Lost

Xu An was calm despite his heart rate increased considerably. In times of death, most people were either scared witless that they were panicking or in calm. Xu An was the latter.

"May I know the reason?" Xu An asked. His life was at stake, and so he had to choose his words carefully.

Although Xu An was confident that Xu Yang was not going to kill him. It was better to be safe than sorry.

With a pull of the trigger, his brain juices would spill out.

"Uncle Xu!" Arza was aware of the tense situation and did not know what he should do. His eyelids creased in worry.

"Clair, come out," Xu Yang indifferently said as he drew back the pistol and put it on his desk.

In a split second, Xu An saw that Xu Yang closed his eyes.

A chance!

He reached out his hand and grabbed the pistol. He quickly aimed it at his little brother.

"It's futile. That gun is an ordinary firearm. It could not injure a cultivator like me."

Right afterward, Xu Yang's entire body let out a dim, yellowish glow and a girl suddenly came out of his body! It was as though she possessed Xu Yang and decided to come out!

"A ghost?!" Xu An's eyes dilated as his legs involuntarily shake. He was afraid of ghosts. No matter how tough-minded and mature he was, that fear never disappeared.

"It's not a ghost. You must have heard of Paladin, right?" Xu Yang asked.

Xu An nodded as he replied, "Un, when one conquers a certain dungeon, one would get a Paladin. A powerful servant that could aid you."

Xu An abruptly halted as if dots began to connect.

"Xu Yang, it can't be that the girl beside you is…"

"Correct, she's a Paladin. Her name is Clair, she can see the future.

"The master and servant could become one and that's how the master could use the servant's ability.

"I used her power to see the distant future of the clan and saw the Xu clan had been annihilated from the earth."

"And the source of that annihilation is me? Why? I'm nothing but a cultivator at the First Mortal Stage. What did I do?" Xu An asked with his eyes narrowed.

"The power itself has many limitations. Before the scene shatters, I saw you standing before the corpses of our clan members and my dead body."

"You're saying that I kill my kin?" Xu An felt the situation was ridiculous and continued, "I don't have a reason to do so or do I have the power. If you want the clan to be safe, why don't you kill me? You can easily do so with a snap of your finger."

If he was still alive, the future might have happened. To make sure such a thing never occurred in the first place, why didn't Xu Yang kill him?

As long as Xu An was alive, that future might come to reality sooner or later. No one knew about the future after all.

Xu An felt doubt about such a thing going to happen but he somehow believed it might happen. 

"I would've done it if you had nothing to do with me but I still owe you for what you did a few years ago."

Memories began to flash through Xu An's mind. They were just children exploring the forest out of curiosity and accidentally got lost.

Xu An could still vividly remember what that curiosity led to.

"Xu Yang! Go! I will hold these bandits off! You go ask for help! Because of me, we got lost and I don't want to lose you because of what I did!" The old Xu An yelled as he fought a group of bandits with a small dagger.

Xu Yang at the time was a child that had yet to step into the cultivation world. He was only an ordinary kid while Xu An was a cultivation genius who reached the Fifth Cores of Sky at a young age.

Seeing his brother sacrifice himself for him. Xu Yang cried as he dashed to the forest, leaving Xu An with a group of bandits.

"How the tables are turned. You're now the cultivation genius," Xu An lamented as he sighed. He did feel jealous as the world was unfair to him.

But was there really fairness in this world? If he suffered injustice, then it should be fair for others to feel what he felt.

Usually, people with that line of thought would go for revenge but Xu An chose to remain passive. Well at first he developed a plan in his mind so that he got what was taken from him. By killing his little brother to be precise but then, he remembered the man that gave him this red scarf.

His evil plan evaporated almost immediately.

"The world is unfair and there is nothing you could do about it. Although this may sound naive, you can be fair to yourself and those around you.

"What this means is, sometimes you don't have to take things too seriously and feel that your life is ruined because of one problem.

"There are many paths before you and your choice is unlimited.

"Eh? My words didn't make sense? Come join drinking with me!" The man then laughed heartily without a care of the world.

Although he was drunk when he said it, Xu An took his advice from the bottom of his heart.

Back to the present.

"If you leave me alone in that forest and save yourself. I may already rot in that place.

"I've been curious. Why did you sacrifice yourself for me, brother? Those bandits are far times stronger than you and before that despair.

