Rules

Zhou Chen chuckled, his tone light and casual.

It was as if he had just asked:

"Third Young Master, what shall we eat tonight?"

It seemed that for him, killing a man was just that effortless.

Xu Yuan lowered his eyes to stare at Xue Yong on the floor, frowning slightly.

Since transmigrating, the things he had witnessed while traveling with Ran Qingmo had pushed his threshold for acceptance to a very high point, yet the scene before him still made him feel a trace of discomfort.

This was the first time he had seen someone collapse so miserably right in front of him.

One second, the man had been looking at him with calm, disdainful eyes.

The next, his entire face was contorted in agony, his eyes shrinking in terror.

Out of fear, Xue Yong tried his best to stifle his screams so as not to disturb the two men beside him, but his pale, twisted face and his arm, which had been snapped into seven or eight segments by a specialized force, remained clearly visible.

Xu Yuan composed himself, looked at Zhou Chen opposite him, and gave a light laugh:

"I am surprised that Mr. Zhou was willing to step in and help me."

The meaning behind Zhou Chen's earlier head-shake had been clear; his own cultivation, having just entered the Ninth Realm, was obviously unable to break the defenses of Xue Yong, who was at the peak of the Sixth Realm Iron Body.

If he had continued to fight, he would only have invited humiliation upon himself.

Yet, Zhou Chen had helped him.

On this point, Xu Yuan was quite surprised.

Just like Ying'er, who was hiding in the shadows and peeking, Zhou Chen could have completely chosen to sit on the sidelines in this matter.

Him being humiliated here would not have affected Zhou Chen in the slightest.

Zhou Chen picked up his wine gourd, took a sip, and said with a grin:

"Heh, the Third Young Master has been treating me to this Drunken Immortal Pavilion for so long; I had to do something eventually."

"Oh, is that so?"

Xu Yuan smiled noncommittally.

That was indeed a reason.

As the most luxurious brothel in Jingjiang City, the daily consumption for booking the top floor alone required a hundred taels of silver.

That was excluding the wine and the young ladies; Xu Yuan had stayed here for twenty days, and the silver he had scattered amounted to at least three thousand taels.

While the technology tree of this world was skewed, its productivity was no worse than Xu Yuan's previous life, and in some aspects, it was even superior; yet, an ordinary person could barely earn ten or twenty taels a year.

The basic monthly stipend for a top-tier expert like Zhou Chen was likely only a few thousand taels.

"Third Young Master, is this man to be crippled, or killed?" Zhou Chen asked again with a smirk.

Seeing this, Xu Yuan decided not to probe further and glanced at Xue Yong, who lay on the ground like a dead dog.

In his previous life, there were always old employees in the old man's company who would act obedient but disobey behind his back because they thought he was young, but Xu Yuan would only retaliate by making things difficult for them or docking their pay; even if the grudge was deep, the worst he would do was ensure they couldn't survive in the industry.

His mindset from his previous life made Xu Yuan feel that this punishment was already enough for Xue Yong.

But as the words reached his lips, he saw the look in the man's eyes and silently swallowed them back, gave a light laugh, and turned to walk out of the private room.

Damn it, this Zhou Chen was also testing him.

It seemed that since he had been kidnapped by Ran Qingmo and returned with this new set of skills, there were still too many suspicious points.

Given the sensitive and tyrannical nature of the original owner, it was impossible for him to let Xue Yong live in such a situation.

One incident might not change anything, but they would accumulate over time.

Xu Yuan pushed open the door, paused his steps, and looked back:

"Mr. Zhou, I do not wish to see this person again."

With that, he stepped out of the private room.

"Heh heh~"

Zhou Chen watched Xu Yuan's retreating back and grinned, laughing even more happily than before.

In contrast to his smile, the terror in Xue Yong's eyes had begun to overflow.

He did not want to die.

He could not die here because of that useless Third Young Master!

He was a genius, a genius who had reached the peak of the Sixth Realm Iron Body at twenty-two.

As long as he finished this protection job and received the cultivation resources issued by the Prime Minister's Estate, he would definitely be able to break through to the Fifth Realm.

The Fourth Miss valued him so much, and he was still so young; if his cultivation advanced further, there was even a sliver of a chance he could win the favor of the Fourth Miss.

As Xu Yuan's words fell, Xue Yong on the ground immediately endured the pain in his arm and said quickly, his voice trembling:

"No, no! Protector Zhou, you cannot kill me. I... even if I was disrespectful to the Third Young Master this time, according to the rules, crippling one arm is the maximum punishment. Protector Zhou, Protector Zhou! I know I was wrong. If you kill me, according to the rules set by the Prime Minister, you will also be punished."

Listening to Xue Yong's final efforts, Zhou Chen reined in his smile and nodded in agreement:

"Mm, you're right."

Without rules, nothing can be accomplished.

As a massive interest group, the Prime Minister's Estate naturally could not exist without rules; if any powerhouse could kill subordinates on a whim, this interest group would have long since fallen apart.

Xue Yong was a genius, and killing a peak Sixth-Grade Iron Body genius without cause—while Zhou Chen wouldn't have to pay with his life or go to prison—meant that losing a year's worth of cultivation resources and his annual salary was inevitable.

Seeing this, Xue Yong breathed a sigh of relief and managed to squeeze out a smile.

But the next moment, Zhou Chen suddenly grinned at him and said cheerfully:

"But it's the Third Young Master who wants you dead, so what does that have to do with me?"

Xue Yong's smile froze.

Zhou Chen looked at Xue Yong's unsightly posture, slowly crouched down in front of him, and shook his head gently:

"Xue Yong, just how little do you think of the Third Young Master? I recall the Fourth Miss saying you were very clever; how can you not see such a simple truth now?"

"..."

Xue Yong was stunned.

That's right, it was the Third Young Master who wanted to kill him now, not Zhou Chen.

Was there a price for the Third Young Master to kill him?

Yes, and a heavy one at that.

According to the rules, the Third Young Master would have ten years of his monthly allowance confiscated, and he would have to be whipped and confined.

But confinement?

Who would dare to lock him up?

Once locked in, this second-generation heir was a god-like man who dared to use his mortal body to test whether his head or the wall was harder.

The monthly allowance?

With a monthly allowance of a hundred taels, how could he spend his days drinking and whoring at the Drunken Immortal Pavilion?

Xue Yong turned his head abruptly toward the door, only to see the wooden door of the private room tightly shut.

It was over.

The soundproofing of the Drunken Immortal Pavilion was excellent.

He subconsciously circulated his cultivation technique, infusing his voice with power to beg the Third Young Master for mercy:

"Thi—"

"Smack!"

Zhou Chen seemed to find it boring and slapped Xue Yong directly on the forehead.

Watching Xue Yong go limp, Zhou Chen stood up, called over the other guards, gave a casual account of what had happened, and left under the stunned and fearful gazes of the guards.

Exiting the private room, Zhou Chen walked straight to the railing overlooking the deep well structure of the Drunken Immortal Pavilion.

Xu Yuan was standing there, looking down.

Zhou Chen stood beside him, leaning his arms on the railing, and said casually:

"Third Young Master, it's settled, though there might be some trouble from the Fourth Miss's side; after all, she seems to value Xue Yong quite a bit."

Xu Yuan glanced at Zhou Chen from the corner of his eye, his voice tinged with amusement:

"Value? And what if she does? If it weren't for Mother insisting on taking that bitch as a foster daughter back then, she'd probably be selling smiles in some brothel by now; she's nothing but a bastard."