HIDDEN EVIL [XIAO SHUXIANG THE SERIES]

HIDDEN EVIL [XIAO SHUXIANG THE SERIES]
52 - Worry (2)

"Does the cultivator in this place have such a manner?" Xiao Shuxiang asked.


The old grandfather who was none other than Dao Fang An regained his senses and immediately looked at the all-black-clothed young man before him. His voice was serious, "What do you mean, boy?"


"Is not my question clear? Did indeed the cultivator in this place have such a haughty nature?"


"You are like that too. You're the same as them,"


Xiao Shuxiang snorted, "I'm good to a good person to me. I respect the people who respect me. I am cold to people I dislike and I kill those who do not deserve to live. Hows it? What kind of attitude would I choose, hm?"


"What you're saying is the same as explaining that you're typical of people with no standing," Dao Fang An sneered. He walked past the young man in front of him.


Xiao Shuxiang walked after the Old Bangka, he said. "You're wrong, Grandpa. That is my strength."


Dao Fang An brought Xiao Shuxiang to a bamboo hut. Arriving in the yard, he told the young man to put down the vegetable basket he was carrying. Of course Xiao Shuxiang put it down as requested.


Dao Fang An, "Did you meet someone other than Young Master Liu?"


"Mn, there was previously a red-clothed girl who was quite pretty. But I don't know his name. Then I met that shitty granny who nagged me. He didn't let me put this basket on the ground. She cursed you, is that grandma your wife?"


"Of course not." Dao Fang An refused outright, "You rest in this place. Tomorrow, get up early and start your work pulling out the grass. That basket you brought in, I'll take it tomorrow."


Xiao Shuxiang flinched, he stopped Dao Fang An when the old man was intending to leave. "Wait, I didn't see my friend? Where did the other new servants go?


"They have their own room. Already, just rest. Or do you want to go straight to work?"


"No, thank you. I'll get in before you change your mind." Xiao Shuxiang took back his vegetable basket and immediately walked away. 


He cursed, "If you tell me to bring this in, you shouldn't have to put it outside. Really Old Bangka sucks,"


Dao Fang An heard it and shook his head slowly, he looked at Xiao Shuxiang's back and also started walking away. "That kid... Though insolent, but she at least still knows how to thank me."


*


*


*


Xiao Shuxiang exhaled looking at the resting place that Dao Fang An had given him. This hut is honestly more suitable to be called a firewood warehouse or storage of food and water.


There was a bed with a straw mat near a small window. There is also a wooden bulkhead behind which there is a bathtub. Xiao Shuxiang was sure someone had deliberately placed the object to convince himself that this was a room.


"There's no time for protest. It's better than grandfather's old hut when I first came to the Butterfly Sect."


Xiao Shuxiang had actually never bothered about wherever the resting place was for him. Even if Dao Fang An did not provide a place, he could still sleep anywhere. Even in the tree, it doesn't matter.


Xiao Shuxiang exhaled, he decided to clear himself first. There was a tub of water in this place and because of those conditions, he did not need to look for water anymore.


It didn't take long until Xiao Shuxiang finished cleaning himself up. After getting dressed, he began to lie down on his bed. 


This straw mat reminded him of the time he first woke up in a simple house in Tani Village. A new life after the great war between him and the cultivators of the third stream. 


Now, it seems like his life is restarting. I don't know what problems will come, but then and now are two different things. Xiao Shuxiang never regretted the two.


"I haven't seen Mo Huai all day, somehow the boy's condition is. Ah, the White Cat too... Should I find him?" Xiao Shuxiang just remembered, he should have looked for Ling Qing Zhu first and made sure his wife's condition was fine.


Just about to step out of the bamboo hut, but it immediately crossed Xiao Shuxiang's mind not to go anywhere. This place was unfamiliar to him and after meeting some cultivators with high-ability-he felt the need to be more careful.


"I can't be careless. This is not in the Eastern Continent, especially if I consider this as a place that can make me act like it. Cultivators here have very high abilities, it would be very troublesome if I just make trouble. The White Cat will also be dragged along, too,"


Xiao Shuxiang exhaled, however he could not act childishly in this kind of place. "Would tomorrow look for the girl, I think she's resting..."


In the end Xiao Shuxiang returned to his bed and only took three breaths until he started to fall asleep.


On the other hand, Mo Huai slept with two cultivators whose practices were at the second level of Forging Qi. The two people looked extremely exhausted, even one of them had a slightly pale face.


