At last, after the tea party, Shang Wu was taken back to the mansion by Shang Ling.
From Shang Ling’s eager expression, Xu Que knew that Shang Wu would be beaten unmercifully when they were home.
For this, Xu Que provided Shang Ling with several plans.
For example, Shang Ling could hang and beat Shang Wu, which could be abbreviated as “Hang & Beat,” or Shang Ling could team up with his wife to provide Shang Wu with twofold care by taking turns.
Hearing his suggestions, Shang Ling was quite shocked. He supposed Xu Que would have experienced all these treatments, otherwise, he wouldn’t know them so well. Therefore, Shang Ling nodded again and again and said he would use all these plans for Shang Wu, several times.
After all, Xu Que was such a good example. Shang Ling hoped he could cultivate Shang Wu into a leader like Xu Que. He would never spoil Shang Wu anymore!
After sending out Shang Ling and the rest of the guests, only Xu Que and Situ Hai Tang were left in the Tea House.
Xu Que smiled in relief.
Situ Hai Tang watched Xu Que for a while, then she said while shaking her head, “You’re so mean! Because of you, Shang Wu will have a hard time later! Even Uncle Shang was cheated by you!”
“What I’ve done is for their own good! You’re telling me that Shang Wu shouldn’t be beaten up? I didn’t punish him because of you this time. If he offends others this way, I’m afraid he would have been killed now,” Xu Que said meaningfully.
Situ Hai Tang said indifferently, “His life or death is none of my business! However, what you said really makes sense. I don’t want to see Uncle Shang bury his son, so I didn’t expose you just now!”
“Hey, what you said isn’t correct! After all, we’re in the same boat. How could you expose me so casually?”
Situ Hai Tang was stunned and asked, “Since when I am in the same boat as you?”
“Since long ago, when we were in the Holy Ground of the Snow Mountain, and you promised me you would join the Exploding Heavens Faction and train a powerful army!” Xu Que said majestically.
Situ Hai Tang said embarrassedly, “I didn’t promise you!”
“I don’t care! I took it as a promise! Moreover, later I will go overseas together with Her Royal Highness the Water Empress, and I don’t know when I’ll come back. Therefore, you could act as the City Governor and train the powerful army of the Exploding Heavens Faction at the same time!” Xu Que acted shamelessly and forced Situ Hai Tang to join the Exploding Heavens Faction, because he thought highly of Situ Hai Tang’s extraordinary ability to train troops.
When Situ Hai Tang heard Xu Que was about to go overseas, she asked in surprise, “Are you going to leave?”
“Yes! But I will definitely come back, so don’t worry. You just have to help me train the troops. Have you ever heard a saying that goes like this, with great power comes great responsibility? You’re really powerful, so you have to shoulder this responsibility to help me in strengthening the Exploding Heavens Faction so that I can realize my wish to save the world,” Xu Que said forcefully, his face filled with eagerness!
Situ Hai Tang rolled her eyes snappily and became completely speechless.
Do you want to save the world? You can’t fool me! You’re going to do harm to this world, right?
However, Xu Que had stated his wishes firmly, so it was difficult for Situ Hai Tang to say no. Also, when she had been promoted as the City Governor, her job had become quite boring, so she was a little bit touched by Xu Que’s offer.
After pondering it for a short while, she nodded and said, “It’s no problem for me to train your army. But where is your army?”
“They’re in the Imperial City! The three thousand soldiers of the Snow City,” Xu Que said by squinting his eyes.
Situ Hai Tang widened her eyes and said while shaking her head, “Xu Que, you get more and more shameless! Since when did the troops of the Snow City become the army of the Exploding Heavens Faction?”
“Oh, don’t worry about the details! What’s yours is mine, right? Moreover, I have agreed to let you join the Exploding Heavens Faction. Therefore, we’ll be family in future!
“So this issue is hereby decided joyfully. In several days, I will go to the Imperial City. You can take the soldiers back. In addition, they’ve been running the Wanda Mall of the Exploding Heavens Faction in the Imperial City recently. They should have earned a lot of Spirit Stones. You can take all the Spirit Stones back to support your training. Just buy whatever you need,” Xu Que continued to say with a shameless smile on his face.
Situ Hai Tang was helpless, for she was unable to outspeak Xu Que.
For what Xu Que had done for the Snow City, Situ Haitang thought it wasn’t a big deal to give him three thousand soldiers. Therefore, she simply agreed by nodding her head.
Finally, they went back to the mansion of the City Governor and rested separately.
It was quite rare that Xu Que didn’t tease Situ Hai Tang that night, as he knew the success rate would be zero!
It was very difficult to tease a tomboy like Situ Hai Tang, and it required the accumulation of a lot of time. A watched pot never boils! Shang Wu was just a typical example!
Therefore, Xu Que kicked Buttface out of his room and had a good sleep that night.
In the early morning of the next day, Xu Que woke up before dawn. It was quite rare that he didn’t get up late. He woke up Buttface with a kick and asked him to see a play.
Buttface shouted reluctantly, “What play do you want me to see? I never watch plays!”
“You stupid dog! Last night, Shang Wu must have been beaten up by his father! If we don’t congratulate him, we’d be deemed rude!”
“Was Shang Wu beaten up? Haha, I like seeing this play!” Buttface perked up immediately, then stood up and dashed out quickly.
Xu Que and Buttface arrived outside the mansion of Shang Wu. They found the gate open, the courtyard very quiet.
An old man was sitting with his legs crossed. It was Shang Ling, resting his mind by closing his eyes and nourishing his spirit through expiration and inspiration.
It seemed Shang Ling had sensed someone outside the gate, as he opened his eyes abruptly and said in surprise, “My young friend Zhuge, what brings you here? Something important?”
“No, no! We happened to pass by here and just called on Senior Shang along the way!” Xu Que stepped into the courtyard with a radiant smile.
Buttface was following Xu Que furtively and looking around with his sly eyes.
Shang Ling stood up immediately to welcome Xu Que and said with a smile, “You are so considerate! Alas, if my unfilial son can be half as good as you, I’ll feel at peace when I die!”
“Oh? Didn’t you use the methods I suggested? Weren’t they useful?” Xu Que asked cheerfully with bright eyes upon hearing Shang Ling’s words.
Shang Ling sighed, shaking his head, “Alas, after all, he is our son! I really can’t beat him up! Last night, I planned to discipline him. However, he cried and said he will repent his misdeeds thoroughly and work harder in cultivation in the future. I was soft hearted and just let him go. I didn’t expect that this morning he would go out for a drink and disappear again, which makes me so mad!”
“Oh, that won’t do! Sect Leader Shang, you must be ruthless! I know there will be pain deep down in your heart when you beat up your son. Don’t forget the old saying that goes like this, to feed without teaching is the father’s fault!” Xu Que tried to persuade Shang Ling.
He had planned to have a good laugh at Shang Wu. However, instead of being beaten, Shang Wu had gone out to party with his friends! His life was too cozy!
“Alas!” Shang Ling sighed again helplessly.
“Sect Leader Shang, I have an idea, would you like to try it?” At this moment, an idea occurred to Xu Que, so he asked this with a smile.