Luo Bin was slightly dazed as he stared at the woman with snow-white cheeks and a soul-stealing gaze. Suddenly, he understood...
He smiled and said, "Wifey."
Then Luo Bin grabbed Sun Shuhua by the arm and pulled her behind him. Gathering his strength, he charged at the old Daoist Jia Yao and threw another punch!
He drove the force of his punch to its limit, unleashing eleven-tenths of his full strength.
With a boom, Jia Yao staggered backward again and again.
Luo Bin didn't press the attack. He dropped his disguise, scooped Sun Shuhua into his arms, and leaped down from the third floor, rushing toward the convoy...
From the moment he threw his punch to the moment he fled, it had all happened in the blink of an eye. By the time Jia Yao blocked the unexpected blow, it was already too late to stop him. All he could do was glare after Luo Bin's retreating figure, grinding his teeth in frustration.
"I thought I'd already sunk pretty low... I never expected this adulterous couple to be even worse..."
Jia Yao went over to the three men Luo Bin had left half-dead on the ground and struck each of them once more. After stripping them of all their valuables, he fled toward the woods.
He hadn't gone far when the thump-thump of a mortar firing reached his ears.
"You little bastard, you win!"
Luo Bin carried Sun Shuhua back to the convoy. She stared at the boy, who never spoke a truthful word. Even though he'd said he was at odds with the Sun Family, after all that maneuvering, he had still rescued her.
She lay against Luo Bin's chest, breathing in the heated, masculine scent of him. Then she remembered the coquettish "Hubby" she'd just called him, and her tender cheeks instantly flushed crimson. It was the first time she'd ever been held in a strange man's arms.
"Little sister, are you all right?" Sun Jingyao hurried over, his eyes now three parts less hostile than before, though he still glared fiercely at Luo Bin.
When Chen Mansheng saw Luo Bin carrying a woman back, her heart clenched, and her breathing grew a little tight. She simply gave a cold snort and turned away.
Luo Bin gave everyone present, including the Sun Family members, a brief account of how he'd rescued Sun Shuhua from the building.
His story shocked everyone. The young man was powerful, brave, and resourceful. At a critical moment, he'd even set aside the feud and prejudice between their two families to rescue the Sun Family Eldest Miss.
Sun Jingyao was unwilling, but he still cupped his hands and said, "Luo Bin, the Sun Family owes you a favor. But it's yours alone; it has nothing to do with the Chen Family."
"Don't worry. I only rescued her because your young miss is pretty. I didn't do it for the Sun Family's sake, so there's no need to make a big deal of it." Luo Bin smiled.
Sun Jingyao was "so furious he could cry." His chest heaved, plainly enraged by those words.
"You... Shuhua, let's go home."
"Wait, brother. He saved me, and I haven't thanked him yet...
"By the way, my name is Sun Shuhua. Thank you for not leaving me there...
"And... thank you for saying I'm pretty!"
Sun Shuhua looked toward Luo Bin. Bathed in the warm sunlight, the young man seemed to glow.
Luo Bin waved his hand and tightened his suit jacket. "It was nothing."
Sun Jingyao couldn't bear to watch any longer. Suppressing his fury, he took Sun Shuhua by the hand and returned to the car. The Sun Family convoy slowly drove away...
Chen Tianren came over to check on him. "How are you? Are you hurt?"
"Thank you for your concern, Uncle Chen. I'm fine. As for why Chen Jing ended up in this situation, we can discuss it when we get back." Luo Bin glanced around.
With Luo Wendi's help, the Chen Family convoy began to move as well. Luo Bin, Chen Tianren, and Chen Mansheng rode in the same car, while Chen Jing remained unconscious beside them.
Twenty minutes later, they all returned to the Chen Residence.
The residence's main hall.
Nearly every important figure in the Chen Family had gathered. Even several recruited Martial Master Attendants at the peak of Golden Skin Pass stood by, all eyes fixed on Luo Bin's face.
They were waiting for the young man who had rescued the Chen Family's young master from danger to speak.
Luo Bin took off his slightly tight suit, revealing the crisp white shirt beneath, stretched over the smooth, solid lines of his muscles. Then he took a sip of Lin'an Round Tea.
He looked at Chen Tianren. "The Pei Family was behind this. What I'm about to tell you may not be the whole story. Uncle Chen, you can have the Black Sheath Gang brothers interrogate the two men I captured... They may well know something important."
