An Yang Marquis

A burly man had an attractive woman tucked under each arm. They were about to head downstairs when Chen Cheng and the others blocked the stairway.

With beauties at his side and eager to show off, he immediately roared angrily at Chen Cheng and the others.

Chen Yuan showed little reaction to the noisy shouting, but Murong Zhi would not tolerate anyone being disrespectful to his teacher.

"How dare you! The An Yang Marquis is here—how dare you make such a racket?" Murong Zhi shouted furiously. At the same time, the aura of a Da Dou Shi burst forth from him and bore down directly upon the burly man.

The burly man was merely an Eight Star Dou Zhe. He could still throw his weight around in this small town, but when a Da Dou Shi like Murong Zhi singled him out, the pressure immediately forced him flat onto the ground.

Lying prone on the floor, the burly man was terrified. What he feared was not only Murong Zhi's cultivation as a Da Dou Shi, but also the words Murong Zhi had spoken.

An Yang Marquis!

He was a genuine Dou Huang powerhouse, a man of overwhelming influence and one of the strongest experts in the Izumo Empire.

For the An Yang Marquis to take someone's life would be all too easy.

"Spare me, Marquis! This lowly one failed to recognize Mount Tai and offended you, Marquis." Pinned to the ground by Murong Zhi's aura and unable to move, the burly man nevertheless kept begging for mercy.

When the two beautiful women who had been in the burly man's arms heard Murong Zhi's words, their legs gave out beneath them. They hurriedly dropped to their knees, their faces pale as they begged for mercy. At the same time, they cursed the burly man inwardly.

They had only wanted to earn some money. Who could have imagined that today's customer would be so blind? Of all people to offend, he had to offend the An Yang Marquis.

Who was the An Yang Marquis? Was he someone commoners like them could afford to provoke?

They felt they were truly unlucky. Not only had they failed to earn any money, they had brought trouble upon themselves. In their hearts, they prayed that the An Yang Marquis would not dispose of them as well.

"This isn't the place to talk. You have a room here, right? Let's go to your room." Chen Yuan had no interest in dealing with a few ants and spoke calmly to Chen Cheng.

"Alright. This way, Marquis." Chen Cheng also wished to explain that he was not the An Yang Marquis's son, so he led Chen Yuan toward his room.

"Are you still going to call me Marquis?" Chen Yuan seemed to be speaking to Chen Cheng, yet also seemed to be muttering to himself.

Hearing Chen Yuan's words, Chen Cheng offered no explanation. He merely smiled faintly and continued leading the way.

Chen Yuan, Murong Zhi, Red Serpent, Huang Yaoshi, and the two Dou Wangs followed closely behind.

They too wanted to know whether Chen Cheng was truly Chen Yuan's son. The matter was simply too unbelievable.

As they passed by the burly man, his face was pressed tightly against the floor, and he did not dare show the slightest hint of disrespect.

Only after they had completely passed him and entered a room, ignoring him from beginning to end, did his body suddenly go limp. He lay on the ground like a corpse, not daring to move. His crotch was already soaked wet.

He had taken a trip to death's door. The feeling of having his life entirely beyond his control was truly unbearable.

Once Chen Cheng and the others had disappeared, the atmosphere in the inn's main hall suddenly came alive again.

"The An Yang Marquis! It was actually the An Yang Marquis! Heavens, the An Yang Marquis was sitting right there just now. Good thing I didn't do anything out of line, or I'd have been finished," someone said as though he had narrowly escaped death.

"Too terrifying. The An Yang Marquis is a Three Star Dou Huang poison master, and his Poison Art is unfathomable. He once used poison to shroud an entire city. In just ten days, everyone in that city was poisoned to death. Not a single person survived," someone said fearfully.

"I heard the Chen Family has long harbored rebellious ambitions and intends to overthrow the Izumo Empire and establish a new empire," someone shared some gossip.

"How old is that news of yours? The Chen Family's rebellious ambitions are no secret. Even the Izumo Empire's imperial family knows. But so what? The Chen Family has two Dou Huangs, and Old Master Chen is an unparalleled Nine Star Dou Huang powerhouse. Even if the Izumo Empire's imperial family knows the Chen Family wants to rebel, what can they do? They can only compromise. Yanling County may still nominally be under imperial rule, but in truth, it is the Chen Family's private territory. The empire cannot govern this place at all—it is practically a state within a state," someone said in a low voice.

"Still, the An Yang Marquis does have a flaw. Poison masters cultivate Poison Art, first harming themselves before harming their enemies. A vast amount of poison has accumulated in the An Yang Marquis's body. While it makes him somewhat stronger than ordinary Dou Huangs, it also harms his body. He has already lost the ability to have children," someone said.

"What nonsense are you talking about? Didn't they say the An Yang Marquis has a son?" someone questioned.

"Hey, that was ages ago. More than ten years ago, the poison in the An Yang Marquis's body had not yet accumulated to its current extent, so naturally he could still have children. But his only son vanished more than ten years ago. What descendants does he have now?" someone explained.

"So that's how it is."

"Hey, keep it down. All of you, keep it down. Discussing the An Yang Marquis like this—do you have a death wish?" someone warned vigilantly.

Inside Chen Cheng's room.

Chen Yuan briefly looked over the room. It was not particularly luxurious, merely an ordinary place to stay. The tables, chairs, and bed were all provided, but in the eyes of Marquis Chen Yuan, the environment was still somewhat lacking.

It could not compare to the grand residence of the An Yang Marquis Estate, nor was it even as good as the exquisite private courtyard Murong Zhi had prepared for him in this town.

