Do Not Bully the Poor Youth!

Nalan Yanran had never imagined that she would lose, so the conditions she proposed did not mention what would happen if the other side won.

In truth, it was not only her. Even the Xiao Family members, who were unwilling to side with an outsider, had likely never considered the possibility of Xiao Yan winning. They merely felt that the condition she offered would let the Xiao Family save some face.

"Miss Nalan, it's not as though you don't know Yan'er's situation. What is he supposed to use to challenge you? Are you asking him to go to the Misty Cloud Sect and be humiliated by you in public all over again?!" Xiao Zhan slammed his palm onto the table and rose angrily.

"Uncle Xiao, someone must bear responsibility for breaking off the engagement. If it were not for preserving your dignity, Yanran would forcefully dissolve the engagement right now and make it public!"

After being made to lose face several times, Nalan Yanran finally grew impatient. Turning to Xiao Yan, she snapped coldly, "Since you said earlier that you did not want Uncle Xiao's dignity to be harmed, then accept this challenge. Do you dare or not?"

"Hehe... do you really think I, Xiao Yan, care about having a genius wife like you?"

In the end, he was still young. No matter how deep his composure was, he still had his own bottom line. And Nalan Yanran, who had repeatedly trampled upon that bottom line, had finally stoked Xiao Yan's anger beyond control.

The youth said nothing more. He strode forward, casually picked up an ink brush, and swiftly wrote several elegant lines of large characters.

With a smack, he slapped the ink brush onto the table, then suddenly drew the short sword lying there.

Without the slightest hesitation, the cold gleaming blade slashed open a bloody wound across the center of his left palm.

Drops of blood fell to the floor along with the short sword, producing crisp splattering sounds.

As blood gradually spread across his entire palm, Xiao Yan slammed it viciously onto the white paper, leaving behind an exceptionally glaring bloody handprint!

"Nalan Yanran, now that things have come to this, there is no need for you to use the Misty Cloud Sect's power to pressure me any longer. I, Xiao Yan, accept this challenge. And for Old Master Nalan's sake, I offer you a few words of advice—" His gaze was icy, but the emotions in his heart burned as fiercely as molten lava.

"Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river. Do not bully the poor youth!"

With that, Xiao Yan casually flung away the blood-sealed contract written in black ink. The paper sliced through the air, slowly circled several times overhead, and finally drifted gently to the ground.

"Good, what a fine 'Do not bully the poor youth'! My Xiao Zhan's son is indeed extraordinary!" From the seat of honor, Xiao Zhan's tiger-like eyes lit up. He slammed both palms heavily onto the table, splashing tea everywhere.

The youth had drawn his sword and shed blood, his bearing extraordinary. Everyone present could not help but be shocked into silence.

For a moment, the hall was so quiet that a needle dropping could be heard.

Amid that strange silence, Nalan Yanran, who had once stood so high above them all, could not help lowering her proud head and turning her gaze toward the blood contract lying on the floor—

"This is... a letter of divorce?"

Looking at the lines of large characters on the paper, Nalan Yanran felt dizzy. Even her voice became several degrees sharper. "Y-You dare divorce me?!"

She had never imagined, even in her dreams, that the dissolution of the engagement she had long desired would end in such an absurd manner.

As the Young Sect Master of the Misty Cloud Sect, it had always been Nalan Yanran who bestowed favors from on high. When had she ever imagined that a fallen young master from a minor family would seize the initiative from her?

At this moment, she felt no relief or joy whatsoever. The contract on the ground only felt unbearably heavy, as though it were filled with invisible mockery toward her.

Watching Nalan Yanran's stunned expression coldly, Xiao Yan suddenly turned around and dropped to his knees before Xiao Zhan. He bowed his head heavily in a deep kowtow. Blood seeped from his tightly bitten lips, yet he stubbornly refused to say a word.

Seeing this, the surprise on Xiao Zhan's face gradually turned into a smile. His expression was full of gratification. "I believe my son will not remain trash for the rest of his life. These rumors and slanders will surely collapse on their own in the future!"

