"Xining Chen Family! No! I've never heard of any young master in this generation of the Chen Family, only a daughter! You're lying!"
As everyone in the hall looked on in confusion, Liu Xian stepped forward, stared at Chen Zhi, and barked coldly.
He had exposed Chen Zheng's identity as a bodyguard to humiliate him, to make him understand that a mere bodyguard was of lowly status and had no right to attend a banquet of this caliber. Yet in the blink of an eye, Chen Zhi had actually called Chen Zheng her brother. This was plainly a slap in his face.
Besides, Liu Xian simply did not believe that a mere bodyguard like Chen Zheng could have any connection to the Xining Chen Family!
If a family worth tens of billions like the Su Family counted as rich and prosperous, then the Chen Family counted as enormously wealthy! To deserve those words, one had to possess a fortune of at least a hundred billion! If Chen Zheng really was the Chen Family's young master, how could he possibly have come to Nan City to work as Su Cheng's bodyguard?
"Who the hell are you to question me!"
Chen Zhi turned around, her pretty face turning cold as she stared at Liu Xian.
Young as she was, the moment she unleashed her presence, everyone there felt as though the temperature had suddenly dropped ten degrees!
"You!"
Liu Xian opened his mouth to curse, but then he remembered her identity. Although the Liu Family was wealthy in its own region, it was nowhere near the Chen Family's level. Moreover, the Liu Family had recently been hoping to seek the Chen Family's help with some business. How could he dare offend Chen Zhi? He could only snort and retreat, his expression utterly ugly.
"Brother."
Chen Zhi called out to Chen Zheng again.
"Chen Zhi."
Chen Zheng gave Chen Zhi a faint smile.
That smile startled Chen Zhi. When she had first met Chen Zheng at a family banquet three years ago, he had been aloof and had paid no attention to anyone. Seeing him again three years later, Chen Zheng really seemed to have changed a great deal.
"So you are Chen Qian's son. Your face is at least sixty percent like your father's, and your eyes are almost identical. I was wondering earlier, too, how you could possibly be working as Su Cheng's bodyguard."
At that moment, Su Ziming spoke, smiling at Chen Zheng. This was precisely why he had been looking at Chen Zheng in confusion earlier.
"..."
Su Cheng opened her mouth. She wanted to say something, but nothing came out, because even she had not known Chen Zheng had such an identity. She even wondered whether Chen Zheng had deliberately approached her this way, but when she recalled those bizarre, extraordinary experiences he had shown her, she found that thought rather laughable.
How could a nonhuman being like Chen Zheng, who had inexplicably lived for billions of years, possibly approach her in such a way? She was overthinking it. As for why Chen Zheng had not previously said he belonged to the Xining Chen Family, he probably had his reasons.
"The Chen Family... you're actually the son of that enormously wealthy family in Xining..."
An Jing looked at Chen Zheng, her exquisite, beautiful face filled with surprise. Although she usually devoted herself to painting, she still knew something about the Xining Chen Family. In ordinary people's eyes, the Chen Family was a wealthy family worth a hundred billion, but in the eyes of someone like An Jing, who had ties to China's Ancient Martial Arts World, they were the Medicine King Chen Family.
The Chen Family was the family that carried on the Medicine King's lineage in the Ancient Martial Arts World!
However!
One thing struck An Jing as very strange. Chen Zheng did not seem to have revealed anything at all relating to medical skills, and his cultivation realm was frighteningly high. There was also that miraculous immortal robe... No matter how formidable the Medicine King Chen Family was, surely they could not have secretly nurtured such a heaven-defying genius?
This... the more An Jing thought about it, the more puzzled she became. If they had not been in the Su Family's hall, if they had been in Su Cheng's bedroom instead, she would have climbed straight on top of Chen Zheng and forced him to tell the truth.
Jiang Rou, the tall girl who had come along with them, was studying Chen Zheng curiously. The more she looked, the more curious she became, because this Chen Zheng really did resemble the ancient man in the painting left behind by the Jiang Family's ancestor, Jiang Ziya. The Jiang Family's ancient painting existed within a piece of ancient jade, passed down through a special Secret Method from antiquity, so even after several thousand years, it had suffered little damage. Jiang Rou had already made up her mind: she had to bring Chen Zheng back to her family to make a thorough comparison.
"Uncle Su." Chen Zheng looked at Su Ziming. "I don't have much to do with the Chen Family. You've mistaken me for someone else."
"Brother..."
Hearing this, Chen Zhi could not help calling out to Chen Zheng again.
"Haha! I get it! I get it!" Just then, Liu Xian jumped out again, staring at Chen Zheng with an expression that said he had seen through the truth. "I know why there's never been any news about you from the Chen Family. It's because you're an illegitimate son! Answer me, Chen Zheng. Am I right? The truth! This is the truth! You're the Chen Family's illegitimate son, and they don't acknowledge you at all. You won't get a share of any of their wealth! So you're still nothing more than a bodyguard! Haha! Hahaha!"
What!
The prominent figures from all walks of life in Nan City froze at those words, then looked at Chen Zheng in confusion. If Chen Zheng was merely an illegitimate son whom the Chen Family refused to acknowledge, then it seemed... it seemed there was nothing to hold in awe. Without the Chen Family's halo, this young man's current position did indeed seem to be nothing more than a bodyguard at Su Cheng's side.
"Shut up!"
Chen Zhi's gaze turned icy as she stared coldly at Liu Xian.
"The Chen Family is enormously wealthy. Having an illegitimate son should count as a scandal, shouldn't it? No wonder, heh..."
At that moment, Yan Hao, who had remained silent all this time, also smiled, his tone full of mockery.
"None of your damn business!"
Chen Zhi's gaze grew even colder as she shot Yan Hao a look. Yan Hao wanted to say more, but remembering the girl's identity, he merely smiled and said nothing else.
"Brother, Dad said he wanted you to come back this year..."
Chen Zhi turned to Chen Zheng, but she was interrupted halfway through.
"Yu Canghai has arrived!"
A young man's loud announcement rang out from outside.
"Yu Canghai?"
"Who's Yu Canghai?"
"Never heard of him!"
Many of Nan City's prominent figures in the hall looked outside in confusion, while Su Ziming's face lit up with excitement, and he went straight over to greet the old man entering the hall.
"Uncle Canghai! You've finally decided to come!"
Su Ziming walked up to the old man and bowed to him with the utmost respect.
At that moment, the prominent figures of Nan City in the hall were even more astonished. They could not understand why a man worth tens of billions like Su Ziming would show such respect to a seemingly ordinary old man. Could this old man be some important figure?
"Yu Canghai..."
At that moment, Su Cheng, An Jing, Jiang Rou, and Chen Zhi all froze, their eyes filled with surprise. All of them had some connection to China's Ancient Martial Arts World, and Yu Canghai was a name that could be called almost godlike within it!
"Yu Canghai..." Liu Xian was also startled, but delight soon appeared on his face. He hurried over as well and bowed respectfully to the old man. "This junior is Liu Xian, Liu Zhong's son. When this junior was little..."
Yet the old man did not so much as glance at Liu Xian. Instead, his gaze landed directly on Chen Zheng. At the sight of Chen Zheng, his entire body trembled, and then he walked up to him, step by step. Overcome with excitement, he cupped his fists and bowed to Chen Zheng with the utmost reverence. "This junior, Yu Canghai, pays his respects to Senior!"
What!
Liu Xian raised his head, his eyes filled with disbelief and horror. He felt as though his heart had stopped beating and stumbled back several steps!
"Impossible... impossible... how is this possible..."