Chapter 153 - 153: Jade Flower
That figure was Song Shu waving a dagger above her head as she charged at the Alchemy Master on the ground.
The Alchemy Master heard this, but he didn't worry at all since he knew that this little girl couldn't do a single thing to him, not to mention that there was Elder Fu presiding over all of this. Rather he was hoping that Song Shu would come even closer so he could cause an "accident".
Now that things had been pushed this far, the only thing that he could grasp at was his usefulness to the Alchemy King Hall as the Alchemy Master. Over the years, while the Alchemy Tower had slowly degraded, he had always found ways to increase the payments they made to the Alchemy King Hall which had earned him quite a bit of merit with his family in the upper realm.
As long as he played on the usefulness that he had, there was still a chance that the elder would allow him to live even though he had killed the previous Alchemy Master. There were many different factions in the upper realm and they could put pressure even on an elder, so this angle was the only angle he had.
He wasn't worried that Lin Fan would suddenly kill him like with the envoy since the elder was already on guard for this, the elder wouldn't allow it to happen a second time since it would be a direct slap to his face.
The only thing standing in the way of his perfect plan was the fact that the previous Alchemy Master's daughter was still alive.
While he didn't dare directly attack her, if an "accident" were to happen to her while she was attacking him, it wouldn't be his fault.
It was too bad that he never got a chance to make this "accident" happen since Angela was much too fast for him.
Angela immediately came forward to take the dagger out of Song Shu's hand and lifted her up, carrying her over her shoulder before walking back to Elder Hua who had rushed over in worry.
She placed Song Shu down and pushed her behind Elder Hua before turning back to watch the stage.
Elder Fu had turned to look at Angela in shock the moment she had appeared to stop Song Shu.
He was shocked because he wasn't able to see through her cultivation at all, which could only mean one of two things. One of those two things was a very terrifying concept since he was already one of the top experts in the Galactic Humanity Alliance.
But then thinking of how even the princess had him protect Lin Fan, it wasn't strange that he had this kind of expert following him.
Then again, even the follower of the princess was shocked since even he couldn't see through Angela. He couldn't help thinking of how the princess had mentioned that Lin Fan was from that place, only then could such a situation make sense.
Elder Fu took back his shock and turned to Song Shu, looking at her for a bit before asking, "You said that your name is Jun Xiao Hua?"
Song Shu looked at Elder Fu with a confused look, wondering why this old man was talking to her, but she still answered, "Yes, what does it matter to you?"
But Elder Hua quickly covered her mouth and said, "Elder, please don't mind this child. She doesn't know what she is saying."
Elder Fu revealed a smile as he said, "It's fine, she reminds me of Xiao Jun when I taught him all those years ago." But then that smile disappeared from his face and he had a cold look as he said, "Tell me what happened to him."
Song Shu was even more confused when she heard this as she muttered, "Xiao Jun? Does he mean my dad?" But still she said as she pointed to the Alchemy Master and the elders of the Alchemy Tower, "They were the ones who murdered my father that day."
The Alchemy Master quickly raised his head and said, "Elder, please don't be fooled by the words of a child…"
But before he could finish, Elder Fu's cold gaze fell onto him as he said, "Shut your mouth this instant."
The Alchemy Master felt like he had fallen into a freezer as every part of him felt like it was frozen in ice. He didn't understand what this feeling was, but it felt like there was a trace of anger in the elder's voice.
Elder Fu turned back to Song Shu and said, "Child, can you give me a drop of your blood?"
Song Shu looked a bit afraid with this sudden request and even Elder Hua took a step forward, but then she nodded.
Elder Fu carefully touched her finger and with the power of his life energy, he drew just a single drop of blood out of her finger. That drop of blood floated in the air as he took out a jade that was carved in the shape of a flower.
When Song Shu saw that jade flower, she felt like there was something familiar about it.
When the drop of blood touched the jade flower, there was a resonance that came from the jade flower.
Once the elder saw this, his expression turned soft and there was a trace of sadness that filled his eyes, but he quickly steeled his expression again.
Elder Fu said to Song Shu in a soft voice, "Can you tell grandfather how it happened?"
When everyone heard this, they were in utter disbelief.
This great elder of the Alchemy King Hall, one of the top experts of the Galactic Humanity Alliance was now calling himself Song Shu's "grandfather"? Just what was going on?
Song Shu didn't know why, but when she heard this, she felt like she could trust him. This feeling of trust had appeared from the moment she had seen the jade flower appear.
But Song Shu's face filled with sadness as she said, "It was a birthday celebration that my dad was holding for my fifth birthday, so all the elders and allies of the Alchemy Tower were invited. When my dad, my mom, and I went into the back room to open presents alone, my parents suddenly fell over when they drank the tea the maids brought in. Before they could do anything, the Alchemy Master had brought in the five elders and ten other people to finish us off. My father tried his best with the poison and the last thing he could do was send me out to safety."
Song Shu's memories had been returning bit by bit over the past few days, but suddenly seeing all the Alchemy Master kneeling had unlocked them all. It was like her mind knew that this was the only chance she would have to take care of him, so the memories came back to her like a dam suddenly opening.
Elder Fu nodded along when he listened to this story, but there was no change in his expression at all.
But the Alchemy Master and the five elders could tell that this situation was bad for them since someone as aloof as Elder Fu would listen to a child. Moreover, there was the jade flower and the way Elder Fu had addressed himself.
The Alchemy Master knew that it was no use to keep saying anything, but the five elders didn't have this tact.
The five elders didn't let Song Shu continue at all as they began shouting to cover for themselves.
"Great Elder, please don't listen to the lies of a child."
"Great Elder, my family has loyally served the Alchemy Tower for ten generations. It would be a disgrace to my family if you were to even believe the ramblings of a child."
But Elder Fu just ignored them all as he continued listening to Song Shu.
Once he was done listening to her, he turned back to the Alchemy Master who was still on the ground and said, "Is there anything you have to say for yourself?"
The Alchemy Master only then looked up and said, "I have faithfully performed my duties to the Alchemy King Hall over these years. I believe that has more merit than anything I am capable of saying at this moment."
Elder Fu nodded in thought for a bit before saying, "That is true, your performance over the years has indeed been satisfactory, there's nothing that can take away from this fact."
The elders of the Alchemy Tower revealed happy expressions, but the Alchemy Master's expression didn't change. He could tell that there was a "but" coming.
Once it dropped, the expressions of the elders fell once again.
Elder Fu said, "But, you have touched something that you shouldn't touch."
The Alchemy Master didn't wait as he said, "My family is a branch family of Elder Chen's family, we ask Elder Fu to give Elder Chen some face."
Elder Fu just gave a snort at this.
While it was true that Elder Chen was an elder of the Alchemy King Hall like him, this matter couldn't be solved that easily.
Elder Fu gave another snort as he said, "You think that you can use Elder Chen to scare me? You really have some guts."
The Alchemy Master wanted to say something else, but Elder Fu didn't give him that chance.
Elder Fu just said in a cold voice, "Even if Elder Chen was here today, he wouldn't be able to protect you. What you've done is touch the taboo of the Alchemy King Hall!"