Chapter 279: Young Master Baili (2/2)

Now that he saw this small child—even smaller than he had been when he was persecuted as trash— all alone in the world, neglected, and with no one to care about her, he felt his heart clench. Although he was not a soft person, he still felt that such a poor child deserved to be given the warmth of a family and the caring of friends.

Since he was more than capable of caring for this child, then why not do it?

He could not help but repeatedly shake his head; feeling so incredibly sentimental and out of character for him. This little girl certainly had some secrets that might be intriguing once they were revealed, but there was still something more, something special about her that made him want to dote on her.

In fact, she was more than capable of looking after herself. Her strength was in no way inferior to Bai Tianyi—it might even be even greater, but her current maturity was far from his.

Returning to the courtyard, Xue Wei fussed about Luoluo for some time to ensure that she was no longer in discomfort after being close to the Soul Tower, and then he went to find Lin Xiao.

“Look after Luoluo,” Xue Wei told Lin Xiao. “I need to go out and check something,” he continued. Lin Xiao, who had absolutely no idea as to how one would look after a kid, could only stare with wide open eyes as Xue Wei left the courtyard as quickly as he had returned, leaving all the possible troubles that might arise to him instead.

The moment Xue Wei stepped foot outside of the courtyard, he instantly felt someone trailing him. Frowning, he wondered who this was and what their purpose might be.

If he could sense them, then it was obvious that their strength was not as profound as his; however, he noticed that there were actually quite a few people, so it could become troublesome to deal with them, in case they had some evil intentions for following him as so many had had before.

“I can always transform if things go wrong,” Xue Wei muttered to himself as he started searching for an abandoned alleyway to confront the pursuers. He was used to being chased and leaving no witnesses was always the best way to solve issues.

Unfortunately, the entire academy was filled with people—especially now that panic was spreading around because of the Soul Tower. People were abustle, rushing to try to gain any information.

With that in mind, Xue Wei could only really consider one place suitable to confront his pursuers, and that place was right in front of the forbidden area. Although it was not completely deserted, it was rare for people to go there unless they had some explicit purpose to be there, and right now everyone would prefer to be at the Soul Tower.

As he reached the forbidden area, he stopped in his tracks and turned around. “Since you have followed me this far, why not show yourselves?” he asked with a smirk on his face. As expected: there was no one else here, Xue Wei confirmed after looking around. The wide open, square-shaped space in front of the forbidden area was the ideal place to deal with these people.

“To think that young master Xue is so alert,” a voice dawdled just before a young man and his entourage appeared next to Xue Wei. This young man was not at all foreign to Xue Wei. He was precisely the young master of the Baili family.

“Are you here to get some information, or perhaps you already have the information you need?” Xue Wei did not need to think long before knowing that the young master was here because he wanted the knowledge he had about Qi cultivation.

“The Baili family is quite fast,” he continued before the young Baili master could say anything, “to come looking for me just as the Soul Tower has broken down, it makes me feel that I am quite valuable in their eyes.”

“You are,” the young master did not deny it. “Before, we didn’t care too much about the Yuan and Gu families when they started branching out into the Qi realm. But now that there is a chance that Qi will become as influential as spiritual energy here in Yan Dalu, they undoubtedly have an advantage—something we are rather unhappy about,” he continued explaining.

“What does that have to do with me?” Xue Wei asked with a smile on his face, yet one that did not reach his eyes.

“We are not completely unaware that their rapid development of quite a few Qi cultivators is due to your assistance.” Young master Baili was straight forward when he spoke, “I require the same assistance you gave them for the Baili family, I also request that you terminate your current dealings with the Yuan and the Gu families.

“I am quite sure that you have much more at your disposal than what you have used so far,” he said, self-righteously, and as if the decision had already been made and that Xue Wei had no choice but to comply. “Give us the best of the best and our family will not treat you badly.”

Xue Wei started chuckling when he heard this, and then he shook his head.

“I am afraid that is impossible,” he said with a faux-apologetical expression on his face. “I already decided for whom to work with, and I am not going to change it halfway through.”

Young master Baili’s face turned ugly upon hearing this, his eyes narrowed, and his brows furrowed.

“Are you sure that you wish to go against the Baili family for the sake of the Gu and Yuan families? Be aware that—although there are three major families in Yan Dalu, and even if they are two while we are only one—both of them combined cannot amount to as much as the Baili family does.”

Xue Wei laughed out loud after hearing this, “That might have been so in the past,” he readily agreed, “but now the Yuan and Gu families have me supporting them, so they are not likely to be easily overthrown anymore.”

There was a strange confidence in Xue Wei’s voice as he uttered those words. Although he was not considered a strong expert in Yan Dalu, he did indeed have many tricks up his sleeves, so no one should take him lightly.