35: After understanding the whole story, Xiao Huohuo was very excited.

At the dining table, Xiao Zhan, the Clan Chief of the Xiao Family, and his grandson, Xiao Huohuo, both looked as if they had just been pulled out of water.

Cold sweat?

That stuff was worthless; it poured down, soaking their expensive brocade robes, each worth only a few taels of silver, through and through.

Sticky, damp, and incredibly uncomfortable!

How could they not be intimidated?

They had to be!

Completely and utterly intimidated!

This little girl, carved from pink jade, with a small topknot, looking even more obedient than the neighbor's younger sister, was actually the Tai Xuan Immortal Sect's second personal Disciple!

Tai Xuan Immortal Sect, the Sect Master's second personal Disciple!

Good heavens!

That pressure just now was like the sky collapsing, pressing the grandfather and grandson to the ground, faces to the yellow earth, backs to the sky, rubbing them mercilessly!

Their Souls were trembling, their bones were wailing!

This life? Next life? The life after that?

They wouldn't want to experience it a second time, even if it killed them!

"Clan Chief Xiao, Young Master Xiao."

Qin Jiu's voice was not loud, but it carried the calm and peacefulness characteristic of someone who had long held a high position, as if a spring breeze had swept through, slightly dispelling the chill in the hearts of the Xiao Family grandfather and grandson.

His tone was gentle, with a perfectly appropriate hint of inquiry: "Just now, I heard your daughter... uh, I heard Xiao Yuran mention that it seems Young Master Xiao's days within the Family have not been smooth sailing?"

This question was quite tactful.

But the meaning was crystal clear: What's the story behind your Genius turning into Trash and being trampled into the mud? Tell me about it!

Xiao Zhan's weathered old face flushed instantly upon hearing this.

It turned red, then purple, then black!

A Family disgrace!

This was like pressing the Xiao Family's face into the ground and grinding it back and forth, repeatedly, with thorny caltrops!

And it was in front of a Great Master from an Immortal Sect!

But, facing these two "Immortals" who could decide the Xiao Family's survival with a flick of their hand, dared he not speak?

He dared not!

Even if he had a hundred times the courage of a bear and a leopard, he wouldn't dare!

"Alas—!"

A long sigh, as if it had exhausted all of Xiao Zhan's spirit and energy.

His already wrinkled old face instantly became crisscrossed with furrows, as if he had aged twenty years out of thin air, filled with endless vicissitudes and deep-seated helplessness.

"To be honest with you two Immortals..." Xiao Zhan struggled to organize his words, his voice dry and hoarse, as if harshly abraded by sandpaper, carrying a hint of unspeakable bitterness and humiliation.

"My son... oh no, it's my unworthy grandson, Huohuo, he..."

"Huohuo, this child, once... once was the most dazzling Martial Artist Genius in my Xiao Family in the past hundred years!"

"At fifteen, he had already touched the threshold of a second-rate Martial Artist. Looking at the entire Xiangyang City, how spirited and how famous he was!"

"But who would have thought, unexpected events happen in life! Three years ago, a sudden change caused the Internal Energy in his body to inexplicably dissipate rapidly! His Realm plummeted, falling from the Nine Heavens to the endless abyss, becoming... becoming what he is now, even worse than ordinary Family Disciples..."

At this point, tears welled up in Xiao Zhan's old eyes, turbid tears swirling in his eye sockets, seemingly filled with infinite heartache and regret.

"Within a Family, human hearts are the most unpredictable and the most callous. Seeing Huohuo lose his power, those short-sighted and narrow-minded individuals naturally seized the opportunity to cause trouble, kick him when he was down, and mock him, saying all sorts of nasty things!"

"As for the Yun Family breaking off the engagement..." Xiao Zhan was even more ashamed, his old face flushed like a pig's liver, his voice even carrying a suppressed sob, "Ultimately, it's because my Xiao Family is incompetent, unable to raise our children properly, and couldn't protect our own Qilin child, which caused Huohuo to... suffer such immense grievance and humiliation for no reason!"

These words were spoken with such sincerity, each word bleeding, each sound filled with sorrow.

Qin Jiu listened quietly, his brows unconsciously furrowing slightly.

The fall of a Genius, the harsh realities of the world, the treachery of human hearts.

He was all too familiar with this kind of plot.

"So that's how it is." Qin Jiu nodded slightly, his tone carrying a barely perceptible hint of understanding and sigh, "Young Master Xiao's experience, Qin... deeply empathizes."

