Ambush

Wei Yuan Hall!

A group of Inner Courtyard disciples gathered in twos and threes.

After Qiu Wenjie joined their small circle, Xu Yang and his companions had grown to five, and they now practiced their fist techniques together.

"Do you know why Lu Ren didn't come today?" Zhang Hong whispered.

Qiu Wenjie asked curiously, "Why?"

Xu Yang scanned the Inner Courtyard and realized that Lu Ren was indeed nowhere to be seen, which piqued his own curiosity as well.

Since Zhang Hong had brought it up specifically, something must have happened to Lu Ren.

"Come to think of it, Lu Ren was supposed to marry that young lady from the Huang Family soon. Could it be today?" Wu Yongfeng asked.

However, he felt that didn't sound right as he said it.

If Lu Ren were getting married, even if he didn't invite them, he would have invited the other Inner Courtyard disciples, yet all the senior brothers and sisters who were close to him were present.

Zhang Hong shook his head. "That young lady from the Huang Family was defiled by Jade Butterfly, so how could Lu Ren possibly marry her? But the matter is related to that."

He lowered his voice. "Because Lu Ren adamantly refused to marry her, the young lady hanged herself a few days ago, and then the Huang Family started a huge conflict with him."

Zhang Yong and Xu Yang, both of whom had been cultivated by the Huang Family alongside Lu Ren, didn't know what to say for a moment.

One couldn't call Lu Ren ungrateful, because if it were them, they likely wouldn't be able to accept marrying such a person either.

Forget about affection; it was merely a binding of interests, so where would any real feelings come from?

Zhang Hong continued, "The Huang Family accused Lu Ren of ingratitude, while Lu Ren accused the Huang Family of disregarding his reputation. After days of arguing, they finally had a complete falling out yesterday. Lu Ren announced he was no longer a retainer of the Huang Family and moved out of the residence they had provided him."

Xu Yang felt a sense of melancholy.

Back then, the Huang Family had only wanted Lu Ren. Even though the talent he himself displayed was not much inferior to Lu Ren's, the Huang Family had turned a blind eye to him. He hadn't expected it to end like this.

It was a situation where both sides suffered.

Regardless of the reason, Lu Ren would inevitably be branded as ungrateful, while the Huang Family had lost a genius with the potential for Martial Exam Dragon Ascent.

"So this is the genius you all treated like a treasure? Looks like your efforts were all in vain."

Zhang Yong, still harboring resentment over the Huang Family's unfairness, immediately felt a sense of schadenfreude.

Xu Yang frowned. "The Huang Family just let him leave like that?"

The great clans of Qingyuan County were not just wealthy fools. If they relied solely on retainer martial artists, they would have been devoured by them long ago; these clans had their own experts.

As far as he knew, the head of the Huang Family was a master at the Great Completion of Qi Gathering, and the Liu Family he served had plenty of experts of their own.

They hired retainer martial artists because they lacked enough manpower, and because if you have money, you can make others risk their lives for you—only an idiot would risk his own life.

The wealthy cared about appearances; if you sent your own kin to fight while others used hired hands, no one would take you seriously when negotiating business.

Although Lu Ren had talent, he had not yet reached the Great Completion of Qi Gathering. If he wanted to leave clean, the Huang Family was not exactly a benevolent household.

Zhang Hong said, "He found a backer in advance and joined the Gu Family, where Senior Sister Gu Fang resides. The Gu Family sent an expert at the Great Completion of Qi Gathering to negotiate with the Huang Family. The Huang Family had just started to gain momentum, so even if they were unwilling, they had no choice but to let Lu Ren go. However, it is said that he compensated the Huang Family double for the resources he received, so it didn't end too ugly."

Xu Yang finally understood why Zhang Hong knew so much. When Jade Butterfly had visited the Gu Family and was besieged by a group of their experts, he had managed to kill some of their martial artists before escaping with severe injuries.

At that time, Zhang Hong had just successfully gathered his Qi, and under Sun Tao's arrangement, he had become a retainer for the Gu Family.

