Translator: StarveCleric Editor: Millman97
A wave of silence swept across the room.
The teeth of every single elder in the room were clattering non-stop, and they looked at Sun Qiang as if they were looking at a monster.
The gray-robed elder wielded strength that even Zhan shi could not match, and yet, that plump man actually said that the other party was preposterous and even commanded for others to take him down.
Even if we want to take him down, we need the strength to do so first!
If we really attempt to do so, every single one of us will probably be poisoned to the ground by the end of today!
On the other hand, Hu Yiwei was taken aback for an instant before his eyes narrowed into thin slits. “What did you say?”
He had been following Yang shi for more than twenty years now, and he knew very well whether the latter had more butlers and subordinates or not. In fact, he was the one who dealt with almost all of the miscellaneous matters. It was one thing for him to have never met the plump man standing before him, but to think that the other party would dare speak to him in such a manner!
“Are you deaf? Didn’t you hear what I said?” Sun Qiang waved his hand in impatience. “Speak! What’s your motive for pretending to be the Old Master’s butler? You might have been able to get away with it if you did it elsewhere, but it seems that you have lucked out. You never thought that you would meet me, Yang shi’s real butler, hmm?”
“Real butler?” Sensing the complete lack of nervousness within Sun Qiang while saying those words, Hu Yiwei could not help but turn his gaze to Zhan shi. “Zhan Tiancheng, who is this fellow?”
“You don’t know one another?” Zhan shi’s lips twitched.
He had thought that as fellow butlers of Yang shi, the both of them should have been acquainted with one another. Yet, who could have thought that a meeting between the both of them would end up so tense instead? It was not only the case that the both of them hadn’t met one another, it was more like they did not even know of each other’s existence!
This almost felt like a wife meeting the mistress for the first time!
“Am I supposed to know every insignificant person out there in the world?” Hu Yiwei flung his sleeves coldly.
His master was one of the strongest experts in the Master Teacher Continent, and even the weakest cultivator in his social circle was at Saint 9-dan at minimum. Given so, how could his master possibly take a fellow who was not even at the Saint realm yet as his butler?
“He… claims to be Yang shi’s butler, and we validated his identity through the Teacher Acknowledgement Hall earlier. Yang shi has indeed imprinted his blessing on him,” Zhan shi explained.
The person who had imprinted a blessing onto Sun Qiang was an expert far stronger than their imaginations. Other than Yang shi, they could think of no other person who was powerful enough for that.
“He possesses my master’s blessing?” Hu Yiwei was taken aback by those words. He turned his gaze toward the plump man by the side once more, and deep creases slowly etched themselves onto his forehead. “My master is a person who values peace and quietness, such that he has only taken in a single student to date. Given that, how could he possibly take you in as his butler? Fatty, explain yourself!”
Even if Yang shi wanted to take in a butler, he would at least take in someone who was much more qualified! There was simply no reason he would take in a person as weak as the fatty before him as his butler!
“Audacious! How dare you question our Old Master’s judgement! Naturally, he has his own considerations for making his decisions. Or could it be that you feel that our Old Master is accountable to you for every decision that he makes?” Sun Qiang waved his hand and harrumphed coldly.
He turned around and sat back down on the main seat in the room before continuing. “There’s no point wasting any more time here. Hurry up and confess your identity and the reason you are impersonating as our Old Master’s butler?”
What the heck was this?
People nowadays sure were getting more and more arrogant!
How in the world could a fake like the other party possibly have the cheek and the courage to stand before him without the slightest hint of fear? Not to mention, to even be putting on such an act in the Sanctum of Sages…
His audacity was truly incredible!
“Impersonating?” Hu Yiwei nearly exploded on the spot. “Do you know who I am?”
Had it been in the past, he definitely would have poisoned the other party to death for daring to conduct himself so arrogantly before him.
As the Left Guardian of the Poison Hall, possibly the top poison practitioner in the world, how could he allow another man to insult him in such a manner?
“Do I look like I give a damn as to who you are?” Sun Qiang replied with a deeply annoyed tone. “Rather, do you know who I am? Our Old Master is one of the grand elders of the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters and very possibly the strongest expert in the world! As his butler, I have the responsibility to uphold his dignity and standing. Yet, a mere impersonator like you actually dares to question me in such a manner. I hate to say this, but are you tired of living?”
To think that even a mere impersonator would speak to him so arrogantly! It seemed like even the world was not a big enough place to house the other party’s ego anymore!