Mo Huai and the same cultivators seemed to have been given the ease to pass through Tian agore. They were assisted along the way by Wang Yu so that they could arrive at this place faster. 


Those who suffered internal injuries also received treatment. Thankfully none of those cultivators were in a state of severe injuries.


"......"


This place was unfamiliar and Mo Huai was not familiar with anyone. Ling Qing Zhu who was Mo Huai's only acquaintance was in a special room and away from the neighborhood where the servants lived. Whether Xiao Shuxiang managed to come here or not, but he wished for the Alchemist Chef to be here with him.


"......"


*


*


*


Hu Li who was together with Nie Shang and Siu Yixin also missed Xiao Shuxiang. He made his way back to the Thousand Year Inn.


Nie Shang himself was inside a carriage pulled by two horses. Hu Li sat cross-legged on the roof of the carriage. He seemed focused on looking ahead, looking so calm-yet his heart was clearly agitated.


"♪♬ What are you thinking, yo? ♪♬" Siu Yixin who was riding a horse asked Hu Li.


"Master Mudaku. I'm worried about her situation,"


Nie Shang who was inside the carriage heard Hu Li's words. He lifted the curtain beside him and slightly pulled out his head.


Nie Shang spoke, "Brother Xiao will be fine. Precisely what you should be worried about is the cultivators who are in the Upper Cultivation Realm. I don't know what the conditions will be like after he comes. Brother Xiao isn't that the culprit of the roar?"


Hu Li did not refute him, "Actually my Young Master would not do anything detrimental if there was no one to bother him. It's just..."


Doubt was seen on Hu Li's face. He gave up the intention to talk. His actions made Nie Shang and Siu Yixin wait.


"Just what...?" Nie Shang was a bit impatient.


Hu Li was silent for a moment before finally speaking, "My Young Master can't be far from blood."


!?


"♪♬ You mean? ♪♬"


"He was trying to be a good person, but it was actually difficult for the Young Master to make his hands always clean of blood. I'm just worried he's gonna hurt himself..."


Hu Li's feeling grew increasingly uneasy as a memory flashed across him, "A few times I've found Young Master Xiao breaking his own fingers and nearly tearing his stomach. Lucky I came on time to prevent him from doing anything reckless,"


Nie Shang was surprised, "Is it as bad as Brother Xiao's illness?! I thought she was okay all along,"


"My Young Master was taken to the Life and Death Arena when he was just 5 years old. His father and mother in a former life were very sane. They put my Young Master through a difficult time alone for two years. Not to mention when they are gone, my Young Master must live alone until he is an adult. It is inconceivable how hard life Mr. Mudaku lived. The Young Master was not to blame for his personality,"


"......"


Hu Li did not tell any further details about Xiao Shuxiang's life, but Nie Shang already understood him deeply. He could not imagine how Xiao Shuxiang lived with such upbringing.


"♬♪ Yo, yo. That incident was already over a hundred years ago, could he not forget his past? ♪♬"


Nie Shang, "I don't think that's an easy thing to forget. It's a kind of trauma, but it's probably worse. Although in this life Brother Xiao has a different father and mother, but still the trauma of his past cannot be eliminated."


Hu Li, "I've heard that those bad memories can't be forgotten and continue to last a lifetime. Its nature is permanent when compared with beautiful memories. I don't know... Actually my Young Master wasn't very open about his past life to me,"


"Why not ask him?" Nie Shang felt that Hu Li was only focusing on being Xiao Shuxiang's servant without ever trying to forge more of a relationship than that.


"Hu Li," Nie Shang again said. "There is a boundary between the servant and the Young Master, but there is no boundary between brothers. Did you never think it was better to be a brother than a servant to someone like Brother Xiao?"


Hu Li was stunned, he had never thought that way. He was just about to speak when two of Nie Shang's bodyguards suddenly called out. Hu Li flinched and immediately took a standing position.


!!


The conversation suddenly had to stop because Nie Shang's entourage and his servants and bodyguards had been blocked by a group of people dressed in all black. Their faces were covered in cloth and the sword carried was clearly showing bad faith.


The four bodyguards of Nie Shang directly descended from their horses while pulling the sword. No longer need to be asked, the figure who blocked the road was none other than a group of mountain bandits.


"Nothing like this before? Why are we suddenly blocked?!" Nie Shang was shocked. His eyes widened and spontaneously closed the curtain as an arrow shot out.


!!


******