Chapter 525: A Great Thief from the Occult Sect
In the afternoon, Tang Xiu, Hu Qingsong, as well as Yue Kai and Zhao Liang, who had just returned and was radiant with happiness, came to the classroom together. The afternoon class was a foreign language class taught by their class-in-charge teacher, Han Qingwu, so no one was absent or late.
Clip-clop…
The clattering sounds of high heels stepping on the floor came from the corridor. Han Qingwu, donned in a casual yet fashionable outfit, waltzed inside carrying a few books. She immediately caught the attention of everyone in the classroom.
"Great! No one's missing!"
Han Qingwu put the books on the table on the podium as her eyes slowly swept the students below. Her eyes stayed on Tang Xiu for a second or two before she spoke in satisfaction.
Nonetheless, her remark made the eyes of students in the classroom to gather on Tang Xiu, while strange smiling expressions appeared on their faces.
Tang Xiu could only sigh inwardly as he squeezed out a smile and said, "You're so beautifully dressed today, Teacher Han. I didn't report it in time this morning due to some special reasons, so I hope you can forgive me. This situation will not occur again in the future."
"Oh…" Han Qingwu's mouth outlined, as she nodded and said, "Admitting your mistakes and changing yourself is what's most important. I'm not someone who hold grudges. After the class is over, you are to stay to clean up the classroom, and the issue of you skipping class in the morning will be bygones."
"All right!"
Tang Xiu promised, yet muttered to himself inwardly, It's true that women and villains are really difficult to face.
During the class, it was obvious that Han Qingwu was in a very good mood, and the students also responded enthusiastically. As the class ended, Han Qingwu still shot a glance at Tang Xiu when she was collecting her belongings before she turned around to leave.
Hu Qingsong, sitting next to Tang Xiu, touched Tang Xiu's elbow and said with a faint smile, "Big Bro Tang, Teacher Han really looks after you, you know. Another student skipping classes without excuse will definitely have their credits deducted, but she only punished you to do the cleaning while you still retain your credits. It seems that she really has a crush on you and is afraid that you won't get your diploma."
From the other side, Yue Kai flung the hair on his forehead and then grinned, "Yup, that's spot on! I also have a hunch that Teacher Han really has fallen in love with Tang Xiu. Say, Eldest Bro Tang, though you already have a lot of women and several of them are even a bit better than Teacher Han, yet our Teacher Han is indeed a great beauty herself! If you're still a man, you might as well accept and get her together with them!"
"Are the two of you stud horses or something?" Asked Tang Xiu in rebuke.
"What the fuck…"
Hu Qingsong and Yue Kai looked at each other in dismay, and simultaneously raised their middle fingers at Tang Xiu.
Tang Xiu faintly smiled, "Anyways, I'm not going to stay in the dorm tonight. I just cleaned up the dust on my bunk, so I'm heading to Bluestar Villa to wash its bedding at my place. I'm going to start staying in the dorm tomorrow."
"Eldest Bro Tang, can I talk to you for a bit? Can you lend me the key to your villa?" Yue Kai said with a thick face. "If things go well tonight, I'll take a girlfriend of mine out later, so I don't need to waste money to rent a room at the hotel."
"Get lost!" Tang Xiu rolled his eyes at him and straightly refused his unreasonable request.
Yue Kai, however, wasn't angry and stroked his chin to ponder instead, thinking how he could convince Tang Xiu to lease his place for his one-night stand.
At five in the afternoon, Tang Xiu took Yue Kai's BMW and drove to Bluestar Villa Complex. After throwing the bedding into the washing machine, he told the housemaid, Auntie Zhang, to help him wash it before he went to his study room on the second floor.
After releasing the fierce beast from the array, Tang Xiu took out a lump of meat from his interspatial ring and threw the meat to it. Following that, he returned to the desk. His journey to Beijing resulted in a good harvest. Except for the Nine Phoenix Hairpin, the other four seemed to have its own secrets as well, and he hadn't figured them out completely. Hence, he decided to allocate some time to analyze these objects properly, hoping that they would have something that could help him.