"Father, three years from now, Yan'er will go to the Misty Cloud Sect and personally wash away today's humiliation for you!" Moisture filled the corners of Xiao Yan's eyes as he kowtowed heavily once more. Then he rose and left directly, without another trace of hesitation.

As he passed Nalan Yanran, Xiao Yan halted. Extremely cold words emerged from between his teeth, one by one:

"Three years from now, I will come for you!"

The youth's shadow stretched long beneath the sunlight, but the moment he stepped through the doors, his figure seemed to be swallowed by an invisible darkness.

It could no longer be seen clearly at all.

Xiao Yan left the hall with an indifferent expression, but his mind was in turmoil and his steps unsteady. He climbed the Xiao Family's Back Mountain one faltering step at a time, then calmly looked at the Mysterious Girl who had long been standing at the mountaintop.

"As expected, you had already foreseen what would happen today."

The Mysterious Girl had already shed her disguised robes and changed into a long dress as black as ink. The playful charm and seductive air she had displayed the previous night were gone from her face, replaced by a strange, bewitching smile.

"Even though I warned you in advance, didn't you still act so impulsively, Young Master Xiao Yan?"

Xiao Yan's breathing grew heavier. He bit his lips tightly, allowing the taste of blood to spread across the corners of his mouth.

Indeed, her warning had allowed him to restrain some of his anger at first. But every word Nalan Yanran had spoken was like a blade cutting into him, making Xiao Yan tremble all over and involuntarily reveal all his emotions.

"That Nalan Yanran relies on the Misty Cloud Sect's power to bully me for being weak. She even made my father endure unimaginable pain and pressure. How could I possibly endure it!"

"I do not want to suffer today's humiliation a second time!" Xiao Yan's voice was hoarse yet resolute, his eyes filled with unwillingness.

"Since that is the case, then I will ask you yesterday's question again. Xiao Yan, do you want to become stronger?" The girl's gaze remained deep as she spoke calmly.

Hearing this, Xiao Yan took several deep breaths and slowly extended his hand before the girl. Blood was still dripping from it, while the opening wound exposed torn flesh, leaving a long, narrow bloody gash.

Then he clenched his fist tightly, allowing sweat and dirty blood to seep into the wound and bring piercing pain.

"I do!"

Remembering how his father had seemed to age several years in an instant, the youth's heart filled with an unprecedented longing and unwillingness. Though he knew the other party surely had her own motives, at this moment, he had no second choice.

"Hehe, as expected of someone I have taken a liking to. What spirit."

After receiving the answer she wanted, the girl's expression abruptly changed. In a sweet, lovable tone, she said, "Third Young Master, that Nalan Yanran truly does not know what is good for her. One day, we must make her regret it until her intestines turn green, then have her kneel before you as a servant!"

"Uh... as a servant?"

"That's right. Third Young Master, don't you hate her? Don't you want her to kneel on the ground and serve you tea and water?"

"This..."

Although Xiao Yan had some understanding of the Mysterious Girl's strange personality, his momentum still faltered. He quietly swallowed and said, "Three years from now, if I truly defeat Nalan Yanran, I, Xiao Yan, will make her lower her head and apologize before my father!"

"As for making her a servant or maid, forget it. She is the Young Sect Master of the Misty Cloud Sect. If her dignity were truly trampled, I'm afraid the Xiao Family wouldn't be able to take a single step in the Jia Ma Empire."

"But, Third Young Master, didn't you just embarrass her earlier? That was a divorce letter. I thought her face had turned green."

"...You saw that?"

"Why don't you take a guess?"

Seeing Xiao Yan's embarrassed expression, the girl smiled softly and leaned close to him.

The girl's breath was as fragrant as an orchid, her warm exhalation brushing against Xiao Yan's ear and sending waves of numbness through his neck.

"With no background and no trump card, you still dared face Nalan Yanran's provocation head-on. That kind of reckless boldness really makes me like you so much."