Against the Gods

Chapter 24 – Upheaval (3)

Xiao Lie originally had great expectations for the people from the Xiao Sect. The son of the Xiao Sect’s master presumably should be like a celestial dragon god.

However, at first sight, he was instead greatly disappointed. He didn’t see the aura, grace, self-restraint, and appropriate loftiness that the direct disciples of a great sect should have. Rather, he only saw condescending arrogance and a tyrannical look in his eyes that left an uneasy feeling. It was just like that of a pampered and spoiled playboy that had grown up among sycophants. But upon thinking carefully, he was also relieved… After all, the Xiao Sect couldn’t possibly care about this small Xiao Clan. How could they send some “great person” over? The status of “the son of the sect master” was also merely to express a superficial respect to the dead Xiao Zheng.

“Daddy, I just heard them say that you and the clan master headed off to welcome the Xiao Sect’s people. How come you’re back so soon?” Xiao Lingxi had just happened to stop by to deliver food to Xiao Lie. With a face full of curiosity, she asked: “Have the people from the Xiao Sect already arrived? What kind of people are they? Do they have a really frightening aura?”

Xiao Lingxi’s questions reminded him of the elder standing behind Xiao Kuangyun. He nodded: “Of course, the people from the Xiao Sect are unfathomable. However, Xi Er, you should avoid the Xiao Sect’s people as much as possible in the few days that they’re here. The young man leading them isn’t some kind of benevolent person. If you can avoid them, then you should do so.”

“Ah?” Xiao Lingxi blinked her eyes in disbelief and then nodded lightly: “I know daddy. In fact, I was already a little bit afraid of them. After all, they are from the Xiao Sect. They must be super super powerful.”

“Even if you’re curious, you should try to stay away from them.” Xiao Lie once again warned. He lightly breathed in and, with a heavy load on his mind, walked into the courtyard.

“Daddy? Why do you look like you have something on your mind? Did something especially big happen?” Xiao Lingxi asked nervously. As a daughter who knew her father well, with just a glance, Xiao Lingxi could see through Xiao Lie’s facial expression.

Xiao Lie froze for a second, and then shook his head: “It’s nothing…” He paused for a moment as he realized that if he didn’t say it out loud, then this clever daughter of his may not feel at ease for the rest of the day. He could only slowly respond: “The Xiao Sect brought a gift called the “Profound Opening Powder”. From what that Xiao Kuangyun said, this Profound Opening Powder has a great restorative effect on damaged profound veins. So…”

“Ah! It can fix damaged profound veins? Is that true?” Xiao Lie hadn’t even finished talking, but Xiao Lingxi was already crying out in excitement. All of the sudden, her small hands tightly clenched the edges of her clothing. Fixing Xiao Che’s profound veins had always been her greatest wish. These past few years, she had nonstop diligently searched for every possible method with Xiao Lie. Xiao Lie’s words were no different to her than the celestial sound of heaven granting her wish.

“The effects of the Xiao Sect’s medicine can’t be compared to that of ordinary medicine. It may really be able to provide surprising results.” Saying this, Xiao Lie’s expression slowly dimmed: “However, the Profound Opening Powder’s most important use is to accelerate the speed of cultivation for a certain amount of time. Right now, the clan master and the rest of them all consider this ‘Profound Opening Powder’ as a treasure. To convince them to use the ‘Profound Opening Powder’ on the body of Che Er, who’s considered a good for nothing in their eyes… It truly was a slim hope.

Xiao Lingxi’s expression became sluggish. Xiao Lie’s words were like a pail of cold water that extinguished all of her excitement. She bit her lips and resolutely said, “No matter how, we must obtain the Profound Opening Powder. Little Che definitely isn’t a good for nothing! He’s the one that needs the Profound Opening Powder the most!”

“I’ll try with all my power to fight for it.” Seeing her daughter’s expression, Xiao Lie let out a long sigh. However, in his heart, he was perfectly clear how little hope there was of getting the Profound Opening Powder… In other words, it was absolutely impossible.

…………………………

Nightfall.

“I saw the Xiao Sect’s Xiao Kuangyun today.”

