Old Affairs

"Senior Sister Chen?" Hearing the footsteps, Shen Mo turned his head and saw Chen Mengze following him out.

"The iron aura within this Mystic Crystal Mine is dense; if a Stone Spirit were to condense here, it would likely be immensely powerful."

"You have yet to gather your Qi, so I fear you would be unable to handle it," Chen Mengze said indifferently. "That is why I followed you out to take a look, to ensure you don't run into any trouble."

"I see. Thank you for your concern, Senior Sister Chen," Shen Mo said with a smile.

The two walked in step, patrolling the interior of the mine.

"By the way, Senior Sister Chen, your birthday should be coming up soon, shouldn't it?" Shen Mo asked suddenly. "Have you thought about what kind of birthday gift you would like?"

"You still remember the date of my birthday?"

Chen Mengze was slightly startled, a warmth rising in her heart.

Over the past few years, she had intentionally kept her distance from him, and she had assumed their relationship had faded; she never expected him to remember such things so clearly.

"As for a birthday gift... if someone were to give me an Azure Wood Sachet on my birthday, I would be very happy."

Chen Mengze hesitated for a moment before speaking.

An Azure Wood Sachet, was it?

Shen Mo quickly made a mental note, intending to pass the information along to Guo Zhao when the time came.

"Also, in the future, if Senior Brother Guo invites me to spend time together, I will come looking for you; do not just stay in your room refining pills and crafting talismans."

Chen Mengze continued, "If you are not present, Senior Brother Guo always insists on saying strange things."

"This..."

Hearing this, Shen Mo could not help but hesitate.

He had, after all, accepted benefits specifically to create opportunities for the two of them.

If he took the benefits but failed to deliver, that would hardly be ethical.

"What? Are you unwilling?"

Seeing his hesitation, Chen Mengze felt a flicker of doubt. Her brows furrowed slightly as she asked, "Did Senior Brother Guo say something to you?"

"Senior Brother Guo did indeed ask me to help him out a bit."

Shen Mo did not hide it from her, briefly explaining that he had accepted some benefits.

"You fellow." Upon learning the truth, Chen Mengze was both embarrassed and annoyed. She suddenly recalled the matter of the birthday gift from earlier: "Earlier, when you asked me about a birthday gift, was that also...?"

"Senior Brother Guo really couldn't make up his mind, so he entrusted me to ask," Shen Mo said, scratching his head and admitting it quite readily.

Hearing this, the slight hope and warmth that had been in Chen Mengze's heart instantly turned into shame and anger.

She would never speak to him again!

Two hours later, after Shen Mo and Chen Mengze had finished patrolling the Mystic Crystal Mine, they found a stone step and sat down to rest for a while.

"Hey, tell me the truth, what do you think of Senior Brother Guo?"

Chen Mengze had held it in for two hours, but she finally could not help but be the first to speak.

"Well, he is a good man." Out of professional ethics, Shen Mo still gave a decent evaluation.

"Back then, my father had his heart set on taking you as his son-in-law."

"That was just Uncle Chen's wishful thinking. Matters of the heart, in the end, require mutual affection."

Shen Mo was stunned by her sudden mention of this, feeling somewhat puzzled.

Could it be that Chen Mengze still held some feelings for him?

But back then, the original owner had been incredibly enthusiastic about the arrangement.

It was Chen Mengze who had taken the initiative to refuse, and she had become much colder toward him afterward.

Seeming to see through Shen Mo's confusion, Chen Mengze said, "Do you know why I was unwilling back then?"

"Why?"

"You were too weak."

Chen Mengze spoke without the slightest mercy.

He had been rejected.

Shen Mo could not help but rub his nose, having nothing to say in response.

Before he had transmigrated, the original owner had indeed been somewhat mediocre.

At over twenty years of age, even with Uncle Chen's support, he had spent many years cultivating only to remain stuck at the fifth level of Body Tempering with no progress.

At a glance, he was clearly not a candidate with much potential.

