Tomb raiding: Trying to become a little painter

Looking at the gate of the Wu family's old house, there are golden characters with dragon and phoenix strokes on the plaque. On both sides of the gate, there are not only two large stone lions, but also a small wall. You can see some seedlings, which means that a lot of flower seeds must have been buried inside.

As soon as they stepped through the threshold of the Wu family's old mansion, a servant came forward. The man was probably the Wu family's steward, and he was not young. He had worked for the Wu family when he was young and could be said to be loyal to the Wu family. He greeted Wu Xie first, and then glanced at Qin Henian and his group without making a sound. Then he smiled and led them inside.

"Grandpa Butler, did my second uncle throw a tantrum at home today? Is he in a good mood?"

Wu Xie was a member of the Wu family, and he was quite nervous about being suddenly summoned today. As a member of the Wu family, Wu Xie was not stupid. At first, he did not understand what his second uncle meant by doing this, but after calming down and thinking about it carefully, he understood about 70% of it. He was quite helpless. He was a grown man and not a fool. Why did his second uncle have to do this?

"Young Master, there's no need to be nervous. Before you came, Second Master was very happy to have dinner with the old lady. However, the old lady is getting old and has already gone to rest now that night has fallen."

"After finishing his meal, Second Master returned to the main hall of the East Courtyard. He instructed Erjing to wait for you at the entrance, Young Master!"

The old steward had watched Wu Xie grow up and understood some aspects of his personality. For example, the question Wu Xie was asking now seemed to be about Wu Erbai's mood, but in reality, he was trying to determine whether he would get beaten up if he went over today.

When Wu Xie was still young, this kind of thing often happened, but the old steward always spoke very tactfully, neither revealing the affairs of any of the higher-ups in the household nor offending anyone by remaining completely silent.

"Huh? They're all waiting for us... Oh no, it looks like Uncle Two will most likely come looking for trouble this time!"

Wu Xie, looking utterly hopeless, led his brothers in one direction.

The others noticed Wu Xie's changing emotions but remained silent. Among them, the most sensitive was Fatty Wang, who felt the most distressed. He was also a member of the underworld and knew the methods of the Second Master Wu of the Nine Gates Wu Family. Although he desperately wanted to help and tell Wu Xie not to be afraid, that his second uncle was actually good to him... he couldn't bring himself to say it.

Just think about Wu Erbai's ruthlessness, and then think about his methods and schemes... We can't afford to offend him, brother!

Following Wu Xie, we turned east and west through garden forks and corridors, finally stopping at the entrance of a courtyard.

"Young Master, you've arrived. Second Master has been waiting inside for a long time. Please come with me!"

Upon seeing someone at the corner of the Erjing connecting corridor, who had been waiting for a long time at the entrance of the courtyard, they quickly stepped forward and walked towards the group.

"it is good!"

Crossing the threshold, what comes into view is not a courtyard in the style of an ancient building, but a modern detached villa. Although the exterior has a very European style, the interior is a completely different scene.

The room features black marble floors, mirror-like tiles, a magnificent crystal chandelier, a pure black glass wooden table, imported designer upholstered chairs, a marble coffee table, exquisitely carved bookshelves, and a lavish collector's item. The entire room is decorated with these beautiful elements, making it elegant without feeling cramped.

Just then, Erjing walked past the crowd and went inside, stepping onto the second-floor stairs. A few minutes later, the clattering sound of his leather shoes walking came from upstairs.

"Tsk, Second Master's airs are getting bigger and bigger every day. Even a blind man would be envious."

Hei Xiazi adjusted his sunglasses and flicked the stray hairs from his forehead. He knew that this old fox had no good intentions. He had suffered a lot of injustices while working for the other party before, but he was helpless because he couldn't go all out now and had to make a living under the other party from time to time.

Alas, the blind have such a hard life!

"What's there to envy? He won't live as long as you, why would you be afraid of him?"

Qin Henian looked at Hei Xiazi, who was speaking, his eyes filled with a "Are you kidding me?" expression.

"Oh, Henian, you can't say that. Although the blind man is a little old... he's poor, and he doesn't know how to recruit soldiers or buy horses. He can only make a living under other people's command, so naturally he envies the rich."

Hei Xiazi spoke without restraint, his voice barely registering.

But the moment Hei Xiazi finished speaking, someone grabbed the back of his collar.

"Hey! Dumb Zhang, blind man, I didn't offend you, did I?! Why are you pinching my collar?!"

Hei Xiazi spoke passionately, but his voice grew softer and softer under the gaze of a pair of indifferent eyes until he finally stopped.

"Noisy!"

Zhang Qilin gripped Hei Xiazi's collar. Although he had little memory of the matter, his intuition told him that he didn't need to be too polite to the dark figure in front of him.

"Waaaaah, you mute, so you're finally tired of me being blind? People are so fickle... Sigh... Wait... I'm not saying anything more... Sigh... Ahhh!!!"

Bang! A loud kick, a blur of motion, and it's gone!

Wu Xie and Fatty Wang, who were watching the situation unfold, both took a step back in perfect unison, not intending to participate in this one-sided crushing defeat.

Amidst the commotion, footsteps echoed from the second floor to the first. As the sound of footsteps descending the stairs reached Qin Henian, his gaze fell upon a middle-aged man coming down from upstairs, fanning himself with a folding fan.

The man wore gold-rimmed glasses, a black Zhongshan-style long gown, and his black hair had a few silver strands. He watched the group making a ruckus with a smile on his face without saying a word.

It wasn't until Wu Xie realized what was happening that he looked at the person coming down and called out "Second Uncle".

"Little Xie, you brought your friend back without even introducing him to your second uncle!"

Wu Erbai looked at Wu Xie with a smile on his face, which made Wu Xie feel uneasy. It took him about ten seconds to think about everything he had done to his second uncle in his life before he realized what was going on and quickly started to introduce him with a smile.

"Second Uncle, I've met the fat guy next to me before, you should have heard him talk about him too. He's my good brother. And the cold but handsome guy next to me is Zhang Qilin, he's also my good brother. I'm not very familiar with the guy in all black, but my third uncle should know him, you can ask him. And the other one in the shirt who's the best looking is Qin Henian, he's also... he's also my good... friend, we're all very close!"

Wu Xie stammered as he introduced the people he had brought to his second uncle, occasionally glancing at his uncle's facial expressions. Unfortunately, he wasn't an expert in micro-expressions and couldn't discern anything...

Just because Wu Xie didn't notice doesn't mean the others didn't. When Wu Xie introduced them, apart from Zhang Qilin, Fatty Wang, Qin Henian, and Hei Xiazi, everyone felt a strong gaze scrutinizing them. Hei Xiazi was fine, since he knew Wu Erbai, but Qin Henian was different.

He sensed a hint of hostility from the other side.