Candle light faintly swayed inside the room. Xia Qingyue sat at the side of the bed and lightly said.

“Oh… what kind of person is he?” Xiao Che yawned before casually asking with an indifferent look.

“He is like his name.” Xia Qingyue’s eyebrows drooped as she remembered the look in Xiao Kuangyun’s eyes as he looked at her. A look of disgust passed through her eyes. Her master had told her that of the Xiao Sect master’s four sons, the other three all could be considered as having dragon-like talent. Only the fourth son was an one hundred percent idiot. However, he nevertheless was doted on the most by the sect master, possibly because he was the youngest and was the legal wife’s only son.

(TL: Kuangyun translates to “wild/violent cloud”)

“That’s pretty normal. If you think about it, it’s pretty obvious what kind of people the Xiao Sect would send to this place. But either way, it still has nothing to do with me. At the most, I just have to go tomorrow as a formality.” Xiao Che shrugged as he spoke. His eyebrows suddenly twitched, and his expression sharpened slightly. He raised his head and asked: “Qingyue my wife, you said you saw him? Then did he also see you?”

“That’s right… why?” Xia Qingyue raised her eyebrows.

Xiao Che raised his hand to rub his chin, then suddenly said: “You said before that he was a piece of trash with an exceedingly bad reputation. This kind of trash… *sigh*, Qingyue my wife, if I haven’t guessed wrong, your master should be near Floating Cloud City, right?”

“… How did you know?” A trace of astonishment flashed across Xia Qingyue’s face.

Xiao Che didn’t explain. He said with a serious expression: “Since it’s like that, think of a way to communicate with your master. It’d be best to have her come to this place tomorrow…” After thinking for a moment, his expression once again relaxed: “Since your master is nearby, then I guess there won’t be any big problems. Let’s sleep.”

Xia Qingyue’s delicate brows raised slightly, and she then quietly pondered for a moment. She once again thought back to the expression in Xiao Kaungyun’s eyes as he looked at her this afternoon and finally understood the meaning behind Xiao Che’s words. Her expression suddenly spasmed, and she unconsciously reached out to pinch the icicle shaped sound transmitting device at her waist.

Seeing Xiao Che preparing to spread the blanket at the corner, her gaze faintly swayed. Her lips continuously moved quite a few times before she finally let out a voice: “Come sleep on the bed.”

“Ah?” Xiao Che turned his body towards her and said with wide eyes: “Qingyue my wife, what did you say?”

Xia Qingyue immediately turned her face away to hide her current expression. She coldly replied: “If you didn’t hear it, then forget it!”

“I heard it! How could I not have heard it?!” Xiao Che immediately nodded like a chick pecking rice. He threw the blanket in his hand away and quickly threw himself onto the bed, then looked at Xia Qingyue with a happy smile: “Qingyue my wife, will you sleep on the inside or outside tonight?”

“…..” Xia Qingyue didn’t reply. With a wave of her snowy hand, she extinguished all of the red candle in the space of a second. The room was immediately pitch black, and her heart also secretly let out a sigh. She reached out and pushed Xiao Che to the inside, pulled the blanket over, and covered both of their bodies with it. Laying down sideways with her back to Xiao Che, she said in a quiet and cold voice: “You don’t need to think about it too much. I’m only doing this to make it more convenient for you to treat my body at three in the morning… You’re not allowed to do forbidden things! Otherwise I won’t ever let you sleep on the bed again!”

“As you wish, my beloved lady wife!” Xiao Che elatedly spoke as he gave the blankets a tug and sniffed the remainder of the young lady’s fragrance that was still held in it.

Now, she was being called “wife” by Xiao Che several dozen times a day. From the initial sulking up to now, not only did hearing it feel incomparably natural, but also at the same time gave her a kind of indescribable feeling of “I am his wife”. This subtle change caused her to be flustered and more so left her at a loss. She closed her eyes and strove to avoid thinking about these things that set her heart into disorder. Not long after, she peacefully fell asleep.

It had unwittingly become three in the morning. This was the darkest time before dawn, and the entire Xiao Clan was peaceful. The only sounds that could be heard were the occasional buzzing of insects.

