Knock, knock, knock—
The wooden door of the wing room was rapped from outside. Hearing the sound, Xu Yuan turned his head.
"What is it?"
"Third Young Master, your medicinal meal is prepared." A slightly raspy female voice drifted into the room.
"Come in."
With a creak, the wooden door was pushed open from outside, and a slender woman dressed in Shadow Guard attire entered carrying a meal tray.
It was none other than Ying'er, who had always remained at Xu Changge's side.
A mask concealed her face, and she wore form-fitting black clothes with a red sash at her waist. A crisp, neat ponytail swayed gently behind her head.
Watching her, Xu Yuan narrowed his eyes slightly.
In his memories, as a textbook profligate villain, a lustful degenerate with the glorious achievement of forcing down aphrodisiacs just to take on five women at once, Xu Changtian had naturally harbored designs on this slender Ying'er beside his eldest brother. Back in the Imperial Capital, he had even "tactfully" asked Xu Changge for her.
The original host regarded her as nothing more than a hound raised by his household; a dog with a higher cultivation was no different from one with a lower cultivation.
And the result of asking for her was natural and completely expected: a savage thrashing from his eldest brother.
The memories flashing through his mind left Xu Yuan completely speechless.
Utterly absurd.
Frequenting brothels, sleeping with maids, and abducting civilian women was one thing, but this spoiled scion had actually set his sights on the family's own security forces.
Ying'er was a high-ranking Shadow Guard nurtured by their clan.
Asking for someone like her was roughly equivalent to an imperial prince demanding that a female general returning from war warm his bed.
Although he knew it was absurd, the show still had to go on.
After verifying that he had not been possessed, Xu Changge had departed without inquiring into a single thing.
Where did this mysterious cultivation art come from?
How had he obtained an Innate Dao Body?
What had happened along the way while he was held hostage by Ran Qingmo, and why had he staked his life at the end to force them to let her go?
Xu Changge asked about none of these matters.
Or rather, Xu Changge did not believe this foolish younger brother whom he had thrashed since childhood would honestly tell him.
If Xu Changge hadn't sealed Xu Yuan's mouth before beating him, he felt he might even have heard all sorts of rebellious nonsense spew from the scoundrel's lips.
Thus, he had left Ying'er, who had always followed him, at Xu Yuan's side.
Xu Yuan judged this to be both protection and surveillance.
Every single move he made would likely be reported back to Xu Changge without alteration.
His personality could change gradually, but never all at once.
Risking his life to release Ran Qingmo could barely be rationalized as having developed feelings for her on the road. The conversation and expressions exchanged between him and Ran Qingmo at the cave entrance had surely been perceived clearly by Xu Changge on the mountain summit using his intent-soul.
Moreover, threatening to take his own life in an absurd fit was hardly a first for the original host.
With these thoughts in mind, Xu Yuan let his gaze brazenly wander over Ying'er's slender curves tightly wrapped in black cloth.
Xu Changge hadn't been overly vicious this time. Though Xu Yuan had been whipped unconscious, two days were enough for him to get out of bed and walk.
Entering the room, Ying'er silently bent down and placed the tray onto the wooden table in the center of the room.
Right then, Xu Yuan gave a light chuckle and spoke:
"Heh~ In the end, Xu Changge still gave you to me."
Ying'er gave no sign of hearing him, methodically taking the medicinal dishes off the tray and setting them onto the wooden table.
"..."
Seeing this, Xu Yuan got out of bed. With a smirk playing at the corners of his lips, he strolled behind her slender figure and raised a hand to slap her backside.
His palm descended.
Smack—
A crisp crack echoed through the quiet room.
The room plunged into instant silence.
Ying'er's eyes lowered slightly, devoid of any emotional fluctuation.
Xu Yuan froze inwardly.
With her cultivation so high, why hadn't she dodged?
In the past, hadn't all his attempts to cop a feel been dodged by this woman?
Pondering for an instant, Xu Yuan kept his smile intact and braced himself to squeeze harder, but in the next moment, his vision blurred.
