Chapter Eighteen: Leave Me Alone

Tangchen Golf Villa District was not a place where ordinary people could ever hope to reside. Each villa here was worth tens of millions, and even with money, without the proper background, it was impossible to purchase a home.

In the darkness, each villa radiated light, their luminance mingling with one another. The distance between villas was substantial, interspersed with all manner of flowers, trees, and shrubs. Under the bright lights, the entire district took on a mysterious and profound ambiance.

Inside one lavish villa, a middle-aged man stared unblinkingly at a surveillance monitor. This was Wang Qiyi, who had followed the head of the Xiao family for many years.

“This brat, what a lucky dog with women!” Wang Qiyi muttered irritably as he watched Xiao Cheng and Fang Yujia at the door. He was nothing like the deferential man he was around Xiao Fusheng; now, he resembled nothing so much as a streetwise rogue.

Lighting a cigarette, Wang Qiyi sighed. Because of the wall, he hadn’t caught even a glimpse of Fang Yujia bathing earlier—much to his disappointment. Such a beautiful young woman, widowed at such an age—was she meant to spend her youth this way, wasting the prime of her life? What a pity.

Wang Qiyi couldn’t deny it—he had indeed developed feelings for Fang Yujia. Any normal man, seeing such a beautiful woman before him every day, would be tempted, especially since she was a widow.

He took a drag, raised his head, and glanced back at the monitor—only to freeze. Xiao Cheng, whom he’d been watching, had vanished. Checking the infrared scanner, he saw that only Fang Yujia remained in the entire villa.

“Where has that brat wandered off to?” Wang Qiyi muttered in surprise. He’d only lit a cigarette—a matter of ten seconds—yet in that brief time, Xiao Cheng had disappeared. What could anyone do in just ten seconds?

While Wang Qiyi puzzled over this, Xiao Cheng was quietly approaching the villa where Wang Qiyi was stationed. Agile and silent as a hunting leopard, he darted left and right. Reaching the wall, he examined its material, released his spiritual sense, and confirmed that it was about forty centimeters thick—enough to set his mind at ease.

He was now at the fifth stage of Foundation Building, his true energy nearly three times what it had been before, barely enough to perform the Earth Escape Technique from the jade slip.

The Earth Escape Technique, in essence, functioned like the legendary Burrowing Arts. As long as he was in contact with an earth-attributed substance, he could use it as a medium to shift himself within a small range. The Five Elemental Escape Arts had been lost for centuries; in the present age, only Xiao Cheng still wielded such an ability.

Silently reciting the incantation, Xiao Cheng channeled his true energy and pressed his hand to the wall. Something marvelous happened: his hand sank through the wall as if dipping into water, encountering no resistance.

Though he already understood the Earth Escape Technique’s function, seeing his hand pass unhindered through solid wall was still astonishing.

Gradually, his entire body sank into the wall and slowly emerged on the other side. With his current strength, he could barely penetrate fifty centimeters of wall; any thicker and he’d risk being trapped within.

Xiao Cheng employed this technique mainly for the element of surprise. His spiritual sense told him that the person upstairs was stronger than he, though he couldn’t determine whether the individual was a cultivator—at the very least, they possessed the strength of Innate Third Stage.

Moving with the weightless steps the Taoist Master of Five Harmonies had taught him in his previous life, Xiao Cheng ascended to the upper floor without a sound. He found the room where the expert was stationed, saw the door slightly ajar, and slipped inside.

The man inside hadn’t noticed him at all. As he drew near, Xiao Cheng sensed the aura of a cultivator—this man was undoubtedly one of their kind.

Those at the Condensation Stage also possessed spiritual sense, though much weaker—about a ten-meter range—and this man clearly hadn’t kept his senses extended.

As Xiao Cheng gazed at his back, he felt a vague sense of familiarity. He was certain the man was an acquaintance—but who?

He didn’t bother pondering further. Acquaintance or not, he wouldn’t let anyone spying on him off lightly. Drawing a dagger, Xiao Cheng advanced, intent on subduing the man before questioning him.

But when he was only half a meter away, the man seemed to sense something and whirled around, pupils contracting sharply.

