Chapter 618: Zhan Zhao's Visit
"I appreciate the kindness of Mr. Shangguan Manor, but my nephew and I have just arrived in Lin'an and need to find a place to rest. It is inconvenient for us to go to your manor for the banquet."

Chai Xin smiled and waved his hand to refuse.

Although the No. 1 Manor in the World has a great reputation, it has no appeal to him.

After all, in the entire No. 1 Manor in the World, apart from Shangguan Haitang himself, there is no one important enough to influence the direction of the entire plot of the original novel of "No. 1 in the World". The so-called banquet is really unnecessary for him.

What's more, even Shangguan Haitang's control over the world's number one manor is quite limited. After all, the big boss behind the scenes is still Zhao Wusi.

And so far, Chai Xin doesn't want to have close contact with Zhao Wusi.

The description of Zhao Wusi's strength in the original novel is very inaccurate. Although it can be concluded that he is the real number one master in the world in the original novel, no one can guess to what extent he is.

After all, more than 20 years ago, Zhao Wusi had secretly absorbed the skills of 108 masters from the eight major sects.

Even if each of these people only provided him with half a year's worth of skills on average, his skills were enough to easily break through fifty years.

Furthermore, before absorbing the skills of 108 masters from the eight major sects, Zhao Wushi's own skills were already quite extraordinary, otherwise he would not have been regarded as a partner, or even a competitor, by Gu Santong.

Now that so many years have passed, it is hard to imagine how many masters' skills Zhao Wusi has devoured and what his true strength has reached.

Even though Chai Xin now has the strength to crush most of the top masters, he still feels nervous when he thinks of Zhao Wusi's unfathomable depth.

If he went deep into the world's number one village at this time and Zhao Wusi had any ill intentions towards him, wouldn't it be like a sheep walking into a tiger's mouth and falling into a trap?

As the saying goes, a gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall. No matter how confident Chai Xin is, he will not entrust his life to a completely uncertain environment.

Upon hearing Chai Xin's refusal, Shangguan Haitang immediately revealed a look of regret on her face, but she did not persist.

As the owner of the world's number one manor, even though she was very curious about Chai Xin's strength and was grateful to him for saving her most beloved brother Duan Tianya, it was still not enough to make her let go of her pride and invite him regardless of everything.

She understood one thing very well: no deal can be made if you push too much; everything must be done with mutual consent; there is no point in forcing things.

Furthermore, for many masters in the martial arts world, a semi-official organization like Tianxia Diyi Zhuang is indeed a place that they are close to from the bottom of their hearts.

Shangguan Haitang didn't want to destroy the image of the world's number one manor because of her excessive entanglement.

After being stunned for a moment, she smiled sincerely and nodded, "In that case, why not make an appointment next time. However, I am quite familiar with Lin'an. If Brother Chai needs anything, please let me know."

At this time, Zhan Zhao also nodded and said, "Brother Chai, please don't be polite. If you need any help, just ask."

"Thank you for your kindness. If there is a real need, I will definitely not be polite to you. But right now, it is really not necessary."

Although his words were polite, they did not leave much room for maneuver.

A smart person like Shangguan Haitang could naturally hear it very clearly.

"In that case, Haitang will be waiting for Brother Chai to come. If Brother Chai has anything to do, please feel free to help."

Shanggua Begonia said with a smile.

"Thank you."

Chai Xin nodded and looked at Zhan Zhao beside him.

"Brother Zhan, did the previous incident make you feel embarrassed?"

Although these words were spoken in a very obscure way, Zhan Zhao was no fool. On the contrary, he was very smart and understood them immediately.

What Chai Xin was talking about was, of course, whether he had not completely followed Zhao Wushi's request to assist Zhang Jinjiu in finding out the truth about Duan Tianya's disappearance that night, and whether he was blamed and punished later.

"Brother Chai, don't worry. I'm not a member of the No. 1 Manor in the World, so I'm almost not under their jurisdiction. Besides, Brother Chai did save Brother Tianya, which is a big favor to the entire Hulong Manor."

Zhan Zhao spoke with a sincere tone, and it was obvious that he did not want Chai Xin to feel sorry for this matter, so he explained it very seriously.

"After learning about this, both the prince and the owner of the manor were very magnanimous. Not only did they not punish me, they even praised me for doing the right thing."

