Chapter 19 - Xiao Chen
"Stop!"
At that moment, a black-robed shopkeeper suddenly appeared, his expression cold—it was actually a Tongxuan Realm cultivator!
His gaze swept coldly over Zhang Fatty and Xiao Chen. "Zhang family, Xiao family—do you mean to disregard even the City Lord's rules?"
Hearing the words "City Lord's Mansion," Zhang Fatty finally showed a trace of apprehension.
Xiao Chen also quietly let out a breath, the black mist at his sleeve slowly dissipating into the air.
Completely unaware that he had just been dancing at the edge of death, Zhang Fatty still spoke with arrogance. "Fine, fine, fine! Today I'll give the City Lord's Mansion some face. But I hear your fiancée's divorce airship is already on the way. Let's see how much longer you can keep strutting around!"
With that, he led his people downstairs.
"Let's go!"
…
Soon after, at the base of Zuixian Tower.
"Thanks, brother." No matter whether the other party was the typical "waste" protagonist or not, he had paid the bill for him. Chen Chang'an expressed his gratitude sincerely.
"It's nothing. I see that sir's bearing is not that of a rogue—likely just a momentary lapse of attention."
"Also…" He bowed solemnly to Chen Chang'an. "Do not bully the young and poor. I will remember this."
After bowing again, he turned to leave.
Watching the youth's back, Chen Chang'an narrowed his eyes.
With the vision of this incarnation, he naturally couldn't discern exactly what was wrong with the youth before him.
Still… his gaze lingered on the seemingly ordinary bronze ring on the young man's index finger.
Waste-type protagonist… they're all about the same anyway.
A sudden idea struck him—what if he took in a still "juvenile-stage" feel-good protagonist as a disciple?
Once that protagonist made it big, wouldn't his own old age be guaranteed?
After all… who could refuse to be friends with the younger version of a future tycoon?
Grinning to himself, he waited until the youth's figure disappeared down the street before casting an invisibility spell and following.
…
Dusk settled, and Xiao Chen's slightly heavy footsteps echoed along the bluestone street.
He lowered his head, gazing at the bronze ring on his finger. The newly emerged patterns on the ring's surface glimmered faintly in the afterglow of sunset, like ancient runes awakening.
"Yao Lao," the youth's lips moved, his voice echoing only in his sea of consciousness. "That gentleman… I feel he's not a bad person."
A wisp of greenish-black mist surged out from within the ring, traveling through Xiao Chen's meridians and bringing a strange mix of stinging pain and gentle warmth.
A hoarse voice sounded in his mind. "Whether he's bad or not is beside the point, but this person has deep schemes—especially at the end, when you were leaving. His gaze clearly fell on the bronze ring where I reside. He may already have noticed my existence."
Xiao Chen pressed his lips together, his step pausing ever so slightly. He clearly neither confirmed nor denied the voice's judgment.
He had found this ring five years ago deep within the ancestral shrine. It wasn't until the full moon two months ago that the existence calling itself "Yao Lao" suddenly awakened.
Only then did he learn the truth behind his years of stagnant cultivation—the strange ring had been secretly devouring his spiritual power all along.
"You once said that no one beneath the Longevity Realm could perceive your presence," Xiao Chen asked inwardly, his right hand unconsciously brushing the dagger hidden at his waist. "That gentleman…"
"That's why I said he has deep schemes," Yao Lao replied with a trace of disdain. "Even I cannot see through his cultivation, yet in the restaurant he pretended he had no money to pay."
The youth fell silent.
In the puddle at the street corner, his thin face was reflected back at him.
In five years, that face had gone from spirited and confident to haggard and worn, though his eyes still shone as brightly as ever—only now, a lingering shadow lay deep within them.
"Do not bully the young and poor…" Xiao Chen unconsciously repeated the words he had heard in Zuixian Tower, his fingertips idly tracing the patterns on the ring's surface.