Xu Yang found it difficult to judge the situation between Lu Ren and the Huang Family; he only knew the outcome, not the details of how things had developed.

Regardless, Lu Ren had been cultivated by the Huang Family, and others would only see it as him betraying them; his reputation would inevitably suffer in the future.

Perhaps Lu Ren had long harbored the desire to leave the Huang Family, and this incident was merely the spark.

One had to remember that even with his own root bone, which was not highly regarded, the Liu Family had been willing to offer such conditions to entice him into a matrilocal marriage. Since the Huang Family only gave Lu Ren a pittance of fifteen taels, he must have been dissatisfied for a long time.

He had already seen signs of this in some of Lu Ren's behavior.

Although Luo Dehu had long since failed and left, his influence on Lu Ren had persisted.

Xu Yang had thought this matter had nothing to do with him, but to his surprise, as dusk fell, his cousin Zhou Xia came to find him. She called him to his uncle Zhou Shunchang's house, where the matter of the Huang Family marrying off their daughter to him was brought up once again.

However, unlike last time, the Huang Family didn't expect a free ride. As long as he was willing to marry her, the Huang Family would provide him with ten taels of silver every month to support his martial arts training.

Zhou Shunchang puffed heavily on his dry tobacco pipe. Xu Yang pondered for a moment before saying to him, "Uncle, please tell the Huang Family for me that I do not wish to marry into their family, nor do I wish to marry at this time. If the Huang Family is in need, I can leave the Liu Family and become a retainer for them."

He roughly understood the Huang Family's intentions; now that they had lost Lu Ren, they were turning to him to place their bets.

But he was already a retainer for the Liu Family. They couldn't afford to offend a great clan like the Liu Family by poaching someone openly, so they could only try to establish a relationship through marriage first.

This way, even if he left the Liu Family in the future, the Liu Family wouldn't be able to use that as an excuse to make things difficult for the Huang Family. He simply kicked the ball back to them to see if they dared to offend the Liu Family.

Zhou Shunchang nodded. "Good!"

Xu Yang chatted with Zhou Shunchang for a while longer before stepping into the night to head home.

Not long after he left, Huang Jin stepped out from the adjacent room.

"Fifth Master, you heard what Ah Yang said, didn't you?" Zhou Shunchang said in a muffled voice, continuing to puff on his pipe.

Huang Jin sighed, "I felt from the start that Lu Ren was unruly and would likely be difficult for our Huang Family to use. It's a pity my second brother wouldn't listen to my advice, and we missed out on Xu Yang for nothing."

Xu Yang was unwilling to enter into a marriage alliance, and the Huang Family dared not poach anyone from the Liu Family at this moment.

He had favored Xu Yang from the beginning, but after Huang Ping's analysis, he had given up on him.

"Let this matter rest here. Help me pass a message to Xu Yang: it is the Huang Family that has failed him."

Having said this, he turned and walked into the wind and snow, his retreating figure appearing somewhat desolate.

"The heavy snow is going to seal the mountains!"

Xu Yang walked across the wilderness. The snow between heaven and earth grew heavier, already reaching nearly to his calves.

Although it was between the hours of the Dog and the Boar, the reflection from the heavy snow kept the surroundings visible.

He set his blood energy vibrating to ward off the biting wind, his entire body steaming like a steamer basket.

Despite wearing only a single layer of clothing, he felt no cold. At his current realm, while he could not claim to be immune to heat and cold, resisting the wind and snow for a while was no issue.

"Hm?"

He suddenly sensed something amiss; a heartbeat seemed to echo in his ears.

There was someone nearby, and they were extremely close.

Otherwise, even with his minor accomplishment in Qi Gathering and his extraordinary senses, it would be difficult to hear another person's heartbeat under normal circumstances.

Hearing only a heartbeat without the sound of breathing meant it couldn't be someone collapsed in the snow and buried by the drifts; someone was lying in ambush, holding their breath.

The moment this thought crossed his mind, Xu Yang's footsteps faltered, and the snow beside him exploded with a bang.