Even though Hu Yiwei was on the verge of erupting, he still suppressed his rage and harrumphed. “You claim that Yang shi is your master, but do you have any evidence of it?”
After years of listening to Yang shi’s teachings, his temper had cooled down significantly. Had anyone dared to speak to him in such a manner in the past, he would have flipped the entire Sanctum of Sages upside down.
“Evidence? Little Zhan has already verified it earlier—the Old Master’s blessing is right within me! Instead of speaking of me, why don’t you take a look at yourself instead? Do you have any evidence to prove your identity? Who doesn’t know how to make empty claims? Why don’t you show some evidence first before pointing your finger at others?” Sun Qiang sneered coldly.
He had used the Young Master’s zhenqi in order to clear the identity examination, but given that the Young Master was the Old Master’s direct disciple, that could also be considered a method of the Old Master, so it was not entirely inaccurate to say that he possessed Yang shi’s blessing.
“You…” Unwilling to waste his breath on futile explanations, Hu Yiwei flicked his wrist and whipped out a token. “This is the token that my master has given to me!”
“Token?” Zhan shi and the others quickly turned their gazes over, and very soon, they nodded in approval.
“That’s a token specially crafted by the Master Teacher Pavilion!”
“Indeed, it belongs to Yang shi. There’s no way to fake that.”
As elders of the Sanctum of Sages, they would never make a mistake with something as important as this.
“It’s real?” Sun Qiang was stunned for an instant before hurriedly snatching the token to take a look.
The token was roughly the size of one’s palm. The majestic insignia of the Master Teacher Pavilion was imprinted on the front, and the back was a ‘杨 (Yang)’ character written in seal script.
It was difficult to determine what material it was made of, but just from the solemn and heavy air that it exuded, it was apparent that the token was no weaker than any Saint high-tier artifact!
Putting aside whether the token was real or not, just the very material and craftsmanship of the token made it a highly valuable commodity, and not to mention, one could still vaguely feel the unique aura of the Master Teacher Pavilion within it.
“To think that the Old Master didn’t give one to me…”
The more Sun Qiang stared at the token, the more indignant he felt.
This is too much! Isn’t the Old Master too biased?
It’s one thing that he dumped the Young Master on me to take care of, but he actually didn’t leave anything for me either. This is really unfair!
As your student, I understand why you might want to cultivate independence in the Young Master and thus didn’t want to interfere in his growth too much… but I’m your butler! Not only did you not give me any money or a blessing, you even gave someone else such a good token instead of me.
We’re both your butlers, but why does it seem like I’m your step-butler instead?
This won’t do. The next time I meet the Old Master, I must really talk sense into him. At the very least, I should receive at least one or two tokens from him. Otherwise, how am I supposed to uphold my pride, my dignity, if everyone doubts my identity?
As the butler of the man who stands at the top of the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters, I need to at least maintain a front that’s worthy of my standing so that I don’t bring shame to the Old Master’s name!
Seeing the look on Sun Qiang’s face, Hu Yiwei harrumphed coldly. “How is it? Can this token prove my identity?”
Even though Sun Qiang felt deeply indignant inside, he still swiftly regained his poise and calmly replied, “Well… since Little Zhan and the others have already verified the token to be real, I guess you are indeed a butler of the Old Master as well.”
Considering how powerful an expert the Old Master was, it was understandable that he would have other butlers behind his back. As the main butler, he needed to be understanding and magnanimous to the Old Master’s needs.
“Ever since I became the Old Master’s subordinate, I have followed closely in his footsteps, never leaving his side. Tell me, why am I unaware of your existence?” Hu Yiwei flicked his token back into his storage ring before gazing at Sun Qiang coldly.
“Do you think that you are truly capable of following every single one of the Old Master’s moves with your current capabilities?” Sun Qiang sneered coldly before slowly raising his head to look into the distance, seemingly reminiscing the old days.
“The Old Master picked me out from the market, saying that he was in awe of my character and temperament. He tasked me with taking care of the Young Master and protecting him till he matures. It was then that I made the decision to serve as his butler for life!
“But those are matters back from very long ago, so there’s no point bringing them back up now. Right, you mentioned earlier that you are the Old Master’s butler? Since that’s the case, you should just listen to my commands from now on. It’s fine, you don’t have to feel touched. It’s my responsibility to share the burden of the Old Master in taking care of the other subordinates…”
