Chapter 97: Reasons

A month ago, Cuiniang, Yuan Chong’s concubine, went to town to buy supplies and accidentally met a wounded young man.

Cuiniang secretly helped care for him, and over time, they grew fond of each other.

Yuan Chong and Cuiniang were an old husband and young wife, and their relationship was already fraught with difficulties.

Then the young man taught Cuiniang a sword art called the Heavenly Wolf Sword Technique.

This brought disaster, and the one who suffered was Yuan Chong’s daughter, Yuan Shanhu.

“Master, I didn’t hide the sword manual—I passed it on to Shanhu,” Cuiniang said, lifting a floor tile in the kitchen and pulling out an ancient sword manual.

Yuan Chong was furious: his concubine had betrayed him, dared to covet another’s martial arts, and dragged his daughter into it.

“You wretched thing—I’ll kill you!!” Yuan Chong raised his hand and slammed it toward Cuiniang’s crown.

She’s still useful—she can’t die!

Chu Danqing reacted instantly, blocking with five magic orbs, while Da Bao moved in tandem.

Working together, one blocked, one intercepted, saving Cuiniang’s life.

“Cuiniang is guilty, but killing her now won’t help,” Chu Danqing said. “Let’s first rescue Shanhu, then deal with the rest.”

Yuan Chong forced down his rage and said, “I’ve heard of Jin Baiyan.”

“He’s a formidable man—his Nine Peaks Linked Sword is exceptionally refined.”

“In pure martial skill, I’m seven-tenths his match, but he wields the Three Mountains Sword, a famed treasure.”

“That gives him a three-tenths edge.”

“None of that matters—the problem is he holds a hostage,” Chu Danqing thought. “Let’s trade the sword manual for her life first.”

In his view, the manual was just an inanimate object—worth exchanging for a life.

As for revenge, that could wait.

“Agreed—I accept on behalf of Wei Lang,” Cuiniang said quickly.

Chu Danqing could only pinch the bridge of his nose—she had zero sense of the situation, and now she was adding fuel to the fire.

She should’ve just stayed quiet and invisible.

Yuan Chong snorted, “When we rescue Shanhu, we’ll settle accounts with you.”

He was furious, but for his daughter’s safety, he had to hold back.

“Then let’s not delay—let’s head to Songshan Cliff first,” Chu Danqing suggested.

He had no idea where it was—he’d let Yuan Chong, the local, lead.

“Your sense of justice is admirable—I truly misunderstood you before,” Yuan Chong said seriously to Chu Danqing.

At first glance, he’d thought Chu Danqing had an extraordinary aura, but later spying on him had bred dislike.

Then he ruined his daughter’s prospects—his aversion only deepened.

Yet all that aversion had now flipped into goodwill thanks to Chu Danqing’s help.

Chu Danqing hadn’t thought so deeply—he simply believed life was paramount; as long as you didn’t do something wicked, he’d lend a hand within his means.

As for Yuan Chong’s attitude—he’d dealt with worse clients. Yuan Chong was just hot-tempered but reasonable; he was already easy to deal with.

“Master Chu is truly righteous—he rushed to aid Master Xiong the moment he heard of trouble,” Zhao Mingye added.

“No, I never rushed—I kept retreating,” Chu Danqing said dryly.

What was he supposed to rush for? To deliver himself as prey?

He could barely run fast enough.

“Enough talk—let’s move,” Chu Danqing urged. Getting there early meant securing the terrain.

Yuan Chong spoke and led the group forward.

Cuiniang was left behind at the estate—Yuan Chong claimed it was to prevent her from sabotaging things; Chu Danqing knew it was really to spare her life and let her flee.

“To be honest, this is my fault,” Yuan Chong sighed on the road. “When Shanhu’s mother died, I was obsessed with martial arts.”

“So I forcibly took Cuiniang as a concubine to care for Shanhu.”

“Later, she repeatedly asked me to elevate her to wife status—I feared it would harm Shanhu, so I ignored her.”

“I don’t resent her finding a lover—after a forced marriage, she was essentially a living widow. But she had no right to steal a sword manual.”

Hearing Yuan Chong’s explanation, Chu Danqing’s mind felt like mush.

He understood every word—but why did Yuan Chong’s priorities perfectly contradict his own?

“Oh, you never saw her as a wife—just a servant,” Chu Danqing reoriented his thinking, and it made sense—but even more absurd: “Then why did you forcibly marry her?”

Yuan Chong gave Chu Danqing a strange look. “Cuiniang was always a concubine.”

At that, Chu Danqing realized—concubines had status little better than servants or property.

Concubines truly had no rights.

Otherwise, why would Cuiniang keep pushing to be elevated?

“I can’t talk to people like you,” Chu Danqing thought—his mindset remained modern; if he had to adapt, it should be to a paradise, not a trial world.

“Little Chu, familiar scent—over there,” Da Bao leaned close, pointing in a direction.

Chu Danqing immediately said, “Stop.”

He asked Da Bao: “Whose scent?”

“Attractive,” Da Bao replied—he’d never paid attention to Yuan Shanhu, only thought of beating her.

So he used her past behavior as reference.

“It’s your daughter’s scent,” Chu Danqing told Yuan Chong, then added: “Can you catch up?”

“Strange—why leave a scent here?” Chu Danqing wondered. If it were present, Da Bao should’ve smelled it from the start.

“She, pee, in pocket,” Da Bao answered.

Da Bao’s blunt honesty froze the atmosphere.

No one expected Yuan Shanhu to be detected this way.

Yuan Chong’s face flushed.

But it was, undeniably, logical.

“Cough—your daughter is clever, using such a trick to break the deadlock,” Chu Danqing smoothed things over. “Da Bao, lead the way—we’re chasing.”

Forget these small details now.

Da Bao sniffed, quickly chose a direction, and led ahead.

With Chu Danqing’s words, the tension eased, and everyone followed Da Bao.

Seeing Chu Danqing lagging, Yuan Chong grabbed him and carried him forward.

His stats were indeed high, but everyone else had internal energy and lightness arts, and Chu Danqing carried the divine shrine.

Plus, the Five Elements Spirit Beast Scripture was a summoning lineage—Chu Danqing was left with only his base stats.

It must be said that Yuan Chong's high-level skills have given him benefits no less valuable than his attributes.

Chu Danqing immediately relaxed, even considering learning a lightness art.

Good thing it was just a thought—he had no real intention of learning.

If he ever wanted to learn movement or speed skills, he’d pick summoning-based ones, to avoid future system incompatibility.

(End of Chapter)