Offense

Some people had hearts broad enough to hold the whole world. Others had narrow hearts that could hold only themselves.

Xu Yuan had never thought of himself as the former, but neither did he consider himself the latter. His heart wasn't especially large or small; it was just big enough to hold the people close to him who mattered.

He was only an ordinary person.

He could repay kindness with kindness and settle grudges with vengeance. As long as he didn't repay kindness with enmity, that was good enough.

If he set aside his god's-eye view of knowing that the world was destined for chaos, perhaps he could understand Xu Xinyao's actions.

She hadn't just paid lip service to her words. She had always lived by them and strived to fulfill them.

But her final choice had truly been repaying kindness with enmity.

If, at the end of the story, after her father and brothers had all died, Xu Xinyao had decisively taken her own life to repay the debt of her upbringing, then the indifference—or even dislike—that Xu Yuan had developed toward her character throughout the earlier story would probably have faded.

But she hadn't.

She had lived happily ever after with the story's protagonist, all while feeling guilty.

That was why he felt indifferent toward her.

"Third Young Master? Third Young Master!"

"..."

The voice beside him slowly pulled Xu Yuan back from his thoughts. He glanced over and saw Zhou Chen watching him with a beaming smile.

"You don't look too well. Are you thinking about what just happened?"

Before the Eldest Young Master left, she had specifically told them to keep an eye on the Third Young Master.

The Third Young Master, whose temperament had once been violent, looked troubled after killing someone who had offended him. It was certainly something to think about.

"What just happened?"

Xu Yuan glanced at him, only to see several guards carrying a stretcher covered with a white cloth out of the private room. As they walked, they couldn't help glancing toward him with fearful, shrinking looks.

It seemed Xue Yong was dead.

Though Xu Yuan hadn't explicitly ordered his death, the outcome had been expected.

The first time he had ordered someone killed, it had indeed left him feeling unsettled.

Still, Xu Yuan merely shook his head, as if it were nothing.

"More or less. You mentioned that bitch, and it reminded me of some things from the past."

He said no more and turned his gaze toward the young women dancing on the stage in the hall.

While he'd been lost in thought, the dancers had changed. Now a pair of pretty twin sisters were performing, their faces remarkably alike.

Perhaps because of Cangyuan's art direction, the ancient-style clothing in this world had a certain flavor of his previous life.

Both women wore pink bandeau tops and long, slit skirts. Their slender waists and shapely legs showed beneath their fluttering sleeves.

They were just alluring enough to captivate the soul.

Seeing where Xu Yuan was looking, Zhou Chen suddenly chuckled.

"Third Young Master, have you recovered?"

"Mm." Xu Yuan didn't deny it.

Given the severity of the hidden organ injuries he'd sensed earlier, he'd expected to need at least a year or two of gradual recuperation. Yet he'd recovered in less than a month.

Perhaps it was thanks to the Blood Origin Heart-Meteor Art, or perhaps it was because of his constitution now.

Zhou Chen grinned at his answer, drew closer with his wine gourd, and lowered his voice.

"Third Young Master, these sisters, Zi Ye and Zi Hua, really know how to dance. I watch them every day. The older sister's waist, the younger sister's legs—tch, tch. They're a little pricey, but worth every penny."

"How about it, Third Young Master? Shall I invite them up?"

"..."

Xu Yuan furrowed his brows and stared at Zhou Chen, speechless.

He was a friendly sort, sure, but this powerful cultivator was shameless beyond belief.

The top floor of the Drunken Immortal Pavilion came with plenty of pretty, fresh-faced maids and young women. It was also possible to summon the courtesans from the private rooms below.

But calling those courtesans up from their rooms cost extra.

And, just as one might expect from the usual novels, the courtesans with private rooms on the ninth through eleventh floors had a degree of choice over their clients. The Drunken Immortal Pavilion also made a point of respecting their wishes.

But given Xu Yuan's status, their wishes were somewhat beside the point.

