He Still Had to Thank Me!

Chen Tian's parents understood what he meant, and their smiles grew even wider. They hurriedly asked again:

"How did that girl meet Xiaotian?"

At that, a sly grin appeared in Mo Shang's eyes, and he immediately started making things up:

"Auntie, there's something you don't know. That girl came from a very remote mountain village. She lost her parents when she was young..."

"After Chen Tian met her, she fell in love with him at first sight..."

Under Mo Shang's telling, the girl soon became a pure-hearted young woman from a remote mountain village who knew nothing of the world.

And Chen Tian became a heartless scumbag who had his way with her and then abandoned her...

As Mo Shang continued, anger appeared on Chen Tian's parents' faces.

"How outrageous! That unfilial son!"

As soon as Mo Shang finished, Chen Tian's father slapped the table and sprang up from the sofa. He yanked off his belt and charged upstairs.

"Ow! Dad, what are you hitting me for?!"

"You unfilial brat! You toyed with that poor girl and abandoned her. Is that how I taught you to behave?"

"Toyed with her and abandoned her?! I'm innocent! That never happened..."

"You still dare deny it? I heard it from your friend!"

"Don't listen to his nonsense! It wasn't anything like you think..."

"You still dare argue? Take this belt!"

"I'm a Demon Venerable, at least show me some respect..."

"What Demon Venerable? I think you're possessed! Supreme Lord Lao, by your command, strike him with the belt!"

Before long, the sharp whoosh of the belt and Chen Tian's wails came from upstairs...

"Brother Mo Shang, is it really okay to mess with him like that?" Listening to the commotion upstairs, Jiang Shuyu asked in a quiet voice, trying to stifle her laughter.

"Want to bet? He'll thank me later." Mo Shang chuckled and spoke again.

Who knew how much time passed before Chen Tian and his father came downstairs.

"Sorry for the trouble. We hope we didn't embarrass you."

Back in the living room, Chen Tian's father sat down again and gave Mo Shang and Jiang Shuyu an apologetic smile.

Chen Tian sat down beside Mo Shang and gritted out in a low voice, "What exactly did you tell my parents?"

"Nothing much. I just told them the girl came from a mountain village, had no one to rely on, and you toyed with her and abandoned her, so she came looking for you..." Mo Shang gave Chen Tian a knowing look and spoke with a beaming smile.

"That never happened! Why would you make something like that up?"

Chen Tian froze for a moment, then gave him a helpless look.

"Isn't that better than telling them she came from another world? Think of it as preparing your family for the truth..." Mo Shang shrugged and said quietly.

"Then I really have to thank you!!!" Chen Tian was utterly speechless.

"Shuyu, see? I told you he'd thank me." Mo Shang turned to Jiang Shuyu and grinned.

"Mhm, Brother Mo Shang, you're amazing..." Jiang Shuyu nodded, a hint of admiration in her expression.

Chen Tian: ???

"We're buddies. No need to thank me." Mo Shang turned back to Chen Tian and gave his shoulder a friendly pat.

"Unbelievable..."

Chen Tian was completely at a loss. He slumped against the sofa, looking utterly dejected.

"If your friend hadn't told us, we wouldn't have known you'd done something so foolish."

"And that's how you say thank you? Looks like you still haven't realized what you did wrong!"

Seeing Chen Tian's expression, his father immediately stood up from the sofa again and reached for the belt at his waist.

At once, Chen Tian jolted upright and placed both hands on Mo Shang's shoulders. He spoke earnestly:

"Old Mo, you helped me realize where I went wrong. I really can't thank you enough."

"Really? You're not forcing yourself?" Mo Shang asked with a smile.

"Not at all. I mean it. I had no choice before, but now I want to be a good person..." Chen Tian replied, his voice completely sincere.

"That's more like it."

Satisfied, Chen Tian's father nodded and sat down again. Then he looked at Mo Shang and Jiang Shuyu and said, "We really have to thank you both for this."

"No need to thank us. It was the least we could do..."

Mo Shang smiled and nodded, then added, "If there's nothing else, we'll get going..."

"It's already late, and it isn't safe outside at night. If you don't mind, why not stay here for the night?" Chen Tian's mother stepped forward to urge them to stay when she heard they were leaving.

As she spoke, she glanced at the steward, who had been standing quietly to one side, and gave him an instruction. "Steward Zhang, please prepare a guest room."

"Of course, madam..." The steward nodded and headed upstairs.

The next morning.

Soft sunlight spilled into the Chen household's guest room. Mo Shang slowly woke from his dream.

"A beautiful day starts with going back to sleep..."

He glanced at Jiang Shuyu, who was cuddling him tightly, then closed his eyes again, ready to sleep a little longer.

Boom!

But just then, with a loud crash, a huge hole burst open in the room's wall, and Chen Tian's figure flew over the heads of Mo Shang and Jiang Shuyu.

The tremendous noise jolted Mo Shang and Jiang Shuyu fully awake.

Looking at Chen Tian embedded in the wall, Mo Shang asked, "What are you doing, Old Chen? Why are you tearing the place apart so early in the morning?"

"Uh, something went wrong. Sorry for disturbing your sleep..." Chen Tian replied with an apologetic look when he saw them, then walked out through the doorway.

The commotion had driven away Mo Shang's drowsiness. He pulled himself up from the bed and poked his head through the hole to check on the room next door.

The woman from yesterday had woken up. She was frozen in the middle of a punch, her face full of bewilderment.

"I let you stay the night, and you hit me the moment you wake up?" Chen Tian had returned to the room next door and complained to the woman.

When she saw Chen Tian, the confusion in her eyes faded, replaced by wariness. She asked, "Where is this?"

"This is Blue Star, where I grew up. Welcome to my world, my esteemed Immortal Venerable Qingyao." Chen Tian smiled calmly and introduced the place.

"Blue Star? The spiritual energy here is so thin. When will I be able to recover my cultivation?" The woman seemed to sense something and furrowed her brow.

"That's a good question. I'd like to know too..."

Chen Tian shrugged. He wanted to know the answer just as much, since his cultivation hadn't fully recovered either.

"Hmph. Even with less than a tenth of my cultivation, I still won't let you go." The woman snorted.

Hearing that she still wanted to attack him, Chen Tian's face darkened with anger.

"Shen Qingyao, I haven't done anything evil, have I? I even helped you last night. Why are you so determined to come after me?"

"You're a Demonic Cultivator!"

"So what if I'm a Demonic Cultivator? Does that mean everyone gets to chase me down and hack at me? What kind of ridiculous logic is that?!"

"Because you secretly watched me back then!"