The phrase resonated deeply with him, as if it had voiced the frustration locked in his heart.
Like a key, it suddenly opened a door that had been shut within him for far too long.
But at that moment, Yao Lao suddenly gave a sharp warning. "Careful! Someone's following!"
Xiao Chen immediately adjusted his breathing, making his steps unsteady and erratic, perfectly playing the part of a cripple with damaged meridians.
From the alley behind came faint, almost inaudible footsteps—the Xiao family's unique "Treading Snow Without a Trace" footwork. Over the years, he had long grown accustomed to the feeling of being watched.
"Young master!" A sudden flare of blinding firelight appeared at the street corner. The Xiao family's head steward approached quickly with a lantern in hand, a faint trace of schadenfreude in his expression. "The family head urgently summons you to the council hall!"
Xiao Chen didn't need to guess to know this would never be for anything good.
Yet facing the malice coming straight at him, the youth showed not the slightest fear. Instead, he gave a cold smile, his gaze shifting to the steward's right hand.
The little finger there was bent unnaturally—an injury from three days ago when Xiao Chen had caught him in a mechanical trap.
At the same time, he inconspicuously turned his ring inward to his palm, fingers secretly pressing on a silver needle laced with poison.
Over the past five years, the Xiao family's "attention" toward him had indeed grown, especially in the last two years after his father went to the Central State seeking treatment for him and then disappeared without a trace…
"I'll go at once." The youth hunched his back, straightening the washed-white green shirt he wore.
As he turned, he cast one last glance toward the direction of Zuixian Tower. The words "Do not bully the young and poor" still echoed in his mind—just who was that gentleman who had suddenly appeared before him?
From within the ring, Yao Lao sneered. "For the Xiao family to come looking for you now, there's a good chance nothing good will come of it. Rest assured, as long as I still draw breath, I will protect you."
"Thank you, Yao Lao." Xiao Chen replied calmly, his left hand unconsciously pressing against his chest.
There, close to his body, he carried a jade slip that recorded the first pill formula Yao Lao had "gifted" him upon awakening.
In the past two months, this mysterious being had stopped absorbing his spiritual power and had even occasionally lent him a trace of strength. But he still remembered all too clearly the painful nights of the past five years when his spiritual power had been devoured.
Even so, though the person within the ring was the original cause of his suffering, the constant guidance and the fact that he still refused to abandon him at this moment warmed the youth's heart.
He knew better than anyone that the seemingly casual mockery inside Zuixian Tower today was most likely a carefully staged act.
In these past two months, although he had learned a few simple pill formulas from Yao Lao and borrowed a wisp of his origin power, revealing some talent in alchemy, such long-standing prejudice could never be erased in a mere short while.
There were many in the Xiao family who would be overjoyed to see him dead!
Only his death would clear a path, freeing up more resources…
"Young master, this old servant will accompany you." The steward walked ahead with the lantern, the firelight casting a twisted shadow upon the stone road like a venomous snake waiting to devour.
Xiao Chen gave him a deep look and silently followed.
After turning through three streets, Xiao Chen suddenly stopped.
The steward looked back in confusion, only to see the youth take out a finely crafted jade bottle from his chest.
"Thank you for the medicine you sent me the other day," Xiao Chen said with a weak smile. "I specially modified the formula from an ancient prescription—this bottle of 'Qi Condensing Powder' is for you."
The steward's pupils contracted sharply—this was the very medicine he had poisoned three days ago! The harmless smile on the youth's face seemed especially chilling under the flickering firelight.
If this child could survive this ordeal, he would surely achieve greatness in the future!
For reasons unknown, this thought suddenly rose in the steward's mind, and the hostility he had felt toward him faded ever so slightly. With rare sincerity, he spoke, "Rest assured, this trip is indeed by the family head's order…"
Oh?
Xiao Chen's eyelids twitched, and he looked at the steward's back with a trace of surprise.
Then he lowered his head once more and continued walking forward in silence…
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