"Cheng'er, you have suffered all these years. It is your father who has wronged you." Chen Yuan frowned as he spoke guiltily.

"Marquis, you truly have mistaken me for someone else," Chen Cheng said.

"Nonsense! You are my son. How could I mistake my own son?" Chen Yuan's tone grew somewhat agitated.

"Do you remember? When you were very young, there was a time when you cried and fussed, demanding the magic core of a Phoenix-Tailed Spirit Sable. Your father then dispatched a great army to surround the mountain for ten days before finally hunting down a third-tier Phoenix-Tailed Spirit Sable."

"And there was another time, you..."

Chen Yuan recalled one vivid memory after another, speaking of them aloud in hopes of stirring Chen Cheng's memories.

Perhaps those things had truly happened, but they had happened to Chen Yuan's son, whose existence was uncertain, and had not the slightest connection to Chen Cheng.

As Chen Cheng listened to Chen Yuan, the latter no longer carried the lofty bearing of a Dou Huang. He sat before Chen Cheng, reminiscing about the past and speaking sentence by sentence, like a kindly father who had not seen his child in a long time.

Chen Cheng did not interrupt him. He simply listened as Chen Yuan spoke from the heart, one sentence after another.

"Cheng'er, do you still remember these things?" After finishing, Chen Yuan asked Chen Cheng. His eyes were filled with longing, desperately hoping Chen Cheng would answer, "I remember."

Eleven years ago, Chen Cheng's only son had disappeared. Because the poison had seeped too deeply into Chen Yuan's body, he had lost the ability to have children. For all these years, he had not heard anyone call him "Father."

Chen Cheng did not answer. He simply sat calmly across from Chen Yuan.

Seeing Chen Cheng's indifferent expression, Chen Yuan suddenly felt an incomparable pain in his heart. A trace of disappointment appeared on his face. After a while, Chen Yuan said, "Cheng'er, your father has wronged you all these years and made you suffer. It does not matter if you refuse to acknowledge me as your father, but you must remember this: you are the son of Chen Yuan, and the sole heir of the Yanling Chen Family."

In his heart, Chen Yuan believed that Chen Cheng resented him as a father because he had suffered alone outside all these years. That was why he refused to acknowledge him.

"Cheng'er, there is a three-inch scar on your left shoulder. You got it when you were naughty as a child and cut yourself on a stone. That is proof that you are my son," Chen Yuan suddenly said.

Chen Cheng's heart jolted upon hearing this, and a look of surprise suddenly appeared on his otherwise calm face.

And Chen Yuan caught that fleeting change in expression.

Chen Yuan did not make Chen Cheng take off his clothes to inspect the scar. Based on his name and appearance alone, he was already one hundred percent certain that Chen Cheng was his only son. He had revealed this merely to leave Chen Cheng with no way to evade the matter.

There was indeed a scar on Chen Cheng's left shoulder, but it had not come from being naughty as a child and cut by a stone, as Chen Yuan claimed. The scar had been left when Chen Cheng was still on Earth, after he was accidentally injured during an outdoor activity organized by his elementary school.

Yet now, it happened to match the proof Chen Yuan had mentioned.

"Cheng'er, stop running from it. If you return to the Chen Family, the realm and its lands, countless beauties—all will be yours to choose from." A faint smile rested on Chen Yuan's lips as he tempted him with great benefits.

Chen Cheng hesitated. Rather than reply, he contacted the systems.

"System, help me check my relationship with Chen Yuan." Chen Cheng contacted both the Copy System and the Summoning System at once.

Copy System: "Querying."

Copy System: "Query successful!"

Copy System: "The relationship between the host and Chen Yuan is father and son."

At the same time, the Summoning System gave its answer as well.

Summoning System: "The host required a legitimate identity upon arriving in this other world. Therefore, this system implanted the identity of the Chen Family head's only son into the host."

The answers given by the two systems made Chen Cheng's heart sink.

Chen Cheng stopped communicating with the systems and looked directly at Chen Yuan. Their eyes met, and Chen Yuan's gaze was filled with absolute confidence.

Time seemed to freeze. Chen Cheng gave no answer and simply stared at Chen Yuan. It was as though they were locked in an invisible confrontation.

Murong Zhi and the two Dou Wangs in the hall watched Chen Cheng and Chen Yuan with equal tension.

Chen Cheng's decision was simply too important. It could even affect the entire Izumo Empire.

If Chen Cheng acknowledged Chen Yuan, then Chen Yuan would have an heir, and his ambitions would surely return. The Izumo Empire would inevitably be plunged into a storm of bloodshed.

Murong Zhi watched Chen Cheng nervously.

Once Chen Cheng's identity was confirmed, his own status as Marquis Anyang's sole direct disciple would inevitably be affected. His standing in Marquis Anyang's heart would also fall to its lowest point.

In truth, Murong Zhi's feelings were complicated. He feared it, yet also hoped that Chen Cheng would acknowledge Chen Yuan as his father.

If Chen Cheng acknowledged Chen Yuan as his father, it would still bring Murong Zhi a tiny benefit. Once Chen Yuan's ambitions returned, his status would rise in the future, and he would no longer be merely Marquis Anyang. Naturally, Murong Zhi's own status would rise with the tide as well.

Even if Murong Zhi could still only stand beneath Chen Cheng then, he would possess greater power than he did now.

Red Serpent and Huang Yaoshi, however, had no particular thoughts regarding the change in Chen Cheng's identity. They were loyal only to Chen Cheng. No matter what his identity was, it would not affect their loyalty to him.

"I..." After a long while, Chen Cheng moved his lips and gave his answer.