Ordinary young masters and noble sons could do the same, but most wouldn't, because it would ruin their reputations.

But did the reputation of Xu Yuan, Xu Changtian, need ruining?

Never mind the courtesans. Even the pure-hearted courtesans living on the twelfth floor—or the still-alluring madam herself, summoned to his room for the night—would have no say in the matter.

It was all a question of paying more.

He could sneak some antiques and calligraphy out of the household to sell. At worst, there were still piles of drafts in the study left behind by his cheap old father while practicing his calligraphy.

The Prime Minister's handwritten drafts were hard currency in calligraphy circles. Those wealthy merchants and officials who affected refined tastes would be delighted to get their hands on them.

Xu Yuan smiled and let out a soft scoff.

"Mr. Zhou, I told you already. I don't want to be your kind of man."

Zhou Chen looked a little disappointed. He clicked his tongue and muttered under his breath.

"If you won't be my kind of man, can't I just sneak in through the back door?"

"..." Xu Yuan.

Seeing the corner of Xu Yuan's eye twitch, Zhou Chen cleared his throat. His eyes turned roguish as he chuckled.

"Ahem. Third Young Master, you're not going to avoid women and live like an ascetic from now on, are you? Surely not. That wouldn't be like you~"

"An ascetic?"

Xu Yuan murmured softly, then lowered his eyes to stare at his palm. He didn't answer, but instead asked in a quiet voice.

"Mr. Zhou, may I ask about your cultivation talent?"

"Huh?"

Zhou Chen seemed not to have expected Xu Yuan to ask him that out of the blue. After a pause, he answered.

"There are one hundred and twenty-seven meridians, and I was born with ninety-six open. My Will Soul is upper-grade, too."

As he spoke,

he stroked his stubble and grinned.

"I suppose you could call me a genius."

"In that case, Mr. Zhou, you certainly qualify as a genius."

"Heh, not bad." Zhou Chen waved a hand and replied with a cheerful smile.

Xu Yuan didn't smile. After offering that brief praise, he stared at Zhou Chen's smiling face and suddenly asked,

"If you dare call yourself a genius, have you made even the slightest progress in your cultivation lately?"

"..." Zhou Chen.

They stared at each other in silence.

If Zhou Chen had truly hit a bottleneck that kept him from advancing, then Xu Yuan's words were a bald-faced taunt.

"..."

Sure enough, Xu Yuan's words gradually stiffened the smile on Zhou Chen's face, until it disappeared.

It was obvious:

Zhou Chen's cultivation had indeed been blocked by a bottleneck, and it had been troubling him for a long time.

The lazy look in Zhou Chen's eyes slowly took on a deeper meaning at the Third Young Master's taunt.

Xu Yuan's gaze gradually turned cold as he met his eyes.

After staring at each other for a long while, Xu Yuan spoke.

"Zhou Chen, you don't need to look at me like that. To have reached this point, you obviously can't be naturally indolent. Yet you spend every day indulging yourself. It isn't hard to figure out that you've hit a bottleneck you can't overcome."

It was the first time Xu Yuan had called Zhou Chen by name.

As he spoke,

Xu Yuan's long, narrow eyes narrowed little by little.

"I spent more than two months with Ran Qingmo. She cultivated every moment of every day."

"Zhou Chen, I'm curious."

A hint of mockery, perfectly disguised as curiosity, appeared in Xu Yuan's eyes.

"If you could cultivate without a bottleneck, like Ran Qingmo, would you still indulge yourself as recklessly as you do now?"

At that,

Zhou Chen understood what Xu Yuan meant and fell silent.

The hall below was alive with noise and commotion; the top floor was cool and quiet.

Xu Yuan stared into Zhou Chen's eyes and spoke, each word deliberate.

"Zhou Chen, answer me."

"..."

Zhou Chen's eyes flickered for a moment before he lowered them and bowed with his fists clasped.

"Third Young Master, I was the one who offended you just now."