Wang Qiyi had felt a growing unease behind him. At first, he’d dismissed it, but the feeling intensified until he spun around—only to find a man with a dagger standing right there.

Anyone would be startled to find someone with a knife suddenly appear behind them at such close range in the dead of night.

In an instant, Wang Qiyi broke out in a cold sweat. Had his reaction been any slower, he’d have become a corpse.

Someone had managed to approach him soundlessly—what kind of skill was this?

What was even more unbelievable was that the man standing behind him was none other than Xiao Cheng, the most useless, shameless, despicable—so worthless in his eyes as to be beneath contempt—member of the Xiao family.

If it had been anyone else, he could have accepted it. The world was full of people stronger than himself. But for it to be Xiao Cheng—when had Xiao Cheng ever possessed such prowess? It was impossible!

“How did you get in here?” Wang Qiyi blurted, unable to help himself. It was the question burning in his mind. He’d locked the door, closed all the windows—entering should have made a sound. More importantly, how had Xiao Cheng approached him so silently, without being sensed?

Xiao Cheng was equally surprised to find his watcher was his grandfather’s chief lackey—the old man had sent someone to monitor him.

“Uncle Wang, you needn’t bother how I got in. Why did the old master send you to keep an eye on me?”

Hearing Xiao Cheng’s audacious question, Wang Qiyi was momentarily stunned. He hadn’t expected Xiao Cheng to speak to him so imperiously; in the past, Xiao Cheng had always shown him the greatest respect.

Though Wang Qiyi’s status in the Xiao family wasn’t especially high, he was still the family head’s close attendant, and everyone treated him with deference.

Wang Qiyi struggled to adjust to this shift, frowning and replying stiffly, “I’m watching you on the family head’s orders. As for why, I don’t believe I owe you an explanation.”

As he spoke, Wang Qiyi probed with his spiritual sense, trying to gauge Xiao Cheng’s cultivation—only to find he couldn’t see through it at all, which unsettled him further.

Generally, cultivators of higher realms could see through those below them. If he couldn’t, it meant Xiao Cheng’s cultivation was the same as his own, or possibly even higher.

This discovery sent shockwaves through Wang Qiyi’s mind. When had Xiao Cheng acquired such power? Just last month, he’d seen Xiao Cheng only at the first stage of Foundation Building. How could he have reached this level in just a month? It was impossible—absolutely impossible.

Wang Qiyi simply could not believe that anyone could progress so far in just one month—not even the most gifted geniuses he knew.

Xiao Cheng privately found it amusing. Wang Qiyi’s probe had not escaped his notice; with Innate Third Stage spiritual sense, there was no way Wang Qiyi could see through his cultivation.

Probing another cultivator’s level was essentially a contest of spiritual sense—the stronger could always see through the weaker. Xiao Cheng’s own sense was at the peak of the Innate Realm; not even the old master himself could see through him, let alone Wang Qiyi.

“I’m not terribly interested in your reasons. But let me warn you: don’t bother me again. You can pass that message on to the old master as well.”

He wasn’t particularly troubled by Wang Qiyi’s surveillance. It was only natural for his grandfather to keep an eye on him; this wasn’t the first time.

Wang Qiyi’s expression soured at Xiao Cheng’s words. This was a boy he’d watched grow up, yet now he spoke to him in this manner—outrageous! He refused to believe Xiao Cheng’s cultivation was truly on par with his own; there must be some unknown reason he couldn’t see through it.

“I’ll relay your message to the family head. As for how he chooses to act, that’s not up to me,” Wang Qiyi replied, a note of anger in his voice.

“I’m not seeking his consent. If you disturb me again, I can’t guarantee what I’ll do. Besides, now that I’ve discovered you, surveillance is meaningless.”

The threat was naked, but Wang Qiyi didn’t take it to heart—a family good-for-nothing, what could he possibly do? He refused to believe Xiao Cheng truly possessed strength he couldn’t fathom.

With a cold glance, Xiao Cheng turned and left.

After all, this man was his grandfather’s attendant; there was nothing more he could do. But as he walked home, a strange thought struck him. He tried to recall the night his family was slaughtered in his previous life, but no matter how he tried, he could not remember Wang Qiyi’s whereabouts or what he had been doing at the time.