Willing to Be the Manor Lord's Dog and Horse

With Little Green Hair's warning, Song Ankang immediately sensed that something was wrong. He did not assume Little Green Hair's unusual behavior meant it had discovered Wang Yuliang.

After all, Song Ankang had already instructed Little Green Hair that unless it detected the scent of an Earthworm Beast, it must not stray too far from his side.

After advancing to Ninth-Rank Mid-Tier, Little Green Hair's intelligence had grown further. It could still understand such a simple matter.

Thus, while Song Ankang spoke with Wang Yuliang, most of his attention remained focused on the surroundings. He promptly discovered the Earthworm Beast stealthily approaching and dealt it a fatal blow.

At the same time, Little Green Hair launched a sudden attack on the Earthworm Beast from underground, forcing it to divide its attention. Only then could Song Ankang succeed in one stroke—killing the Earthworm Beast, the great hidden danger that had infiltrated Chaoyun Manor, and saving Wang Yuliang's life as well.

Looking at the Earthworm Beast Little Green Hair had dug out from underground, Wang Yuliang felt a chill run through his entire body. His forehead was already covered in sweat.

If Song Ankang had not acted in time just now, he would have been finished today.

"Thank you, Manor Lord, for saving my life!"

After standing stunned for a moment, Wang Yuliang immediately bowed respectfully to Song Ankang, his face full of gratitude.

Yet after hesitating for a while, Wang Yuliang still said awkwardly, "Although... although that is so, I still hope Manor Lord will pay attention to your own safety. Our entire Chaoyun Manor depends on you."

"I understand. If I were not sufficiently confident, I would not have taken the risk." Song Ankang smiled. He was not angry at Wang Yuliang's nagging, since Wang Yuliang was only concerned for his safety.

On the other hand, Wang Yuliang did not know Song Ankang's true strength. Otherwise, he would not have been so worried.

Wang Yuliang dearly wanted to complain that Song Ankang was merely an Outer Forging Second Layer warrior, not even a fraction as strong as himself—where had such confidence come from?

But recalling Song Ankang's swift and decisive movements when he killed the Earthworm Beast, Wang Yuliang ultimately kept his mouth shut.

But while he could keep quiet, Jiang Yunhe could not.

The commotion here had been considerable. Jiang Yunhe, who was also patrolling elsewhere in Chaoyun Manor, heard it immediately and hurried over. Before long, he saw Song Ankang, Wang Yuliang, Little Green Hair, and the Earthworm Beast's corpse lying on the ground.

After only a brief consideration, Jiang Yunhe roughly understood what had happened. A wry smile appeared on his face. "Son-in-law, Steward Wang, are neither of you afraid of death? Neither of you has even reached the Inner Refinement Realm, yet you actually dared to hunt an Earthworm Beast. If something had happened, what would all the Tenant Farmers of Chaoyun Manor have done?"

As he spoke, Jiang Yunhe deliberately looked at Song Ankang. "Son-in-law, didn't you say last night that you wanted to rest properly? You should have left the Earthworm Beast matter to me."

"Ha ha..." Song Ankang laughed dryly. "Didn't I have a pet beast protecting me? Little Green Hair has already reached Ninth-Rank Mid-Tier and happens to counter Earthworm Beasts. If we joined forces, success was certain. This Earthworm Beast was killed by the two of us working together."

Jiang Yunhe was astonished. He had not expected the Earthworm Beast to have been killed by Song Ankang rather than the stronger Wang Yuliang.

Even so, Jiang Yunhe warned him again. "Even if Son-in-law managed to kill the Earthworm Beast this time, what about next time? Son-in-law cannot possibly have such good luck every time."

"So it is better to be careful. The Eldest Miss is still waiting for you at Tang Mansion. If anything happened to you, how could we answer to the Eldest Miss?"

Seeing both Wang Yuliang and Jiang Yunhe reproach him for acting on his own, Song Ankang felt rather helpless. If he were not afraid that revealing himself would set off a great uproar, he wanted to tell them that he was not an Outer Forging Second Layer warrior, but a Second-rate Warrior comparable to the Blood Replacement Realm.

A mere Earthworm Beast was nothing more than a clay chicken and porcelain dog before him. Even without Little Green Hair's assistance, Song Ankang could have easily slain it.

But this could not be revealed anytime soon, so Song Ankang could only listen obediently. Then he found an excuse to leave and returned to the small courtyard where he lived.

Although Wang Yuliang and Jiang Yunhe had not stopped complaining about Song Ankang, after he left, they could not help admiring his courage and character.

To achieve such a feat with the strength of an Outer Forging Second Layer warrior—forget Chaoyun Manor, there were probably not many warriors within a hundred miles who could do the same.

The Eldest Miss had not married the wrong person... no, it should be that she had taken the wrong husband. And how fortunate Chaoyun Manor was to have such a Manor Lord.

Wang Yuliang quickly spread word of the matter, ensuring everyone in Chaoyun Manor knew. It immediately caused a tremendous uproar.

"I'm also an Outer Forging Second Layer warrior, but not only do I not dare patrol the manor at night, I do not even dare join Captain Wang's hunting party during the day. Compared to Manor Lord, I'm not worth a damn."

"What virtue or ability do we have to make Manor Lord protect us like this? Please, Manor Lord, never take such risks again. It does not matter if some of us die, but nothing must happen to Manor Lord."

"To have such a Manor Lord is the honor of everyone in Chaoyun Manor. From now on, if anyone dares disobey Manor Lord's orders, they must first ask whether the blade in my hand agrees."

"Even Manor Lord's noble self can go this far for the manor—how much more should we? Today, everyone without work is to inspect the foundations of the stockade walls. We absolutely cannot let another Earthworm Beast break in and make Manor Lord risk himself for us."

After this incident, Song Ankang's prestige in Chaoyun Manor soared, firmly surpassing that of Wang Yuliang, the steward who had managed the manor for many years.

Some particularly emotional Tenant Farmers even demanded that all the processing workshop's profits be handed over to Song Ankang, with no one else receiving a share. They felt that this had originally been compulsory labor owed by all Tenant Farmers.

After all, before Song Ankang became the Manor Lord of Chaoyun Manor, the previous Manor Lords had often made the Tenant Farmers do additional work. It had not been much less than the work at the processing workshop.

Hearing the Tenant Farmers outside his small courtyard clamoring for him to take back their wages, Song Ankang was rather speechless. Sometimes, having too much prestige was not entirely a good thing.

In truth, he had distributed part of the profits to the Tenant Farmers to stir up their enthusiasm for work and make them work harder for the processing workshop. That way, Song Ankang himself could earn even more profit.

If he truly took back the profits distributed to the Tenant Farmers, everyone would probably no longer have such motivation.

Therefore, Song Ankang could only politely decline the Tenant Farmers' heartfelt offer. This action once again moved all the Tenant Farmers to tears of gratitude, making them wish they could brave fire and water for Song Ankang and die ten thousand deaths without regret.

Everyone at the processing workshop was more enthusiastic about work than ever before. Many people voluntarily worked overtime until the early hours of the morning, nearly doubling the amount of Medicinal Herbs deeply processed each day.

Naturally, wealth came rolling in, bringing Song Ankang's income to a peak.

There were no recommendations in the new week, probably because the trial recommendation results were not ideal. But it was fine—the best part of this book lay ahead. This little newcomer would not abandon the story. Please give me some comfort. o(╥﹏╥)o