Chapter 232: Big Chess

"Xu Xiaoshou!"

His Fingerprint Grafting technique hadn't even been successfully developed yet when a gnashing voice came from behind him.

He turned around.

Zhao Xidong!

"Huh, what are you doing here?" Xu Xiaoshou asked, surprised.

"Why shouldn't I be here? If I hadn't come, would you have buried a few more law enforcement officers?"

Zhao Xidong's face was livid. He angrily pointed at two radish-shaped holes in the ground where two people, heads bowed in shame, wished they could dig a hole and bury themselves.

It was utterly humiliating!

Xu Xiaoshou quickly reined in his energy. Since Zhao Xidong had arrived, it was truly a shame that he couldn't finish what he started.

"No, that's not it. They wanted to go in themselves; I just helped them along," he said, looking at the two in the pit. "Right?"

The two were utterly bewildered. Who the hell would want to go in there?

With Zhao Xidong present, they wanted to refute Xu Xiaoshou, but then they reconsidered: Zhao Xidong wasn't always around…

Xu Xiaoshou, on the other hand, was very likely to be.

For a moment, they couldn't utter a word.

Seeing these two fools remain silent, Zhao Xidong became even more furious. He pointed at Lan Xinzhi behind them and asked, "Then what about her?"

He said this, but inwardly, he was a little surprised.

The name "Fairy Lan" was not an exaggeration; in all his years, it was the first time he had seen her appear before him in such a sorry state.

"Her?"

Xu Xiaoshou also turned, looking at Lan Xinzhi, who was silently taking medicine. He regretted, "She tried to kill me, and I acted in self-defense."

Lan Xinzhi's movements froze.

Under attack, Passive Point, 1.

Zhao Xidong was enraged.

"Self-defense? Law enforcement officers were already here, and you still claim self-defense? And what's with this large cauldron?" he fumed, pointing at the bathtub beside Xu Xiaoshou.

"Large cauldron?"

Xu Xiaoshou was momentarily stunned. He could tell it was a large cauldron?

Right, this guy might have met Elder Sang…

He puffed out his chest. "You already said it's a large cauldron. Of course, it's for refining pills. Could it possibly be for smashing people?"

The two in the pit: "???"

Under attack, Passive Point, 1.

The onlookers burst out laughing. Xu Xiaoshou said one thing, but his actions clearly contradicted it!

Zhao Xidong calmed down. Enough, he thought. He had had enough talk with Xu Xiaoshou for one day; if they continued, something else was bound to happen.

He stated flatly, "Let's go to the Lingfa Pavilion. No need to say anything more."

How could Xu Xiaoshou go with him?

He hadn't even killed anyone, and now he was going to be apprehended by law enforcement? That would be ridiculous!

"Private duels are not forbidden in the Inner Court!" he declared loudly.

"Haha, you're quite knowledgeable about the rules. Then do you know what the penalty is for assaulting a law enforcement officer?" Zhao Xidong sneered.

"That has nothing to do with me; it was its doing," Xu Xiaoshou said, pointing at the bathtub beside him. Zhao Xidong immediately trembled with rage.

What the hell, a bathtub did it…?

"If you don't use it, can it smash people?"

"People want to kill me just for standing in the Inner Court!" Xu Xiaoshou retorted.

At this statement, the smiles on the onlookers' faces froze.

The young man before them was indeed somewhat amusing, but truly, he was also a tragic figure!

He had inexplicably provoked the Inner Court's most powerful figure and lived a life of constant fear every day.

If it were them, could they have endured for so long?

Zhao Xidong was instantly speechless. He thought of Wen Chong.

So, ultimately, all the blame was to be laid at his own feet?

After all, that day, he, as the referee, had been derelict in his duty…

No!

They were clearly discussing Xu Xiaoshou assaulting law enforcement officers, so how did they get sidetracked?

He took a deep breath, looking at Xu Xiaoshou's slightly wronged expression, and felt exasperated.

This kid was truly unpredictable!

"Alright, if you don't want to come, hand over that weapon that acted on its own. From now on, every time you dare to make a move, I'll confiscate one of your items!" Zhao Xidong said coldly.

He couldn't believe he truly couldn't control this kid!

"Do you want this bathtub?"

