Powerful Benefactor

It was night and dewy as of now, a double-hour after the attack.

At the Shui clan, Ling and her family sat at a table and ate dinner together. At the top, her grandfather Ba sat.

"So, my little Ling, did your friend enjoy his stay here?" the patriarch spoke as he had wondered what happened after he left.

"En, grandfather" she interrupted herself from eating to answer and then continued.

Ling sat opposite to him, at the other end of the table.

"What friend?" her father asked curiously. "Do I know him?"

"Hm. What friend, Ling?" her mother became interested as well.

Flanking the old man from both sides were Shui Ru Hua* and Shui Quan*, Ling's mother and father respectively.

The two were fairly old despite having such young children and you could tell at a glance that they had a fair interest in new people…provided they had a good background of course.

"His name is Ke Lei Ba, mother" her brother Shui You* said first.

"He lives in a farm outside TianJin" her second brother Shui Gui* continued.

"And has no background if that is what you are asking" the last of them, Shui Hun*, concluded.

The three brothers sat next to Ling at the end of the table. They were a year apart from each other and also considered the pride and future of the clan.

Upon their words, Ling's parents lost interest and focused on their meal. If the kid had no background then there was no need to pay him any attention. Since the patriarch was preoccupied with his case, then it was settled.

Shui Ba looked at his son with faint disappointment in his gaze. Ever since he married Ru Hua, his attitude had shifted completely and was no longer recognizable. To add fuel to the fire, the young boys had taken upon themselves the same traits.

He was at least glad that his little Ling was the black horse of the family.

"Did he inquire about his artefact?"

"He did. I think everything went well."

"Good—"

"An artefact?" her father scoffed, disbelief apparent in his tone. "How did a boy get an artefact if he has no background? He's probably lying."

His wife concurred and nodded in agreement, all the while her face was still stuffed in her plate. The boys added a few giggles at their parent's remarks.

"That's not true" Ling stood up. "Lei Ba is no liar and master Cai did appraise his item."

"Sit down" he ordered her, his expression worsening. "I think this boy has had a bad influence on you and I forbid you to meet him agai—"

Their conflict was cut short when a disastrous roar shook the ground.

"Wh-what is this?" they covered their heads as the bang still ringed in their ears.

The whole family went outside and saw a trail of smoke erupting from where the common gates to the platform were located.

To nobody's surprise, everyone was rushing to the source of the explosion after being woken up from their sleep, panic-stricken. Some worried bunch even left their homes, still in their nightwear. Children and young teenagers were at the scene too by the time the patriarch of the water clan and his direct family arrived at the gates.

"What's the cause of this?" Shui Ba forced his way among the crowd after finally picking up a faint trace of qi in the atmosphere.

If he knew no better, that was the sign of a cultivator releasing his essence in order to perform an attack or a technique. Someone was having a fight at the gates…someone powerful enough to only emit this much qi and yet cause such an uproar.

"Patriarch Ba!" one of the guards came over from the dust filled place, gripping his arm tightly. "We are being attacked by a man!"

"Only one man?" he was worried. That was a bad sign.

The resistance died down and the lone attacker emerged from beyond the confusion, dragging a guard by his hand. He launched him towards the crowd and knocked them down in the process.

He was not dead fortunately, only unconscious.

Joining the first patriarch, the patriarch of the wind clan stepped out of the amass, accompanied by his family too. Since they were the leaders of their clan, Feng Bao* and Feng Tai*, Yun and Shuai's fathers, approached the scene themselves.

"Bao, you're here too" he sighed with a shaking head. "I'm afraid I will need your strength should our attacker decide to bring harm to the clans."

"No need to concern yourself, old Ba. This patriarch will not allow anyone to trample so easily over our families."

Bao and Tai were brothers and looked pretty much the same as their sons did.

The man who dared to enter their premises though, was someone they had never seen before. His hair was short and brownish, his eyes were golden and his stature was befit a noble. His strength was almost exceeding the two patriarchs even though they were older than he was by far.

"Young man, who are you to cause trouble in our clans?" Feng Tai spoke first, his confidence exceeding him.

"Who am I?" the young man laughed and stretched his arms. "I should be the one to ask you this, old man. Who are you to lay your hands on my master's guest? Do the Shui and Feng clan consider themselves gods and able to tarnish my master's name so easily?"

Perplexed, the public murmured in secret what sounded gibberish to everyone. It was pretty clear that whoever came today was offended and sought explanation or revenge. If that was true, and the offended master of this young man was indeed ferocious, then the clans could only pray they were not annihilated this very night.

"Young man" Bao spoke nervously, hoping this was all a misunderstanding, "if you spoke your name and the one of your master, then probably the situation would be clearer to us here."

"En, if our clan is in the wrong then naturally we will accept punishment."

The patriarchs attempted to soothe the situation and they seemed tensed enough. It was unnecessary to rile up this monster before them and cause a few hundreds to die as collateral of their fight.

