“So what if it’s the Situ Clan’s carriage?” the bandit leader laughed. “Brothers, we rob their carriage, find a new place to settle, and the sky’s the limit. What, do you think the Situ Clan has power over the entire Eastern Continent?”
By now, all the guards had been killed, only one old man at the ninth stage of the Spirit ridian Realm was still barely holding on.
Most of the bandits were at the Spirit ridian Realm, while the leader himself had just advanced into the ridian Forging Realm.
He didn’t rush to kill the old man. Instead, like a cat playing with a mouse, he said mockingly, “Get whoever’s inside the carriage out here. I want to see what kind of person from the Situ Clan we’re dealing with.”
“Boss, soone’s coming!” a younger bandit shouted, spotting Xu Zimo and his companions approaching.
The bandit leader turned, holding a massive cleaver, and swaggered toward them. “Hey, kids! I’m in a good mood today, get lost. Take one more step, and I’ll chop your head off.”
“We’re not leaving,” Xu Zimo replied, annoyed. “If you’re going to be a bandit, at least have so professional ethics. Why are you robbing them but not us? What, are we not good enough to be robbed?”
The bandit leader stared, dumbfounded. “Is this guy nuts? I told him to leave, and he insists on being robbed.”
With a wave of his hand, the bandit leader sent his crew swarming to surround Xu Zimo and his group.
“Little Gui, they’re all yours,” Xu Zimo said with a smile.
“Don’t worry,” Little Gui replied confidently, pulling an iron staff from his back.
Despite always acting like a bootlicker, Little Gui was a genuine inner disciple of the True Martial Sacred Ground, at the fifth stage of the ridian Forging Realm.
Handling a bunch of bandits was nothing for him.
He swung his iron staff, and with each blow, it was like smashing a waterlon. Heads burst open.
“These guys are tougher than expected, everyone, get him!” a bandit shouted.
Little Gui wasn’t fazed. He jumped down from his Soaring Sand Horse, staff spinning like a whirlwind. Each strike carried imnse force, powerful enough to compress the air until it cracked with sonic booms.
Within a few short exchanges, the bandits were lying on the ground, groaning in pain.
Seeing things turn bad, the bandit leader tried to flee on horseback.
But Little Gui’s eyes were sharp. He hurled his iron staff like a spear.
It scread through the air in a black streak, stabbing through the bandit leader’s back and pinning him to a massive boulder.
Only after the staff lodged deep into the rock did it finally stop.
“You’ve gotten pretty good at using the Demon Berserker Staff Technique,” Xu Zimo said casually.
“My technique just reached the 'Grand Completion' level, not quite perfect yet,” Little Gui replied.
Minor, Major, Grand Completion and Absolute Perfection, those were the four mastery levels of ridian Techniques.
“Don’t take the word 'Berserker' too literally,” Xu Zimo explained casually. “It’s not about rage or madness, and ‘demon’ doesn’t an you beco so bloodthirsty monster. This technique is about montum, striking all out, pressing forward without hesitation.”
Seeing Little Gui fall into deep thought, Xu Zimo rode up to the carriage.
The old man still standing nearby quickly bowed in gratitude.
“Not your place to thank ,” Xu Zimo said calmly. “Tell whoever’s in the carriage to co out.”
The old man hesitated, but then a clear, bell-like voice ca from within the carriage:
“Uncle Fu, it’s alright. I should et my savior face-to-face.”
The curtain of the carriage was lifted, and two won stepped out slowly.
The one on the left looked like a servant based on her dress and deanor.
The woman on the right wore a light teal dress embroidered with lotus flowers around the collar and sleeves.
Her skin was fair, her collarbones elegantly exposed, and her long, black hair flowed down her shoulders, tied with a pink silk ribbon.
She looked fresh and graceful, with light makeup, large intelligent eyes, a delicate nose, and a gentle, oval-shaped face.
“I am Situ Yunqing. Thank you, young master, for saving my life,” she said softly, bowing slightly.
“Tsk tsk, what a pretty little face,” Xu Zimo said, chewing on a stalk of straw with a cocky tone.
As he spoke, he reached out to touch her cheek, but Situ Yunqing turned her head away.
Xu Zimo hooked his index finger under her chin and gazed at her like a collector admiring a piece of art. Situ Yunqing turned pale with fear but still held his gaze, biting her lip.
“Senior Brother Xu, if you want her, I can keep watch for you,” Little Gui offered helpfully from the side.
“Let go of my lady!” the maid tried to push Xu Zimo away but was grabbed by Lin Ruhu and tossed aside.
“Don’t worry, I’ve never liked forcing won,” Xu Zimo said with a smile as he withdrew his hand. “If you want to thank , don’t just say it, show so sincerity.”
“I don’t have anything with right now,” Situ Yunqing said earnestly. “But if you don’t mind, you can co with to Imperial Gate City. Once we arrive at the Situ estate, I promise to thank you properly.”
“You’re the young lady of the Situ Clan? Who are you trying to fool?” Little Gui scoffed. “The Situ Clan may not be that great, but they’re still a major family in Imperial Gate City. You don’t even have a single ridian Forging Realm guard with you. That’s why you got robbed. You think we’re clueless?”
“My mother was just an ordinary woman from a small town. Her eting with my father was pure coincidence,” Situ Yunqing said after a pause. “My mother was proud. She didn’t want to rely on others or be looked down upon, so she raised on her own. She never wanted to reconnect with the Situ Clan. But now she’s seriously ill, and before she dies, she’s worried about . She asked to seek out my father so I could have a place to belong.”
Hearing this, Xu Zimo understood.
It seed Situ Yunqing’s mother had been just a regular woman, while her father was the head of the Situ Clan. The gap in status was too large.
Her mother didn’t want to live under the roof of soone who didn’t respect her, so she raised Situ Yunqing alone.
Which ant that most of the Situ Clan likely didn’t even know their patriarch had an illegitimate daughter out there.
“The Situ Clan, huh…” At that mont, Xu Zimo rembered sothing from his past life.
In the original (previous) tiline, the Situ Clan had been just a minor clan in Imperial Gate City. Their influence barely extended beyond the local area. But later, a woman from the Situ Clan founded the Situ Enterprise, expanding its business across the entire Eastern Continent. She led the Situ Clan to rise from a regional clan to major power.
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