Xu Xiaoshou's expression turned strange. "To be honest, this isn't even mine. It belongs to Elder Sang. Do you still want it?"

Elder Sang?

Zhao Xidong instantly got a headache. Why was it always Elder Sang? How could Xu Xiaoshou always be connected to him?

But looking at the object before him, it did resemble Elder Sang's alchemy cauldron.

No, it was almost identical, just a size smaller, clearly from the same lineage!

Connecting this to previous events, it seemed that every time he tried to act against Xu Xiaoshou, some inexplicable, irresistible force would hinder him.

Sometimes it was various coincidences, sometimes an unseen pull, or sometimes a very direct, man-made intervention:

Sometimes it was Ye Xiaotian, sometimes Boss Xiao, and even, the masked man?

Zhao Xidong felt he was on to something. He pushed his thoughts further…

Could it be that Xu Xiaoshou really had some connection to Elder Sang?

Master and disciple?

He startled himself again. This wasn't the first time he'd had this thought, but Elder Sang already had a disciple!

Mu Zixi…

No!

Zhao Xidong's pupils suddenly constricted.

Mu Zixi?

That's it!

Every time he reached this point in his reasoning, his thoughts were always cut short by this seemingly ordinary, yet ultimately insurmountable, presence!

"Is Xu Xiaoshou truly connected to Elder Sang, and Mu Zixi is just a smokescreen?"

Upon reaching this conclusion, Zhao Xidong's heart pounded furiously.

"Why?"

If Xu Xiaoshou was really Elder Sang's disciple, why wouldn't they just say so?

Although absurd, this guy's strength was undeniable, and his talent was almost unparalleled in the Inner Court, making him arguably the top person in the Spiritual Palace.

Why keep it a secret?

As he had thought before, perhaps because of his past relationships, Zhao Xidong trusted his intuition. He seemed to sniff out something extraordinary.

It wasn't just confined to the Spiritual Palace; it felt more like a grand chess game that hadn't even begun, with Xu Xiaoshou's true potential yet to be revealed!

But, the young man before him was already this impressive, and yet his full potential was still considered unrevealed…

What would it be like when the game truly began?

"Phew."

Suppressing the shock in his heart, Zhao Xidong looked at the young man whose face still held an innocent smile, and a shiver went down his spine.

He had experienced the methods of those old cunning individuals before.

If it weren't for them, perhaps he wouldn't be just a mere law enforcement officer in the Spiritual Palace…

"Am I a pawn?"

Sometimes Zhao Xidong truly wished he wasn't so smart. When it was best to be clueless, his mind just raced.

He didn't want to be a player in this game!

The further he stayed away, the better!

"Xu Xiaoshou, you can go." His voice suddenly carried a hint of powerlessness.

Xu Xiaoshou was about to reveal Elder Sang's token, but to his surprise, the well-known figure from Lingfa Pavilion was letting him go.

Looking at the large wave of "Suspected" messages in his info panel, he genuinely had no idea what this guy had imagined.

But it didn't matter!

Xu Xiaoshou tidied up his things and pointed behind him. "She's injured; I'll help her leave!"

Lan Xinzhi: "???"

Veins instantly popped on Zhao Xidong's forehead. This guy was truly pushing his luck to the extreme!

"Xu Xiaoshou, don't go too far—"

"Xu Xiaoshou?"

A soft voice interrupted him. When everyone turned their heads, they saw a man whose physique seemed capable of propping up the sky.

"Gulp!"

The onlookers' eyes widened slightly, and they unconsciously swallowed.

"Here?"

Xu Xiaoshou also reacted to the voice, turning around to see the towering figure, over two meters tall, behind him.

The man had a thick, black beard, and the muscles beneath his linen clothes showed astonishing definition. A half-length cloak billowed in the wind.

Xu Xiaoshou lowered his eyelids; he seemed to know who had arrived.

Stepping forward, he extended his hand in a friendly gesture.

"Nice to meet you."

Zhang Xinxiong pulled a piece of paper from the folds of his garment, which barely covered his massive chest. Like a giant looking down, he slapped it onto Xu Xiaoshou's chest, who was more than a head shorter than him.

With a thud, the paper fell to the ground.

On it was Xu Xiaoshou's portrait.

"It's been a long time coming!"