At this time, Shangguan Haitang also nodded and said, "The previous investigation of Zhang Jinjiu was actually due to the inadequacy of our No. 1 Manor in the World. I hope Brother Chai will not be offended."

She was speaking from her heart, feeling very embarrassed about the fact that her adoptive father Zhao Wusi had ordered Zhang Jinjiu to investigate Chai Xin.

"That's good. I have some other things to do, so I won't disturb your shopping pleasure. We'll talk again when we have the chance."

After Chai Xin finished speaking, he clasped his fists towards Shangguan Haitang and Zhan Zhao, and without waiting for them to speak again, he turned and walked towards Yang Guo who had already run quite far away.

"Brother Zhan, what kind of person do you think this Brother Chai is? Could what happened at the inn where the Izumo Kingdom stayed that night be related to him?"

Shangguan Haitang looked at Chai Xin's back as he walked into the crowd, and calmly asked Zhan Zhao beside him.

Zhan Zhao shook his head gently upon hearing this: "I don't know the things that the owner of the manor is asking about. The only thing I can tell you is that Brother Chai is definitely not an ordinary person. If you want to have a heart-to-heart with him, you must be sincere."

"If we pretend to be compliant or even harbor evil intentions, we will probably encounter even more intense reactions, which will not benefit anyone."

Zhan Zhao turned around and looked at Shangguan Haitang and reminded her seriously.

"Okay, thank you Brother Zhan for your valuable advice. Haitang will remember it." Shangguan Haitang listened thoughtfully and finally nodded in response.

In the crowd, Yang Guo, who entered Lin'an for the first time, was almost going crazy with joy.

Holding the purse given by Chai Xin, he kept shuttling between the stalls. He was almost full of delicious and fun things in his hands.

"Guo'er, we have finished our shopping today. Let's find a place to stay first, and then have some food. If you want to play on the street again in the future, there will be plenty of opportunities and time."

Chai Xin easily made his way through the crowded crowd and soon came to Yang Guo who was buying candied haws.

While biting the sweet and sour candied haws in his hand, Yang Guo said cheerfully, “Whatever uncle says, Guo’er will listen to you.”

"Very good, then follow me closely and let's find a suitable place to live."

Chai Xin looked at Yang Guo's sensible appearance and felt more relieved.

Of course he could see that Yang Guo hadn't had enough fun yet and was even still in high spirits.

Generally speaking, teenagers like him who are twelve or thirteen years old are at the stage of having strong personalities. If they are interrupted when they are in high spirits, no matter who tries to interrupt them, they will often be unable to accept it and become furious.

But after performing the performance, he did not show any dissatisfaction or hesitation and agreed immediately. It can be seen that he always remains humble and cautious in his heart.

It was obvious that although Yang Guo appeared to be very excited, deep down he still harbored a strong sense of insecurity.

After all, he lost his father when he was young, and lost his mother not long after he was grown up. He lived alone and helpless for more than a year.

Over the past year or so, he, as a little child, has endured countless cold stares and bullying, so naturally his heart is both strong and fragile.

He is strong because he was able to face all kinds of hardships in life alone at a young age and live with a smile until today. He is fragile because he is actually very sensitive deep down and has a very sharp and intense reaction to the eyes and attitudes of others.

The reason why he accepted and was willing to follow Chai Xin so quickly was certainly because he believed what the other party said.

But at the same time, more importantly, he had been alone and helpless for too long, and deep down he desperately wanted someone he could rely on.

No matter what, Yang Guo is only a twelve-year-old boy after all.

Despite suddenly receiving such great happiness, he could not help but feel a sense of unreality in his heart, as if he was walking on clouds, afraid that he would accidentally step on empty air and fall back into the dust.

Therefore, he would not, or dared not, disobey Chai Xin's orders.

The premise of all this is that Chai Xin is gentle enough to him and there is no malice in his words and actions.

Otherwise, with Yang Guo's extreme personality, he would rather continue to wander around the world alone than compromise and stay with a so-called "relative" who does not take him seriously.

Chai Xin had experienced countless things and seen countless people, so he could naturally see Yang Guo's current state.

Therefore, he behaved more gently and kindly so as not to touch Yang Guo's soft heart.

Chai Xin was not short of money, so it was not difficult for him to find a place to live that suited his taste, even in the extremely expensive city of Lin'an.

