Old Mao

Song Peizhi and other noble heirs, surrounded by armoured guards and cultivators, are gathered inside a fortified wooden house that was once, the base of a powerful underworld criminal organization.

This is the extermination squad of the Noble Families.

It is composed of powerful soldiers, guards, Qi Trainees and Noble descendants who are trying to prove themselves to their families.

What was once the safe haven for criminals and law breakers is now being treated as a training ground for cultivators and nobles.

Inside the wooden house, the nobles were discussing their next course of action when a servant entered and whispered something inside Song Peizhi's ears.

Upon hearing what the servant has to say, a wide grin surfaced on Song Peizhi's face as he secretly sent a command to his servant, Old Mao.

Apparently, the scouts spotted some familiar children running around in the streets, children who once escaped from Song Peizhi.

Nobles are pretentious people who place importance on status and prestige, despite the passage of two years, Song Peizhi did not Ximen Wei, or any other slave escapees, go.

He kept sending city guards his way, but once Ximen Wei enters the Criminal District, the guards dare not chase him any more.

In Green Lotus City, the Criminals District is a dangerous place that despises law enforcers and nobles, ordinary guards are no match for armed gangs.

That was how Ximen Wei survived for two years without getting caught.

But now, an opportunity has arose for Song Peizhi, the Criminals District is facing it's doom.

It is the perfect time to wash down this humiliation and remove the stain from his Family's name, otherwise people will think the Song family's defences are loose and slaves can just escape whenever they want.

Old Mao nodded and accepted Song Peizhi's command, he too was embarrassed. He has let down his master too much these past two years, how can he not catch a 10 year old child who is running loose in his backyard that is Green Lotus City?

Old Mao strengthened his resolve and prepared to go all out, he too wanted to wash down this humiliation.

His body let out energy undulations unique to that of a Level 1 Qi Trainees as he disappeared from sight.

Meanwhile, Ximen Wei and his crew were running opposite the direction of the extermination squad.

For now, their goal was to get to a safe place, take a breather and come up with a proper escape plan.

When they reached the outskirts of the Criminal District, Ximen Wei stopped and signalled for Hou Yang and the others to stop.

"Oh crap, looks like this street is blocked."

At the other end of the street, soldiers were obstructing the way.

"What do we do?"

"We have to hurry or else they will catch up to us!"

The group of children started panicking when their way of getting out was blocked.

Ximen Wei tried his best to remain calm and collected.

He did not want to get caught just like the others.

Since he was given another chance at freedom, he wanted to grasp it tightly.

He observed the soldiers and guards as his mind worked at full speed, trying to come up with an idea that can get him out of this predicament.

'Damn it, if we brought the other children along, our chances of running past this group of 4 soldiers will be higher..'

Unfortunately, when Ximen Wei was still coming up with a plan, a gruff voice rang out beside the four children.

"Ohh, so you rats have been hiding here?"

Once Ximen Wei heard the voice, he dashed towards the other end of the alley without any second thought.

"Not so fast!"

A blurry figure passed by Ximen Wei and appeared in front of him.

It was a tall, skinny old man with wrinkled skin and dark bags under his eyes, however, this seemingly weak old man moved at a speed rivalling the top athletes of modern Earth, which made Ximen Wei's heart drop.

'Damn it!'

Old Mao extended his hands to grab Ximen Wei, but Ximen Wei's nimble and small body, alongside his plentiful experience, made it easy to dodge.

Although Old Mao's speed was fast, it was still within' the boundaries of human capabilities, making it possible for Ximen Wei to evade.

"Stand still!" - An ear piercing cry resounded throughout the area as the world came to a halt momentarily, causing Ximen Wei to stagger ever so slightly.

Level 1 Qi Trainees who are able to sense the Qi in the surroundings, have a natural affinity with it which makes their words and actions influence the surrounding Qi, although at a miniscule level.

If this was a Level 2 Qi Trainee, who is able to control Qi, his cry would have frozen Ximen Wei's body completely.

When Old Mao was about to catch Ximen Wei, Hou Yang threw a rock Old Mao's way, hitting him in face, although the throwing force of a 13 year old is pretty weak, it is still able to distract Old Mao, giving Ximen Wei the precious time to make some distance.

Lao Yaoting followed up and started throwing rocks at Old Mao while Jin Bao tugged his legs and started sobbing quietly.

Ever since he saw Old Mao coming up, his face turned pale as his body started shuddering.

Not a lot of Noble households in Green Lotus City can deal such a traumatic experience to a child, when Ximen Wei caught sight of Jin Bao's pitiful figure, he sighed and quickly made a connection between him and Song Peizhi.. But he did not dwell on this for too long, for his life and freedom is being threatened right now.

"S-Sir, why are you doing this?" - Despite knowing this would not work, Ximen Wei still tried and put up a frightened act, asking Old Mao a question, seemingly in an attempt to take advantage of his innocence as a 10 year old child and derive some empathy from Old Mao.

But, it would have been better if he did not ask this question, because not only did it seem to make him angrier, it made him unsheathe his sword.

The two children in front of him made his life rough for the past two years, his master tasked him to bring them back the moment they escaped, but not only did his attempts fail once or twice, all of them failed!

No matter how many people he dispatched, they always returned empty handed.

These two rats has been holed up in the Criminal District all the time, only leaving to steal some food from some merchant's stall.

His master's evaluation of him kept getting lower and lower, from his right hand to a mere trusty aide.

And now, these lowly orphans are throwing rocks at him?

Since his master told him to bring them back, dead or alive, he took it an extra notch and decided to wash down his humiliation with blood.

His blade reflected off the sun's rays as bloodlust and killing intent permeated the area, when Ximen Wei saw what was going to happen, his heart sank even more.

At least when the old man catches them, he will be able to keep his life, after all, as long as he is alive, there is a chance to make a come back.

But now… To say the least, things won't be as simple as before.