In the darkness, from Xiao Lingxi’s courtyard came a light *creak* sound and, following that sound, the securely closed house door slowly opened. A petite shadow slowly snuck out and, after peering at the surroundings for a while, quickly ran fled outside.

The shadow hadn’t been able to step outside the courtyard gate when a tall, gray figure suddenly dropped from the sky, landing in front of her. The sound of a girl’s cry of alarm rose up, then soon after came a solemn voice, lowered with great effort: “Xi Er, where are you going this late at night?”

“Ah! Da… daddy!” The greatly frightened shadow pulled down the shroud covering her face, revealing a lovely and touching girl’s face. It really was Xiao Lingxi. Looking at the Xiao Lie that had suddenly appeared in front of her, her soul shook momentarily. “I… I… I…”

“Ah!” Xiao Lie let out a long sigh, then said in a low voice: “Xi Er, you want to go steal the Profound Opening Powder, right?”

“I… I…” Xiao Lingxi lowered her head as she faltered.

“You are my daughter. How could I not know what you’re thinking in your heart?” Xiao Lie once again let out a long sigh and then patted his daughter on her shoulder. “After you left me this afternoon, I thought you had a strange look in your eyes. I felt uneasy, so I came here to stand guard… Sure enough, you had the thought to go steal the Profound Opening Powder… Xi Er, you really are too willful. Do you know how dangerous this is? That Profound Opening Powder isn’t something ordinary. It is a gift from the Xiao Sect. If your tracks were discovered, then it would be in the Xiao Sect’s jurisdiction. At that time, if the those four from the Xiao Sect decide you’re guilty, not to mention me, there’s no one in this Floating Cloud City that could save you.”

Xiao Lingxi lowered her head and bit her lips. “I… I know all of that. But… but… Little Che is too pitiful. He’s clearly a good person, yet is always laughed at by people, looked down by people, and treated as trash by everyone. If he could fix his profound veins, then he won’t be ridiculed anymore. He wouldn’t fall short of anyone…”

Xiao Lie opened and closed his mouth, a look of remorse flashing across his face.

“I always wondered, why Xiao Che was the one with the deformed profound veins, and not me… This world is really too unfair to him… Daddy, did you know? Whenever I see Little Che being laughed at, and that he still tries to adopt a uncaring look and instead come comfort me, my heart is filled with so much unease… If I could fix his profound veins, even if I have to become a thief… even if I receive the penalty of death, I would still be willing to do it a hundred times…

As she talked, Xiao Lingxi’s eyes were already filled with tears. She covered her face with her hands and finally couldn’t help but start sobbing.

A violent spasm passed across Xiao Lie’s face. As he looked at his sobbing daughter, his heart was also grieving. He quietly consoled: “Xi Er, I know you are wholeheartedly doing this for Che Er. But, you doing this, leaving aside the consequences, Xiao Yunhai didn’t give that box of Profound Opening Powder to anyone after receiving it. He should be carrying it on his body. With your strength, how could you steal anything from Xiao Yunhai? Listen to me, go back and sleep. Concerning the Profound Opening Powder, I will spare no effort to think of something. Even though I haven’t argued about anything these few years, among the this Xiao Clan, I, on the whole, still have a voice. Obtaining the Profound Opening Powder isn’t necessarily a completely hopeless cause. You aren’t allowed to do this kind of silly thing in the future. If something really happened to you… who will take care of and protect Che Er afterwards?”

Xiao Lie’s last sentence gently struck Xiao Lingxi’s soft heart, leaving her heart with a sudden, lingering fear… That’s right! If I didn’t succeed, was caught, and received a large punishment, what would happen to little Che…

“I… I understand.” Xiao Lingxi removed her black clothing and dropped them to the side. She wiped the tears from her face and said in with a guilty face: “Daddy, I’m sorry. I did a stupid thing and had you worry again. I’ll obediently go sleep now and won’t do something like this again… Daddy, you should quickly go back and rest… I promise I won’t go steal the Profound Opening Powder.”

“*Chuckle*, it’s good as long as you listen.” Xiao Lie nodded his head and smiled warmly. But before leaving, he still worriedly picked up black clothing on the ground and took it with him.