"As for what I know... The Pei Family has a Daoist named Jia Yao. He wields an occult technique called Spirit Binding and General Commanding, which lets him extract a person's soul fragment and use it to monitor them... But monitoring someone too often makes the person being watched drowsy..."
As soon as Luo Bin began speaking, Chen Mansheng's eyes turned toward him.
Her older sister, Chen Manqing, had been acting very strangely lately and had also been unusually sleepy. What had made the deepest impression on her was the River God Festival. Chen Manqing had slept from the previous afternoon until almost noon the next day...
At the time, everyone had assumed the subtle change was due to her exhaustion from organizing the evacuation and relocation. They thought nothing of her sleeping more than usual.
But lately, Chen Manqing's sleeping habits at home had been completely out of character...
Chen Mansheng cried out, "Could it be... my sister?"
Luo Bin hadn't expected the second miss to catch on so quickly. He nodded. "That's right. According to what I've learned, and what I overheard in that run-down building, the eldest miss really did have a soul fragment extracted... But Chen Jing is fine. I arrived in time to stop the Daoist from completing the ritual."
Chen Tianren, Luo Wendi, and even Ji Xuan all cried out at once, "What?"
The latter had spent years dealing and negotiating with the various factions in Ping City, large and small. He naturally knew of the capable people the Pei Family had recruited in the past and had heard of the Daoist named Jia Yao.
Still, the claim that a soul fragment had been extracted was so shocking that he had to ask, "Luo Bin, would losing a soul fragment have any serious effects? What should Manqing do from now on?"
Chen Tianren had the same question. After Luo Bin explained that it would cause no major harm and wouldn't endanger her life, everyone felt a little more at ease.
The reason Luo Bin had rescued even Sun Shuhua today, yet hadn't pressed the old Daoist for details about Chen Manqing's soul fragment, was that Chen Manqing had treated him so poorly... Why should he risk his life to help her?
Of course, now that the details had been laid out, Chen Tianren and the other decision-makers would have to deal with the matter themselves.
The Chen Family was once again thrown into an uproar. First, they rushed around searching for clues about Chen Manqing's missing soul fragment. Second, Luo Bin had once again done the Chen Family a huge favor.
His strength and abilities shocked the entire Chen Family. Without Luo Bin, it was impossible to know whether Chen Jing would have escaped this ordeal.
Even Fang Zijing, the usually unflappable steward of the Chen Family, gave Luo Bin a slight bow when he saw him. Luo Bin was simply too important to the Chen Family now...
After sharing all the information he knew, Luo Bin began to wonder if he'd become a little too dependent on the Chen Family.
In truth, what he'd told Jia Yao had been half true and half false. But after returning to his room in Qufang Garden, Luo Bin sat cross-legged for a long time, thinking. He couldn't keep wandering about like a headless fly. It was time to set a goal and strive toward it.
A life without a goal was like the West without Jerusalem.
But what should he make his short-term goal?
It was simple. Since he had Crimson to help him, he'd add points!
First, he'd break through two major realms!
But as soon as he thought of that, doubt surfaced in Luo Bin's heart. He realized his understanding of this world was still far too shallow. He'd been practicing martial arts for some time, yet he knew next to nothing about the martial realms or how to plan his progress.
He didn't even know what realm came after the Golden Skin and Jade Bone passes, or what level of cultivation the Profound Mastery mentioned in Ping City's street ballads represented...
His knowledge and understanding of this world's underlying rules were still far too limited. Tomorrow, he'd have Uncle Jiang explain it all to him!
But tonight, he'd take care of something else first.
Luo Bin thought of Sun Shuhua's voluptuous figure and her alluring gaze. That dramatic hourglass-pear shape was even more striking than Chen Mansheng's, and could almost threaten Wen Li's status as the woman with the best figure.
Luo Bin flashed through the darkness and vanished. Ping City wasn't brightly lit at night, but many rickshaw pullers were still hard at work. He hailed one at random and went to the Pei Family Manor.
It was an early-summer night, just after the plum rains. The wind in Ping City carried the moisture of the Li River, rustling the plane-tree leaves in the manor.
Luo Bin vaulted onto the wall of the Pei Family Manor, then used his Phantom talent to slip soundlessly behind a familiar wooden door.