From a utilitarian perspective, he was not a good match for a husband.

"I carry a blood feud, so I cannot seek a mediocre companion."

A blood feud?

Shen Mo raised an eyebrow.

Uncle Chen had followed his own father to the River-Facing Sect to seek apprenticeship, and it seemed there was quite a story behind that.

However, Shen Mo did not know much about it, as Uncle Chen rarely spoke to him of these past events.

But now, Chen Mengze seemed to have the intention of bringing it up.

"Do you want to hear about my Chen Clan?"

"If you wish to speak, I can listen," Shen Mo thought for a moment and said.

"My father was born into the Chen Clan, a family of cultivators in Sishui City. The clan's ancestor was originally a low-level Rogue Cultivator who, by a stroke of luck, stumbled into the ruins left behind by a cultivator of the Spirit Sea Realm. That was the capital he used to rise up and establish the clan."

As it turned out, the Chen ancestor had obtained that opportunity, which opened the door to the Qi Gathering Realm. He then settled in Sishui City, married, had children, and spread his roots.

Thus, the Chen Clan was propagated.

Benefiting from the various treasures within the ruins, the Chen ancestor's rise was incredibly rapid.

In less than a hundred years, the small family he had founded grew step by step through marriages, property acquisitions, and various other means, eventually developing into a major clan in Sishui City.

They were known alongside the Liu Clan and the Wu Clan as the three great families of Sishui City.

Both the Liu and Wu clans were long-established cultivation families in Sishui City, each backed by an immortal sect.

Naturally, they felt dissatisfied with the Chen Clan, which had emerged like a dark horse to carve away the city's resources. At the same time, they were puzzled as to how the Chen Clan could rise so rapidly without an immortal sect backing them.

Consequently, they dispatched spies and used various methods to inquire from multiple sources.

The news of the ruins eventually leaked.

What the Chen ancestor had obtained in the ruins back then were merely some spiritual pills and exotic treasures from the outer perimeter.

The inner chamber of the Spirit Sea Realm cultivator's ruins, which held the true treasures, remained sealed by restrictions that the Chen ancestor could not yet open.

Therefore, the real secret treasures had not yet been taken.

There is nothing new under the sun.

Upon learning the news of the Spirit Sea cultivator's ruins, the Liu and Wu clans were immediately overcome with greed.

"To seize the secret key to the ruins held by our Chen Clan, the Liu and Wu clans took advantage of the time when Sishui City was ordered by the immortal sect to resist the Outer Realm Heavenly Demons. They slandered our Chen Clan, accusing us of colluding with the Outer Realm Heavenly Demons and intending to bring disaster upon the world."

The Outer Realm Heavenly Demons were creatures of the lower realms and natural, mortal enemies of human cultivators.

The current Red Flame Kingdom was jointly controlled by the five great immortal sects.

To maintain the peace of the realm, the five great immortal sects had established specific rules: all families and factions subordinate to the sects had to obey their mobilization orders.

If there was a demonic invasion, they were required to fight upon command.

If they achieved merit in battle, the immortal sects would grant them generous rewards.

But at the same time, anyone who dared to collude with the Outer Realm Heavenly Demons would face a grave crime.

Once that label was pinned on them, even if they were wiped out, no one would dare to speak a word for the Chen Clan.

"Back then, the Liu and Wu clans joined forces and slaughtered my entire Chen Clan. My mother, of the An Clan, died in that bloodbath."

"My father, in order to protect my life as a newborn, managed to escape by luck. He was utterly devastated, but thanks to the help and persuasion of Uncle Chen, he preserved his life and joined the River-Facing Sect, hoping that one day he could avenge the blood feud of his clan."

So, his own "cheap" father and Uncle Chen had such a past.

After hearing this, Shen Mo could finally understand why Uncle Chen had treated him as his own flesh and blood.

"The world is unpredictable," Shen Mo sighed and said. "My parents also died unjustly, but unlike you, even if I wanted to seek revenge, I wouldn't even know where to look for the culprits."