, she couldn't do anything about this situation. On the contrary, she planned to see how far Jiang Xiu's strength had reached as that small region like Dongzhou hadn't revealed his strength at all.

Bang!

Jiang Xiu stood in his original place and countered with a slap. A phantom-like hand slithered towards that man and gave a hard slap to his face.

"You're courting death!"

Jiang Xiu had already become a God, so the power behind his slap held an astonishing force. It was just like a thunderclap which boomed over the world. That man was sent flying back. He knocked into the car's window, causing the glass to shatter, then fell to the ground.

One move! One second!

Lin Mi's jaw almost dropped to the ground. Fudge!The Si family's disciples are so useless?

"Scoundrel, you dare to hit Young Master Jing?"

"You're courting death. Do you know who Young Master Jing is?"

A group of them stood behind him. They were all handsome men as well as beautiful women, and all of them had bodyguards with them. They dashed over in anger when they saw Young Master Jing get beat up.

Slap! Slap! Slap!

Jiang Xiu stepped forward and gave a slap to whoever came into his view. Each one of them fell to the ground with a broken leg or hand, howling in grief.

They finally realized that Jiang Xiu wasn't someone to be trifled with.

"Sir… Sir…"

People from the Mu family came running forward. One of them asked, "Everyone is here to help, so there's no need to injure each other because of an argument."

Since the Mu family had already found someone else, he also didn't want to go in to create trouble, so he asked that man, "Do you know the way to the Ji family?"

That person was shocked, "You want to go to the Ji family?"

"I came here for the Ji family. I'm asking you again. Do you where the Ji family is located in?"

That man nodded blankly.

"Okay then. Lead the way for me!"

He held a deep hatred for the Ji family, and though taking Jiang Xiu there would be dangerous, he decided to do it in the end. "Okay. I'll take you there."

"Only, it's a long way there, and there's no place where we can get food on the way. Let's prepare some rations first."

…

Inside the Mu family's village.

Mu Jianping, as well as the heads of the other three families, looked at the white-robed youth in front of them who was accompanied by a sword carrier maid who looked elegant and free from vulgarity.

"Y-Young Sword Master…"

Si Wuxie had withdrawn from the word for many years so Mu Jianping wasn't expecting he'd help. It was surprising that they had even sent the Young Sword Master.

That woman donned in the cheongsam said, "This person couldn't be the Young Sword Master of the West Sichuan Sword Palace, right? They say that both the underworld and the white-collar world hold him in respect in West Sichuan. He's known as the No. 1 among the youngest generation, and all the huge financial groups follow after him blindly. He has thirteen swords under him, and one of them is the son of the governor of West Sichuan while another is a Young Master of the Imperial Capital."

The old man was also shocked after hearing this.

"Is it really him?!"

The gazes with which everyone looked at this Young Sword Master changed immediately. They all knew the legend of Si Wuxie. He was unparalleled back then, and his fame had reached Eastern Asia, Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and all the Chinese people of Southeast Asia held him in respect. Although he hadn't appeared for 60 years already, the name of West Sichuan's Sword Palace hung over West Sichuan all along and left everyone in awe.

"The Mu family, Kong family, Mei family and the Zhang family… greet the Young Sword Master of Western Sichuan's Sword Palace!" The heads of the four families bowed towards him.

Since their family heads had bowed, the surrounding disciples didn't dare to keep standing and bowed after them.

"We greet the Young Sword Master of West Sichuan's Sword Palace!"

Everyone was feeling shocked as a real bigshot had arrived this time.

The Young Sword Master slowly walked over with an apathetic expression on his face. It looked like he was habituated to such ostentatious greetings like these. He walked in front of the four families and waved his hand before taking a seat in a regal manner.

"Mu Jianping, are your four families ready to pay allegiance to my West Sichuan's Sword Palace?"

All the four family heads looked at each other. Three of their people were dying each day due to the harassment by the Ji family. If this kept happening, they'd all die sooner or later. If they relied on the West Sichuan Sword Palace's help, the Sword Palace would definitely help them and their families were being roped into was because the Sword Palace had an interest in Huabei's underworld power. So they naturally wouldn't let the Ji family run amock on this land.

There was no room for hesitation.

"We wish to!"

The Young Sword Master had already guessed they would answer in this way, so his expression didn't change at all. "Ji Wudao and Zhu Dingshen are dead, yet the Ji family still dares to act so rampantly. Look how I slaughter them."

"They still have a Demigod!" Mu Jianping said helplessly.

"I'm afraid that the Young Sword Master will suffer losses if you go to talk with the Ji family alone."

The Young Sword Master laughed heartily, "Am I not a Demigod?"

Everyone was shocked by these words. The Young Sword Master wasn't even 20, but he had already become a Demigod. They had cultivated for an entire lifetime yet only reached the Grandmaster stage so they couldn't help but feel ashamed and shocked.

They immediately recalled another talented youth. Descend, the nine mythical arts, cleanse the heavens, a thousand years of karma, an artless heart yet romantic - Jiang Luoxia.

Is another Jiang Luoxia going to appear?

China was prospering greatly right now, and under such a star of fortune, it was inevitable for geniuses to appear.

"We shall listen to the Young Sword Master's decision!"

Mu Jianping was still feeling a little worried, "Young Sword Master, as our four families weren't able to endure the Ji family's torment, we had first gone to seek Mr. Jiang of the Imperial Capital. Since we are going to deal with the Ji family, would Mr. Jiang…"

The Young Sword Master said, "Although Jiang Luoxia had killed Ju Wudao, it was a fair battle between demigods. He didn't bother the Ji family after that and also doesn't care about your life or death so he mustn't blame my Sword Palace for getting involved into it. Moreover, even Jiang Luoxia will have to give face to my ancestor."

Yet, at this moment, a man ran into the place with a scared expression on his face, "Young Sword Master, it's no good. Young Master Jing got beaten up."

The Young Sword Master's expression warped, "Who dared to make a move on my men?"

Mu Jianping and the other's expressions turned ugly as well. This was their domain. They were worried whether it was one of their disciples who had done it.

.