This was a small courtyard he'd specially arranged for Wen Li after his status had risen. A dim yellow light still shone inside. Wen Li sat beneath the veranda on a bamboo chair, sewing a half-finished shirt from fine cotton cloth.
At the sound, she abruptly looked up. When she saw the tall figure at the door, the needle and thread in her hand slipped onto her lap.
She wore a dark green qipao with a subtle floral pattern.
The silk clung to her figure, tailored to fit perfectly. Two buttons at the collar were undone, revealing a small patch of snow-white cleavage. The front of the qipao stretched over two rounded, lifted curves that swayed gently as she walked.
Even the delicate skin at her neckline had taken on a faint blush. It was the ripe, soft, full-bodied beauty unique to a mature woman, so lush it looked as if one could squeeze water from it.
The qipao fit her waist tightly, accentuating its slender curve, while her hips below were full and broad. Her round, lifted backside stretched the back of the qipao taut, swaying with a soft curve at every step. The slit climbed to the tops of her thighs, revealing a pair of fair, full legs as she walked, their lines sleek yet lush. Her ankles were slender and delicate.
Luo Bin didn't want to pretend anymore.
He'd already been bewitched by her when he'd first transmigrated here. And he was only her "nephew" in name. He immediately called out:
"Sister Wen?"
As Wen Li came over, her lashes fluttered at his words, and the soft fullness of her chest trembled gently with them. "A-Bin... what did you call me?"
Luo Bin stepped closer, his hot breath nearly brushing Wen Li's face.
"I don't want to call you Aunt Wen anymore. I want to call you Sister Wen. Is that all right?"
Then he pulled her directly into his arms.
Wen Li trembled and instinctively resisted, but her body soon went limp, and she leaned gently against him, her back pressed to his solid chest. Her fingertips quivered, and her voice turned soft and sweet. "A-Bin... don't tease me. We... we're almost ten years apart..."
"I'm not teasing you." Luo Bin rested his chin on the crown of her head and gently laid a hand on her waist. His fingertips felt the delicate skin beneath her qipao and the soft flesh just below it. He slid his hand down and let it settle on her rounded backside. The soft yet springy feel made him squeeze it.
"Mmm~"
"I've never thought of you as my aunt."
"Three years ago, when you gave me that bowl of porridge, I'd already decided. In this chaotic world, a woman like you belongs with me."
Wen Li's tears fell at once.
All these years, she'd been a woman with no one to rely on, living on tenterhooks in a city that devoured people. She'd disguised herself, endured in silence, and suffered countless indignities, never daring to tell anyone.
Only with Luo Bin could she let down all her defenses. But she'd never dared to hope for more. He was a young man with a limitless future, a martial prodigy even the Chen Family valued. She was just a widow with no one to rely on, more than ten years his senior. How could she ever be worthy of him?
But now, the earnestness in his eyes was so scorching that all her worries and insecurities melted into a pool of water.
"A-Bin, I... I'm so much older than you. People will gossip..." she choked out, clutching the hem of her qipao so tightly that her fingertips turned white.
Luo Bin bent down, gently wiping the tears from her face as he rested his forehead against hers.
"I don't care," he said softly. "In this world, human lives are cheap as grass. As long as I'm alive, I'll protect the people I want to protect. Whoever wants to talk can talk. If anyone dares say another word, I'll cut out their tongue."
Wen Li could hold back no longer. She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in the crook of it, her shoulders shaking with sobs.
All the hurt and unease she'd accumulated over the years, along with the longing she'd kept hidden in her heart, burst forth in that moment.
Luo Bin wrapped his arms tightly around her, swept her into his arms, and strode into the room, shutting the door behind him.
He gently laid her on the soft bedding and leaned over to look at her.
Wen Li's cheeks were as red as ripe peaches. The corners of her eyes were red, tears still clinging to her lashes, and her lips were slightly swollen. She looked at him, shy and timid, gripping the bedding beneath her so tightly that even her breathing grew light.
"A-Li," he asked softly. "May I?"
After a long while.
Luo Bin lit the lamp and let out a long breath. The fire Sun Shuhua had kindled in him during the day had finally died down.
He lowered his eyes to the smear of crimson left beside him on the pillow and asked:
"Wen Xue isn't your daughter, is she?"
Before you continue