Listen to Me, Thank You

The rain had stopped, but the wind still howled on.

The portion of Qixia Street destroyed by Cai Tanggu did not pose much difficulty for the Garrison Headquarters. Qixia Street had been an old street to begin with; when the time came for renovations, it was meant to be demolished and rebuilt anyway.

What truly frightened the Garrison Commander was that Jiang Wang had actually fought Instructor Cai of Fish Abyss Academy—and had even won. He had never imagined that the Young Marquis had hidden himself so deeply.

Fortunately, after the Xunyang Marquis Manor had supposedly fallen on hard times, he had never made things difficult for the Young Marquis. Otherwise, would he not have landed himself in terrible trouble?

Now, the entire Garrison Headquarters clearly understood that the Young Marquis of Xunyang Marquis Manor was a terrifying figure who absolutely could not be offended.

The night sky was black as ink.

Inside Xunyang Marquis Manor.

Zhao Si was sharpening his blade with murderous fervor.

He felt utterly aggrieved.

He was a painter!

Every time Jiang Wang went out, he had to carry that wicker chair around, and that was one thing.

But now Jiang Wang actually wanted him to sharpen his blade?

I only have one hand!

I can't do that many things!

At that moment, Xiaoyu tossed down her longsword. She said nothing, but her meaning could not have been clearer.

Zhao Si ground the blade even faster in indignation.

Du Zicheng sat on the floor of the main hall, staring at the scene before him as he swallowed repeatedly.

"Kill me or carve me up, do as you please. Don't use these tricks to scare me."

He looked toward Jiang Wang, who lounged lazily in the seat of honor, and said with more bluster than courage, "I'm not afraid at all!"

Jiang Wang leisurely sipped his tea and said blandly, "Orange, although we haven't met many times, we can still be considered old acquaintances. Other than your sister insisting on marrying me, I've never held any grudge against the Du Family. Why did you choose to walk down this road?"

Du Zicheng spat. "Don't think just because you're pretty that you can dream pretty dreams. When did my sister ever insist on marrying you? That was all my father's idea. My sister never wanted to marry you at all!"

Jiang Wang asked in confusion, "Then why does she mock me every time we meet? She doesn't want to marry me, and I happen not to want to marry her. Isn't that something everyone should be happy about? She even went to Fish Abyss Academy because of it. By all rights, I should be her benefactor."

Du Zicheng was struck speechless.

That really did make sense.

Thinking of how good-looking Jiang Wang was, every unmarried girl in Hun City wanted to marry into the Marquis Manor. Even certain married women entertained such thoughts. Could his sister really be an exception?

If love had bred hatred, then it all made perfect sense.

But he found it terribly hard to accept.

Jiang Wang gestured toward Shan Qiyu, who had already awakened and stood waiting at the side. Shan Qiyu carried over a cup of tea and held it out before Du Zicheng. "A reward from the Young Marquis."

Du Zicheng hesitated for a moment, then drained the tea in one gulp. Wiping his mouth, he said coldly, "I'm in no mood to argue about this nonsense with you. If you want to kill me, then kill me. If I cry out in pain even once, I'll take your surname."

Jiang Wang smiled. "Originally, I intended to kill the Du Family member who hired a Jianli to assassinate me. But I've changed my mind. More precisely, I ought to thank you."

Although that veiled Jianli had merely been a martial artist, he had successfully stirred the power of the Mirage. Moreover, Jiang Wang had activated it on his own, rather than under some overwhelming threat.

Even when facing Cai Tanggu, he had not managed to find that feeling again.

Still, Du Zicheng had indirectly done a good thing.

And precisely because of the Jianli incident, Cai Tanggu had been lured to his door, even bringing Jiang Wang more formidable enemies. This was all the result of Du Zicheng's handiwork.

Jiang Wang was simply overjoyed.

Du Zicheng, however, clearly found it hard to understand Jiang Wang's mood at that moment.

He thought Jiang Wang really was seriously ill.

I wanted to kill him, and he actually wants to thank me?

Has this world really become so absurd?

Du Zicheng was completely dumbfounded.

He did not know how he had left Xunyang Marquis Manor.

In truth, with his leg broken, he could not have walked out anyway.

The Black Flame Army carried him back to the Du Family.

Only after he lay in his room did he finally come back to his senses.

Looking at Du Heng and Du Yanruo before him, he said blankly, "I'm not dead?"

Du Yanruo grabbed his hand and asked, "What exactly happened at the Marquis Manor? Why did the Black Flame Army send you back? They were even very polite to you."

Du Zicheng scratched his face, then suddenly asked, "Sis, do you like Jiang Wang?"

The smile that had appeared on Du Yanruo's face at her brother's return abruptly froze.

Her expression shifted several times before she said in a low voice, "How could I possibly like him? I'd rather kill him!"

Du Zicheng let out a sigh of relief, as though a burden had been lifted. "That's good. You scared me to death."

Du Heng said anxiously, "What nonsense are you talking about now? What exactly is going on? The Black Flame Army made such a huge fuss, so why did they let you go so easily? Could they be playing at letting the tiger return to the mountain, planning to wipe out the entire Du Family?"

Du Zicheng did not particularly want to see his father's face. He pulled the blanket over his head. "Who knows what's going on? That freak Jiang Wang has something wrong with his head. I'm sleepy. All of you, get out."

Du Yanruo silently led Du Heng away. After briefly soothing her father, she returned to her room alone.

She could not guess why Jiang Wang had let Du Zicheng return, but she vaguely felt it might have something to do with her. Otherwise, why had her brother suddenly asked that question?

