Chapter 119

Behind the Xiao family mountain, a young man sat cross-legged on a bluestone, facing the setting sun.

"Hoo~" Xiao Yan slowly opened his eyes, feeling the Dou Qi he had worked so hard to cultivate disappear silently once again; his heart did not ripple in the slightest, as this had become the norm over the past three years.

"Uh~"

Xiao Yan sat up, stretched a little, and let out a comfortable hum. Just then, a voice as crisp as a lark came from afar, "Brother Xiao Yan."

"Oh, it's Xun Er!" Xiao Yan turned around, and the first thing that caught his eye was a beautiful girl in purple with an ethereal temperament, causing a smile to tug at the corner of his mouth.

"After being a 'waste' for so many years, she is the only one who has never left my side."

Although most of the younger generation of the Xiao family did not act impulsively out of respect for Xiao Zhan's prestige, the contrast in their attitudes before and after was something almost anyone could perceive.

At first, Xiao Yan was indeed very angry, but as time went on, he got used to it, and even felt a bit of enjoyment in it. Looking at the stunningly charming Xun Er in front of him, Xiao Yan's heart stirred.

He couldn't help but feel ridiculous about his own childish behavior back then.

Initially, when he first lost his talent, Xiao Yan couldn't handle the sudden drop in status and adopted an indifferent attitude toward everyone around him.

Only Xun Er, that proud daughter of heaven, stayed by his side through it all. Due to his wounded pride, Xiao Yan deliberately kept his distance, but in the end... he still succumbed to her warmth.

"Xun Er, is something the matter?" Xiao Yan asked curiously.

"Here, this is Brother Xiao Yan's resources for this month." Xun Er stuffed a storage ring into Xiao Yan's hand and blinked playfully.

"Xun Er, lying is not a good habit!" Xiao Yan checked the resources inside the ring and shook his head bitterly.

As intelligent as he was, how could he not know the source of the items in this ring? A year ago, Xiao Zhan had already told Xiao Yan that his resources had been cut by more than half by the clan.

Xiao Yan understood this very well; as a "waste" with only three stages of Dou Qi, he wasn't worth such a huge investment, and he couldn't even use all those things anyway. He would have been satisfied if the clan had just left him a portion.

However, the resources Xun Er brought this time were exactly the same as what he used to have. Even if he were slow-witted, Xiao Yan could guess that this girl had paid for them out of her own pocket.

"What is Brother Xiao Yan talking about? Xun Er doesn't understand!" At this point, Xun Er still didn't forget to play dumb, blinking her bright, watery eyes in an attempt to get away with it.

"Alright," Xiao Yan flicked Xun Er's forehead, "These are all yours, right?"

Pushing the storage ring back into Xun Er's hand, Xiao Yan said with a huff.

"You are about to break through to the Da Dou Shi stage; this is exactly when you need resources. How can you be so willful?"

For some reason, Xiao Yan's perception was very keen. Even though Xun Er had some methods to conceal it, he still sensed her cultivation level—a Nine-Star Dou Shi.

She was only one step away from a breakthrough, yet she was foolishly giving her resources to him. Although he was touched, he couldn't possibly accept them.

"Fine!" Xun Er agreed, looking aggrieved, as if Xiao Yan had bullied her.

Immediately after, Xun Er seemed to remember something, "Brother Xiao Yan, it seems there are guests at home, and Aunt Long asked me to call you over."

Guests?

Xiao Yan frowned. Didn't he know the situation of the Xiao family? They were basically isolated from the world. Although they didn't restrict the clansmen from traveling, very few people visited except on important days. How could there be any guests?

And it was enough to make his own mother call him over. Pondering this... Xiao Yan turned his gaze toward the "innocent" little girl beside him.

"Xun Er, what is this about?" Xiao Yan knew clearly that no matter who his mother wanted to hide things from, she would never hide them from Xun Er.

"It seems Brother Xiao Yan's fiancée has come to visit!" Xun Er said mysteriously.

"Fiancée? Since when do I have a fiancée?" Xiao Yan was completely baffled; he had lived this long and this was the first time he had ever heard of such a thing.

"I know about this," Xun Er said animatedly. "It's Nalan Yanran, the young sect master of the Misty Cloud Sect. Her grandfather, Nalan Jie, the Lionheart Marshal of the Jia Ma Empire, was a good friend of Grandfather Xiao Lin, and the two of them set up your engagement."

"Nalan Yanran?" Xiao Yan frowned, then seemed to discover a blind spot: "That's not right. Didn't Grandfather pass away before I was born? How could he have set up an engagement for us?"

It must be said that the news of Xiao Lin was kept under tight wraps; even the younger generation of the Xiao family today didn't know he was still alive.

"That engagement didn't specify the candidates; it seems it was just because you two were the closest in age, and then it was done!" Xun Er's slightly naive words made Xiao Yan feel helpless, his mouth twitching uncontrollably. Could an engagement really be that "arbitrary"?

"This old man is really... something!" After holding it in for a long time, Xiao Yan couldn't think of any way to comment, so he could only spit out that one word.

"Brother Xiao Yan, that Nalan Yanran is a famous beauty, you know? Aren't you tempted?" Xun Er's voice made Xiao Yan feel itchy, seemingly full of temptation.

"Forget it," Xiao Yan waved his hand, "I haven't even met this Nalan Yanran, so how could I have any feelings for her?"

"But... I should go take a look!" He said it nicely, but his final words and slightly quickened pace revealed the true nature of a certain "lecher." A hint of jealousy flashed in Xun Er's eyes.

"Yan'er, you're here!" As soon as Xiao Yan walked through the gate, Xiao Long, with a face full of smiles, noticed him.

"Oh, Xun Er is here too, come here to Aunt Long." Just as Xiao Yan was about to greet his mother with a smile, Xun Er walked in, immediately attracting all of Xiao Long's attention.

"Okay, Aunt Long." Xun Er walked up with a giggle, holding Xiao Long's arm, and said very intimately.

"Sigh!" Xiao Yan just let out a long sigh, as he was quite used to this scene.

Not long after, Xiao Yan sat down beside Xiao Long and asked suspiciously, "Mother, what is the situation with that engagement?"

"Was it that little girl who told you again?" Xiao Long glanced sideways at Xun Er, who was sitting obediently to the side, and said with a hint of jealousy. She always had the feeling that her own "cabbage" was being arched by a pig.

"This engagement was just a joke between the two families and shouldn't be taken seriously." However, Xiao Long still explained. As for the Nalan family, Xiao Long was completely indifferent; the two families had become strangers long ago after the Xiao family left the Jia Ma capital.

Even the old patriarch, Xiao Lin, who had established the engagement, had never mentioned it again.

"Oh~" Xiao Yan breathed a sigh of relief; he had thought his right to choose a partner was about to be given away so inexplicably.

"Aunt Long, do you know what Nalan Yanran is here for?" Xun Er asked curiously.

"Probably for that engagement," Xiao Long said noncommittally. "It's just as well; it would be nice for the two families to resolve it privately like this."

"But it seems that Nalan Yanran will arrive today..." Before she could finish, someone arrived immediately.

"Report to the Mistress, the guests from the Nalan family have arrived and are waiting in the main hall."

And just like that, the lifelong nemesis of the Soul Heaven Emperor—Nalan Yanran—paid a calm and collected visit to the Xiao family.