"My name is Chu Qiang*."

"Ch-Chu Qiang?" Feng Tai wriggled with fear.

The other people were not familiar with the name so they were unfazed by the revelation.

"You…are you master Gudu's apprentice?" the patriarch's voice failed to express an outright tone. They were quite aware of the name but the terror gripping them tightly caused to ask nonetheless.

"Then you are aware of my master, yet you blatantly attacked his guest and even tried to rob him of his belongings. Not to mention he is currently battling for his life" Chu Qiang spat on the floor. Raising his head, his glare was even more sinister "Truly despicable!"

Hearing the name Gudu, the clans' members were rendered speechless. If Gudu Xing Chen decided to end everyone here, then he would do it without as much as an effort and they were fortunate enough to have been sent his underling who could perform a bit less than his own master.

Mind you, that was no consolation whatsoever. Even Chu Qiang who was a step away from breaking through the heavenly realms, could effectively turn this place to a dilapidated state.

"Master Chu, I'm sure this is a misunderstanding. Perhaps there is a mistake?" they insisted desperately.

"There is no mistake, Patriarchs" Qiang clenched his fist maddeningly. "Have Shui Cai step forward now or the whole will suffer in his stead."

He released a murderous aura capable of pinning everyone far under his realm in their grounds, unable to flee. Those a bit below him could release some of their qi to endure it and move somewhat freely.

"Shui Cai?" the old man was a little taken aback.

Just this afternoon his appraiser received a visit from Ling's friend in order to have his artefact identified. Could the situation be related?

As far as he knew, the boy who came today was only the son of a spiritual herb farmer. He should not have any connections to the lonely star master. But yet again, he claimed to be in possession of an artefact…was it master Gudu who gave it to him? To try and steal from him was equally trying to steal from the master himself.

Just what were they being dragged into this time.

Not long were they pondering under the heavy pressure that some men emerged among the crowds, the artefact appraiser in their hands, followed by his befuddled brother who was begging them for an explanation.

"Are you Shui Cai?" the young man asked him, his aura rising exponentially.

The appraiser shook his head, his sweat beading down his cheeks.

"Patriarchs" Shui Jie was frantic for an explanation as he was still working the bellows when all of this occurred. He just assumed the matter was unworthy of his attention and carried on. "What is the meaning of this? Why is my brother being treated so?"

"Silence master Jie. This is a serious matter" Shui Ba forced him to remain silent, the blunder of a brother was unneeded now.

Chu Qiang grabbed Cai by the neck and lifted him up the ground.

"I'll ask only once. If you lie, I will kill everyone related to you" he formed sharp qi around his palm and awaited Cai's nod. "Good. Then…did you send people to rob my master's guest, Ke Lei Ba?"

He needed no answer. As soon as he said the name, Shui Cai's eyes widened with terror, knowing he had made the biggest mistake of his life.

"So you did!"

"N-no, no no, please. I didn't know he was—" but left him no room for speech.

Qiang launched his palm and pierced him through his stomach, blood gushing out of him and cooling down his clothes. He flailed him off and threw him away, like some insignificant dog fit only for slaughter.

"Brother Lei Ba?" Yun and Ling, who were among those who watched said out loud.

"Isn't this your friend?" Ru Hua turned around to her daughter. "This must be a setup, I think they are lying only to take advantage of our clans!"

Quan had the same in mind and came out to face this arrogant young man who was nearly half his age. Even if he had a strong backing, they were not easily taken advantage of.

"That boy is the cause of this mess?" he condensed qi around his body as he meant to engage with Chu Qiang directly. "I will not let you run wild in here any longer."

He jumped off the floor, aiming his intent at the lone attacker.

Chu Qiang simply caught his arm, struck him with a knee to the gut and followed with an elbow to the back. Quan spat a mouthful. Unfinished, he tore off his arm with a simple pull of his hand and kicked him back towards his father, whom stood frozen all this time.

Shui Ba couldn't intervene or else everyone would be in danger. He restrained himself and accepted whatever fate his foolish son would obtain from his hot-headedness and the poison spouted by his wife.

"H-he…" Ru Hua cried as she rushed over to him. "He destroyed his dantian…monster!"

Many were afraid. Destroying a cultivator's dantian was in other terms crippling his growth and removing his ability to ever be able to continue his cultivation. There were no known ways to mend a broken dantian.

Ling's father was as of this moment, a normal person.

"I was willing to let this pass only with the death of the culprit. But since the Shuis don't know shame, if twenty five of you don't come out and tear off an arm, then I will not restrain myself anymore."

There was no backing out of this problem any longer. Offending master Gudu has created them losses they never imagined.

For resolve to be found, they had to comply now or regret it later.

"We will do as asked."

───────────────────

*Check the very first chapters at the very beginning for the Index*