Come, Follow Me Inside!

The wind bit cold, moonlight spilled down, and Red Robe danced wildly.

At the sight of this striking scene, and at Liu Yulan's scream, the old woman and the three men behind her froze in place.

A moment passed.

The old woman, who had seen more of the world, recovered first. She realized that the person before them was no ghost, but a living man.

"Yulan, get up. Stop making a spectacle of yourself," the old woman said, thumping her cane against the ground.

Hearing this, Liu Yulan cautiously raised her head. Sure enough, she saw a living man's face. Even as she breathed a sigh of relief, anger flared in her heart.

"No wonder that ungrateful little wolf dared open the Gate. She found herself some stray man to back her up."

Liu Yulan's eyes darkened. Pointing at him, she snarled, "I don't care who you are. Get the hell out of here! Stick your nose where it doesn't belong, and I'll chop your legs off!"

Zhang Yuan looked at the shrewish Liu Yulan, his heart unruffled, and uttered a single word.

"Scram."

Liu Yulan hesitated for a second, not expecting Zhang Yuan to dare talk back. Her anger surged higher, and she turned to her younger brother, Liu Zhenghong. "Why are you still standing there watching? Someone's bullying your sister!"

Liu Zhenghong gave a simple, good-natured smile. "Sis, maybe we've misunderstood him. Let me ask this fellow first."

Liu Zhenghong signaled his two uncles with his eyes, and the three men stepped forward without a fuss.

"Brother, what's your relationship with my niece?" Liu Zhenghong asked with an honest, guileless air.

Zhang Yuan glanced above his head, then said, "You scram too."

Liu Zhenghong scratched his head and frowned slightly. "Brother, I came to see my niece. It's not right for you to tell me to scram."

"We're here today to take Xinqiao into the city. If you've got no business here, brother, do us a favor and let us through. I'll treat you to a meal later."

Zhang Yuan neither answered nor budged.

Seeing that neither oil nor salt could get through to Zhang Yuan, Liu Zhenghong's face darkened. "If that's how you're going to be, brother, don't blame us."

"Uncles, let's do it. Knock this brat flat first."

Liu Zhenghong beckoned, and the two farmers behind him stepped forward, rolling up their sleeves to reveal sturdy forearms.

Both were skilled farmhands in the village. Whatever their fighting skills might be, they certainly had strength to spare.

"Your family really is at odds with all its kin," Zhang Yuan said, lowering his head.

"They're not good people," Chen Xinqiao said.

Zhang Yuan nodded.

They certainly weren't good people. Her grandmother, aunt, uncle, and two other men whose relation to her he didn't know—five people were going to forcibly sell Chen Xinqiao for fifty taels of silver.

They wouldn't even spare their own family. It would be a wonder if they were good people.

Their conversation was clearly audible and reached the old woman's ears.

The old woman, who valued her reputation above all else in Liu Family Village, frowned and said angrily, "Zhenghong, hurry up and do it. Don't cause too much of a commotion."

"Sure thing, Mother."

At her words, Liu Zhenghong clenched his fist and grinned, then lunged forward to punch Zhang Yuan.

He was renowned in Liu Family Village as a capable fighter. When disputes over land arose in summer, all he had to do was stand there, and no one dared seize his family's land.

But then...

One step away from Zhang Yuan, Liu Zhenghong stopped, clutched the fist he had swung, and collapsed to the ground, howling.

"Aaaah! My hand!"

Liu Zhenghong's screams were so agonized that everyone frowned, finding the scene deeply uncanny.

What was going on?

Liu Zhenghong hadn't even touched him. How had he ended up writhing and screaming on the ground?

"Zhenghong, what's wrong with you?"

Liu Zhenghong's two uncles could no longer stand by and watch. They stepped forward to check on him.

Once they saw his condition clearly, both froze. They exchanged a glance and saw the cold sweat on each other's foreheads.

A great swath of flesh had vanished from Liu Zhenghong's right fist, leaving the white bones clearly exposed.

Was... was this sorcery?

As that thought crossed their minds, they looked at the Red Robe figure at the Gate. Red Robe seemed increasingly like fresh blood, billowing like waves of gore.

With a thud.

Both men promptly dropped to their knees. Forgetting all dignity, they began kowtowing furiously toward Zhang Yuan.

"They insisted on dragging us here! Their family came up with the whole thing. It has nothing to do with us! Spare us, Immortal! Spare us!"

Thump, thump, thump.

The sound of kowtowing rang out.

The old woman and Liu Yulan stared, utterly bewildered.

"Liu Peng, Liu He, what are you doing?" the old woman asked with a frown.

"Shut your mouth, you old hag!" Liu Peng snapped.

"Your family has committed every kind of evil. Now you've offended an immortal, and you're dragging us down with you. How vicious can you be?" Liu He added.

Utterly puzzled, the old woman took a step forward with her cane. Her pupils suddenly contracted, and the cane fell to the ground.

"My son!" the old woman cried in anguish.

She had seen Liu Zhenghong's right hand, almost stripped of flesh.

At this sight, Liu Yulan forgot all about her brother's injuries as panic seized her.

She had just cursed at the immortal before her...

"Immortal! Immortal! Don't listen to their nonsense! It was all their idea. It has nothing to do with us! I'm Xinqiao's aunt. How could I ever hurt her?" Liu Yulan hurriedly tried to distance herself from them.

With Liu Zhenghong injured and down on the ground, the space outside Chen Qinkuai's Gate descended into chaos in moments. The other four accused one another and shirked responsibility.

At first, Zhang Yuan watched with interest, but after a while, he found it rather irritating.

“All of you, scram. From this day Origin, anyone who sets foot here dies.”

Zhang Yuan's tone was cold. He flicked his sleeve, and a wave of force swept out, sending all five flying.

His purpose had been achieved. After this display, he trusted that the old woman's family would never dare trouble Chen Qinkuai's household again.

The old woman and the others dared not look back. Carrying Liu Zhenghong, they left.

The trouble was resolved.

Zhang Yuan was in a fairly good mood.

Just a casual move or two, and ordinary mortals worship you as an immortal. Now this was what being a cultivator ought to feel like. Sure enough, a cultivator should thoroughly humiliate the weak with the strength of the strong!

What sort of life had I been living before? First my Spiritual Root was dug out, then a Foundation-Building Heavenly Being set his sights on me. After I finally managed to leave Cloud Province City, I fell into a Golden Core True Lord's chess game, never knowing whether I would survive from morning to night.

After barring the main Gate, Zhang Yuan returned to the east wing.

Chen Xinqiao glanced at him and silently followed.

Back in the room.

Zhang Yuan turned to look at Chen Xinqiao standing at the Gate of the east wing. "Why are you following me?"

Chen Xinqiao said, "You helped me. I want to thank you."

Zhang Yuan raised an eyebrow. Seeing the [Nervous] tag above her head, he glanced at her pale cheeks and her scrawny figure, which was even less substantial than Li Huixi's, and felt somewhat amused.

Zhang Yuan asked with a smile, "Mm, you should thank me. But how do you intend to do that?"

Chen Xinqiao said, "I don't know. I'll do what you say."

Zhang Yuan pretended to ponder for a moment, then said, "In that case, follow me inside."

Chen Xinqiao nodded lightly and entered the room. The tag above her head changed further.

[Nervous]--[Very nervous].