"Instead of succumbing to it. Why did you resist it? Is there a benefit?" Xu Yang paused as he continued, "No, because of that you're trapped in that place for two years, and when you're back.

"Your cultivation realm dropped to First Mortal Stage and your Soul Root too. From Platinum grade to Silver."

In cultivation, Soul Root determined one's growth. Soul Root existed in one's body from the moment they were born. It would be that way until you die unless you meet a fortuitous encounter or the opposite.

Xu An was the latter.

His Platinum grade Soul Root allowed him to cultivate twenty times faster. At the age of eight, he reached the Fifth Cores of Sky and was called a genius that appeared in one in a million years.

He was far more talented than the Emperor of Humanity and said had a greater future for him and could be the next Emperor of Humanity.

However, he lost that chance to save his little brother.

And I didn't regret it, Xu An said to himself.

"No, there is a benefit." Xu An shook his head.

"What?"

Xu An pointed his finger at Xu Yang and said, "I can still meet you."

Xu Yang was stunned for a brief moment as he didn't expect such an answer. His expression involuntarily softened.

"I still don't understand how you think even after this many years," Xu Yang said with a smile.

Heh, I doubt you could. Although we're twins, our mindset is different." Xu An slightly scoffed and changed the topic.

"You do know that you don't have to threaten me with a gun? My relationship with the Xu clan is no different than a stranger and the only person I know are few.

"I probably quit willingly if you say a few words."

Xu An felt the situation earlier was kind of exaggerated. His little brother chose to threaten him instead of talking. Since when did their relationship become so distant?

"It's a simple test. I need your help."

Xu An's eyes narrowed, "Help?"

Xu Yang nodded as he said, "Don't worry, it's something you could succeed at and you could retreat if it's a must."

"You just kicked me out of the clan and then ordered me on a mission? Is this for the clan or you?" Xu An pondered.

"Precisely because you're not the Xu clan anymore. As you see, I make enemies left and right.

"Even though making another one does not make any difference. This one is a bit tricky and difficult to handle."

Xu An didn't understand his little brother's purpose but he didn't back down either. He was all ears.

"What do you need me to do?"

"Pets began to disappear one after another as they are stolen and my informant said that those pets are being auctioned.

"If it's like buying and selling pets, it wouldn't attract my attention but they sell their meat and some use it as a sacrifice for dark magic."

"I don't understand though. The Infantry could solve this rather easily or you probably could send one of your people."

Considering Xu Yang's status. Such a thing was easy to do. Xu Yang must have a private troop under his command to kill his enemies silently.

So why didn't he make use of them?

One more thing to add, the Infantry could effortlessly solve this problem!

"Haven't I told you already? I make enemies left and right. I didn't have the time to take care of it.

"The same thing could be said to Infantry. They lacked the manpower and their troops were scattered throughout the world. They don't usually take care of a trifling matter like this.

"I even doubt they knew the ends of those pets. In their eyes, it's simply an ordinary case of pets missing."

Xu An nodded as he understood. Xu Yang's explanation did make sense.

"The Infantry part I understand but what about you? What makes this case worth enough of your attention?" Xu An asked.

"Critical point in time. Want to change." Clair out of the blue said. Her voice was emotionless and soothing.

Xu An noticed her strange way of speaking. It was as though a robot with the intelligence of a child was speaking.

"One of the reasons for the Xu clan's annihilation also lies in this task. Frankly speaking, this event is more than meets the eye. I want to know the reason. How unfortunate I can't."

Xu An fell silent as he pondered for a short moment before asking, "what will I get in return?"

"Cultivation resources, money, and a gold-grade weapon."

Xu An's eyes lit up as he was shocked.

"Deal!" He quickly said before Xu Yang changed his mind.

Xu Yang was pleased with Xu An's decision as he smiled.

"So, what do I need to do? Catch the bad guys? Kill all of them?" Xu An asked.

Xu Yang paused for a few seconds, "I want you to investigate them. Kill is allowed but you must not attract their attention.

"Tell me what you got in seven days," said Xu Yang calmly.

Mission to steal intelligence huh? Xu An thought to himself. He was confident in doing this.

One time he stole information regarding advanced military technology and succeeded albeit got chased by the entire army.

Something like gathering information from a small organization was nothing to him.