"You make the Immortal... laugh." Xiao Huohuo's voice was still hoarse, filled with deep self-mockery and bitterness.

But the pair of eyes, which had rekindled a faint glimmer, could not hide the inquiry and... a trace of faint expectation within them.

Just then.

"Hmph! What Genius turning into Trash, I think it's just that he didn't work hard enough!"

A childish voice, soft but with a hint of dissatisfaction, suddenly rang out.

Everyone looked in the direction of the voice, only to see Lu Nuannuan, who had stopped her assault on the table full of delicacies at some unknown point, pouting her little mouth, her big eyes blinking as she looked at Xiao Huohuo.

The little girl heard this, and this plot was wrong!

In the storybooks her Master and Senior Brother told her, weren't these Trash-to-riches beginnings all about future super powerhouses?

Why did it become a pitiful little one who was bullied here?

"You, Big Brother, don't look stupid, so why did you let people bully you?"

Nanny tilted her small head, her face full of innocent purity, and also a bit of... disappointment?

Xiao Huohuo's face turned pale, then green, then white upon hearing this, and his heart was even more bitter.

Not working hard?

He worked harder than anyone!

But that damned Internal Energy was like a deflated ball, he just couldn't keep it!

Seeing this, Qin Jiu quickly smoothed things over: "Senior Sister Nanny, Young Master Xiao's situation is a bit special. It's not that he doesn't work hard, but rather..."

"Special what!" Nanny waved her small hand, interrupting Qin Jiu's words, her small face full of self-evident pride.

"My Master said, there's no problem in the world that can't be solved! If there is, it's definitely because you're not strong enough!"

"You, Big Brother, just have too low a cultivation level! If you were as powerful as my Master, who would dare bully you!"

Well, this little auntie was starting to blow smoke for her Master again.

Qin Jiu's mouth twitched, thinking, 'You old man really talk without feeling the pain, what kind of existence is the Sect Master? Can Mortals in this world compare to the Sect Master?'

Xiao Zhan and the Elders of the Xiao Family were also stunned.

How strong must this little Immortal's Master be?

Xiao Huohuo, however, trembled all over!

He suddenly looked up, his once lifeless eyes instantly bursting with terrifying brilliance, staring fixedly at Nanny!

"Immortal... do you mean...?"

His voice trembled violently due to extreme excitement!

"What I mean is!" Nanny patted her small chest with a "thump, thump," her voice childish but carrying an undeniable domineering aura.

"Your little problem, to my Master, is no problem at all!"

"When I go back, I'll tell my Master, and have him take a look at you!"

"My Master is super powerful! He's the most, most, most powerful person in the world! There's nothing he can't do!"

The little girl grew more excited as she spoke, as if her Master, Lu Yuchen, was the legendary omnipotent Immortal!

Boom!

Nanny's words were like a Heavenly God's thunderbolt, striking Xiao Huohuo's head fiercely!

He was completely stunned!

His mind was blank!

Only the phrase "have him take a look at you" echoed wildly in his mind!

An Immortal... is going to personally treat me?!

Is this... is this true?!

He wasn't dreaming, was he?!

An indescribable surge of ecstasy and excitement, like a volcanic eruption, instantly engulfed him!

He knelt down before Nanny with a "thud" again, so excited that he was incoherent, tears streaming down his face.

"Immortal... Immortal's great kindness, Xiao Huohuo... Xiao Huohuo will never forget it! Wuwuwu..."

A dignified seven-foot man was crying like a 300-pound child at this moment.

It was simply that this sudden happiness was too overwhelming!

Qin Jiu watched from the side, also dumbfounded.

It just... happened?

Senior Sister Nanny's divine assist was simply incredible!

However, he also felt a little uneasy.

Would the Sect Master, who was busy with myriad affairs (mostly lying flat), really care about such "small matters" of the Mortal world?

He glanced at his Senior Sister's confident little expression, then looked at Xiao Huohuo, who was crying profusely on the ground, and couldn't help but show a helpless, bitter smile.

"Alas, I just hope the Sect Master won't blame me for not looking after Senior Sister Nanny well..."

And Xiao Huohuo, at this moment, was already immersed in the immense joy of receiving treatment from an Immortal.

He seemed to have already seen his bright future of regaining his Genius name, stepping on Cloud Mirage, punching down villains, and reaching the Peak of his life!

As for Nanny's phrase "find a time to let my Master take a look at you," he had already automatically ignored the specific timing.

To be able to befriend an Immortal was already an immense stroke of luck!

This kindness, he, Xiao Huohuo, had remembered it!