Chapter 544: Igniting a spark
=Uh…what is our lord doing?=
=Ah…wouldn’t it have been quicker and easier for us to just have the kaijin possess them?=
=I think that got moved to…=
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“I asked, how did it feel getting bailed out like that?,” the old man repeated, “did you enjoy having to need someone else to bail you out of a situation you were involved in?”
“Uh…”
Zhen Yue had no idea how to respond to this kind of question.
She had been taught to be respectful of one’s elders, especially ones that were of higher rank, but at the same time…there was something about his choice of words that rubbed her the wrong way.
Enjoy?
Shouldn’t he have said “grateful” or “thankful” or “appreciative”?
If he said one of those words then she could’ve answered with a definitive”yes”.
But he said “enjoy”…and something about that word didn’t sit right.
“Enjoy is the wrong word.”
Evidently, she wasn’t the only one who thought that.
“Xiao Xing?”
“Oh?”
In a surprising show of solidarity, or perhaps wanting to take responsibility for what had occurred, Zhen Xing was the one who spoke up.
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‘Huh…okay, wasn’t expecting that…but if you want to be on the chopping block, be my guest…especially since it’ll give me more time to improvise my answers a bit more…’
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“Xiao Xing, what are you doing?!,” Zhen Guo whispered in shock at his cousin’s actions.
“Taking responsibility for my actions,” Zhen Xing replied, surprising even himself.
While it was generally considered rude for someone to interject themselves into a conversation, it was a whole other level of offensive if one of the participants of the conversation happened to be of a high rank.
All it took was a single misspoken word or a perceived slight, and the conversational intruder would be rendered into a fine mist in an instant…if they were lucky.
One of the many drawbacks of living in a world where “law of the jungle” tended to be the norm.
Maybe he was running on a “hero’s high” after rescuing the slave girl, or something like that, but in the back of his mind he felt that it was only right for him to try and speak up to this mysterious master of Zhen Liu’s.
Evidently, the old man’s amazonian disciple, Neytri, did not share this sentiment.
In fact, she looked like she was ready to rip off Zhen Xing’s head off for interjecting.
“You insolent pup,” the woman said with a gruff yet low voice, “you dare to-”
“Neytri, stand down,” the old man interrupted.
“But mast-”
“I said….stand down,” the old man repeated with a sterner look directed at Neytri.
After receiving this look from the old man, Neytri immediately bit back her tongue and did as she was instructed, returning to the be by the side of her fellow disciples.
Despite all of this though, Zhen Xing maintained a surprisingly strong look in his eyes and a straight back, a sight that would’ve been more appropriate to see in someone like Zhen Hai, especially since the aforementioned Zhen Hai gave the former a look that indicated that he wanted to be the one to talk back to this mysterious old master.
Regardless, all eyes were on Zhen Xing at this moment.
“Surprisingly gutsy…pray tell then, what would be the right word then?,” the old man asked with while staring Zhen Xing in the eyes, maintaining an aloof demeanor, as if Zhen Xing’s boldness was as entertaining as a child showing off their doodles to a parent.
Zhen Xing recognized this feeling, but still managed to keep his cool as he articulated his answer to the old man.
“The word that would be appropriate here would be…thankful,” Zhen Xing answered, “we are indeed thankful that you went out of your way to help us out of the jam I had roped us into…but as for enjoying it…I can’t say I did.”
“Really?,” the old man asked with a weird smile as he folded his arms behind his back, “care to elaborate as to why you didn’t?”
At this point, most younger and weaker warriors would buckle at the knees and beg for forgiveness, sensing the murderous intent behind such facial expressions.
However, Zhen Xing didn’t get that feeling from this particular smile.
No, for some reason, he felt as if this old man…wanted him to speak his mind.
Well then, if that was the case…he might as well obliged.
“Maybe I’m just being young and reckless, but I think I-we could’ve handled that situation ourselves. That we could’ve defeated that supposed cousins of ours in battle, and her flunkies, even if she played dirty,” Zhen Xing answered.
“Is that all?,” the old man asked with a raised brow.
Zhen Xing paused as he mulled over his words, eventually settling on something that was surprisingly honest.
“No…if anything…I wish I was the one who could’ve fought off that Lei Zhong guy myself, and not just do the opening blow and then tag out with Xiao Yue and Xiao Hai so they could finish up the fight.”
“Huh?”
Zhen Yue and Zhen Hai both looked surprised at Zhen Xing’s admission. They were aware of the power and talent disparity between them, but they didn’t think it was weird that their other cousins would have to rely on them in a scrap. After all, they were family and family looked out for each other…at least theirs did.
“No offense to you guys, but I can’t help but feel…something a bit more than standard jealousy about your progress and the fact that the rest of us have to rely on you…and technically Zhen Liu’s puppets,” Zhen Xing admitted.
“I…want to catch up with, no…I want to surpass you lot,” Zhen Xing stated.
“But that is neither here nor there for the moment.”
Zhen Xing brought his attention back to the old man, the one who posed this weird question in the first place.
“To reiterate what I said, while we are grateful, thankful or appreciative for you saving our asses…I sure as shit didn’t enjoy it. Because it just reminded me that I am just a little fish in a big ass ocean, and I…absolutely detest that. I don’t want to be the little fish…I want to be one of the sea monsters,” Zhen Xing said with complete honesty.
Everyone in the area was silent at the end of Zhen Xing’s admission, it was the best response any of them could muster in the face of such a statement.
The only who made any noise at this point was the old man and that’s because he was just humming in thought.
“Hmmm,” the old man hummed.
“Hmm, hmm, hmm…”
At this point, Zhen Xing got nervous again, why was this old man hum-
“Good answer.”
“What?”
“Huh?”
“Pardon me?”
The Zhen clan scions expected the old man to have found Zhen Xing’s statement offensive.
He had said he was grateful, sure, but he also went on a tirade about hating that he had been helped in the first place.
How did this old guy not found what he said offensive?
“That tirade of yours was the third reason I wanted to help you lot. As a reminder that the world is a big place, bigger than the little city you all call home in the frontier of Stampeding Bison and even bigger than the so-called Pearl Scale Empire in which we are standing in,” the old man explained, “I have heard recently how y’all have been getting windfall, after windfall as of late and wanted to remind you that while your current positions are good…you can always achieve better.”
The Zhen Clan scions looked stunned at his words, understanding what the old man was saying and yet, being completely lost at the same time.
“In essence, I wanted to help you because I wanted to instill the feeling of ‘being helped’, so that you can remember what it is like when you grow past it and be able to ‘help others’…then again, I could just be full of hot air,” the old man elaborated.
“…”
On the one hand, the Zhen Clan scions wanted to agree with that statement, but on the other…it made sense in a weird way.
“Now then,” the old man said as he began to walk away from the group with his disciples in tow.
“I do believe this is where we part ways…but do me a favor. My disciple isn’t aware that I am here at the moment, so don’t bring up that I showed up to save you lot, okay? Okay. Bye-bye~”
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<=Strong desire detected, beginning core consoldiation process.=>
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<=Core consolidation complete. [Core of Newfound Pride] has been created, please use at your earliest convenience.=>