Thud—
A severed hand hit the floor.
The cross-section of the severed hand was razor-sharp, the sensation freezing cold, bringing a suffocation like falling into an ice cellar.
Buzz—
Returning to reality, Xu Yuan's hand was still pressed gently against the woman's peach-like bottom, while Ying'er merely glanced back and gazed at him calmly.
This presence reminded him of the illusion when he first met Ran Qingmo, when he had envisioned his own severed head flying high into the air.
In an instant, Xu Yuan understood that she intended to use this once-and-for-all deterrence to put an end to his covetous designs.
His breathing grew slightly ragged. Xu Yuan dutifully played along, gritting his teeth and staggering back two paces.
"What... what do you mean by this?"
"..."
Ying'er said nothing. She calmly retracted her gaze, turned, and left the room, not forgetting to pull Xu Yuan's door gently shut behind her.
Inside the room, two seconds of dead silence.
Crash—
Xu Yuan lashed out with a kick, overturning the wooden table before him and sending the precious medicinal dishes crashing to the floor.
Panting a couple of times, Xu Yuan began to wreck the room while putting on a show of furious howling:
"I'll kill you! How dare you treat me like this! I'll have Father execute you!
"Bastard! Just wait until my cultivation is high enough—I'll cripple your meridians and lock you in the dungeon!"
Above the flying eaves and upturned corners atop the pavilion on the giant black eagle's back, two figures sat leisurely, catching the wind.
The scruffy, stubble-faced Zhou Chen lay on his side along the eaves, his sword resting nearby as he guzzled from a wine gourd.
Sensing what had transpired in the main chamber below, Zhou Chen gave a slight shiver.
This Third Young Master actually dared to touch that woman's behind.
Curling his lips, Zhou Chen turned to Si Ziyu beside him, his voice holding a hint of admiration:
"As expected of the Third Young Master. His nerve is truly astounding."
Si Ziyu sat cross-legged next to him, having likewise sensed the events downstairs, and chuckled softly:
"In matters like this, the Third Young Master's nerve has always been beyond ordinary men. Back then, he even abducted Marquis Wucheng's own granddaughter back to the Chancellor's Manor."
"There was actually such a thing?"
Zhou Chen was somewhat astonished. "I recall that Commandery Princess only arrived in the capital to acknowledge her kin a year ago, didn't she?"
That was the granddaughter of the Northern God of War in the imperial court, yet he had dared kidnap her.
The Third Young Master truly was quite a character.
Si Ziyu cast a sideways glance at Zhou Chen.
"Otherwise, why do you think the Third Young Master came from the Imperial Capital to Jingjiang City a year ago?"
Zhou Chen stroked his stubble, his eyes flickering for a moment before he lowered his voice to a whisper:
"Did he succeed?"
A flicker of amusement appeared in Si Ziyu's eyes.
"You're actually interested in that sort of thing?"
Zhou Chen smacked his lips, slightly bored.
"If you can't talk about it, forget it."
Si Ziyu looked into the distance and said slowly:
"Almost. I was the one responsible for the Third Young Master's safety at the time. Marquis Wucheng's eldest son led his men to storm the Chancellor's Manor and rescued her."
Zhou Chen shook his head and tilted his gourd to drink.
"That Young Marquis? Were you a match for him?"
Si Ziyu shook his head. "No."
Zhou Chen raised an eyebrow.
"I recall he has quite a fiery temper. How was the Third Young Master not beaten to death?"
Si Ziyu replied in a measured tone:
"The Eldest Young Master was in the manor at the time, but even he didn't know the girl was Marquis Wucheng's granddaughter."
"..."
Silence followed.
Zhou Chen narrowed his eyes.
"You mean to say that little Commandery Princess was kidnapped by the Third Young Master right after entering the city, before she could even acknowledge her kin? Could it really be that much of a coincidence?"
Si Ziyu shook his head.
"Naturally, it wouldn't be such a coincidence. The Third Young Master said he was egged on.
"Yet as for who egged him on, he couldn't remember."
Chapter 27