Having finished with the dinner, Tang Xiu took one of the books he borrowed from the campus library and sat in a chair outside in the courtyard. As Auntie Zhang served him scented hot tea, Tang Xiu kept reading while sipping tea.
However, a short moment after, he heard the sound of something being smashed from the villa next to his.
"Auntie Zhang, is there someone inside the villa next to us?" Tang Xiu turned to look at Auntie Zhang, who was currently sweeping the garden.
"Yeah, I heard someone picking up and smashing things in there when I went to buy groceries this morning," Zhang Xinlan nodded. "After I bought the groceries, I found a young man standing on the villa's rooftop, watching the surroundings. Also, I've heard the sounds of several things picked up and smashed from the villa next door today."
A hint of a smile appeared on Tang Xiu's mouth. He then got up and put the book on the chair inside the room, and then said with a smile, "Auntie Zhao, I'm going out to see it."
Having said that, he walked out of the courtyard and headed to the Villa #11. After looking at the tight shut door in front, he then rang the villa's bell.
"Who are you?"
As the iron gate slowly opened, Yang Le, looking upset and edgy, stared at Tang Xiu as he raised his chin and asked.
"I'm the owner of the villa #9, your neighbor," answered Tang Xiu with a smile, while pointing at the villa next door.
Yang Le was stunned and immediately questioned, "And so, do you need something from me?"
"Yeah, there's a trivial thing," said Tang Xiu with a smile.
Yang Le was silent for a moment before he said, "Is that so? Even if you said you have nothing do, it just so happens that there's also something that I need from you as well. Come in!"
Tang Xiu walked into the courtyard and saw that many broken things, such as bottles and cans, were thrown everywhere. The smile on the corner of his mouths grew more vivid. Straightly after Yang Le took him to the villa's living room, he found that the villa was not as luxurious as his own, thought the interior decoration was quite decent. Additionally, what surprised him was that the interior of the villa was very neat and clean, although its courtyard outside was messy and filled with a lot of broken things.
"What do you want to drink?" Asked Yang Le. "Red wine, white wine, beer, or foreign wine?"
"I love tea. The better the tea, the happier I am," said Tang Xiu with a smile.
Despite rolling his eyes in response, Yang Le still went to fetch it. When he returned, he was carrying along a pot of tea and two empty cups with him. He then placed them in front of Tang Xiu and said, "Help yourself. By the way, what exactly did you come here for?"
Tang Xiu poured the tea and didn't reply Yang Le's question. Instead, he smiled and said, "Firstly, tell me, why are you looking for me?"
"You're a hard nut to crack, huh? Anyways, since you don't wanna to talk first, then I'll talk," groaned Yang Le. "You live next to me, so you should know what happened a couple days ago. Something occurred here in my villa?"
"The Property Management Office should be the right party to be asked if you have a problem with your villa, don't you think? Why do you think I can answer your question?" Asked Tang Xiu back.
"If it was convenient for me to ask the Property Management Office, then I wouldn't have to ask you in the first place," said Yang Le.
"Can you answer another of mine?" Asked Tang Xiu with a smile.
"Ask!" Yang Le spread his hands and said.
"What have you done, or rather what do you do?" Asked Tang Xiu
In a flash, Yang Le, who was nestled on the sofa, abruptly got up. His body straightened and looked rigid as he stared at Tang Xiu. After half a minute passed in silence, he slowly said, "What do you want to say, exactly?"
"It's nothing, really. You don't need to be anxious and restless like that," said Tang Xiu with a chuckle. "I'm not a cop, and I don't like messing with other's business either. Of course, if you're willing to see and treat me as a good person, then I'd be glad to accept it as well."
"So, my stuff is in your place?" Asked Yang Le.
"Yup, they are in my custody," answered Tang Xiu with a nod.
"Huff…"
Yang Le looked relieved. He slowly took out a cigar box from his bosom and took out two cigars from it. After throwing one to Tang Xiu, he took a deep puff as he smilingly said, "I feel relieved since it was you who took them. After investigating, I discovered that there were a lot of people in my villa while I was away. Additionally, I also found some things when I sneaked into the control room and copied the surveillance videos there. That's not important, though. What's important is my stuff."