For a time, her heart was in utter turmoil.

She tossed and turned beneath the covers.

Then she suddenly sat upright.

It felt as though she had forgotten something?

Su Lingyi stayed in a pitch-black woodshed.

He was utterly lost.

Where is this?

It seems someone broke my arm, and then I passed out. By all rights, shouldn't I be at the Du Family?

Why did they throw me into a woodshed?

What exactly is going on?

Could it be that, to protect themselves, the Du Family locked me up and plans to hand me over to the Marquis Manor?

At that thought.

Su Lingyi became extremely agitated, but the movement tugged at his broken arm. The pain made him bare his teeth and grimace, and he could not help letting out a miserable howl.

At that moment, the woodshed door suddenly opened.

Sun Qingya carried the wicker chair one-handed and slowly set it down at the entrance of the woodshed.

Jiang Wang sat in the wicker chair and smiled as he patted Sun Qingya on the arm. "Brother Sun, what strength."

Following behind them, Zhao Si complained, "You really are sick, but you're not crippled. It's only a few steps, yet you act like you've grown roots into that wicker chair and refuse to get down. I really want to ask: why are you so good at putting on airs?"

Though he heard him, Jiang Wang ignored him. He looked toward Su Lingyi, who was howling inside the woodshed, calmly accepted the tea Xiaoyu handed him, lifted the lid to stir it, and said blandly, "Brother Su..."

"Jiang!"

Su Lingyi's face was deathly pale. The agonizing pain from his broken arm had twisted his entire face together. He barely forced one eye open and glared viciously at Jiang Wang. "Do you know the consequences of offending Fish Abyss Academy? I am the Sacrificial Wine's personal disciple. If you dare harm even a hair on me, there will no longer be a place for you to stand in all of Kutan!"

Zhao Si covered his mouth and laughed aloud.

Seeing Jiang Wang get choked off the moment he opened his mouth, he thought, Serves you right for pretending to be crippled.

But Su Lingyi, drawn by Zhao Si's laughter, thought Zhao Si was mocking him. He was so furious that the Three Corpses leaped and the Seven Orifices smoked. Glowering at Jiang Wang, he said hatefully, "Jiang, don't think that having a bit of cultivation means you can look down on everyone. Once Instructor Cai arrives in Hun City, I will grind your bones to dust and scatter your ashes!"

"So you still don't know." Jiang Wang shot Zhao Si a sidelong glance, then looked back at Su Lingyi with a smile. "Cai Tanggu had already arrived when Shan Qiyu broke your arm. More importantly, he was beaten out of Hun City by me like a homeless dog. Threats like yours only make me laugh."

He looked at Su Lingyi's broken arm and clicked his tongue. "What a pity. Your right hand is gone. Forget harming even a hair on you—you're completely useless now. What meaning is there in talking so tough?"

At that moment, Su Lingyi did not hear the latter half of Jiang Wang's words at all. He stared blankly for a moment, then suddenly sneered. "How could Instructor Cai possibly lose to you? You actually use such laughable words to insult me. You're making me laugh my teeth off."

Jiang Wang said helplessly, "Everything I said was the plain truth. When did I insult you? By Cai Tanggu's own account, cultivation is an exceedingly arduous undertaking, and the process of Foundation Establishment requires one to endure inhuman torment. By rights, your temperament should have been tempered quite well. Could it be that it had the opposite effect?"

Because Foundation Establishment was so difficult, if one's perseverance was only barely sufficient, one might endure until success while suffering such severe stimulation that one's mind became somewhat abnormal. That was not impossible to understand.

He had not met many cultivators, so he did not know whether there were many madmen among them.

But no matter what, Su Lingyi did seem a little brain-dead.

He was like some ordinary spoiled young dandy, who knew only how to threaten others and invoke powerful backers when trouble arose, completely unaware of what sort of situation he was in.

Perhaps sensing the way Jiang Wang looked at him as if he were an idiot, Su Lingyi struggled to sit up and leaned against the pile of firewood. "Jiang, you only cultivated earlier than I did. Since I fell into your hands, I have nothing to say. But I don't believe you really dare kill me."

Jiang Wang smiled. "You have indeed calmed down a little. Setting aside the problem with your words, I have no intention of killing you, but that does not mean I do not dare kill you."

"You said earlier that you are the personal disciple of Fish Abyss Academy's Sacrificial Wine? If that is so, Cai Tanggu certainly will not abandon you easily. I had thought you were of no use, but it seems I was wrong."

Jiang Wang snapped his fingers at Sun Qingya, who stood beside him. Sun Qingya immediately picked up the wicker chair. Jiang Wang said at last, "Stay in this woodshed obediently. I'll have someone give you one steamed bun every day."

"Jiang, don't even think of using me to threaten the academy!" Su Lingyi desperately struggled to rise. He picked up a piece of wood with his left hand and tried to charge at Jiang Wang, but Xiaoyu kicked him straight back into the firewood pile.

Jiang Wang waved his hand and said with a smile, "Though you have lost the right hand that held your sword, you still count as a cultivator. Two third-realm martial artists will guard the woodshed door, and there will be people guarding outside the window as well. If you want to escape, feel free to try. But if you are willing to sacrifice yourself, then I will admire you as a true man."

Su Lingyi lay sprawled in the firewood pile, watching as the woodshed door slammed shut.

His life had only just begun.

Even if he truly had thoughts of sacrificing himself, he simply did not dare do it.

In the pitch-black woodshed, Su Lingyi hugged his head and wept bitterly.