Heaven City, at the Xia Family estate.

　　In the courtyard, the winds brought falling leaves as Xia Qi’s expression darkened. No one could tell what he was thinking, only his eyes showed an obviously sinister intent. He lightly puckered his lips into a cold and eerie smile.

　　Suddenly, a green-robed elder cheerfully walked in and standing beside him was a girl also in green robes. Every feature of the young girl’s face was pure and beautiful. Her eyes were as clear as water and her face held a gentle smile. Even thought she did not have a face that could cause the downfall of cities; anyone would feel comfortable upon seeing her face.

　　But when he saw the two, Xia Qi’s face grew increasingly cold. His heart was gripped with dissatisfaction and jealousy.

　　What is the meaning of this? It’s bad enough that the bastard, Xia Linyu commanded all of the old man’s love and affection, and now he is acting so gentle and kind to an outsider? Yet when he is faced with his own biological son, he would pull a dissatisfied face?

　　Xia Qi took a deep breath and swallowed the hatred in his eyes. His robes swayed with the wind as he approached Master Xia, “Father, you’ve finally returned. This must be the Master of the Hundred Herb Hall, Gu Ruoyun? You’re certainly from a talented generation. I’ve looked forward to meeting you for a very long time.”

　　His face held a warm smile and no one can see the clenched fist that he was concealing under his sleeves. His heart filled was with the flames of an almost irrepressible anger.

　　That Elder Zhao was completely useless! He can’t even take care of this woman and allowed the old man to bring her here. It would seem that killing her is now more difficult than ever.

　　Furthermore, he had already sent a servant to the Azure Dragon country with the news that Xia Linyu of the Xia Family has murdered Gu Ruoyun! It was only a matter of time before the members of the Hundred Herb Hall would be coming after Xia Linyu…

　　Gu Ruoyun must die before that happens!

　　“Xia Qi, what are you doing here?”

　　Seeing Xia Qi in the courtyard, Master Xia raised an eyebrow unhappily and spoke curtly, “I don’t know what you’ve been doing the entire day, you were probably strolling idly about all day. Get back to training! You don’t even act like an elder to Yu’er. Even though he was once a good-for-nothing, he never gave up on his training. But what about you, all you do is befriend a pack of scoundrels. Especially that Elder Zhao, he doesn’t amount to anything! If it were not for his connection to you, how would he have been able to enter the Xia Household? Next time, do not concern yourself with the internal affairs of the Xia Household. Study hard and train more.”

　　These words meant that Xia Qi’s influence was only that of a figurehead.

　　Meanwhile, the fist concealed in his robe clenched even tighter and started trembling slightly. But no matter how furious he felt, he continued to smile and warmly replied, “Father’s lessons are prompt. I shall carefully follow your teachings and will now take my leave.”

　　Once he turned his back, the smile hanging on his face slowly sank out of sight and an intense fury began to stir in the depths of his eyes…except he chose not to let it out in the end.

　　Because now was not the time…

　　Gu Ruoyun did not speak during the entire time and watched Xia Qi as he left with an obscure glint in her eye.

　　“Ah!”

　　“AH AH AH!”

　　Just then, a heart-breaking cry was heard, coming from the front portion of the courtyard. This caused Master Xia’s facial expression to change quickly. He no longer cared about Gu Ruoyun and rushed off.

　　…

　　In a room, a man clutched his head in agony, banging it against the wall. Servants who stood behind him rushed to pull him away. But before they could even reach him, a powerful aura burst from his body and sent all of them flying away from him.

　　Blood rushed to his skull then dragged downwards again, it was a ghastly sight. He seemed not to notice this and banged his head against the hard walls.