Chapter 226 - Craneshadow
Chapter 226: Craneshadow
Interrupting someone in the middle of speaking was a clear display of rudeness. In the eyes of Silvershadow, Xia Fei was just a puny dried shrimp in a desert; a gentle pinch and he would be as good as dead. He had no interest in being nice to someone like him.
Even the best temper could barely withstand being looked down upon and contain the arrogance coming from someone else, so what more of Xia Fei who had never had a good temper?
Xia Fei smiled and told Silvershadow, “If you want to know, you’d best keep quiet and let me finish.”
It was one thing to curse someone without swearing, it was another to counterattack silently. The meaning of Xia Fei’s words was simple: “Shut your d*mn mouth.”
Silvershadow was immediately angered by Xia Fei’s rebuttal, his face turning bright red. He then gently flicked at Xia Fei using his left index finger.
A wind blade, invisible to the naked eye, came into form out of nowhere. Turned out that his ability was wind control, which allowed him to attack using gusts of air.
It was not even five meters away.
Xia Fei dodged to one side as he felt a cold gust of wind approaching.
At this moment, Phantom’s master, Moonshadow furrowed his eyebrows. With a gentle wave of his sleeves, the wind blade, which was less than two meters away from Xia Fei now, disappeared to who knew where.
Silvershadow glared at Moonshadow. “Third brother, what are you trying to do?”
Moonshadow laughed and said with a cheeky smile on his face, “Big brother, you must let him finish. The second brother’s disciple is already dead, yet he’s not even as worried as you are. Plus, the origin on his Breath Control and Crafty Thrust is still unclear.”
Xia Fei could feel that Moonshadow and Silvershadow were not on the best of terms as they spoke to each other with undertones of aggression. The second brother, Darkshadow, was probably sandwiched between them, discouraging the two from breaking the peace like a mediator.
“My master is a rare spatial ability user; the eldest sect senior’s wind blade was sent into a different dimension. The two of them have been at odds with each other ever since they were young. Even my grandmaster couldn’t handle them back then, but since the eldest sect senior is the oldest among his generation, there are many things that my master can’t compete with him over.”
Phantom had complex feelings toward the infighting among his sect. No matter what, Xia Fei was an outsider, yet he had witnessed all this unfold, so Phantom could only tell him the truth.
The atmosphere was quite awkward. Silvershadow looked at Moonshadow full of rage, yet the latter appeared not to care as he slowly shifted his eyes onto Xia Fei.
All of a sudden, a casual set of laughter was heard on the other side of the door. Darkshadow, Moonshadow, and Silvershadow quickly stood up to greet the new arrival humbly.
“The grandmaster is here; he’s the oldest one in the sect. What are you waiting for, Xia Fei? Quickly stand up and greet him!” urged Phantom.
From Phantom’s words, the person was quite an important senior. Xia Fei did not mind greeting his elders, so he stood up from his chair and looked at the far door.
He then saw an old man with a childish appearance. He had a flushed face and a tiny figure; no matter how one looked at him, he was just in his teens. Even the wrinkles on his forehead were barely visible.
If not for Phantom, Xia Fei would assume that this person was a teenager cosplaying.
“I heard that you guys found an outsider who also knows Crafty Thrust and Breath Control. Where is this person?” asked the short, old man quickly right after he entered. He was quite light on his feet, totally unlike an old man.
“Grandmaster, you’re here,” quickly greeted the three shadows.
The old man waved his hand, gesturing them to skip the formalities. He then took a few huge steps and sat down on the main seat in the living room with quick and swift motions.
“This is Craneshadow, the grandmaster. He himself has no idea how old he was, while even my master’s master refers to him as sect senior. His cultivation is unimaginable. My master can’t last three rounds against him,” Phantom said in a deep voice.
The Assassin Sect was quite strange. Outside of Craneshadow, Moonshadow and the other two were the most senior, yet they were three generations apart from Craneshadow. In order to show their respect, the thirteenth level was reserved to Craneshadow alone, while Darkshadow and the others stayed on the tenth level, skipping over the eleventh and twelfth levels.
For some reason, this matter had shocked this sectmaster and he had come down to find out more for himself.
Xia Fei smiled, approaching him as he greeted, “Elder, my name is Xia Fei. I’m the person you’re referring to.”
Craneshadow nodded and asked, “You’re not one of us; why do you know Crafty Thrust and Breath Control as well?”
Xia Fei replied, “These two techniques are passed down onto me by my ancestors; as for why your sect knows it, too, I really have a clue.”
Xia Fei insisted that his techniques were passed down onto him by his ancestors. As there was no proof, Xia Fei did not fear being investigated by them. Xia Fei also avoided mentioning ‘thievery’, for there was nothing to be gained in angering these people.
“Crafty Thrust and Breath Control are the ultimate techniques of this Assassin Sect. When did it become something from your ancestors?!” demanded Silvershadow angrily.
Craneshadow waved his hand. “We’ll talk more about that later. Could you go through how my grand-disciples died?”
Xia Fei could not continue hiding the fact in front of these many people, so he went through everything he saw and heard in the cave. As for the reason behind him being in these Assassin training grounds, Xia Fei claimed that he liked adventuring. He spotted a weird bug and inadvertently ended up following it through the red stardust out of curiosity. By the time he exited the dust cloud, the bug was gone and he had accidentally wandered there.
The four of them were incredibly angry. After all, the act of killing people from their sect was incredibly taboo, and was quite possibly the biggest disgrace in the entire history of the Assassin Sect.
“There were other people present at the time; I was afraid that, if such nasty things got out, it would affect the image of your sect, so I stopped myself,” Xia Fei added.
Craneshadow nodded. “This little brother knows how to think on behalf for the sect at such a young age; what a rare occurrence. Are your techniques really passed down onto you by your ancestors?”
Craneshadow was the oldest in the Assassin Sect, after all, quickly changing the topic to his techniques, completely disregarding the shameful events that had happened to his sect. It was really quite cleverly done.
“Yes,” replied Xia Fei sternly.
“How about you demonstrate?”
Xia Fei then showed off his techniques in the hall. Xia Fei had trained his Crafty Thrust and Breath Control for a long time, so naturally, he was well-practiced. Craneshadow secretly shook his head. Judging from Xia Fei’s age, he appeared to have been training these techniques since he was younger, or else he would not be this well-practiced.
After thinking for a few moments, Craneshadow asked, “What about your ancestors? How did they get these two techniques?”
Xia Fei sighed and replied with a sad look on his face, “I grew up without parents; it was my grandfather who brought me up. However, when I was seven, my grandfather passed away. I was alone, wandering about afterward, so how would I know anything about my ancestors?
“My grandfather passed these two techniques to me when I was younger; according to him, it’s passed down from generation to generation. He even asked me never to stop practicing them; I kept in mind my grandfather’s teaching and I have been practicing it till this day,” recounted Xia Fei in a sad tone.
“I see…” Craneshadow was lost for words. Who knew which crappy martial arts book Xia Fei stole this story from? Nonetheless, in combination to his good acting skills, he had actually convinced Craneshadow.
His techniques became something passed down onto Xia Fei by his ancestors in the blink of an eye; even Craneshadow, who had lived for hundreds of years, was confused.
All of a sudden, Craneshadow’s eyes lit up as though he had thought of something.