These two were the very men who had taken the silver banknotes from Wei Ziting in the Imperial Capital.
"Brother, the rumors in the Imperial Capital are all wrong! If we hadn't seen it with our own eyes, would you believe the Civil Servant's Rice Bowl was this powerful?"
The older man nodded and said grimly, "The way he killed that Li the Fourth... it was incredibly skilled and ruthless. This second young master of the Xu Family has hidden himself very deep indeed!"
"It's a good thing we stayed hidden and no one spotted us. Now that we know the kid's true strength, we should be able to make our move!"
The younger brother sneered, "No matter how strong he is, he's still just a kid!"
"That's right. Let's get ready. The Black Forest will be a fitting grave for him."
The older man gritted his teeth. "We can consider this a down payment on the debt General Xu owes us!"
A complex, savage sneer spread across the faces of the two men, their eyes glittering with frenzied hatred.
...
Killing for the first time brought him no sense of pleasure.
Even though he knew the man deserved to die, and that in such a situation it was either kill or be killed, Xu Luo still felt a pang of guilt.
'This is the Jianghu—a life of danger, of settling scores and repaying debts with blood.'
'If I hadn't killed him, he would have killed me.'
'Those men were despicable. Not only did they try to steal what I'd risked my life for, but they also wanted to kill me and take everything. They deserved to die!'
'That's right. They all deserved to die!'
Xu Luo muttered to himself, gradually steadying his uneasy heart.
After placing the plant from his hand into his backpack, Xu Luo suddenly looked up. Two middle-aged men were standing before him, watching him with mocking smirks.
Xu Luo's heart plummeted.
'I didn't even notice when they appeared. If they'd attacked a moment ago, I'd already be dead.'
"Who are you?" Xu Luo activated the Shadow Shaking Heart Method to force himself to remain calm, his gaze steady on the two sneering men before him.
"Young Master Xu, you've hidden yourself quite well. So strong, and so ruthless!" the younger man mocked with a vicious sneer.
"Everyone says the second young master of the Xu Family is a sickly weakling, a walking apothecary, a good-for-nothing. And now they're calling you the Civil Servant's Rice Bowl. In my opinion, those people must be blind to have mistaken you for some harmless weakling."
The older man said coolly, "I knew it. General Xu may deserve to die a thousand deaths, but he still clawed his way out of mountains of corpses and rivers of blood. How could he possibly father a useless son? Young Master, you've hidden yourself well, but it all ends here."
'These two actually know who I am!' Xu Luo was startled for a moment, then a thought raced through his mind: 'Who wants me dead?'
As Xu Luo leaned against his large pack, he racked his brain for a plan, trying to guess their identities. 'If I abandon this pack,' he thought, 'could I escape from right under their noses?'
"Don't even think about running, Young Master Xu," the younger man sneered. "My brother and I have been on your tail ever since you left the Imperial Capital. We saw everything, clear as day, right down to your little killing display just now. If we had wanted to ambush you, you'd already be dead!"
The older man glared at Xu Luo, gritting his teeth. "You must be wondering how we know who you are. Well, the reason my brother and I have fallen so low is all thanks to that general father of yours! We normally wouldn't accept a contract on a minor character like you. But when we heard it was you, we took the job immediately."
"Heh heh, once you're dead, I bet your parents will be heartbroken, won't they? General Xu will go insane, completely berserk, right? Maybe he'll even get so angry he'll cough up blood and die! Let them have a taste of what it's like to lose a loved one, HAHAHAHA!" The younger man couldn't stop himself from cackling wildly.
The older man gave Xu Luo a savage grin. "Xu Luo, if you want to blame someone, blame your father. And when you're a ghost, don't come haunting my brother and me. Go find Wei Ziting!"
'So it was him!'
Hearing the name Wei Ziting, Xu Luo finally understood the root of the matter.
'These two already have a grudge against my family, and on top of that, they were hired by Wei Ziting to kill me... But if they're here to kill me, and they hate us so much, why do they keep respectfully calling me 'Young Master Xu'? Why do they still call my father 'General Xu'?'
"Why don't you give me a chance to die knowing the whole story? Killing me just like this won't be much fun for you, will it?"
Having pieced things together, Xu Luo actually felt calmer. There was no escape anyway. He simply sat down, leaned back against his large pack, and threw open his cloak to reveal his young, handsome face.
A calm smile on his face, he took the Spirit Medicine he had just acquired from his pack. "See this?" he said, smiling. "This is something that even a Golden King Snake was guarding. It must be priceless. You want it?"
"As far as my brother and I are concerned, your life is far more valuable than that, Young Master Xu!" the younger man sneered with contempt.
The older man studied Xu Luo's calm face. "Letting you die with the full story... I suppose that's fine. You're right. Simply killing you would be gratifying, but it would feel like something was missing."
"Brother, don't waste time talking to him! This kid might be stalling for backup!" the younger man warned.
"What backup? Don't forget, the terrain of this Black Forest is complex, and the area is vast and deserted. We've been following him this whole time and know his movements perfectly. How could there be anyone else?"
The older man sneered. "Speaking of which, Luo Xinlan was far too confident! To think that anywhere in the Cangqiong Kingdom is truly safe. She obviously never stopped to consider just how many people this General Xu of yours... has offended over the years!"