Chapter 172: The Point of Frailty

Duan Rong hit a wall in front of Xiao Zongting and had no choice but to leave, feeling dejected.

He had just reached the entrance of the front courtyard when he happened to run into Xiao Yu and Zhu Xiaoqi, who were walking into the courtyard while chatting and laughing.

Zhu Xiaoqi was carrying a basket in her hand, which contained some melons, fruits, vegetables, and some spices.

As soon as Xiao Yu saw Duan Rong, her expression froze; her face, which had been smiling just a moment ago, turned cold in an instant. She left Zhu Xiaoqi behind, walked past Duan Rong with an expressionless face, and headed straight for the Back Courtyard.

"This..." Duan Rong looked at Xiao Yu's back, his expression conflicted.

He was completely baffled by this pair of father and daughter.

Just as Duan Rong was feeling puzzled, he turned his head and saw Zhu Xiaoqi standing at the courtyard gate with the basket, looking at him with a smile, her red lips and white teeth showing.

His heart finally settled a little. "Thank goodness, there's still one normal person."

Zhu Xiaoqi carried the basket into the kitchen, and Duan Rong immediately followed her in, saying, "Xiao Qi, tell me... what is wrong with Xiao Lao and Miss Yu? Why do they both give me the cold shoulder when they see me?"

Zhu Xiaoqi placed the basket on the table against the kitchen wall, tied on the apron hanging there, and walked over to the stove. As she opened the steamer lid and fanned away the steam, she said, "Don't you know what you've done yourself?"

"What have I done?" Duan Rong truly did not know.

"Heaven and earth are my witness! I have absolutely never done anything to wrong the Xiaojia."

Seeing Duan Rong's nervous appearance, Zhu Xiaoqi's eyes lit up as she let out a giggle, and only then did she tell Duan Rong the whole story from beginning to end.

It turned out that on the night Duan Rong went to Luanfen Mound to deliver the gold, Xiao Zongting had seen Xiao Yu's anxious and nervous demeanor and immediately realized what was going on. As the saying goes, no one knows a daughter better than her father, especially since he was an old veteran of the jianghu.

After the matter with Ruan Jing was over, Xiao Zongting had interrogated Xiao Yu that very night, and even the incident where she had accidentally been bitten by a venomous snake on her calf and Duan Rong had helped her suck out the venom had been dragged out.

In this world, there were no ancient Blue Star-style foolish rituals regarding chaste women and martyrs.

Otherwise, how could a woman like Xiao Yu have become an Escort and traveled with an Escort Team?

Xiao Zongting's annoyance was not actually about that.

When Xiao Baijiao had set her heart on Duan Rong, hadn't he been quite supportive?

But in Xiao Zongting's heart, Xiao Yu and Xiao Baijiao were different.

It was not that Xiao Zongting was more biased toward one or the other.

It was that in Xiao Zongting's view, Xiao Yu was destined to enter the Taiyi Sect; after being a Registered Disciple, she would still have to be selected as an Outer Sect Disciple, and perhaps even an Inner Sect Disciple.

As for Duan Rong, although Xiao Zongting was grooming him to be his successor, he was also destined, like himself, to be confined to this Xiangu County for his entire life. After all, Duan Rong had no background; just like himself when he was young, without the support of any resources, relying only on his own talent, his achievements would ultimately be limited.

Therefore, in Xiao Zongting's view, there would be no future for Duan Rong and Xiao Yu. Thus, he had to nip the budding thoughts in Xiao Yu's heart in the bud.

He was not expecting Xiao Yu to marry into a powerful family, but her partner still had to be someone on her own level.

Because of this, Xiao Zongting and Xiao Yu had had an argument that night, and the father and daughter had not spoken for several days.

Hearing Zhu Xiaoqi's words, Duan Rong suddenly felt as if he had awakened from a dream.

No wonder Xiao Zongting hadn't let Xiao Yu go over to the Grandma Tavern that night.

This old man was blaming him for seducing his daughter!

It was true; the man had kindly brought you into the Second Escort Team and arranged for his own daughter to be your master, and you, on the contrary, wanted to seduce his daughter—could he not be angry?

Duan Rong had lived two lives after all, and he instantly understood the thoughts in Xiao Zongting's heart.

In his eyes, Xiao Baijiao and Duan Rong were people who would spend their lives in this Xiangu County. Therefore, their being together was a good match.

But Xiao Yu was someone who would go far away to the Taiyi Sect. Her life and Duan Rong's life should not intersect.

Duan Rong sighed; he actually never had those kinds of romantic feelings for Xiao Yu to begin with.

This was completely different from the stir he felt in his heart when he saw Xiao Baijiao. Although Xiao Yu was beautiful—or perhaps even more beautiful than Xiao Baijiao—she lacked that delicate, gentle, and spring-breeze-like tenderness that Xiao Baijiao possessed.

Come to think of it, Duan Rong really had never had any improper thoughts about Xiao Yu.