"When you saw in the videos you didn't see my shadow there at all, right?" Asked Tang Xiu smilingly.
"You were not among them, no. Now, say it! Are you going to give me back my stuff?" Asked Yang Le.
"You haven't answered my question yet," said Tang Xiu with a smile.
After falling into silence for a moment, Yang Le suddenly grinned, revealing his white teeth, and smilingly said, "I'm a Gentleman Thief, have you heard of the Gentleman Thieves of the Occult Sect?"
"You are a Occult Sect's member?" Asked Tang Xiu with a strange expression.
Yang Le was taken aback, and then said in astonishment, "Do you know the existence of the Occult Sect? Who are you?"
"What I know about the Occult Sect isn't much, really. But when I went to Beijing yesterday, I learned a lot more about it after attending the auction organized by the Situ Family. Never thought that my neighbor would turn out to be a notorious Great Thief of the Occult Sect," said Tang Xiu smilingly.
"Hey, it's Gentleman Thief," a displeased look could be seen on Yang Le's face as he corrected Tang Xiu. Then, he continued, "All right, I told you everything, just give me my stuff back! You can have all the gold, silver, jewelry, cash, diamonds, and the rest if you want, but I need my tools."
Tang Xiu got up and smilingly said, "Since I already learned what I wanted to know, I don't want any of your stuff. All right, have a sit with me, will you? We're neighbors and we should get along well, don't you think? Besides, I don't want to have the stuff inside my villa disappear all of a sudden, to begin with."
"I can't be sure about that! If I learn that you are the likes of those heartless rich scums who got your wealth through ill-gotten means, perhaps your stuff will really disappear," replied Yang Le after contemplating.
"Nah, I never take advantage from others, neither have I taken others' belongings. But if anyone dares to stretch their hands out to snatch anything that belongs to me, I never hesitate to cut their hands off and make them lose the ability to eat!"
Yang Le squinted his eyes as he gazed at the back of the leaving Tang Xiu. He suddenly flashed forward with lightning-like speed and very unusual footwork as he tried to hit Tang Xiu's back.
He was very confident in his ability and skills. He could hit Tang Xiu despite using only using 30 to 40% of his strength.
Whoosh….
A shadow flashed, and Tang Xiu's figure suddenly appeared half a meter away.
"WHAT?"
Yang Le's expression drastically changed. His eyesight and speed were several times keener and faster than an ordinary person's, yet he could only see a fist coming in front of his eyes, as stars and flowers suddenly blurred his vision as he was knocked down.
Chapter 526: Exorbitant Price
As a member of the Occult Sect, Yang Le also formally learned from someone who was a grandmaster of martial arts. Even if he couldn't achieve the same level as his master, it wouldn't be a problem for him beat down a dozen small thugs. However, when he sneakily attacked Tang Xiu, he found that even though he was in the position to strike a sure hit, the opponent was actually able to avoid and pass it by. It was like the opponent had eyes behind his back.
What shocked him most, however, was Tang Xiu's speed. With his sharp eyesight he could see the blooming fist in front of him. He shuddered.
"Truly, it's impossible to judge a man's heart from his face, huh?"
Tang Xiu's feet moved as he appeared at Yang Le's side. His fingers pointed and pierced several major sealing acupoints on Yang Le's body directly. He then stepped back twice and stood there, shaking his head and sighing.
Yang Le still wanted to keep striking, yet the sudden sensation coming from his body made his eyes stare wide, with the disbelieve bursting from his eyes. Even though he desperately struggled, he found that he couldn't control his body at all. However much he exerted his strength, he was devoid of any strength to move even a bit.
"You… how did you do it?" Yang Le's sharp voice brought along with it a sense of urgency, and even contained an intense fear.
"How I did it is not important. What's more important is that I kindly helped you safekeeping your stuff and avoided the probability of getting you exposed. Yet you actually attacked me. It is said that even thieves have their own Dao. Heroic Thieves or Gentleman Thieves do indeed exist, but you don't deserve such a title. I'm afraid that you're nothing but a small, petty thief with only a bit of skill."
Many epithets straightly crowned above Yang Le's head.
Despite knowing that Yang Le was just testing him, Tang Xiu still hit him with derogatory words.
