Disdain

"Brother Shan, should we go to Great Bay Village then? A mere Qi Gathering Third Level cultivator wouldn't dare defy us. It would be good to send a few more mortals to scout the area."

Seeing that Shen Zhongshan had been silent for a long time, Shen Rongguang asked.

However, Shen Zhongshan did not respond.

He gazed at the map, his brow furrowed, lost in thought.

"No."

Unexpectedly, Shen Zhongshan rejected Shen Rongguang's suggestion.

His gaze became particularly profound at that moment.

He extended his finger and pointed towards a direction near Great Bay Village on the map.

"We're going here."

There, the Wu Family Market area was displayed.

"Wu Family Market?"

"Brother Shan, that doesn't seem to be within the Shen Family's influence, does it? Why not go to Great Bay Village?"

Shen Rongguang looked at the map, then looked up, his expression somewhat bewildered.

"Brother Rongguang, if I remember correctly, the name Shen Changchuan should belong to the Patriarch's thirty-ninth son."

Just then, Shen Cunrui, the weakest among the five, who had been huddled in a corner without speaking, suddenly spoke up softly.

"The Patriarch's son?"

"But I've never heard of this person, and considering he's ended up in such a desolate place, he's probably just an ordinary illegitimate son, wouldn't you say?"

"Brother Rongguang is right. Shen Changchuan's mother was just a mortal maid. He was born by chance, and his status in the Shen Family Manor is very low."

"However, he usually acts very cautiously and never offends others. He rarely even goes out, basically staying at home and reportedly indulging in old travelogues and other miscellaneous books. His strength isn't high either, only Qi Gathering Third Level. He's very inconspicuous within the Shen Family Manor, to the point that many people don't even know the Patriarch has such a son."

Shen Cunrui thought for a moment and said with a soft voice.

He seemed to know something about Shen Changchuan.

But clearly, Shen Rongguang didn't care about any of that.

"Ha, so he's just a son born to a maid. No wonder he ended up in such a dump."

Upon hearing this, Shen Rongguang's face also showed disdain.

He naturally had the right to be disdainful.

Although Shen Rongguang was from a collateral branch of the Shen Family, and even a more distant one, he was from the legitimate lineage of that distant collateral branch.

In terms of status, he naturally possessed a sense of superiority.

Because children born to maids were the lowest in status in large families, not to be brought up in public.

Just like in his own household, his mother was a cultivator from another small immortal sect, and the lawfully wedded wife of his father.

Therefore, the children born to his mother were the legitimate sons and daughters of his lineage, and the highest in status within their family.

Meanwhile, his father had more than one woman. Some mortal women from royal families, great mortal clans, or immortal sects, for one reason or another, became his father's concubines.

The children born to those concubines were illegitimate sons and daughters.

Shen Rongguang was naturally superior to those illegitimate sons and daughters; those illegitimate sons and daughters, regardless of age, had to bow to him when they saw him.

The hierarchy of status was clearly defined.

But below these illegitimate sons and daughters, there were those with even lower status, which were the children born to maids.

As the name suggests, these were bloodlines born to maids and servants.

They were basically the "bastard seeds" of mortal maids with no background or influence, who were lucky enough to be favored by their masters.

Their inherent status

was no different from that of servants.

For example, if the main wife of a family were to be too harsh towards the illegitimate children, beating or scolding them, outsiders might gossip, saying that the woman of the household was jealous and not magnanimous or dignified enough.

If the target were children born to concubines, they would be directly punished and beaten. If they made the slightest mistake, their limbs would be broken, and no one would find anything wrong with it.

This was the status of children born to concubines.

If he, Shen Rongguang, were in a bad mood at home and casually killed a child born to a concubine, His father would at most scold him a few times, without even any punishment.

In the eyes of most main families, children born to concubines weren't even considered their children.

Therefore, after learning Shen Changchuan's identity, It was only natural for Shen Rongguang, with his proud status, to act that way.

"Heh, so what if he was lucky enough to be born into the main lineage? In the end, he's still just a child born to a concubine."

"Moreover, although he's a child born to a concubine, he's still the patriarch's son. If he had known how to leverage his position a little and properly utilized his bloodline, he wouldn't still be only at Qi Gathering Third Level and be banished to such a remote place."

Shen Rongguang didn't say the rest of his words aloud.

However, from his expression, His arrogant demeanor could be seen.

"Brother Shan, that's the patriarch's son. Why don't we go to Great Bay Village and pay our respects? Let's see the demeanor of such a young master of the clan?"

Shen Rongguang looked at Shen Zhongshan in the center and said with great interest.

There was a hint of malice in his tone, especially when he said the word 'young master,' which, if listened to carefully, carried a mocking tone.

After Shen Rongguang finished speaking, The young man called Shen Zhifei and another Shen family member also became interested, and they all looked in Shen Zhongshan's direction.

Only Shen Cunrui was somewhat timid and submissive, Lowering his head, lost in thought.

"If we can find that item on this trip, it will be a great achievement. Don't stir up trouble."

Shen Zhongshan looked deeply at Shen Rongguang, shook his head, and said in a deep voice.

"Everything is secondary to the mission. We don't have that much time to play around."

"Don't go looking for trouble."

Knowing Shen Rongguang's character well, Shen Zhongshan added another sentence, emphasizing the word "trouble."

"Alright, Brother Shan, I'll listen to you."

Hearing the implied meaning in Shen Zhongshan's words, Shen Rongguang could only reluctantly agree.

He suppressed his mischievous thoughts for the time being.

What happened in the nameless cave, Shen Changchuan, who was in Great Bay Village, was naturally unaware of.

Moreover, at this moment, he

No longer had the inclination to pay attention to other things.

Because, He was currently facing a big problem.

That was--

The Crocodile Demon in the river had come ashore and attacked the village!

The sky was a hazy gray, Heavy rain poured down, with no sign of stopping.

Rainwater gathered on the ground, forming streams that washed over the land. Occasionally, one could see mountain leeches swimming in them.

Shen Changchuan, wrapped in a thick straw cloak and wearing a bamboo hat, his long boots splashing muddy yellow waves on the water's surface, quickly arrived at the scene in a few strides.

At a corner on the edge of the village, A low, humble house had half of its structure collapsed.

Han Qinhu was leading people into it to search, carrying out mangled corpses.

In the surrounding houses, Many people poked their heads out, looking at the half-collapsed house, pointing and chattering in low voices, Their faces filled with worry.

I'm really fed up. The manuscript I prepared a week in advance is gone today.

And because I had a manuscript, I couldn't see the collection results and feedback when I was writing, which led to the chapter content being too watery without me realizing it.

Headache, manuscript saving really doesn't suit me. I'll just write and post one from now on.