As for sucking the snake venom for her, that was merely an expedient measure in a moment of urgency.

What Duan Rong found stifling was that in Xiao Zongting's view, he was to spend his life in this Xiangu County, but he himself intended to leap out of this isolated place.

However, he had no need to tell Xiao Zongting about this thought, as he and Xiao Yu never had that kind of relationship to begin with.

Knowing where the problem lay, the gloom in Duan Rong's heart instantly dissipated quite a bit.

"The fear is like being trapped in a ghost-hit-wall, unable to find one's way. As long as the problem can be found, one can prescribe the right medicine," Duan Rong thought to himself, his eyes flickering.

Zhu Xiaoqi picked the steamed buns out of the steamer, tore off a dry lotus leaf, and wrapped six of them for Duan Rong.

Duan Rong accepted them with a smile, and while holding the piping hot buns, he thanked her and ate while walking out.

"It really has to be the buns Xiao Qi makes to satisfy the craving!" Duan Rong walked to the kitchen door, turned back, and said with a smile.

"Stop with your glib tongue here. If you have that energy, think about how to apologize to the master," Zhu Xiaoqi rolled her eyes at Duan Rong and said.

"I know." Duan Rong waved his hand and left.

Zhu Xiaoqi glanced at his back, sighed softly, and began to busy herself with her work.

Afterward, every few days, Duan Rong would bring things to visit Xiao Zongting.

As the saying goes, one does not strike a smiling face. Gradually, Xiao Zongting's expression softened, and every time Duan Rong went to see Xiao Zongting and encountered Xiao Yu, he would bow from a distance and respectfully call her "Master."

As time went on, although Xiao Yu's gaze toward Duan Rong was a bit strange, Xiao Zongting's attitude toward Duan Rong had finally changed. In their most recent visit, the two were drinking tea in the main hall, and when Duan Rong brought up his insights on the Three Style Residual Moves, Xiao Zongting even gave him a detailed critique and breakdown.

Although Xiao Zongting was annoyed with Duan Rong, he only felt that he and Xiao Yu would have no future, and that if they continued like this, the only ones who would suffer would be themselves.

He himself was a person who had experienced the affairs of the jianghu, so how could he not understand?

What made Xiao Zongting happy was that Duan Rong was clearly very intelligent and had quickly realized the situation. Unlike his daughter, whose stubbornness was simply cut from the same cloth as his own when he was young...

Besides visiting Xiao Zongting, Duan Rong would occasionally go out with Ximen Kankan and Jiang Qingyu to drink or gamble.

The relationship between the three not only became increasingly intimate and casual, but among the three, Duan Rong had also faintly become the center.

When the three of them occasionally walked on the street or in the corridor of a gambling den, some of the people they passed or saw recognized Ximen Kankan or Jiang Qingyu.

These people would be greatly surprised, because it was often Ximen Kankan and Jiang Qingyu walking behind Duan Rong, turning their heads to say something to him, while Duan Rong's expression remained as usual, not finding it strange at all!

Those who saw this could not help but wonder about Duan Rong's identity.

This person didn't look very old; what kind of person was he exactly?

Why would Young Master Ximen and Young Master Jiang treat him with such respect?

"Could he be someone from the Sect?" Those people seemed to have thought of something; they looked at Duan Rong with sidelong glances, then hurriedly lowered their heads and passed by.

Apart from occasional social interactions, Duan Rong spent all his other time locked inside Liu Lu, frantically practicing Standing Stake.

Following the combination of the Womb Treasury Sutra and the Devouring Tree Spirit, Duan Rong achieved two layers of the Womb Treasury Sutra in succession, and his Mental Power level also soared to Level 3.

And as his Mental Power rose with the tide, his saber technique, relying on the augmentation of the Devouring Artifact Spirit, had also reached the Great Success Realm.

However, to this day, Duan Rong had still not achieved the Inner Breath Realm Third Layer.

By comparison, the practice of internal arts had become an obvious shortcoming.

It was just that the accumulation of Internal Breath was something that had to be built up bit by bit; it was a slow-grinding technique, and being anxious was useless.

However, Duan Rong was preparing to participate in the selection examination for Registered Disciple of the Taiyi Sect next March.

At the current speed, there would certainly be no problem achieving the Inner Breath Third Layer by next March, but if he wanted to break through to the Internal Breath Fourth Layer, it would likely be quite strenuous.

If he could not break through to the Internal Breath Fourth Layer, he would not have full confidence in the selection examination.

Xiao Yu, Xia Shuangshuang, Jiang Qingyu, and Shen Mizhi were all already at the Inner Breath Realm Third Layer, and had achieved it for a long time; they could break through at any moment. Furthermore, there was also Ximen Kankan, who had already achieved the Great Success Realm of the Inner Breath Realm Fourth Layer.

Competing for selection against these children of noble families was quite a lot of pressure!

And if he failed to be selected, he would have to wait another three years.

But in those three years, who could predict what might happen?

(End of chapter)