Upon hearing it, Yang Le was furious and shouted, "You are not allowed to insult me! I just wanted to measure you, who the hell wanted to attack you? I'll not gain a damn advantage from sneakily attacking you!"
"Like I said just now, it's impossible to know a man's heart from his face." Said Tang Xiu indifferently. "Who knows whatever wishful machinations are swirling inside your head? You should have heard the common saying that what you hear is just false, while seeing is believing. I saw you attack me with my own eyes. If it wasn't for me knowing kung fu as well, my back would have been hit by your fist, wouldn't it?"
Yang Le was speechless. He knew that Tang Xiu wouldn't listen to any explanation he said. It was indeed he who started the sneak attack, after all. Though he did that to probe whether Tang Xiu knew kung fu and whether he was someone from the Occult Sect.
"What do you want, then?" Asked Yang Le slowly.
Tang Xiu pondered for a moment and answered, "Apologize to me and make compensation."
"I don't have a problem with apologizing, but how can I compensate you?" Asked Yang Le after staring in a daze.
"Just apologize first, then I'll tell you," said Tang Xiu.
"Brother Tang, I apologize for what I just did. I hope you can forgive me," Yang Le nodded and said.
Tang Xiu nodded in satisfaction. After approaching him, he moved lightning fast to unseal his acupoints. When he turned around and started to walk away, he said indifferently, "Your box of tools will be returned later. But all the valuables in there will be mine as compensation."
"What the fuck…"
Yang Le, who had just regained his ability to move and was trying to move his feet and hands, turned stiff for a moment. He looked at the back of Tang Xiu as a burst of profane words came out from his mouth. He then grinned bitterly and began to chase Tang Xiu. At this moment, he wished he could trash his own head. He attacked Tang Xiu sneakily, and wasn't even able to touch his hair, yet he had to compensate for it with over a billion of his wealth?
Although he was not short of money and those things were nothing but trivial possessions to him, it made him very edgy. After pursuing outside, he shouted, "Say, Brother Tang, you're really too black-hearted, you know that? Notwithstanding that I'm a heroic thief, you're just a robber."
"Except for those who have pledged their allegiance to me, anyone who sneakily attacks me like that have become corpses," Tang Xiu glanced at him and sneered. "If it wasn't because I sensed no malicious intent from you, do you think you would still be standing and talking to me like this? It's just pocket money, get over it!"
Yang Le gulped down. Despite being reluctant to believe Tang Xiu, he knew that someone who possessed such a terrifying ability was never a friendly kind.
"What is your identity, Brother Tang?"
"I'm just a student!" replied Tang Xiu.
"If you were a student, then I'm a cop, heh?" Yang Le rolled his eyes. "Anyways, you do look young, though. Ah, that's right, I felt you were a little familiar before, but I can't remember where I have seen you before."
Without responding, Tang Xiu headed straight to his villa and told Yang Le to wait in the living room while he went to the study room on the second floor. There, he took the black suitcase out of his interspatial ring and opened it, and then put out a stack of paper money, gold, silver, jewelry, and the diamonds from it. He then closed the suitcase and headed downstairs.
"This is your stuff!" Tang Xiu threw the suitcase.
After catching it accurately, Yang Le opened it and checked, as he then nodded and said, "In any case, thanks!"
"I gave you back your stuff, so don't smash things randomly again, got it?" Said Tang Xiu. "Anyways, it's quite late now, and I will accompany you no longer. Go back!"
However, not only did Yang Le not leave, he instead sat on the sofa and put his suitcase aside, squeezing out a smile as he looked at Tang Xiu, "Bother Tang, it's fate that we met each other, how about having a few cups now? Besides, I have some things I want to ask you!"
"You want to know how I made you unable to move, don't you?" Asked Tang Xiu.
"Yeah, I'm very curious about that," Yang Le nodded without a shred of hesitation. "You possess a very powerful skill, but that's still fine with me. However, that method you used to seal my ability to control my body is something I've never seen nor heard before. I was really shocked… and… and very scared."