Soon, he spent tens of thousands of taels of silver and bought a small courtyard in a quiet section of the city.

The yard was not very big, covering only a little over one acre, but it was decorated very elegantly, and was more than enough to accommodate the uncle and nephew.

In addition, Chai Xin also bought a cook and two servants to clean the courtyard. They were all men in their thirties and were relatively honest, so he could rest assured in using them.

In the blink of an eye, seven days passed.

During these seven days, Chai Xin hardly went out, but devoted himself to teaching Yang Guo martial arts.

He did not teach him any other methods, but only taught him the "Daoxuan Gong".

Of course, without the Creation Seal as an introduction, "Dao Xuan Gong" can never be called complete.

Although 99% of the effects are the same, there is one unbridgeable gap.

That is, if Yang Guo wanted to rely on this technique to control the rules of the world, it would be impossible.

In fact, without the Seal of Creation as an introduction, the Daoxuan Gong would not allow Yang Guo to master the rules of the world, and even his ability to devour the power of others would be somewhat limited.

All in all, for Chai Xin himself, teaching "Daoxuan Gong" to others is not a big deal at all.

However, Yang Guo was indeed a martial arts genius with outstanding talent. Even without the guidance of the Creation Seal, he was able to quickly master the art with only Chai Xin's instruction.

It is worth mentioning that Chai Xin did not tell Yang Guo that "Daoxuan Gong" has the effect of absorbing other people's skills.

It's not that he didn't trust Yang Guo, but he was worried that the boy was too young and didn't know how to act properly.

At such a young age, if he becomes obsessed with the pleasure of absorbing other people's skills by any means necessary to improve his own skills, he may easily go astray.

After all, Yang Guo is not Chai Xin and does not have as much experience.

It is hard to believe that a child of twelve or thirteen can have such strong self-control.

He deliberately did not tell Yang Guo these things because he was worried that after knowing them, he would always only think about taking shortcuts and only care about devouring the skills of others, but ignore the more important practice of his own.

Moreover, when Yang Guo's cultivation of "Daoxuan Gong" and his willpower have reached a certain level, he will naturally receive more detailed and accurate information about this technique.

"Master, there is a young man outside who calls himself Zhan."

One day, Chai Xin was reading in his study when he suddenly heard a follower report.

"Young Master Zhan?"

As soon as Chai Xin heard this, he immediately understood what was going on.

Looking at the entire "world of heroes", apart from knowing one "Zhan Zhao", does he have any other friends with the surname Zhan?
"Please come in! Forget it, I'll go and greet him myself."

Chai Xin thought of the help Zhan Zhao had given him before - although it was not actually needed - he still remembered the favor.

Now that Zhan Zhao came to visit him in person, how could he refuse him?
Without much hesitation, Chai Xin stood up and walked towards the yard, and soon arrived at the gate.

The door was already open, and standing at the door was a handsome young man of about seventeen or eighteen years old in blue clothes. It was Zhan Zhao.

"Brother Chai, please forgive me for being so presumptuous to visit you."

When Zhan Zhao saw Chai Xin, he immediately clasped his fists and bowed, greeting him very politely.

Seeing this, Chai Xin immediately clasped his fists in return and said with a smile: "Brother Zhan, what are you talking about? You coming here is giving me face, so why would I be surprised? On the contrary, I welcome you very much!"

After saying this, he quickly extended his hand and said, "Stop talking at the door. Come in!"

"Sorry for bothering you!"

Zhan Zhao clasped his fists again before following Chai Xin into the courtyard.

"Quick, make a pot of good tea."

Chai Xin instructed the servant beside him.

"Yes, my lord!"

The servant immediately responded respectfully and then ran quickly to make tea.

The two walked into the living room, sat down as host and guest, and began to chat.

Soon, a servant came into the hall holding a set of tea sets, brewed a cup for each of them, and then retreated respectfully.

The two of them took a few more sips of tea and finally got to the point.

Chai Xin smiled and asked, "Brother Zhan, what brings you to my humble abode? I wonder what brings you to my humble abode?"

He was not surprised that Zhan Zhao was able to find his residence. The other party was not an ordinary person, and he had a group of equally extraordinary friends behind him.

Zhan Zhao put down his teacup after hearing this, and a serious look appeared on his face: "I am not here for no reason, but I have something very urgent that I need your help with."

(End of this chapter)