Disdain

"Then, Brother Shan, shall we go to Great Bay Village? He's only at the Qi Gathering Third Level. Surely he wouldn't dare defy us. We could even grab a few more mortals to scout it out for us—it would be quite useful."

Seeing that Shen Zhongshan had remained silent for a long while, Shen Rongguang spoke up.

Yet Shen Zhongshan did not respond.

He stared at the map, his brows slightly furrowed, as though deep in thought.

"No."

To everyone's surprise, Shen Zhongshan rejected Shen Rongguang's suggestion.

His gaze became especially profound at that moment.

He raised a finger and pointed toward a certain spot near Great Bay Village on the map.

"We're going here."

There,

was the region marked Wu Family Market.

"Wu Family Market?"

"Brother Shan, isn't that outside our Shen Family's territory? Why not go to Great Bay Village?"

Shen Rongguang looked at the map,

then raised his head, his expression somewhat puzzled.

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

At that moment, Shen Cunrui, the weakest of the five and a small, skinny figure who had remained curled up in the corner without speaking, suddenly said timidly.

"The Patriarch's son?"

"But I've never heard of him. And if he's fallen so low as to end up in a godforsaken place like that, no matter how one looks at it, he's probably just an ordinary illegitimate son, right?"

"Brother Rongguang is right. Shen Changchuan's mother was merely a mortal maidservant. He was born from an accident, and his status in Shen Family Manor was extremely low."

"Still, he has always acted very cautiously and never formed grudges with others. He rarely went out, usually staying at home. They say he was obsessed with miscellaneous books such as travel journals left by earlier generations. His strength was not much to speak of either, only at the Qi Gathering Third Level. He was extremely inconspicuous in Shen Family Manor; many people did not even know the clan leader had such a son."

Shen Cunrui thought for a moment before speaking in a soft, weak voice.

He seemed to know something about Shen Changchuan.

But clearly,

Shen Rongguang did not care about any of that.

"Ha, so he's just a maid-born bastard. No wonder he ended up in such a ruined place."

Upon hearing this,

Shen Rongguang's face also revealed a look of disdain.

He naturally had the qualifications to disdain him.

Although Shen Rongguang came from a collateral branch of the Shen Family, and one with rather distant blood ties at that,

he was the legitimate descendant of that remote collateral branch.

In terms of status,

he naturally possessed a sense of superiority.

For maid-born children were the lowest-ranking sort in great families, people who could not be brought out into the open at all.

Take his own household, for example.

His mother was a cultivator from another minor cultivation family, the principal wife his father had formally wed with proper rites.

Thus, the sons and daughters born to his mother were the legitimate sons and daughters of their branch, the highest-ranking sort in their household.

At the same time,

his father had more than one woman. Some mortal princesses, daughters of great mortal clans, or mortal women born into cultivation families, among others, became his father's concubines for one reason or another.

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

Shen Rongguang stood naturally above those illegitimate sons and daughters. Regardless of whether they were older or younger, they had to bow when they saw him.

The distinction between high and low was as clear as day.

Yet beneath those illegitimate sons and daughters were people of even lower status:

maid-born children.

As the name implied, they were bloodlines born of maidservants and household servants.

They were generally lowborn bastards conceived when mortal maidservants with no backing or influence were lucky enough to receive the master's favor.

Their status,

was no different from that of servants and slaves.

For instance,

if the principal wife of a household were overly harsh toward illegitimate sons and daughters, beating or scolding them at every turn, outsiders might gossip that the women of that household's inner court were jealous and lacked dignity and grace.

But if the target were maid-born children, they could be punished, beaten, and scolded outright. Even having their limbs broken over the slightest mistake would not make anyone think there was anything wrong with it.

That was the status of maid-born children.

If Shen Rongguang were in a bad mood at home and casually beat a maid-born child to death,

his father would at most rebuke him a few times. There would not even be any punishment.

Before most masters of a household, maid-born children did not even count as their children.

Therefore, after learning Shen Changchuan's identity,

it was only natural that Shen Rongguang would hold himself high with pride.

"Heh, so what if he was lucky enough to be born into the main branch? In the end, he's still only a maid-born bastard."

"And though he is maid-born, he is still the clan leader's son. If he had known even a little about borrowing momentum and properly made use of the blood flowing through his veins, he would not still be merely at the Qi Gathering Third Level, nor would he have been driven off to such a remote place."

Shen Rongguang did not say the rest aloud.

Yet on his face,

one could clearly see his arrogant expression.

"Brother Shan, he is the clan leader's son. Why don't we go to Great Bay Village and pay him a visit, to see the bearing of such a young master from the clan?"

Shen Rongguang looked toward Shen Zhongshan at the center and spoke with great interest.

There was ill intent in his tone. Especially when he said the words "young master," anyone listening carefully could hear the mockery within.

Once Shen Rongguang finished speaking,

the young man called Shen Zhifei and another Shen Family clansman also became interested, turning to look toward Shen Zhongshan.

Only Shen Cunrui remained somewhat timid and submissive,

lowering his head, seemingly lost in thought.

"If we can find that thing on this trip, it will be a great merit. Do not create unnecessary complications."

Shen Zhongshan gave Shen Rongguang a deep look, shook his head, and spoke in a grave voice.

"The mission comes first. We do not have that much time to fool around."

"Don't go looking for trouble."

Knowing Shen Rongguang's character well,

Shen Zhongshan added another sentence, placing particular emphasis on the word "trouble."

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

Having understood Shen Zhongshan's unspoken meaning,

Shen Rongguang could only agree helplessly.

For the moment, he suppressed the little schemes in his heart.

Naturally, Shen Changchuan, who was in Great Bay Village, knew nothing of what had happened in that nameless mountain cave.

And at that moment,

he had no mind left to concern himself with anything else.

Because

he was facing a huge problem right then.

That was—

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

The sky was a vast expanse of gray,

and torrential rain poured down without the slightest sign of stopping.

Rainwater gathered into streams across the ground, washing over the earth. Every now and then, Mountain Leeches could be seen swimming through it.

Shen Changchuan wore a heavy rain cape and a bamboo hat. His long boots stepped into the water, kicking up muddy yellow splashes as he hurried to the scene in just a few strides.

At a corner along the edge of the village,

half of a low house had already collapsed,

and Han Qinhu was leading people inside to search, carrying out mangled corpses.

Inside the surrounding houses,

many people poked their heads out, pointing at the half-collapsed house and whispering among themselves,

their faces full of worry.

I'm really at a loss. The backlog I prepared a whole week in advance was gone by today.

And because I had a backlog before, I couldn't see the response from favorites and results while writing, so I didn't realize the chapter content had become so padded.

My head hurts. A backlog really doesn't suit me. From now on, I should just write one chapter and post one chapter.