Tang Xiu pulled a cigarette box from his pocket as he took one and lit it up. After taking a deep puff, he smiled and said, "I'm a practitioner of Chinese medicine and I understand the structure of the human body very well. How many bones, muscles, meridians, and acupoints humans have in their body… all of these are very clear and easy for me to find. You should also know about acupoint sealing techniques since you are a member of the Occult Sect, no?"
Hiss…
Despite Yang Le having already faintly guessed that Tang Xiu was probably using the acupoints sealing technique, yet he was still shocked by his revelation. Furthermore, the reason why he asked about it was that some people in the Occult Sect also mastered the said acupoints sealing technique, yet the effect was not as severe as Tang Xiu's.
It took Yang Le a bit of time to suppress the shock inside his heart. He rubbed his hand and let out a flattering expression, as he grinned and said, "Brother, I don't know if you can approve this presumptuous request of mine, I…"
"I refuse!" Tang Xiu rejected him right off the bat.
Yang Le froze. He then forced a smile and said, "But you haven't even finished listening to what I'm going to say next! I mean, as long as you're willing to teach that acupoints sealing technique, I want to formally acknowledge you as my master. If you don't want to take me as a disciple, that's fine, I will pay a tuition fee to learn it."
"I won't accept you as a disciple, so there's no concern about that," said Tang Xiu. "I'm fine if you want to pay to learn that skill, but how much can you pay for it, exactly?"
"1 billion!" Yang Le stretched out a finger and seriously said.
While pointing at the door, Tang Xiu said, "I won't send you off, the door is there."
"Brother, you don't need to rip me off like that, right?" Yang Le said with a strange expression. "Even though I successfully stole my Master's lifetime wealth before he went to Western Paradise, 1 billion in tuition fees should be enough, right? Besides, you just robbed 1 billion of my fortune as well!"
Tang Xiu shrugged his shoulders and chuckled, "You already know that I can rob 1 billion casually, do you think I will give a damn about 1 billion more? You must know that one must practice a certain cultivation technique to learn this acupoints sealing technique, and I just happen to have the said cultivation technique. If you learn it, not only will you able to perform the acupoints sealing technique, even your strength will soar. 1 billion? Hmph… what a joke!"
A cultivation technique?
Yang Le was taken aback. He hurriedly asked, "What do you mean by cultivation technique? Is it like the inner energy core techniques in the legends?"
Tang Xiu shook his head as he nodded and said, "It is a kind of inner energy core technique, but it's more powerful than those."
Yang Le's complexion changed as he fixedly stared at Tang Xiu for half a minute before he solemnly said, "1.5 billion! This is all the wealth I can take out within a short time."
Tang Xiu got up. While walking toward the stairs, he lightly said, "However much you can offer doesn't have any significance to me. Don't come and bother me if you don't have 10 billion for the tuition fee. Go now, for I don't want to repeat myself for the third time."
"10 billion?" Yang Le leaped up from the sofa as disbelief filled his eyes. He had seen people who demanded exorbitant prices like a hungry lion, yet such a ruthless one like Tang Xiu was a never-before-seen case for him. Although he did lie about all his wealth being only 1.5 billion, he absolutely didn't have 10 billion. Even if he added up every bit of his fortune, it would only be 3 billion, more or less.
Is this gonna force me to do more good deeds and help those who got their wealth through evil and illegal means to share the responsibility? Yang Le was indignant and disturbed.
However, he knew himself very well. If he could really get 10 billion yuan one day, would he use such a huge sum of money to learn the acupoints sealing technique from Tang Xiu? With such a colossal amount of money, he could wash his hands and make a clean break from that life directly, and enjoy an excellent, wonderful life for good!
After returning to the second floor, Tang Xiu watched as Yang Le left the villa with a trace of a smile on the corner of his mouth. He felt that Yang Le was a very interesting young man. When he was in the Immortal World before, he got acquainted with a thief sect's master. Furthermore, had this thief sect's master not offended a very powerful adversary who killed him when he just reached the Overarching Golden Immortal realm, he could probably have become a Supreme in the Immortal World given time.
In the case that… he can really get 10 billion, it means he does have a bit of ability. At that time, accepting him as a disciple wouldn't be an impossibility! Thought Tang Xiu with a smiling expression.