Chapter 26: Are You Worthy Of My Apology?
This was Xu Que's second visit to the Celestial Sect.
The Sect's giant monastery gate was completed by the white jaded stone steps leading to it, glistening with brightness. There was a stone tablet decorated with a flamboyant, cursive calligraphy. It wrote the 3 characters of "Celestial Sect" on it, emitting an imposing atmosphere.
Gazing along the monastery gate in the distance amongst the clouds, one could vaguely see a wide training ground. One could also see rows of red-colored roof tiles along with vibrant colored light flowing through the skies— the Celestial Sect disciples riding on their flying swords.
What a scenery!
Xu Que was dazzled. The first time he came was an accident with the Divine Escape Emblem sending him to the treasure store outside the Sect. He then pilfered the store empty and quickly fle but did not have a good look at the majestic scenery the Celestial Sect possess.
This time, he went up to the gate and entered from the front. He was shocked at the imposing aura the monastery gate gave out.
"Whoosh!"
This time, two dazzling light flew from behind. Zhang Su Liang and the other disciple chased and landed beside Xu Que.
"Friend, this way!"
The both of them were very polite to Xu Que, showing the way to him.
Xu Que nodded and followed.
Of course, clutched in his hands was a piece of the Divine Escape Emblem. If the situation gets out of hand, he could escape instantly.
However, the path he was taking seemed steady. He proceeded past a paradise-like arch bridge. Xu Que was ultimately brought to the main center of a main hall.
This was Celestial Sect's discussion hall. There were countless members from the smaller Factions along with the Elders seated on both sides of the hall. In the center seat was a middle-aged man with a refined look. It was Celestial Sect's Leader— Zhang Dan Shan!
The moment Xu Que appeared, everyone's focus were fixated on him and at the same time, looking at him from top to toe.
Xu Que wasn't excited at that fact and he turned his head, staring at one of the Elder and asked, "What the hell are you staring at?"
"Ding! Congratulations to host 'Xu Que' for successfully acting tough. The reward is 20 act tough points." The system beep sounded in his head.
The reply "Why can't I stare" which he anticipated did not happen. The Elder acted as if he did not hear anything, lifted his cup and drank his tea.
Several coughs by others could be heard, seemingly to hold back from flaring up. It was as if they felt that the attitude by Xu Que was fitting of the rumor that he was Duan Jiu De's disciple.
Zhang Dan Shan, who was on the center seat, puckered his eyebrows and asked, "As the leader, let me ask you, who was the senior of your master, Duan Jiu De?"
"None of your damned business!" Xu Que replied angrily, with the system beep sounding in his head again.
"..."
The discussion hall momentarily turned silent.
Everybody was stunned. Is this youngster being too daring? His temper is so bad as well. He definitely has an exceptional background.
Zhang Dan Shan also blanked out.
From what it seems, even if this youngster was Duan Jiu De's disciple, he did not have a reason to behave in such a manner. On top of that, he was an Infant Transformation stage and a Sect Leader.
Xu Que felt the weird atmosphere and realized that he may have gone overboard. He then asked, "The reason I was invited here was to discuss, isn't it? Go on and don't ask unnecessary questions. My master doesn't like to be talked about."
After his words, everyone on the scene started to understand.
His master does not like it?
Isn't this equivalent to him saying that Duan Jiu De is his master?
Thank god, we almost offended them. We still can make it up.
Many people heaved a sigh of relief in their hearts.
Zhang Dan Shan puckered his eyebrows again, staring at Xu Que. He thought for a moment and said, "That's right. The reason we invited you is to clear the misunderstanding between you and the various Factions."
"Eh, say it. What do you want to clear?" Xu Que nodded and replied neutrally.
Zhang Dan Shan looked at the others for a bit and mumbled, "Firstly, it's when you stole items from our treasure store..."
"Wait, wait!" Interrupting Zhang Dan Shan, Xu Que widened his eyes and replied, "When did I steal from your treasure store? Are you kidding me? I will never do that."
"..." Zhang Dan Shan was absolutely stunned. He blanked out for a moment, face changed and deeply said, "We have a witness. Zhang Su Liang, come out and tell us."
Zhang Su Liang, who was standing at the door, immediately rushed over after hearing the Sect Leader.
Before he could open his mouth, Xu Que let out a harmless smile, then laughed and replied, "Haha! Who knew brother Zhang was there too! I was just cracking a joke if you people don't mind. I, Xu Que, will always stand up for my actions. You are right. I stole from the treasure store."
"..."
Everyone on the scene were speechless.
Zhang Dan Shan let out a gasp and was too lazy to put up an argument with him. He continued, "After stealing from our treasure store, you killed the disciples and Elders from the various Factions."
"Hold on!" Xu Que interrupted again and replied loudly, "I definitely did not kill them."
Damn. They had never met such a shameless guy before.
The people almost spat out blood. The old ones who had a bad temper almost flared up at the scene and wanted to slap Xu Que to death.
Zhang Dan Shan changed his expression and replied, "If you continue with this attitude of yours, we shouldn't discuss further."
"If you don't want to discuss further, so be it. My master will personally discuss it with you all. Bye." Xu Que pushed up his sleeves and walked off.
Everyone on the scene panicked. They were already having troubles with the disciple. If the master comes, won't it be the end of the world?
An Elder from the side reacted quickly. He stood up and held onto his hand. He let out an awkward smile and said, "Small Brother, don't be rash. Sect Leader Zhang didn't mean it that way."
"If it doesn't mean that, then what does it mean? I've already asked you all on solving the problem. You people didn't want to give me a proper answer and talked some nonsense about things which had already happened. As people from the ancient times have said, let bygones be bygones, does bringing it back up have any meaning?"
Xu Que's brief remark started to make them unhappy.
Everybody was speechless. They were thinking who exactly said those nonsense? That fool just wanted to run away from the consequences.
Zhang Dan Shan's face became more unsatisfied by the minute but he held on to his temper and replied, "Since you like to go straight to the point, we shall say what we wanted to say then."
"Before your arrival, I've already discussed with the various Factions. We have decided that you have to apologize to everybody and then we will let the matter rest."
"Of course, you can choose to not do it. After all, you are Senior Duan's disciple and we will not lay our hands on you. However, for the lives of the Pan Shan Villagers, we cannot guarantee that you will be able to protect them."
Xu Que heard the remark and let out a cold laugh, "Are you threatening me?"
"This is not threatening. I am just informing you about the two consequences." Zhang Dan Shan nodded and murmured, "As the Celestial Sect Leader till this day, I have many skills and weapons at my disposal. Among them, I have a Spell-breaking cartridge which can break any Beginner Spells. Therefore, the spell you have casted is definitely not invincible."
Spell-breaking cartridge? Able to break any Beginner Spells?
Hehe... after this round of acting tough, I shall go back and change to an Intermediate Spell. I shall see how you fools break it.
Xu Que laughed coldly in his heart and nodded, "I will never apologize. When I first joined my master's school, my master told me that no matter what I do, I must never apologize over my dead body. If not, he would kick me out of the school. At that time, I gave him a big tight slap on his head. He chased and beat me for three days and three nights and I never gave in and apologize. And now..."
Having said that, he stuttered a bit, gave a brief look at the people, and continued, "And you want me to apologize? Are you even worthy of my apology?"
"Ding! Congratulations to host 'Xu Que' for successfully forcefully acting tough. The reward is 20 act tough points!"